The Fringe show Chaos in the Avocado Aisle- 99 Middle Class Problems perfectly fit its title as it detailed a variety of extremely middle class first world issues. Although, one may argue that matters such as the correct pronunciation of Moët falls into an upper-class problem…
The show consisted of three comedians lamenting over their crushing hardships, which included giving off a “bake-off vibe”, not having a lido close by to your house, and having to move to northern England. Whilst one comedian was from Bradford, the other two comedians did appear to have problems which are particularly associated with southerners. Consequently, as a northerner myself, many of these jokes just fell flat, however I can see how this would have been appealing to other members of the audience.
The crowd work was handled impeccably as members of the audience shared how difficult their lives are. This included various problems with electric bins and boiling water taps, as together the crowd acted as a support group for such devastatingly middle-class issues.
At times these conversations did hit a slight sore spot as they did embody a ridiculously entitled tone, yet the comedians hosting managed to spin these moments of tension back into satirical wit. The level of self-awareness that the comedians had about their middle-class nonsense was vital to the show being successfully funny, rather than jarring and out of touch like it could have been.
Furthermore, the personable nature of all three comedians evoked an intimate atmosphere as you truly felt that you began to know them. It was easy to become increasingly absorbed into their middle-class world where the biggest problem is an avocado going off before it can be crushed with chilli flakes and pink Himalayan sea salt to smear it across a piece of sourdough toast.
Overall, Chaos in the Avocado Aisle- 99 Middle Class Problems is a witty show which cleverly acknowledges its ridiculousness in a manner to facilitate humour rather than quash it.
Chaos in the Avocado Aisle- 99 Middle Class Problems is running until 9 August at The Garage at PBH’s Free Fringe at BrewDog Lothian Road.
Buy tickets here.
Image courtesy of Claire Cox, provided to The Student as press material.