“Beautifully Chaotic”: Jessica Fostekew at Leadmill

When we spoke to Jessica Fostekew back in January, she called herself a ‘chaos lady’ and her Leadmill show last night confirmed her self-assessment. The important thing, though, is that it’s not a bad thing.

Don’t let the beautifully chaotic energy fool you, though. Fostekew knows what he’s doing and holds the camera skillfully.

On an empty stage, with self-deprecating humor and tension-breaking silliness, Fostekew deftly leads us through stories and ideas, with absurd tangents softening the more intransigent themes without escaping them. Her years of experience as a comic are evident as she takes fans through silliness, seriousness, and are-they-off-the-cuff-or-is-she-just-good-at-showing off-the-cuff flows of conscience. She very rarely loses the audience – and on the odd occasion she turns that into a joke too.

Hannah Gadsby is famous Douglas show let the world in on the secret of comedians building and releasing tension in their audience, and Jessica demonstrates this cleverly as she pursues a controversial opinion to come throughout the show, testing us by mixing quite confrontational material with diversions around Married at First Sight (I’m a fan) and Gladiators (unusual, for a lesbian, I’m not so much).

Temperament it’s a political show, but it’s not uncomfortably serious. It’s personal while not feeling intrusive. It’s really funny and watching a comedian with the experience, insight and honesty of Jess Fostekew is a pleasure.

There’s always a slight anxiety about going to a stand-up show to see a comedian you know mostly through snippets on social media, but with Jessica Fostekew, the audience has nothing to worry about. Her experience and delivery quickly ensure you are in safe hands so you can relax and enjoy the laughs.