Desiree Burch: This is Evolution

It took about 4,000 million years for the earliest life forms to turn into humans. It took about 200 years for mechanical adding machines to turn into smartphones. And it then took about five seconds for guys to start taking pictures of their dicks and sending them to strangers. 

Desiree Burch has received more than her fair share of anonymous cocks. In fact the poster for this show—a montage of penis pics reassembled into her own face—won the people’s choice category at this year’s Edinburgh Comedy Poster Awards. (So if she looks familiar…)

Desiree takes this, and so many other slights, in her stride. It’s this level of understanding that allows her to cope as a large black American woman in Britain. Even our racism is behind the curve, apparently. Not that she has to be happy about it, and most of the best lines in This is Evolution are pitched somewhere between anger and exasperation.

The top deck of the Blundabus isn’t much space to dominate, but Burch plays it like it’s ten times as big. It’s impressive to be both forceful and personal when you’re this close to the audience, and the jokes are funny enough to win over the naughty boys at the back.

It’s an appropriately grubby venue for a cheekily grubby show, which only loses its way when Burch loses track of her theme. This is Evolution is not revolutionary and it won’t change much overnight, but it’s definitely worth your time.