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Adele’s mother has died since her last proper Fringe show, but not to worry. This won’t be one of those Fringe shows. While Adele Cliff had a heck of a time figuring out how to dispose of her late mother’s unused liquid morphine, she’s the type of comedian who’d much rather tell you more jokes than spend even five minutes telling us why a tragic event in her life was, indeed, sad.
Is being a single lady with multiple cats sad, though? Never you mind worrying about that, either. “I don’t actually own any cats,” she announces. Cliff may not be a cat lady, but she may hope to give off more of a Catwoman vibe. Sexy and nerdy. She’s definitely nerdy about comedy, festivals, and comedy festivals, which explains why she’s such a repeat performer at not only this Fringe but others. If there is one thing that haunts Adele about her mother, it’s that she kept putting off letting her mom see her onstage. She kept asking her to wait ’til “next year.” So the only time both her parents saw her perform at Fringe came almost a decade ago, when her comedy had to compete with the drunken mess that was The Three Sisters. Everyone else in the family, however, did get to see what Adele could do in the spotlight while delivering her mom’s eulogy, at least.
As for other comedians at the Fringe, or elsewhere, Cliff advises you of one group to steer clear of. “Every comic who tells it like it is is a cunt,” she zings. Those who claim they’re brave for being so-called truth tellers onstage? “It’s only brave if you’re not funny.”
Cliff herself claims she doesn’t read her reviews, anyhow. They’re not directed toward her, she believes. “They’re for you to decide if it’s worth seeing my show. They’re not for me to decide if it’s worth killing myself.” She shan’t worry about that. And she’s selling herself quite short when she jokes that her main draw is audiences who open the Fringe program only to give up somewhere in the As. Sure, she may be near the front of the line, alphabetically by first name. But she’s also got lots of A-list jokes to back her up.
