Sarah Milican - Chatterbox
Published: Tuesday 20th December 2011
"Now is probably a good time to tell you that I am a lot ruder than I am on the telly". She isn't lying. Sarah Milican is one of those rare comedians who manages to be both sweet and filthy at the same time.
A lot of it's down to the voice. Speaking for the most part in a high pitched South Shields accent, Milican occasionally suddenly deepens her voice to good effect. It's a winning formula enabling her to broaden her repertoire to include 'nice' topics like bath bombs and shopping to 'darker' one like spiked drinks and anal sex.
True, as with many female comedians, Milican frequently reverts to the self effacing topics of eating, dieting and male genitalia, expanding this slightly to include some background on her life today. She has a boyfriend and a divorce in her back history: as recently as six years ago she was still married and doing a job she hated. There's no problem with the act, however, Milican's material is good and she herself is likable and funny. There's also some enjoyable interaction with the audience from this performance at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London as she poses such questions as "Has anyone ever broken anything during sex?"
The DVD 'bonus features' are largely skipable. Her Royal Variety Show performance largely consists of (cleaner) versions of material used in the show reviewed above. Sarah's Top Five Tips For Divorcees just make Sarah seem slightly less funny than usual and even a little bitter. The best bonus is an interview with Sarah conducted by the less well known but up-and-coming comedian Joe Lycett. The two are clearly friends and have a good rapport, but even this drags by the end.
This is nevertheless an excellent addition to this year's canon of stand-up DVDs and, if nothing else, explains how Sarah managed to scoop a deal to produce her own series with the BBC.
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