Alexandra Haddow is a superbly assured presence on stage, this freelance journalist turned comedian knows how to work an audience, and does so in style. That ‘Not My Finest Hour’ is her debut show is downright impressive.
Child of the Midlands, resident in London her voice is an asset, equipped with depth, attitude, and a lashing of accent. Her specialist subject for the hour? Getting things wrong, those cringeworthy episodes we all look back on, and…cringe at. Haddow has constructed an hour of richly comedic schtick mainly by oversharing her lower ebbs, and finding the funny side.
The strategy decided, she begins by relating the loss of her virginity to a virgin boy who had comments on her performance, segwaying through the aunty who despises her, and building to her ultimate confession of an affair with a married celebrity. There’s an abundance of punchlines, and clever quips, sharp observation and pointed self-deprecation. There are moments in the show when the segways from bit to bit are a little rough still, and her closer isn’t as strong as the best material in the show. However, again, to have developed such rich material, such an assured presence, and reliable timing for a debut show is absolutely impressive.
Essentially Alexandra Haddow is just a good storyteller, the sort of person you’d be glad to spend a few hours in a bar with sharing scandalous anecdotes. She’s taken that sense of familiarity and trust and turned into a really grand hour of Stand-Up.
I’m aware that some find some of her ‘revelations’ a little graphic and excessive, but there’s nothing in this set to frighten the horses. In reality, whilst ‘Not My Finest Hour’ makes huge fun out of dubious choices which she, and others have made, it’s also about accountability. She really, for example, only has herself to blame for choosing a current life-partner who believes in astrology. Alexandra deserves all the crystals her chakras can handle.
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