Tom Clayton
This debut hour from Jessie Nixon has you laughing from start to finish. In a gag packed hour, she fires the punchlines at you relentlessly rarely leaving room for pause. Throughout the show she tackles misogyny, how you’re perceived and that you’re already the best and asks us not to live in a way which you will look back on and regret.
Born in 1996 she is a millennial but clearly part of the internet generation, Jessie is constantly shortening phrases Platty Jubes style. She at times speaks very Gen Z but always in an ironic sense highlighting that she’s in with the youth and knows their language. With a young audience, this went down incredibly well.
As you go through the set each bit has the running theme of perception both from others and of yourself. Touching on classics of mother-daughter relationships and the messages she gets from men online, Jessie tackles it by highlighting the stupidity of the way we often think. One example is when she met up with her friend and her friend was cat-called and Jessie thought “oh why wasn’t I?” and then “wait I don’t want to be so why am I jealous of it happening to her”. It’s this way of thinking that Jessie challenges us on and forces the audience to rethink what we actually want and maybe it should never be external validation.
She dips in and out of reading poetry during the show, the first time she has turned messages from a man online into a poem. Leaving pauses for the gaps between the messages arriving, building in speed as he became more desperate. The later 2 anthologies touch on her hatred towards men and then feeling good in yourself. She dims the lights and gets out the air freshener to help create the mood of a late-night jazz bar. With jazz playing over the top feels very like an antithesis to poetry that is then read aloud. It’s a great way to break up the show and the use of the audience to continually add the ‘fog’ on behind did add an lovely extra element to the show.
As she comes to the end of the show Jessie ties the whole piece together by saying that this isn’t a show about self help or being better but that you are already the best and, in her words, ‘you’re already hot’ – so stop wasting this time and go out and enjoy it. It’s a fantastic sentiment to end on and refreshing change from all the other messages you see these days.
Hilarious, witty and clever, you’ll leave with sore cheeks and feeling empowered.
Recommended Drink: Pornstar Martini, a fun and funky drink that’s a favourite of younger people.
You can catch Jessie Nixon: Don;t Make Me Regret This from the 12th to the 24th at The Crate at Assembly George Square from 19:20 (1 hour). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake Mace
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
