Titclown: Daddy’s Little Girl comedy review – Feminine provocation
A gleefully physical show using drag, nudity and absurdity to expose double standards
Daddy issues and nudity are hot topics at the Fringe, but Titclown suggestively touches and successfully subverts both in Daddy’s Little Girl. The opening section is a masterclass in physical comedy, showing our protagonist crawling along the floor in a suit like a sophisticated slug after a long night. She’s circling a suited doppelganger doll on a rocking chair (presumably daddy?) as confessional voice notes about the perils of modern dating narrate the absurd scene. The crowd erupts after a surprise phallic reveal before Titclown starts transforming out of her male drag to wield her true weapon: femininity.
So begins the moral quandary of Titclown. Through performing seemingly simple tasks, she exposes double standards in the way we view male and female bodies. Surely a giant veiny dildo hanging out of a male doll elicits horror in the audience, for example? Wrong! It’s actually watching a woman put on a sanitary towel. Just as momentum is building, she projects a news montage of despicable male public figures. It’s impactful at first but drags on a bit too long, taking us too far away from the real star of the show: our master feminist provocateur Titclown herself.
Titclown: Daddy’s Little Girl, Summerhall, until 31 August, 10.45pm; picture: Rebecca Need-Menear.