It is always refreshing to see a young female comedian on the circuit. It feels lacking (when hasn’t it been for females) so being invited to this show was exciting.

Pernille Haaland, as the name suggests (and as she tells us), is a Norwegian-British comedian whose set features around this, around Scotland (as that’s where we are) but also life as an unapologetic millennial in 2024 – something I resonate deeply with.

She is welcoming and interactive, which is always difficult for comedians and with a British crowd who’d rather you didn’t speak or look at them and she does well to break these walls down. With any reluctance, she has a quip and way to keep momentum which is very well executed and could be nerve wracking to many.

As I say, I resonated much with her topics – dating (and no barriers to her experiences in this), getting older, women’s medical issues and everything beyond and in between. For me, the comedy came much from this acknowledgement in a kind-of “I get it” concept. She is openly not knowledgeable about marriage or lesbian relationships, of which the crowd contains a few and so her humour leans on this. But there are times when her openness and likeability comes across as nerves and followed by a nervous laughter. Understandable, but it felt a little like she was running through her set at a million miles an hour. I mostly wanted to hug her and tell her to breathe and that she was doing great.

It is clear that Haaland is certainly an up and come-er. Her no-holding back approach to life and her content is refreshing in a world where females are still told to be quiet and not so crude. She just needs some more confidence in herself and to pace the set to hook the audience at a state of ease.