Isobel Rogers: How To Be Content comedy review – Insightful musical comedy
A lot of promise here in this debut which features consistent laughter at her well-observed material

Lyrically intricate and elegantly performed, Isobel Rogers’ Fringe debut is unusually classy musical comedy. Covering both meanings of the term ‘content’, from the anxiousness of a performer to churn out relatable art, to the modern millennial malaise of never feeling at peace, Rogers offers the full scope of her (hopefully) exaggerated life for perusal, in songs that largely eschew hard punchlines for consistent laughs of gentle recognition throughout.
Predominantly whimsical yet on-the-nose singer-songwriter tunes performed on guitar but with a few showtune-style numbers sprinkled between, Rogers channels the familiar archetype of the unhinged musical comic being fully into her relationship, obsessing over her boyfriend's ex, grudgingly accepting his polyamorous plan for them all, while elsewhere lobbying hard for them to live with her mother. The show is bookended by scenes from a wedding, chief among her well-observed characters is the driven but exploited maid of honour.
A love song to therapy, a bittersweet, Sondheim-esque lament to artists’ need to online-advertise every aspect of their lives, and ‘To Baby Or Not Baby’ are the low, tuneful hums of insecurity that carry the show. Though socially insightful, it might be missing the one big, memorable tune to really hang Rogers’ reputation on. But she’s already displaying considerable promise and a sparkling array of skills.
Isobel Rogers: How To Be Content, Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 August, 5.50pm.