Anna Piper Scott is back in her hometown with her latest and greatest stand-up show None of That Queer Stuff. Her aim is simple: to make a show for ‘the straights’. She’s been consistently growing a queer following for years, and she’s ready to break into mainstream, so here comes a show made with the straights in mind.

But never fear, queer fans – Anna’s show is still 100% queer. Never fear, neurodiverse fans – Anna’s show is still 100% neurodiverse. But she’s honed her craft to such a point that there’s not a moment which doesn’t lead to a hearty belly-laugh, not a punch that doesn’t hit without precision, and not a loose thread to be found.

Her ability to talk about the ways she’s constantly evolving and discovering more aspects of herself and her loved ones is incredibly endearing and welcoming. She makes being trans, polyamorous, lesbian, and AuDHD sound so normal. All of these things are normal, in fact.

Anna weaves in Roman history to demonstrate how transness has been around since at least 200 AD with the emperor/ess Elagabalus (you can even buy merch from Anna after the show to help set the record…queer…about Elagabalus). Later, Anna describes how her partners’ trans journey began by putting on a ‘Birthday Boy!’ badge that he didn’t want to take off. She hilariously jokes about how having a man as a partner might make her…*gasp* bisexual(!) rather than lesbian. And as Anna heads into her final few minutes, she does an incredibly dexterous, exquisitely delivered callback that catches the whole audience by surprise. Genius.

And so, Anna Piper Scott continues to grow, adjust, and share these new tidbits about herself and her life to audiences with wit, smarts, and currency. None of That Queer Stuff is a brilliant hour of comedy that delivers non-stop laughs which so many queer and neurodivergent folks will relate to. But Anna also holds up a torch to guide the rest of the masses toward what’s always been there.

CICELY BINFORD

None of That Queer Stuff runs at The Gold Digger at the Pleasure Garden from 11 – 18 February. For tickets and more information click here.