On a rainy Friday evening in Liverpool city centre, over 700 people pour into a sold-out performance at the Playhouse Theatre, where comedian Bridget Christie would soon be performing her stand-up comedy show Because You Demanded It. As with most live comedy, there's a diverse audience in attendance, but all are united by the same high expectations of a show praised as “Impassioned, moving, and extremely funny”.
Luckily, no one left disappointed.
Christie, best-known for her material on feminism, has been performing stand-up for 14 years. In 2015 the Gloucester-born comedian released A Book for Her; an autobiography with an accessible look at feminism for everyone – and some fart jokes thrown in for good measure. Despite a long career on the comedy circuit, Christie only begun to gain recognition in the past few years, and it’s clear to see that we have all been missing out.
The show begins with an exuberant Christie delighted to have made it to Liverpool, charming the Scouse audience with her love for the city, in spite of a risky declaration that Ringo is her favourite Beatle – a debate for another day. Anecdotes of the city carry on for longer than they should but are welcomed by an audience enjoying some unseen and improvised material.
Crying laughing at Bridget Christie's stand up about feminism
— Suzy Marie (@suzyfringe) March 3, 2017
Once Christie begins, there's a slight disconnect between the revised show and the ad-lib material, making the first few jokes seem stilted in comparison. This soon loosens up and is a meagre blemish on what becomes a poignant comedic performance.
In the first half, Christie presents outlandish stereotypes on what a feminist is; jokes littered with compelling statistics such as, ’35% of women worldwide suffer either physical or mental violence at some point in their lives’, bringing awareness to the true point.
After a 20 minute interval, the audience return from the bar for the second half centred firmly on Brexit. For many remain voters, there's no humour to be found from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. These voters need to go and see Because You Demanded It because Christie successfully throws light on what many view as a hopefless situation.
Brilliant gig by Bridget Christie @crucibletheatre tonight. Every school kid should read the 'Ladybird Book of Brexit"… Genius!
— Dan Fell (@dan_fell) February 21, 2017
Christie brings a new view to what she describes as the bigotry and media conceit that misinformed thousands of voters, delivering this all under the guise of a gardening metaphor. A comedian that caters to both green-fingered and guardian-reading individuals? I know, it’s about bloomin' time.
The emotionally-stirring second half is the perfect note to leave the show on as Christie gives the audience a response to Brexit that they will remember long after the car journey home.
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