Extraordinary Alien
Debra Tammer
Does a stand-up need to have a narrative or does a discursive monologue, laced with self-deprecation, stand up? Debra Tammer’s Extraordinary Alien (on its way to the Edinburgh Festival) promises much with its marketing image. Debra wears an earring with a yellow star of David. She is mirrored by her alter ego in an ET mask. We see The Monster and The Jew.
This image is an important provocation, endorsed by several studies on the dehumanising of The Jew before annihilation. We have only to remember the Nazi depiction of Jews as rats and even Ann Widdecombe’s declaration that Michael Howard was ‘something of the night’. Franz Kafka’s novella Metamorphosis played with the idea of human into insect but Kafka was no joker and Tammer is.
Tammer is a terrific performer. Her comic timing is exquisite, her impressions are witty and her presence is charismatic. This is a brave attempt to explore a personal story. However, the journey from a Jewish Leeds childhood to the search for work in the US, falls apart structurally. There are repetitions and a lack of clear drive to the end of her script. Tammer needs to sharpen and edit her material to expose what it is like living in a society where the Jew is too often seen as the monster.
Julia Pascal © 2026.
Extraordinary Alien
Debra Tammer
Does a stand-up need to have a narrative or does a discursive monologue, laced with self-deprecation, stand up? Debra Tammer’s Extraordinary Alien (on its way to the Edinburgh Festival) promises much with its marketing image. Debra wears an earring with a yellow star of David. She is mirrored by her alter ego in an ET mask. We see The Monster and The Jew.
This image is an important provocation, endorsed by several studies on the dehumanising of The Jew before annihilation. We have only to remember the Nazi depiction of Jews as rats and even Ann Widdecombe’s declaration that Michael Howard was ‘something of the night’. Franz Kafka’s novella Metamorphosis played with the idea of human into insect but Kafka was no joker and Tammer is.
Tammer is a terrific performer. Her comic timing is exquisite, her impressions are witty and her presence is charismatic. This is a brave attempt to explore a personal story. However, the journey from a Jewish Leeds childhood to the search for work in the US, falls apart structurally. There are repetitions and a lack of clear drive to the end of her script. Tammer needs to sharpen and edit her material to expose what it is like living in a society where the Jew is too often seen as the monster.
Julia Pascal © 2026.
By Julia Pascal • added recently on London Grip, comedy, performance, theatre • Tags: comedy, Julia Pascal, performance, theatre