The Girl Before the Girl You Marry, Amy Gledhill calls her new show, which traces a life of watching ex-boyfriends swiftly get hitched. Audiences will, I suspect, offer her a long-term commitment of their own after this solo debut, which could hardly be more endearing. Gledhill has fringe previous as one half of nonsense northern sketch duo The Delightful Sausage. The blunt and bubbly persona survives intact from that act, as the Hull native invites us into her life as a “human property developer”, fixing up men before relinquishing them – at little profit, alas – to their next owners.
If that metaphor suggests a degree of coyness in Gledhill’s approach to the material, forget it. She has a squeaky dog-toy concealed in her bra, to make her boobs honk: this isn’t a genteel comedian. One anecdote finds teenage Amy dancing for a royal audience, and a breast breaking loose from her strapless leotard. Another finds her locking eyes with her boyfriend, who’s having a sit-down pee while she tries to enjoy her romantic bath.
