REVIEW: The Best Girl In The World (Dublin Fringe Festival)

Star rating: ★★★★

After her run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Irish stand-up comedian Sophia Wren is performing her show The Best Girl in the World at her home base in Dublin as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival, running until September 19th. Based on her own life, the show is filled with sharp humor and great audience interaction that results in many very funny moments.

The start sets you on the edge of your chair, making you curious about what the show will include as she starts behind a white curtain with only her shadow visible. While your focus might occasionally wander during the performance, it snaps right back because the jokes are so well timed that you stay locked in. Curiously, a doll hung around the microphone where she was speaking; it took me a minute to figure out what it represents.

At the end, the show takes a turn when she reaches the most important piece of the show: the lows. The way she packs us all in and makes us all fall completely silent is very hard to do, but Sophia accomplishes that without any effort. It is really interesting to experience how silent she can make the room, especially contrasted with the jokes she told previously.

After this dark moment, she lands a joke that hits just right: “I just made that all up” causing the audience to start laughing again while still feeling the heavy emotions. It makes you question whether it is all real or not, even though it is genuinely based on her own life. Bringing up stories from her childhood diary also brings us back to our own youth and the time we used a diary ourselves. Having Americans in the venue added an extra layer, and the interactions between them and Sophia were so good.

The beauty of solo shows is that you can see a typical production multiple times and always experience a different version, even though the core story remains the same. The audience makes a huge impact as well, and Sophia’s ability to play into the vibe of the room, interact with us, and improvise bits is a truly strong part that makes her show so special.

The best girl in the world in part of the dublin fringe festival and is playing at Bewley's Café Theatre until 19th september.
more information can be found: https://www.fringefest.com/festival/whats-on/the-best-girl-in-the-world