Honestly, I had expected that I probably wouldn’t enjoy this comic and I was unfortunately proved correct. Although full of enthusiasm and obvious potential, her sketches lacked the kind of polish and control you come to expect from professional stand-ups.
The first signs of rot are evident from the beginning with Kim displaying a lack of research in translating America humour to Edinburgh. There are always difficulties, but jokes about brand names and products that don’t exist in Britain suggest a certain lack of dedication to detail and is somewhat irritating, as joke after joke inevitably sails over the heads of much of the audience.
Moving on, the focus of the show was on Tina Kim herself, her background as a Korean-American woman, her parents, her life thus far, and, as it states in the title, her single status. Putting the two cultures in opposition allows her to poke fun at both, to generally satisfactory effect, but with much repetition the joke does wear thin.
Stories of her parents and their relationship are too often exactly how everyone is with their parents and so don’t possess enough edge to warrant the depth of inclusion in her sketches. Finally, she falls into the trap of so many female comics by unceasing reference to the many faults of men. It’s not that I don’t agree with her observations, but that’s sort of the point as a woman you know it all already, and as a man you’re tired of hearing it. And when those faults have already been analysed to death and been made fun of in the smarter, more contextual environment of modern TV shows like ‘Ally McBeal’ and ‘Sex and the City’, it’s hard to come up with a new angle.
While Kim’s nervousness was apparent, she still made good recovery from the absence of audience response, even if accompanied by impromptu comments to herself. However, given that it was a preview show and therefore subject to change, it is to be imagined that the audience’s reactions will affect some of these flaws. A more confident act would give support to audience participation (she is currently a little too timid) and also add some of the much-needed polish to the performance.
2/5
Brid-Aine Conway
