EdFringe Review: Melanie Bracewell: Attack of the Melanie Bracewell

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First, a wee disclaimer: I’m an immense fan of Melanie Bracewell, ever since coming across some of her legendary contributions to social media over lockdown. I was prepared to be disappointed…but I most certainly wasn’t.

Melanie is every bit as engaging in person as on the smallest of screens, her wide smile and tall, lean presence command a room. “This is a Maxi dress” she assures the audience, gesturing to her knee-length skirt.

What I didn’t expect was a story of theft, intrigue, and pursuit to underpin this hour of good-natured merriment. In fact, I enjoyed the reveal so much, I’m not going to share it with you. Go discover it for yourself!

Around this central tale Melanie weaves in other snippets from her life around the time of her adventure. Contraceptive services operate slightly differently in New Zealand – in some respects being reminiscent of a certain famous Swiss chocolate. Melanie’s remembered surprise is shared by the audience in so many choked gasps of laughter.

Melanie’s opening, however, is a thing of glory, as she relates her misadventures in not sharing her e-mail address with the world. She’s come with visual receipts just to drive home the full measure of her failure.

If you, like me, have caught some of Melanie’s previous performances via the aforementioned social media, you’ll recognise one or two small bits of the set, but they remain funny, such is the quality of her delivery and the mirth of the naive audience about you.

However, believe me when I say that the central narrative of ‘Attack of the Melanie Bracewell’ is podcast-worthy, is bolstered by some remarkable video diaries, and has a better-than-usual-reality ending. As George Galloway once said to Saddam Hussein, ‘I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability, and I want you to know that we are with you.’ Well, at least for an hour if you’re sensible enough to get a ticket!

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