Viv Groskop: Vivalicious

• Brian Donaldson
• 13 August 2018

This article is from 2018

credit: Steve Ullathorne

How to find your best self in a world of chaos

Viv Groskop's devotion to Oprah Winfrey is abundantly clear. A celebrity whose self-help message resonated with Groskop is nonetheless shown to be massively vain given a quick scan of the covers from her own magazine, which feature, seemingly every month, one Ms Winfrey. And even when she shares space on the front, it's either with a bunch of dogs or other versions of herself.

Inspired (or in her telling, more bullied) by a producer into changing the title of her show from the more Radio 4-friendly Russian Doll to the rather spunkier Vivalicious, Groskop eventually comes to terms with this forced alteration and tries to embrace her less restrained side. But is it even possible to find your best self when the world is constantly watching or winding you up? Was Melania Trump thinking about her best self while going on a humanitarian visit to the US-Mexico border wearing a jacket that actually read: 'I really don't care. Do U?'

During her childhood, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People was a set text in the Groskop household. While she is good company for an hour, Groskop hasn't made enough friends with punchlines to carry her show through without a struggle.

Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 13), 4.10pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).