Review: Lou Sanders – Shame Pig

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This year’s show Shame Pig sees Lou Sanders present a more stripped back affair. She’s left behind most of the props that are usually evident in a Sanders show. In fact it’s pretty much just the “brain of shame” there to remind Sanders of past incidents where she has embarrassed herself. Some of them are corkers, from the appearance of her vulva to a potentially embarrassing moment with a shaman. But she’s not going to be shamed by any of them.

It’s a reminder of just how good a straight stand up Sanders is. Minus the props she turns to blending the confessional with the polemic. Sharing a combination of the wonderfully outrageous anecdote—she’s a fearless over-sharer—with some pretty dark aspects of her life so far, yet her skill is evident in that the laughs are big and consistent throughout.

It’s due in part to her breezy delivery. She maintains her trademark jingles and sound cues and her giggly, ditzy demeanour. “Sounds really bad doesn’t it,” she laughs as if confessing to taking the last Malteser in the packet. In fact she's telling us that her dad would fake his own death to get out of his responsibilities.

Now at an age where she finally feels comfortable in her own skin, this is a joyous embracing of her eclectic life – a world of stand up, opportunity and surprising sexual encounters with guys from LA. Altogether she conjures a feeling of strength and a celebration of all those messy things that happen in life. And don’t anyone dare to shame her for any of it.