You can see why Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes themed her show around parties – specifically, a house party she threw to celebrate the end of social distancing. With a party for a personality, the Londoner is all ebullience and bonhomie; a classic comedy MC, in fact. That’s not always the skill set you need to make a great solo show, but Sikisa (her stage name) has a good stab at it with this fringe debut, which uses the shindig conceit to introduce herself, and the things she cares about, to a receptive crowd.
Life of the Party starts in lockdown, with our host shuddering to recall her experiences partying on Zoom. She “came out of the pandemic wanting to celebrate life”, and is soon hosting (at someone else’s house) an in-person soiree with jerk chicken, rice and peas – and blue cheese for the white people. We’re teed up to expect a comedy of manners about guest etiquette, eating versus nibbling, and why Tupperware is the essential party accessory. But that’s not quite what Sikisa delivers, instead using a handful of the guests present (the annoying vegan; the needling friend) to segue into set pieces on immigration (Bostwick-Barnes also works as an immigration lawyer), race and dating.
