Rachel Parris: Best Laid Plans

Rachel Parris nearly made me cry. There it is. After 40 minutes of very serviceable chat and musical comedy, she drops a moment of beautiful, witty pathos which seems to come out of nowhere to make hairs stand on end and lumps stick in throats.

In truth, she's done the hard work to get us there. A collection of songs and reflections on life as a precarious 30-something, the set is punctuated with readings from an email exchange with the Samaritans. It provides a nice dramatic sweep, and allows Parris to gently introduce weightier issues, with moments of insight and anxiety punctuating the generally breezy tone. Her delivery, too, is nicely weighted, managing a contrast between general positivity and flashes of spiky misanthropy. So we get comedy, we get frustration – and out of that springs the emotional money shot.

This isn't an hour without its issues. A bit of early reliance on getting nostalgic risks straying into hack, 'I remember the nineties'territory. And it's unclear why Parris has chosen two mic positions. Other than facilitating dead spots while she moves between the two, and feeling a little at times iike a contrived Mock the Week game, it adds little. Also, pre-recorded backing tracks are fine, but the ones that allow Parris to play along on the piano are simply much more of an engaging live experience. That said, Parris ought really release 'Hen Do on a Train' as a single.