Katia Kvinge: Squirrel

• Emma Newlands
• 11 August 2016

This article is from 2016

Chaos and introspection make for a contrasting show

Katia Kvinge is half-Norwegian, half-American, and plays up the contrast, which may help explain why she's decided to perform two differing shows in one hour. One part is fun, if exhausting impressions, singing and all-out crowdpleasing; the second section is a more intriguing confessional side, with each giving further insight into the other. It's all delivered with genuine charm.

The impressions are mostly unnervingly accurate: her Judy Garland is not the only occasion she seems to be channelling a golden age Hollywood starlet. 'I love watching old-time movies,' she even says at one point. Everything, especially the mania of her delivery, starts to becomes a little clearer when she talks about difficulties from her own upbringing, why she started doing stand-up, and choosing to see her personality as being like a squirrel rather than what others think is attention-deficit disorder.

This is at times an overbearing, oversharing hour, but a highly entertaining one from a performer who's been working with the likes of US comedy troupe the Groundlings. As it was once said about Garland: 'just give her a stage and a spotlight, and get out of the way'.

Gilded Balloon at the Counting House,until 29 Aug (not 16), 3pm, £5 or Pay What You Want.