Review: Catherine Bohart Spins Lockdown Singledom Into Rip-Roaring Stand-Up

An out-of-the-blue break-up is never easy, but when you also co-hosted a comedy podcast about relationships with your ex? Ouch.

To add insult to injury, points out Catherine Bohart, the podcast was called 'You'll Do', a low-set bar she ultimately failed to reach — plus now she can't even go for a piss in a comedy venue without the former love of her life sneering down at her from a poster.

Still, spending lockdown on her own has taught the peppy Irish comedian new life skills; like it's fine to talk to yourself, so long as you never learn anything new: "If you find yourself saying 'oh really?!' stop talking to yourself."

And Bohart can seek solace in those earnest friends who assure her that new-found singledom will allow her time 'to learn to love herself' (ick); a Zoom therapist who's still got her Christmas tree up in March; and a Don Corleone of dentistry who casually suggests an accident could happen to Bohart's ex's gums ("Drills slip...").

No wheels are reinvented in This Isn't For You; how many shows start along the lines "I just got dumped"? (John Robins even scooped a Perrier for it in 2017). Plus, you can't walk within 10 metres of a comedy venue at the moment without someone shouting out: "Anyone else spend lockdown alone?"

But how can you fail to love Bohart's all-in self-deprecation (even her pubic hair's the wrong colour), rolled in with a fiery, audience-trolling edge which brings the house down every time. To flit between the two is really something.

Catherine Bohart: This Isn't for You, Soho Theatre, from £12, until 12 March.