Reviewing the reviewers

I've had three reviews of my show this year (excluding bloggers and tweeters, etc), all of them four stars.  Here are some of the quotes you might see on next years flyers "the verve with which she articulates her views on our land is monumental" (Broadway Baby), " an inclusive and important narrative on our society." (ScotsGay), "an engaging personality and an eloquent speaker, it is little wonder that she is much in demand in the media" (one4review.com).

And here are some of the things I'm less likely to put on posters... "A left-wing, atheist, ultra-feminist comedienne performing a politically fuelled stand-up show sounds daunting to say the least. However, if you descend into the depths of Ciao Roma expecting a flaming, uneducated, soapbox rant about how all men are bastards and how David Cameron is almost certainly a reptile you will be pleasantly surprised" (Broadway Baby), "Nor is this a humourless hard-going lecture." (ScotsGay), "Don’t expect an all out assault on men" (one4review.com).

Seriously, there is not a single reviewer in the whole of Edinburgh (not even you, ScotsGay, I had higher hopes) who can hear the word "feminist" without immediately concluding that my show will be (1) not funny and (2) about how men are all bastards? Really? Frankly with that expectation doing the rounds it does explain why no other reviewers (national papers, Chortle, List, Fest, Skinny, where were you?!) came to the show... 

Of course it's tempting fate in many ways to complain about four-star reviews. I was really really proud of my show this year though, it was easily the best thing I've ever written, so you'll have to excuse me for wondering if someone had actually come to review it with an open mind or even a positive attitude towards women's rights and equality (I know!), I might have really deserved five stars?!