August 23, 2024 Fringe Review
Recommended Show
Low DownThree Queens from New York. This comedic showcase highlights three very different comedians from three very different parts of New York City. These three women all bring a different style and energy to their comedy, but at the end of the day, it’s all very New York.ReviewThe premise of the show is simple; share a range of black New York lives and culture through three black female comedians from three very different parts of New York City. This aim was admirably fulfilled by Meka Mo, Onika McLean and Glorelys Mora who provided a hugely entertaining hour of stand up and stories to a more than full house on the first Friday night of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Don’t be wrong-footed by the title – these are not the gay male kind of queens, these are New York female queens. This is a very heterosexual show !The show started with Onika McLean dressed as a New York subway police officer barking orders at passengers, which was very apt seeing as we were crammed into this tiny venue at Laughing Horse at Three Sisters (more on the venue later) like sardines in a New York subway carriage. Instantly we realised we were going to be fully immersed in NYC slang, accents and speed of delivery, with no concessions for Europeans less familiar with that lingo. I could keep up (almost always) throughout the hour but a few did not at times.After the subway cop intro, Glorelys Mora took to the tiny stage, just inches from the audience of 30 people. She’s of Dominican heritage but very much a New Yorker. Her slick schtick was both modern and old-fashioned and occasionally cleverly customised to being in Scotland. For example, she understands why Scotland has produced so many stellar writers, “your weather is perfect to write about your pain.” The hilarious modern angles included having a white woman inside her and seeing it as her feminist duty when she has a boyfriend that she must teach and train him “for the next bitch”. The throw backs to pre-feminist thinking and comedy (redolent of Eartha Kitt) surfaced when she owned up to liking guys who paid for everything “I didn’t know he was ugly until he stopped paying for everything.” Even in NYC, old attitudes die hard.Meka Mo was the easiest of the trio to understand. Her delivery is less machine gun and her comedy is more based on storytelling. She shared clear, rich pictures of growing up in such multiculturalism that for years she had no idea there were huge swathes of white only America. She also had UK-specific material when she spoke of her problem with Columbus Day in the US “Christopher Columbus was a rapist who worked for Spain. So, may be you should have a Prince Andrew Day?!” Brave and clever comedy.To end the evening, Onika McLean returned as herself and, despite speaking at breakneck speed in her unadulterated NYC patter, as if she was performing to a local New York audience, most of us followed the tales of her actually being rather respectable, in a long marriage, despite having a teenage daughter who likes to portray herself as a gangsta-rapper. Her routine ranged from dealing with the menopause, racism and the sexual claims of her daughter. Racy and hugely entertaining.All three performers showed their professionalism and experience (no doubt learned in NYC late night comedy shows) being adept at dealing with a very annoying rather drunk lesbian, bragging she was on a first date. She soon shut up when each comedian (yes she tried with each) closed her down nicely but firmly. A masterclass in dealing with hecklers without losing the audience.The show mixes universal themes that we can all identify with, along with uniquely NYC challenges, realities and idiosyncrasies. Together this gives us a flavour of many of the realities of living in different parts and cultures of the Big Apple as black women; somethings we knew already but there discoveries too. Job done! Click Here For Article