Review, Horses, Elf Lyons, Pleasance Courtyard, Ed Fringe, By Hannah Goslin

 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Elf Lyons is a name I’ve heard around for a long time. All good things, I promise. And is a performer I’ve wanted to see for a long time. So it’s safe to say, I went into this completely blind but very curious.

Lyons welcomes each person at the door which is lovely and unexpected; she is endearing and lovely and already in her clown make up. To do this for each person of this most likely sold out crowd is something in itself.

What comes to pass is every level of absurd, ridiculous, hilarious, dark humoured and insane. And I loved every second. The couple next to me, American tourists, asked if I had seen her before and when I said I hadn’t, they told me they had seen this show as a work in progress and that it would “change my life”. God, weren’t they right.

Lyons takes us through a whistle stop tour of horses, what they did and do for humans, their mythical stories, but retells these in her own way. Pegasus gets new shoes but he’s also going through puberty and so this, while physicality made to look horse-like, comes across in the typical teenage angst. Made up characters boarder stereotypes slightly but again, the way that Lyons embodies them each, physically, vocally, facially is all very different, and entirely her own.

Each story is like a little sketch and each is full of dark, dark humour. And she doesn’t go for the obvious; her tales are her own and absolute comedy genius. To be honest, without all these clever and well formulated stories and characters, Lyons just trotting around for an hour could have kept me entertained alone.

Elf Lyons Horses is unique but comedy perfection and not short of a genius show.

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