‘It Gets Darker’ marks a welcome return to comedy for Akana, following a protracted absence caused by not one by two stalkers. One of these stalkers, who Akana reassures the audience is ‘no longer a problem’, threatened to shoot her at a gig, and once sent her more than 600 emails in a week. Akana reflects on the failure of the LAPD to properly protect her from the threat of this man, and the impact it subsequently had on her. The show is therefore pulling comparisons to Richard Gadd’s ‘Baby Reindeer’ – not only a hit Netflix series, but a comedy show in its own right, which he performed at the Fringe in 2019. Akana’s stalker story opens the show and – as the title promises – it gets darker from there.

The bulk of this very assured and accomplished debut-Edinburgh hour focuses on the impact of her sister’s death by suicide, 17 years ago, and the impact it has had on Akana’s life since. A passionate advocate ‘for suicide… prevention’, her YouTube channel has amassed nearly 3 million followers. Akana reflects on her memories of her sister, of the reactions of those around her when he sister died, and on how she has continued to live her own life in the intervening years. As can be the case with comedy one sometimes wonders if some of the stories about her sister and her dad in particular are enhanced for comedic effect, but a poignant video montage at the close of the show demonstrates that the darkness and the comedy have co-existed in Akana’s life for the longest time.

Akana’s delivery is deadpan and dry: her delivery and storytelling seems entirely effortless. Her stories are honest and vulnerable, yet delivered in a way which ultimately are life-affirming: without her masterful delivery, this content could quite easily miss the mark of the humour that she injects throughout the show, but the audience is in assured and safe hands in this powerful hour.

This could well be a contender for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer category, and a nomination would be richly deserved for Akana.

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