STEPH ARITONE: EXCELF-ESTEEM - REVIEW

I literally have it in my Twitter bio that I like spreadsheets, so a comedy show about spreadsheets felt like compulsory viewing for me. Unfortunately/fortunately, this show isn’t entirely about spreadsheets, but Steph Aritone’s attempts to showcase aspects of her life through the medium of Excel-generated graph is nevertheless entertaining.

The show has a great concept that differentiates it from other shows – I really like that Aritone is using her data analyst background to create a show that feels unique. It allows fairly familiar topics that have been mined for comedy (e.g. The joys of single life, anxiety about being normal, and the fun of ageing) by other shows to be explored from a different perspective with a fresh framing device.

Aritone also appears completely at home on stage. You feel like you’re in safe hands throughout the show which, especially for the Free Fringe, is always welcome. Special praise must go to her pronunciation of the word ‘marijuana’.

There is an argument to be had that the hands you’re in might be a smidge too safe as there are times the show feels overly scripted, and could have benefited from being a little bit looser. It would also be good to see Aritone cover some topics that are less conventional for comedy. For example, something that was touched on in the show was how she’s treated as a woman in data science. I’d love to see topics like this explored more. Combining unconventional topics with the existing unconventional framing device really could make for something very special.

Overall, a very entertaining way to spend 45 minutes. If you’re looking for slightly unconventional stand-up comedy, this would be a great show to go and see, especially if you’re a fan of spreadsheets (Also, if you fall into the latter category, please be my friend – thanks!)

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