I promise I won’t go on about this too much, but I think I may have been responsible for The Sun’s bizarre 2023 attack on Lorna Rose Treen, in which the tabloid accused the rising sketch star of killing comedy with ‘wokery’. I was on the panel for the Dave Joke of the Fringe award that year, and I nominated Treen’s harmless – and by no stretch of the imagination woke – gag that won that year’s award (it revolved around ‘cheetah’ and ‘cheater’ being homophones). So unless another panellist also nominated it then that was me - sorry Lorna!
This isn’t simply a flex because Treen has a new show, but because within a few minutes of it starting she very amusingly breaks with its Americana theme to address the Sun ‘incident’ – she has the article printed out to show us – and to declare that her intent this time is to kill theatre as well.
24 Hour Diner People isn’t really a theatre show, but it’s certainly notably higher concept than its predecessor Skin Pigeon. It follows a series of oddball characters at a quintessentially American diner – possibly at some point in the ‘80s – with Treen playing most roles and audience members being dragooned in to tackle the rest.
It is a huge amount of fun, in large part for the same reason Skin Pigeon was: Treen tackles the bizarre series of characters – from our daydreaming waitress host to a trucker with really long arms to a bizarrely kinky schoolgirl – with total conviction, and a palpable fondness for the world she’s referencing. With my theatre reviewing hat on, it is, I suppose, an ironic British rhapsody on how exotic the American mundane appears to us. It is also just some funny characters given a neat theme.
Skin Pigeon was great, but Treen has palpably come on as a performer. The interactive stuff is beautifully done: it’s not mean and indeed feels inclusive, rather than trying to wind us up. The fact she delivers most of the show in an array of American accents means it’s never not funny when she breaks cover to talk in her own flat, low English accent. And the whole Sun incident has definitely lent her comedy a certain something: I get the impression Treen isn’t really ordinarily keen to talk about herself, but the episode has allowed her to make an exception – the sense of the ‘real’ piqued Treen lurking in the background is a delightful extra texture.
For me the quintessential moment comes when Treen makes a throwaway gag that hinges on the homophonic use of the word ‘bear’ – it feels a lot like a deliberate nod to the cheater/cheetah joke. And who knows, maybe it would have won the Joke of the Fringe this year too if only the award hadn’t been shelved. Maybe that was Treen’s fault, maybe she really did kill comedy. But even so, she’s still here and funnier than ever.
