Edinburgh Fringe 2022 saw a number of comedians making their long-delayed post-Covid debuts. Ania Magliano was one of the new intake who made a real impact, and she now returns with what you could call the stand-up equivalent of that tricky second album. It is gratifying to report that after setting out her stall last year, her 2023 set confirms that her impressive debut was no fluke.
Magliano is the textbook opposite of an aggressive, in-your-face stand-up. Her style is thoughtful, wry and conversational, swiftly easing you into her mid-twenties world. In I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This she takes on heavier themes about sexual assault, relationships and self-esteem, but with such a light touch that the seriousness only kicks in later.
During the performance itself you will be too busy laughing. Her story centres on the fall-out from a bad haircut. It is an instantly relatable tale, told with subtle skill. Everyone will recognise the process of asking for one thing and getting something entirely different. Magliano even took in a picture of a celebrity with the style she wanted. We’ve all been there.
Needless to say she discussed the trauma – not so much a hair do as a hair don’t – with her therapist. It is not easy when you want to look like someone in Friends and you come out looking more like a runner-up from Crufts. Her therapist put her back on the road to recovery, but there were still a couple of bumps in the road to be overcome.
Magliano, a former member of the Cambridge Footlights, has a keen eye for finding the humour in any scenario and an engaging way of describing things. She calls her smaller toes the entourage of her big toes. She finds the funny side of some recent major surgery. And as for relationships, she has an account of a threesome which is much more comic than erotic.
Despite the hair fixation this is not merely fly-away whimsy, but a pensive piece about Generation Z life carried along on a wave of self-deprecation. At one point she joined an agency to be a companion for lonely older people, but after a few sessions an eighty-something decided they preferred their own company. Which is strange, because judging by this show spending time with Magliano seems like an excellent decision.
