Maureen Langan @ The Stand
Maureen Langan's show is an intriguing look at role models and America
Kim Kardashian has a book deal and Maureen Langan doesn’t. Who’s to blame? This is the question on Langan’s mind and in Daughter of a Garbage Man she looks for answers. It’s a commanding performance, delivered with authority – she’s a former broadcast journalist – and this is a show that’s ultimately scathing about modern American values.
She also explores her upbringing in the South Bronx and pays a touching tribute to her parents; a father in waste disposal with a tendency to drink, and a mother who embodies Catholic guilt. In the end she provides a moving meditation on repression, whether class-related, religious or gender-based. And then there’s Kim. An obvious target, but Langan makes it work, scathing about the Kardashians and the message they send to young girls in America. How can you comfortably walk in your own shoes when such a role model is so clearly an invented character?
Langan’s at her best when she’s animated, suggesting that committing murder might legitimately be the quickest route to stardom and waving her hand manically while lecturing the audience about the semi-colon. It’s not the most immaculately structured show, but it succeeds in the end, contrasting the modern world’s celebrity status obsession with her own parents’ struggle.
Maureen Langan: Daughter of a Garbage Man, The Stand Comedy Club 5, 4-28 Aug (not 15), 10.15pm, £7-9