Lulu Popplewell review: Sharp, witty stand-up with natural comic instincts

Lulu Popplewell knows the reason a lot of people in this audience have come to her show. She has a poster that might give off the impression that this is going to be an hour about romance and the exploration of a certain Christmas movie. Some of that is true — she will of course discuss the film — but she quickly dispels any notion that it’ll be romanticised in any way.

She hates rom coms, she says. Love is “more interesting and gritty” than they are capable of demonstrating. And so her show is about addiction, recovery, mess and finding humour in everything as much as possible; Actually, Actually is as interesting and gritty as Love, Actually is not.

She opts not to discuss too deeply her appearance as nativity lobster/daughter of Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman (she was only 11 after all), and instead looks at the online fallout of a couple of throwaway comments she made about the film's attitude towards women on a podcast, which led to the Daily Mail and other rags publishing sensationalised stories about it. 1,500 Daily Mail commenters later, it must have been hard work finding the funny side.

She has done it though, and created a brilliant hour that really centres primarily around her experiences with addiction and recovery. It's fascinating to hear about the response when talking about being eight years sober with different groups of people, particularly accounting for the strange collective protectiveness over drinking as part of British culture.

Lulu is right at home on the stage, marrying her natural comic instincts with some really delicious methods of delivery using the screen behind her. She’s sharp and witty, and has an openness that draws you in. She’s not afraid to share controversial opinions (e.g. that she hates the beach) and has the ability to sense what we want and give it to us, on her terms. Knowing that people are always itching to hear about the bad things she did at her lowest points, she satiates the audience's curiosity in the form of a song.

Actually, Actually is full of things you want to keep talking about afterwards; about the vitriol directed at women who decide to publicly express even the smallest thought; about the hierarchy of acceptability assigned to different mental illnesses and addictions… I hope that she gets to take this show onwards because it’s just so rich.

Lulu Popplewell: Actually, Actually is at Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Three), 4:35pm until August 27th. Tickets here.