Edinburgh Fringe review: Lauren Pattison, It Is What It Is

Lauren Pattison

Things haven’t gone fully to plan for Lauren Pattison since her last Fringe appearance, both personally and professionally.

Her new show, It Is What It Is, reflects on goings on over that time and how she began 2020 hoping to get engaged and tour the UK.

Unfortunately, there was a break-up and, well, we all know what happened to comedy shows that year – touring stretched as far as the living room for a Zoom call.

This well-written hour flies by as Pattison looks at the positives and how she’s managed to make the most of being dealt a pretty bad hand.

She tells of her retreat to her hometown of Newcastle during lockdown and getting a job at the local supermarket, hoping that one day she’d return to a promising comedy career that was starting to flourish.

From the freezer to the Fringe: Comedian Lauren Pattison on getting back to the day job

A compelling and likeable storyteller, you immediately find yourself rooting for her – although the fact you’re sitting watching her at the Fringe and not still in the freezer aisle at Morrisons is a bit of a spoiler, at least for how the career part pans out.

This is a perfectly timed show to kick-start a day at the Fringe, often feeling like a catch-up with a colleague during the lunch hour, with plenty in which you can relate to.

Plus, this is a show in which you can be safe in the front row as Pattison admits early on that she simply will not be interacting or making eye contact with anyone near the front.