Kiwi comic Becky Umbers has a dry, very self-aware humour with plenty of flair: think witty observations about life, relationships and cultural quirks. In Put That Cat Back In The Bag, she tackles everything from horse enthusiasts and ‘train people’ to New Zealand’s famously ‘useless’ national bird, the flightless kiwi (a perfect metaphor for life’s little disappointments). She dissects the oddities of everyday life, finding fun in the mundane, and turns it into comedic gold. Umbers has a knack for detouring into hilarious tangents, only to circle back seamlessly to her original point, leaving the audience both charmed and disarmed.

Straight off the bat, Umbers addresses the elephant in the room: her unmistakable voice. Some might assume its high-pitched, squeaky and helium-esque tone is a put-on for comedic effect. But no, that’s 100% her, and she leans into it with unapologetic confidence. Put That Cat Back In The Bag plays on the idea of keeping personal idiosyncrasies and all that weird stuff about you under wraps until you’ve sussed out the situation. But thankfully Umbers gleefully dumps hers out and lets it run wild. Her performance feels refreshingly genuine, balancing wit with wry self-depreciation. The result? A delightfully offbeat, slightly wacky and wholly winning hour of comedy. 

Becky Umbers: Put That Cat Back In The Bag, Assembly Roxy, until 24 August, 8.40pm.