Review: Catherine McCafferty: (Not) That Bad, Fringe 2024

Upon making her way to (Not) That Bad, Birdy discovered The Mash House for the first time, and amidst this super cool venue, the show was… actually okay.

Another new (to me) comedian, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I stepped into The Mash House for Catherine’s show, but I was greeted with warmth and a dress compliment, so it was off to a good start!

The format

When I sat down, the first thing I noticed was this sort-of clothes line with various interesting topics written on them. I wasn’t sure if we were going to go through each of these topics in order, or whether the audience would choose one; we soon found out it was the former.

In traditional standup style, Catherine slickly took us through each of these topics in a smooth narrative, without ever needing to look back at what they actually were. However, it would become apparent why they were important towards the end of the show.

The vibe

Catherine’s got a good stage presence, and she takes you on a journey through various key and sometimes traumatic events in her life, all the while using dark humour because… sometimes you just have to laugh.

There’s an undercurrent of sadness, with themes of coming out of the closet, breakups, alcoholism, and death – and even an incest joke thrown in there.

The show itself

The description of this show is ‘dark comedy’, but I didn’t find myself or the audience really belly laughing at a lot of Catherine’s material. It felt more polite, yes we’re on your side, chuckling as the comedian uses various sad autobiographical life events to derive her comedy from.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some funny moments… mostly the part where Catherine describes how she shat herself on a plane, and her awkward first hand job. But her first heartbreak, or when she watched her dad dying (too young) didn’t quite land for me.

For me, the best part of (Not) That Bad comes when Catherine revealed what’s on the other side of those cards. It takes guts to be so honest and raw with the audience, so for that I really admire her.

I just feel like this show could be funnier, but with the sadness of some of the subject matter, it’s difficult for me to say how – and I guess that’s not my job at the end of the day.

Overall

I didn’t research McCafferty before this show, so I went in not having a great idea of what to expect; the very minimum I was expecting was comedy.

I felt that although there were some genuinely funny moments, the show could do with a bit of development, with some of the audience reaction feeling a bit forced and at times a little awkward.