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	Gilded Balloon Teviot (venue website) Comedy 1-13, 15-26 Aug, 7:30pm-8:30pm Reviewed by Martin Lennon
Recommended for age 16+ only.

DeAnne Smith’s Livin’ the Sweet Life had a few moments of brilliance, but was a largely disappointing show which failed to build on the positive buzz she has created from previous tours.  For all her good intentions and genuine likeability, the quality of the material was predominantly poor.

Smith’s sexuality – she is a lesbian – formed a huge part of the show, but there was also space for stories ranging from playing with knives to meditation courses.  She also tried to get interactive with the crowd, handing out prizes to a special member of the audience who she wanted to ‘live the sweet life’. To add to the variety of the performance, she also sung some songs on ukulele.

This show in particular was largely defined by Smith’s interaction with one gentleman in the front row, named Eric. She continuously went back to and tried to spark up a conversation with him. It made the show painfully awkward, and it should have been clear to her that it may not have been a great idea to continuously talk to a man who clearly didn’t want to communicate back. Her material was awkward too: a story about knives was very long and had a punchline which was more disgusting than funny, and other ventures into subjects such as gay porn and oral sex just were just disappointing.

The highlight of the show came in the last ten minutes, when she realised time was running out, and she started to rant to get her points across. This was her at her best and funniest, as she was talking about subjects suited to her comedy style, quick jokes about being a vegan or how lesbians like hummus.

Although Livin' the Sweet Life was disappointing on this occasion, I am sure Smith can bring a sweet show to us in the future. There were some positives when she focused on her strengths.  If we could just see a bit more of the charm, and a good deal less of the awkwardness, it would be great.