Laura Levites: American Girlfriend

“Come closer. C’mon.  I’m really nice” she says, before declaring she doesn’t like herself, and apologising for being American. But the audience likes her, laughing with her as she discusses a recent long-distance relationship and some extraordinary associated pitfalls.

Within this she covers topics as diverse as lesbian home-wreckers, British accents, immigration policies and artificial foreskins, and sometimes all in the same sentence. She rolls with a couple of heckles, referring to her comebacks later in the show, and this is obviously a honed act.  She moves between topics smoothly but it’s her enthusiasm and her (quite brutal) honestly which keep us engaged more than anything else. Even when some jokes fall flat she won’t accept it, instead blaming us (“come on, people, stop being so sensitive. I know that was funny!”), and at times I think she’s probably right.

A lot of this might not be new, but her delivery and charm carry it off. If anything, the show may be a few minutes too long to sustain this energy, but that’s not a massive criticism. A very funny girl, this is a free show which could set up any fine day at the Fringe.