Walking into the Corpus Playroom to watch an hour of comedy from Footlight Mark Bittlestone, I couldn’t help but wonder what I was in for. There was something of an uncontainable excitement – the hook for the show had worked wonders and people were queuing to get tickets despite it being sold-out – but there was also an apprehension. In a show where the word ‘gay’ appears 43 times, the word ‘die’ appears 46 times, and the word ‘dead’ appears a whopping 72 times, you’d be forgiven for thinking this might be something of a heavy night. 

Crying with laughter

However, Bittlestone’s wit and charm cut through the self-proclaimed misery of his circumstances to deliver a brilliant and poignant hour of stand-up. The choice to open the show with a video of his audition for the X Factor, with his ‘sob story’ and subsequent giggles from the judges, set the tone for what was to be an honest and open hour of laughter. Perhaps it is wrong to say that it was a ‘safe space’ to enjoy comedy, but the immediate ease we felt as Bittlestone appeared on stage is testament to his clever and perfectly pitched handling of such a dark subject matter.

“Bittlestone’s comedy is imbued with charm and an original flair”

It’s no mean feat to write jokes about taboo and often very personal material, let alone make an audience feel comfortable enough to laugh at them, but Bittlestone’s comedy is imbued with charm and an original flair. Balanced with the support and critical judgement of directors Will Dalrymple and Haydn Jenkins, Bittlestone demonstrates an honesty and skill unlike anything I have experienced thus far in the Cambridge comedy scene. 

On a stage filled with several gravestones for his parents, as well as a fountain of his own tears and various phones on which he has received bad news, Bittlestone delivered an enigmatic and dynamic performance. Mark’s lively delivery, undeniable stage presence and use of comedic structure all bore the hallmarks of an experienced performer, and we felt in safe hands as we were steered through the show. While Bittlestone is clearly well established in the Cambridge comedy scene, it was, at times, possible to sense a tinge of nervousness, something which, far from detracting from the performance, humanised him in a way that only made us feel more invested.

Can the Footlights’ Bread handle the heat?

Bittlestone goes out of his way to remind us that this is the reality he lives – he says at several points in the show: “It is only an hour for you, but a lifetime for me.” In other hands, this may have been a less engaging performance, but the well-judged tone and the immediately likeable Bittlestone demonstrates that dark comedy like this can be done, and can be fantastically funny if only we are so bold to attempt it.

“You just can’t help but feel uplifted, buoyant on his desire to continue to make people laugh”

All in all, I found the performance to be rather moving. There’s something hard to swallow in that – was I genuinely falling into the trap of the show’s title, and succumbing to the urge to pity laugh? Was I moved because I felt sorry for Bittlestone? I had to think about this for a while and eventually concluded that what I was feeling had nothing to do with pity, but with a strange feeling of hope and joy. There’s something quite wonderful about seeing somebody strong, choosing to spread joy rather than sadness. In this incredibly personal and clearly heartfelt performance, Bittlestone presents his material in such a real and human way that you just can’t help but feel uplifted, buoyant on his desire to continue to make people laugh because. As he says, “If you can’t laugh, then what can you do?”

All proceeds from ‘Pity Laughs’ will be donated to Just Like Us – an LGBT+ charity for young people – and Cancer Research UK