1000 Tiny Birds

Party

Assembly George Square Studios, 2023-08-11

Party is one of my absolute favourite gigs that runs in Bristol (when it actually does run these days, what with Pravanya and Imogen having both moved out of the city), and so it’s a delight to see them running it weekly at the Fringe this year, especially after last year’s… technically flawed debut (sorry). In tonight’s show, they’re reprising the Bridgerton theme from last year in Bristol, happily one I missed at the time, so this is new to me. An excellent opening video kicks us off, with some fun audience interaction. But ultimately, underneath it all, Party is a mixed bill and as such lives and dies by the quality of the mixed bill - an adjective which is sadly accurate this time around. Other than to broadly comment that maybe it’s time to accept the fact that most American comedians simply are not funny, let’s focus on the positives. Alex Mason is an unpredictable whirlwind and I’m honestly unsure how much of her personality is an act or not. She is brilliant. Chloe Petts as headliner brings us smoothly onto shore, forcing George to feed her sips of beer when she’s happy with a punchline. It’s remarkable to see the difference a safe pair of hands can make.