A Guide To Therapy for Terrible People, Joe Burkewood Review

Written by Emmie for Theatre and Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.

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Leicester Comedy Festival continues to be one of the biggest dates in the Leicester calendar. Offering a programme of over 700 shows for you to enjoy, the city plays host to 19 days of comedy. As part of this year’s offering is A Guide To Therapy for Terrible People. Written and performed by Joe Burkewood, this show delivers what it says on the tin (and then some!).

His wit and fast thinking enable his writing to thrive on this platform, especially when the technical side of using a new space doesn’t always like to play game. A Guide To Therapy for Terrible People delves into his experiences of neurodiversity and bisexuality, whilst there are a lot of jokes packed into such a short space of time - there’s a deeper thread about how his ADHD diagnosis has impacted his life and resulted in therapy. He touches on his upbringing up North in Bradford, an experience in student accommodation, and a zoo in Germany. However, this is a unique perspective on therapy and it will relate to people on different levels. The variety in his content makes for an enjoyable watch. Kirkwood has a lot of material to work with and each of it wraps up perfectly for the Leicester audience who manage to stay beside it throughout. 

This was the last time Joe Burkewood was going to be performing this show after a successful run at Brighton Fringe last year. I’m very intrigued to see how this work will support the work he does in the future. He’s definitely someone to look out for in the comedy circuit with bags of potential and a huge passion that oozes out from his work in delivering first-class comedy!

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆