What do celebrity breakups, hormonal IUDs, vibrators, and commitment issues all have in
common?
The answer is Ania Magliano’s latest Fringe show, Forgive Me, Father.
Magliano is one of the Fringe’s biggest success stories of the last few years. Her 2022 debut show Absolutely No Worries If Not completely sold out its run. She returned last year with I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This and garnered an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination for Best Show. Both shows were sharp, witty and conversational, and her latest production is no exception.
Magliano speaks to her audience as though you’re a close friend catching up over a bottle of wine. Her delivery is confident and familiar, immediately immersing the audience into her performance without the need to ease into it. There’s no need to develop a rapport, because it’s already there. This allows Magliano to spend less time building towards punchlines and more time using humour as a means to examine her life as a young woman in her twenties.
My favourite part of Magliano’s style of comedy is her mastery of narrative tension. Although she does several bits and gets side-tracked into comedic detours, she always returns to the crux of her narrative. In I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This, a bad haircut was actually about a heavier trauma. In Forgive Me, Father, the quest to remove her IUD coil transforms into a story about love, commitment, and vulnerability.
Indeed, if pushed, the main word I would use to describe Magliano as a creator is vulnerable. As well as being wickedly funny, she is also a confessional and bold storyteller. Her comedy is not found in the biggest jokes or craziest sketches, but in her ability to deftly and thoughtfully observe the humour in everyday life. Even when the bits don’t land – and they didn’t all land with me this time – Magliano is always charming and insightful. She speaks with honesty and courage about topics a lesser comedian might avoid.
Forgive Me, Father solidifies Magliano’s future as a star in the UK comedy scene and rightfully places her at the forefront of comedy at the Fringe. Her writing is a joy to experience.
Forgive Me, Father runs daily at 18:40 through August 25 at Pleasance Courtyard.
Image provided by the Pleasance Press Office