The Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne
Reviewed on April 10, 2013
Meow, and how!
If Tom Gleeson is the cheeky accountant you encounter at a friend’s BBQ, Kitty Flanagan is the manic event planner dressed to impress that jumps out of her own cake.
In 2011, Kitty Flanagan triumphed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her one woman show, Charming and Alarming. Returning to the scene of that success at the Athenaeum Theatre, Flanagan is once again in brilliant form.
As only she can, ‘Hello Kitty Flanagan’ has her appreciative followers and fans rolling in the aisles non – stop. With 60 minutes of brand – new jokes and tales of woe told in quick succession, Flanagan entertains and enlightens with hilarious anecdotes and wry observations right out of the top draw.
A regular on Channel Ten’s ‘The Project’ with her own segment featuring off-the-cuff insights into current trends and popular culture, Flanagan is also a veteran stand – up performer on the Australian and international comedy circuits.
Combined with faultless timing, Flanagan connects with her audience the moment she sets foot on stage. Thanks also to supreme confidence in her source material and lightning – fast delivery, it is not surprising she is one of Australia’s best and most loved comics. Her wealth of experience shows.
With no stone left unturned, there are stories left and right for everyone.
Topics range from beverage etiquette in the bathroom, why adopting a feline makes you the crazy cat lady even with a boyfriend, is burlesque just stripping plus a touch a craft, the key differences between teenage girls’ and street walkers’ dress codes (if any), French mime artists, bad cabaret, and finding the perfect apple. The list goes on.
One of the highlights has to be the rights and wrongs on towelling down after working out at the gym. This highly visual demonstration had viewers in absolute hysterics.
As always, late-arriving audience members will be singled out. It is all in good fun of course, but you have been warned.
Closing the show, Flanagan teams up with her sister, Penny, on guitar. Together, they sing two brilliant songs, one about when to be quiet in public, and the other, about finding the right religion.
Spending an hour with Flanagan’s quick-thinking brain has to be one of the highlights from this year’s festival. In fact there is so much to absorb and enjoy, why not see it twice.
Watching the master in action, this is stand-up comedy gold not to be missed.
Image Source: The Weekend Edition