Little Lark of London

“God, this woman is so brave!”

Katie Norris: Go West, Old Maid is the second solo show from Norris, following last year’s Farm Fatale. In this show, directed by Elf Lyons, Norris is focusing a bit more on her future – particularly whether there will be children involved. But there is also plenty of, as Norris refers to it, plenty of “dead dad material,” as she has been looking into her father’s past. The show starts with Norris declaring that “congratulations are in order,” having audience members raise their glasses for Al Pacino having a kid at 83, a great misdirect that sets the tone for the rest of the show. 

In Farm Fatale, Norris had dreams of becoming a stepmother to be with a divorced dad. Now, she’s decided the path of godmother is much better, proving so with an “Unfortunate Souls”-style song in which she shows her godson all of the exes she has turned into toads. If she does end up freezing her eggs and having children, her plan is to “find a high-quality breeder with a high-quality freezer.”

Those who have seen Norris before will probably be familiar with her former flatmate, who Norris refers to as “Gen Z Sophie,” a 25-year-old woman who looks to Norris for guidance in her “old age.” Along with the return of Gen Z Sophie, there are some new characters brought into Go West, Old Maid, including Personal Trainer Laura, who may not be providing Norris with the workout guidance she’s paying for, but is certainly making up for it by involving her in the drama with her ex, Rahim, using Norris’s Instagram account to see what he’s up to every week. 

As mentioned in Little Lark of London’s previous review of Norris, her stage presence is an absolute highlight of her performance. After discussing going on dates and expressing her fury at men not being able to drive, whenever Norris interacts with a male-presenting member of the audience, she asks, “Do you drive?” If the response is affirmative, they get a “Good boy.” If not? Barking. It’s all wonderfully unhinged. There is a particularly great bit in which Norris details her experience with the seven stages of grief, starting with shock. She uses Botox to deal with the first stage, leading to a hilarious joke about the next six stages. 

Norris has a suitcase with Mary Poppins-like qualities, drawing a range of objects from inside including more than one comedy award (which she nudges if a joke doesn’t land, sometimes making comments like “Oh look, comedy award!”), a recorder and even a surprise for the end of the show! There are also scripts in the suitcase that are used to recreate the radio play that her father wrote for her, which she only found after his death. This segment highly depends on the audience members selected, and Norris does a good job finding two people, but it does feel as though it goes on for a bit too long and doesn’t fully match the rest of the show. A few more musical moments would have been appreciated, but one certainly appreciates the wide variety that Norris shows throughout her hour. 

Ultimately, Katie Norris: Go West, Old Maid is an impressive second solo show for Norris, combining jokes, songs and audience participation to make for a fantastic hour of comedy. Norris has some truly incredible stage presence and can make even the simplest shoulder shrug hilarious. Whether she’s singing about missionary sex or telling the story of why there’s a professor’s elbow in her crotch, Norris is certainly going to entertain!

Katie Norris: Go West, Old Maid ran on 11 and 12 September at Soho Theatre. For more information on Norris, click here.