Ria Lina "Riabellion", The Stand, Glasgow. Sunday 22nd February, 2026.

A Sunday afternoon show.

As seems to be the norm at The Stand now, the room's doors didn't open at the advertised time. We got there for three, anyway, just in case, and had a drink while we waited. Arriving early at least meant we got a seat in the bar. We joined the queue when it stretched from the corridor into the bar area, and we got in at approximately 3:40 pm for a 4pm start.

The curtain had been pulled across the back of the room, so it wasn't going to be a sellout. We sat at a table near the doors, in case the show overran and we needed to make a quick exit (the show was billed as finishing at 5.40; the last subway was at 6).  

Disapppointingly there was no support act. Fred MacAulay had opened for her in Edinburgh, and he was billed to appear at the Stand's Sunday Service that evening, so I'd hoped he'd be there to give us twenty, but no. Instead, we got extra Ria, which is no bad thing.

In this section, she did the usual, crowdwork mixed in with pre-prepared topical material, mainly about Andrew, the nonce formerly known as Prince. The front row were all foreigners: two Australians, a Lithuanian, a Georgian, and a Dutchman. So much for Brexit, she quipped.

After the fifteen-minute interval, she treated us to her tour show, an hour of outrage and anger directed at the world and her family life, due in part to her being divorced, single, a parent of three and perimenopausal. 

I'd seen the WIP last year and watched the Edinburgh livestream, so I knew most of the material. While I enjoyed Ria's performance, it failed to elevate in the room, possibly due to the smaller audience. Occasional stunned silences were met with incredulity by Ria, who'd expected a bigger laugh. I don't remember these silences being built into the show, even though she had a comeback ready.  

The dance she did as a closer made the point that, as a perimenopausal woman, she didn't care what we thought. I felt it would have worked better if she'd invited others on stage to share in her freedom, making the ending a bigger celebration.    

Her jokes were funny and well-told, but I never fully engaged with the material. Despite making certain bits sciency with talk about the reactions of specific hormones, it still felt like she was playing to half the room. I'd rate the show three stars. 

We nipped away as soon as the show was over, as we didn't have time to meet Ria afterwards (she hadn't brought merch because it would have cost too much to fly it up with her, but she did pose for selfies and had badges to give away). Despite our swift departure, we still missed the last inner line train to Ibrox, so we had to go all the way around on the outer line. This, plus the motorway traffic being a mess, meant we didn't get back till nearly 7 pm. 

Not ideal.

The dogs were starving.

Ticket Price (in advance): £17 x2 + Booking Fee £1.60 = Total £35.60 from The Stand website.