Creating a show that maintains a certain level of levity expected of stand-up whilst also hitting certain emotional notes is not an easy balance to achieve. Ruby Carr’s Bite Me is an example how such a balance can be achieved well.
Over the course of Bite Me, Carr talks about her experiences with dental and mental health professionals and treatment. The show predominantly follows a narrative that is interspersed with abrupt tangents that although act as a temporary distraction to Carr’s story, aren’t entirely unwelcome. It is in these silly vignettes that Carr particularly thrives, whether she is trying out her various chat up lines or treating us to her Golden Age Hollywood impression. It’s a lively show of predominantly straight stand-up with the odd deviation into prop comedy that is equal parts creative and funny. Carr utilises wit and wordplay with great effect, making the most out of the silliness that permeates throughout a majority of her material. At no point does it feel like Carr goes for a particularly easy laugh, she definitely works for it, as can be evidenced by her reliance on material that is a kind of mild, clever humour that is funny for funny’s sake.
”truly insufferably delightful”
The relaxed nature of the show really allows Carr to perform to everyone in the room, thriving in audience exchanges and validation of her efforts. There are times when Carr’s material packs an emotional punch, and it is those moments that Carr really shows how in control she is. When pertinent, we experience a noticeable shift that doesn’t take away from the rest of the comedy, but gives us more context and a better understanding to some of the things that Carr covers over the course of the hour. This goes as far as Carr literally acclimatising us to the subject manner and her brand of comedy before launching fully into her material, the equivalent of dipping a toe in before the plunge so to speak. And through everything, despite the moments of gravity, there’s just so much joy in embedded into the jokes and Carr’s delivery. Even if she’s telling us that a joke is bad or cheesy, the abject joy of keeping it in the hour and sharing it anyway is palpable. Her enthusiasm of being onstage and performing this hour smooths over any abrupt transitions, leading to the impression of a more purposeful topic change than any kind of disorganisation, a characteristic that is embedded in her more conversational style and form of address.
Bite Me is definitely an enjoyable, predominantly light-hearted hour that contains the occasional self-aware cheesiness that is truly insufferably delightful to watch.
By Katerina Partolina Schwartz
Photo credit: Kirsty Dimond
Pepper & Salt 
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