Monday August 11th 2025
Becky Umbers: Put That Cat Back in the Bag
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Kiwi comedian Becky Umbers has brought her debut stand-up hour to this year’s Fringe, previewing a creative and unique show named “Put That Cat Back in the Bag”, that dives into how people often hide their ‘inner weirdo’.
Previewing her own ‘inner weirdo’ throughout the show, Becky’s comedic storytelling took the audience on a journey of her life since moving from New Zealand, experience she has had since moving to London, and her life with an unusualy high pitched voice.
Making a joke that her voice sounds like ‘she inhaled helium’, Becky has one of the most unique voices in comedy, being very high pitched. Describing her show as adult comedy being told with the voice of a kids cartoon, she covers hilarious topics such as, relationship issues due to her voice, her history with road accidents, and culture shocks since moving to the UK.
Beggining the show with instant audience engagement, Becky makes jokes at audience members, having great engagement with the crowd throughout the whole show. Another unique aspect other than the great crowd work, was the use of a photo presentation. Using slides on a TV screen on stage to add more substance to her jokes alongside creating new jokes like comparing an audience member to a ‘traditional looking UK man’ on the screen.
A highlight of the show was her ability to backtrack jokes, referring back to jokes mentioned near the beginning of the show on her photo presentation near the end. An example of this was a joke about her skiing fails from a holiday with her boyfriend, subtly mentioning that she wasn’t the best at skiing but didn’t fall, then returning to this joke at the end of the performance by showing a video of her falling down a hill with her boyfriend dragging her.
Alongside her unique voice, Becky Umber’s brought a hilarious and creative performace to the Assembly Roxy venue, being unafriad to poke jokes at herself and crowd members, providing a unique stand-up show that had the audience in stitches.
Despite there being some cringe-worthy moments, Becky’s first ever Fringe show brought what you expect from comedy during the festival. Combining hilarious jokes, strong storytelling, crowd engagement and unique elements such as the TV presentation, made for a well-put together comedy show.
With Becky joking that her show was tailored for women, she covered raunchy topics playfully, cringing at some of the ex-rated jokes she was sharing.
Becky Umbers and her debut Fringe show ‘Put That Cat Back in the Bag’, aimed to discuss the art of hiding your ‘inner weirdo’ but Becky’s comedy displayed her weird and wonderful side. Apart from her voice adding a unique element to her comedy, the way she used her voice and the overall stand-up comedy she displayed was top tier especially considering this is her first year performing at the Fringe.
£11 full price, 8:40pm at Assembly Roxy – Snug Bar
4/5, hilarious comedy hour with a unique concept
