Last year’s Marj was impressive, but Marjolein Robertson’s ‘O’ is better still. Menstrual disorders aren’t the typical stuff of comedy, but it’s rich material in the hands of a comedian approaching the height of her powers.
Robertson has always been a fine storyteller and a charmingly quirky comic, but with ‘O’ she’s found the perfect balance between these two aspects. The result is powerful, uncanny, and hilarious in equal measure. Marjolein Robertson’s star isn’t rising, it has risen.
‘O’ is meticulously crafted, a clean, narrative thread drawn from start to end, without the destination becoming obvious before the final minutes. First, she charms with hilarious tales of a Shetland childhood, playing lethal games with farm tools, and a particularly bamboozling introduction to period products during home economics class.
A little 90’s TV nostalgia even provides the show with a sort of theme song. Marjolein’s musings on Rolf Harris’s ‘Animal Hospital’ are as eccentric as they are funny.
“It’s powerful, bizarre, and hilarious in equal measure. Marjolein Robertson’s star isn’t rising, it has risen.”
Of course, this being a show explicitly about blood, there’s a serious bedrock to ‘O’. She signposts this with the first of several detours into the ancient Orcadian legend of the Sea Mither and Teran, the battling deities of Summer and Winter respectively. If the show begins in Summer, Autumn and Winter are beckoning.
However, even when the central trauma of ‘O’ is revealed Marjolein swiftly deploys one of the funniest toilet-based anecdotes I’ve heard. Gags aside, Robertson is seeking to open a conversation on women’s health, and doubtless many in the audience will find parallels in her story. To say healthcare professionals have failed Marjolein over time is an understatement, but that doesn’t stop her from building to a spectacular contraception-based punchline.
My only criticism would be of an ambitious and initially effective opening gambit which drags on a little too long before the show opens properly. Once at the mic, however, an accomplished Marjolein Robertson makes ’em laugh (and think) straight through to a young Paul Merton-worthy finale.
Show Details
Venue: Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive) – Hive 1
Dates: Jul 30-31 Aug 1-11, 13-25
Showtimes: 17:40
Running Time: 1 hour
Age Recommendation: 16+
Price: From £8
Accessibility
The performance space, ‘Hive 1’, is not wheelchair accessible.
The venue, ‘Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive)’, has provided the following accessibility information: ‘Limited access to some parts of venue site, No wheelchair accessible toilet, No reserved accessible parking, No on street blue badge parking, Assistance dogs welcome in all areas’.
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