Zoe Lyons delivers exactly what we have come to expect from her – an hour of fast paced observational humour that’s extremely relatable. Entry Level Human is a slick and polished hour exploring human anomalies – picnic goers who leave detritus on the beach, ‘destroying what they want to enjoy’ and people who listen to music on the bus without headphones. Not to mention voting habits and inspirational memes.
An hour of frenetic and energetic wit that will leave your sides sore.
As the audience pour into her sold-out show, she extends a heart warming and genuine thank you to us for doing a very human thing and choosing to gather together and connect with other people, rather than sit at home downloading things on a variety of technology. This warms us immediately for what comes ahead, as Lyons considers her own life and whether she is actually an entry level human too. This revelation comes after realising she had been wrong for years about her coffee to milk ratio in her flat white, as well as an embarrassing IT incident. And if she could be wrong about this, maybe she’s wrong about everything. It’s this analytical framework, delivered through the mechanism of mature and experienced humour, that takes us safely on an exploratory journey with her as we scrutinise our own realities, anxieties and expectations through stories of menstruating rhinos, zero hour contracts and university showers ankle deep in strangers’ pubes.
A mark of a great comedian is the ability to remain cohesive to the theme of the show, with continual call back references to both the original topic and casual asides linking back to previous quips. Lyons delivers this expertly, and her sketch about the Glaswegian fly is one of the standout moments of the Festival for me so far. As well as providing an hour of slick, side splitting glee, Lyons also leaves us with questions to ponder over our own expectations of ourselves.
Lyons may very well be an entry level human, but she is the antithesis of an entry level comedian. An hour of frenetic and energetic wit that will leave your sides sore.
