Kiri Pritchard-McLean is a self-identified ‘virtue signaller’, but her message in ‘Peacock’ is powerful, empowering and above all else, funny. In the show, she explores her feelings towards becoming a biological parent and then explores the process by which she, and her partner, Dan, became foster carers, after hearing a local radio advert in her native Wales during lockdown. She makes perfect observations of those people we have all met who run training sessions (and the too-often cringy icebreaker activities), she reflects on difficult panel meetings with vicars, and educates her audience on the advice she has been given as she has moved through the process. She reflects on the challenges that come from being a comedian who is a foster carer, and hers is an inspiring story to follow.

The show is not just funny but also, at times, very moving. As a teacher myself, hearing Pritchard-McLean’s reflections on the importance of schools and their staff to young people in the care system was a clear reminder why so many of us do what we do.

The show is not just funny, but provides a clarion call for more people to consider fostering and the power foster carers have to change the lives for some of our most vulnerable young people. It is an enormously funny show, and equally an enormously important one: a public-service hour of beautifully crafted stand up.

Kiri Pritchard-McLean is a superb storytelling comedian, and in ‘Peacock’ she is at the top of her game in this powerful, personal and important show.

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