Who am I?, the late 2021 tour by Bridget Christie, like many tours currently taking place, was originally supposed to happen last year. While it may be stretching a point to call this limbo period beneficial for the Gloucestershire-born comedian, during it she has turned 50, meaning she can be described as that age in the context of her show, Who Am I?: a menopausal march through myriad ailments and complaints brought on by the passage of time. Would audiences have accepted this from a mere 49-year-old? We will never know.
Lasting the thick end of three months and finishing shortly before Christmas, Bridget Christie’s itinerary is not for the faint-hearted, or people unwilling to drive from, say, Aberystwyth to Leicester during the day. Neither is it her first rodeo, of course, building on 2018’s What Now?, Who Am I? is her 13th fully realised standup show. Some of those have also toured the UK, others have been more residential – A Bic For Her, from 2013 and probably Christie’s best-known material, first found life as the proverbial Edinburgh smash. Earlier this year she presented a four-part Radio 4 series, Mortal, consisting of gnomic musings on existence and beyond recorded at home as, seemingly, voice memos. Its comedic mix of insularity and insight will hopefully be reflected in this set.
Bridget Christie Who am I? Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Sat 18 Sept; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Mon 1 Oct
Tickets: ÂŁ20 (Cardiff); ÂŁ18.50 (Aberystwyth). Info: Cardiff; Aberystwyth
words NOEL GARDNER photos NATASHA PSZENICKI