What: Luisa Omielan – What Would Beyoncé Do?
When: Tue 28th May – Sat 1st June, Fri 7th – Sat 8th June 2013
Where: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London, W1D 3NE
Getting there: Nearest Tube – Tottenham Court Road
I have a bit of an awkward problem to ‘fess up to. And it’s with female comics.
It’s not that I don’t find women funny; I find women HILARIOUS.
Indeed, I only surround myself with galz who make me laugh – Le Blow itself was born from the tales and tribulations of Our Nadalie‘s faves from the wonderful world wide web.
(FACT: for my ‘mysinglefriend’ profile, instead of an in-depth insight into my character, Nat decided to simply write five words about me. The first letters of which spelt out the word ‘FANNY’. God, we are funny as FUCK).
And I find the ladies hilarz on the telly-box, too. The Smack the Pony girls are still pretty much my life icons, as are French and Saunders, Ab Fab, Catherine Tate, and even *guilty pleasure, DON’T JUDGE alert* Miranda Hart.
But the ol’ female stand-up cliché of self-deprecating LOOK AT ME I’M old/fat/ single/menopausal/ISN’T IT FUNNY shit just doesn’t, really get me going. SWEEPING STATEMENT I know, and really I can only apply this to the handful of stand-ups I have seen. Actually, maybe this says more about me than the entire female stand up community *ducks to dodge rotten fruit and pitchforks*
However, HOWEVER, AYYYYYYYY-MEN for AT LAST I have found not just a phenomenal female stand-up, but also – let’s be honest – a bit of a new girl crush in the form of Luisa Omielan.
Luisa Omielan has just added extra dates to her run at the Soho Theatre due to enormous demand, as well as a sell out Edinburgh fringe tour. Also fave of Le Blow pal Gemma Cairney, she is genuine, hilarious, AND heart-warming. But most importantly SHE IS FUNNY. VERY VERY FUNNY.
Far from self-deprecating, Luisa is, in fact, the opposite: She is bootylicious and she ain’t afraid to show it. Stories of her life/love/friends/break-ups ‘this is my Adele 21, bitches’ WITHOUT being a moaning, whining, MENTAL girl, but also without bashing men. If anything, she offers them advice: “if you want to show your woman some respect, WASH YOUR WILLY”.
All this, peppered with Beyoncé soundbites – “and it was while I was looking in the garden for a suitable sized stick to break up my brothers shit, that I first asked myself… what WOULD Beyoncé do?” – plus a whole lotta bump and wiiiiiiine.
Girl’s got it goin’ ON – anyone who opens a show grindin’ to Rum and Red Bull by Beenie Man, and closing with an impression of a Beyonce cow (you heard) is an out and out LEDGE in our book.
From tales of one night stands to the love of her life, relationships to depression, all while drawing constant parallels between her life and that of the Queen B herself – “my mum makes my costumes too, yeah”, Luisa Omielan is incredibly honest, quite frankly inspirational, and WILL HAVE YOU PISSING YOUR PANTS.
But don’t just take my word for it (I don’t care anyway or sumfink or nuffink) get your ASSES along to see her this week, or next weekend, and bloody let us know what you think!
Visit sohotheatre.com for bookings or follow Luisa on Twitter: @luisaomielan.
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