Spawn and Die

Delivered in the style of a lecture, Spawn and Die's shortfall of laughs makes it feel more like an academic monologue than perhaps is healthy

★★
archive review (edinburgh) | Read in About 1 minute
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121329 original
Published 06 Aug 2007

The world is coming to an end: capitalism, greed, envy, war and jealousy are destroying humanity and the planet. The solution? Hugs and oral sex, and more homosexuality. Such is the premise of this show by MTV’s Susan McIntosh, which encourages us to love and lap up our fellow men and women.

Delivered in the style of a lecture, Spawn And Die’s shortfall of laughs makes it feel more like an academic monolgue than perhaps is healthy. You might even find yourself raising your hand to ask questions. Discussing our evolutionary wrong turns (we’re descended from the wrong monkeys, apparently) and showing us photos of all her failed relationships, Spawn And Die slowly begins to feel less like comedy and more like McIntosh working through her sexual frustrations.

Sure we can all relate, and we all like hugs and oral sex, but McIntosh seems genuinely too uncomfortable with the fact that she’s not a gay man for some jokes to come easily. She is a competent performer, filling the stage with her gesticulating, impressions and songs, but occasional stumbling and fumbling of her lines imply that even she is concious of the weakness of her script.