Reality Check

“It's important to laugh, but not too hard, at black jokes.” Thus recent BBC Talent finalist Athena Kugblenu begins, in typically direct style, bracing us for a front-footed Fringe debut about multicultural Britain. She's called it Reality Check, foregrounding “a long, hard look at herself” – and our society.

Her material is pretty strong and always interesting. Kugblenu grew up mixed race in 1980s East Finchley – where, she reminds us, Margaret Thatcher was then MP. The daughter of a Guyanese mother and Ghanaian father—“when I say that, most people think they're the same country"—she's been different since birth, when she was already “the only black person in the room”. She sweeps across race relations with intelligence and wit, mining her personal experiences for humour and social relevance. 

This is her first Fringe show, and it shows at times. Her delivery is occasionally hesitant, and some punchlines are stronger in writing than performance. She has a lot to say, but hasn't quite worked out how to pick and choose her observations and opinions for maximum impact in forming a fully-fledged argument.

Ultimately Reality Check is what it is: a toe-in-the-water free Fringe show by a standup with a lot of promise, but still shy of finding her own voice. As Kugblenu says herself, it's a learning experience: she's her own “sound girl, lighting girl, front-of-house, back-of-house girl.” But if she can build on this, she may well make a beloved Fringe regular of the future.