Rosie Wilby: The Science of Sex is a comedy lecture on all things of an erotic and amorous nature, examining romantic relationships and the role the passage of time has on lovers' libidos.

Wearing a white lab coat and her patented love-goggles, the fictionalised sex therapist (Rosie Wilby) gets down to business. She immediately introduces a graph of a couple's happiness versus time - a steep decline followed by an upturn which is repeated, resulting in a nice visual gag. She uses her last relationship, which recently came to an end, as an example which acts as a springboard to personal material on coming out as a lesbian to her parents. Guarding herself by making the confession on April Fools Day, she is astonished and not a little disgusted by a very funny revelation made by her mother concerning her friend Joan.

A number of diagrams, photos and charts are pinned to a presentation board and referred to throughout. Some are left unexplained, adding a level of intrigue to proceedings.

A comparison of the sexual appetites of gay and straight people sees the performer hit a rich vein of comedy as she begins to delve into the field of science, describing in detail the phenomenon of lesbian bed death. In such a show it would be easy to lapse into double-entendres but it is to the comedian's credit that she largely sticks to the scientific subject of the show instead of relying on easy puns and innuendo.

Throughout the lecture, the performer sticks perfectly to character - a slightly posh but uninhibited sex therapist who is unflappable and capable of saying anything. She delivers her material - from using a tester in an Anne Summers shop to the suitability of a stress-ball in the shape of a Viagra tablet - with the same mix of quizzical glee and academic restraint. This dichotomy always seems to be pulling her in two directions at once, leaving her slightly flustered at some points and vaguely distant at others. It's a wonderfully rich character which demands to be taken seriously, even when she contends that make-up was created by a cavewoman called Maybelline rubbing berries on her cheeks - a joke which receives some welcome callbacks throughout the show. Well-known scientific facts - such as the sexual research carried out by Dr Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956) in the 1940s - are cleverly woven into spurious claims, leaving no indication of where the truth ends and the comedy material begins.

A discussion on the best music to make love to is a nice idea but is overlong and feels incongruous within the rest of the set. It is, however, the only real downturn in 50 minutes alive with interest and humour.

Although the title of the show professes sex, she admits herself that it is actually more about love and relationships. This first becomes obvious in a segment relating to love potions - green for lust, orange for romantic and red for attachment. Despite a list of sexual subjects which might make some blush, including double-headed vibrators and female ejaculation, the performance is resolutely good-natured - no more so than in the low-budget but touching finale. The laughs do not always come thick and fast and there are maybe a few too many dud jokes in the set but, as a whole, Rosie Wilby's character is one which shows its staying power.

Cast Credits: Lecturer - Rosie Wilby.

Company Credits: Writer - Rosie Wilby. Director - uncredited. Lighting Designer - uncredited. Sound Designer - uncredited. Technical Operator - uncredited. Producer - Rosie Wilby. Company - Rosie Wilby. Company - www.rosiewilby.com.

END

(c) David Hepburn 2009

reviewed Sunday 30 August / Sweet Grassmarket, Edinburgh UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com