MARIA SHEHATA is at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her show Hero which combines comedy with storytelling.
[star rating =2/5]
In Hero the US comedian discusses her relationship with her parents who are of Egyptian heritage, her life in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, travel in Europe, flatmates, past relationships and religion.
It is a chronological story of Maria’s life from birth until now.
She starts off very strongly, engaging with her small audience at the very beginning and getting to know them one by one.
Unfortunately the noise of the fan in the room at the Gilded Balloon venue at Old Tollbooth Market made it very difficult for her to hear anyone beyond the second row.
The show takes a steady decline in quality from start to finish and gradually the audience lost enthusiasm for Maria’s jokes, making for a rather awkward atmosphere.
Roughly halfway through the performance on Tuesday evening (20 Aug) two people actually left.
Hero is centered around a storytelling but it is also promoted as a comedy and regrettably Maria simply didn’t satisfy the expectation which that brings.
