Kitty Flanagan: Charming & Alarming
Reviewed for Theatre People, April 2011

Mind your F’s and C’s, people, and join Kitty Flanagan for a roller coaster evening of fun and games.
If the plethora of artists listed in this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival is any indication, the local stand – up comedy scene has never looked stronger.

In the 1980s, TV shows like Australia, You’re Standing In It, The Big Gig, Fast Forward and The Comedy Company not only ruled the airwaves, they produced stars like Wendy Harmer, Gretel Killeen, Marianne Fahey, Rachel Berger, Denise Scott, Jean Kitson, Marg Downey, Jane Turner, Gina Riley, and Magda Szubanski. A decade later, Judith Lucy cut her teeth on the stand - up circuit before joining Jane Kennedy and the cast of The Late Show.

These performers helped pave the way for a new generation of funny ladies, including Fiona O’Loughlin and Hannah Gadsby, both of whom are fronting their own shows at this year’s 25th Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

A regular on Spicks & Specks, Good News Week and The 7pm Project, Kitty Flanagan is a gifted storyteller. On opening night, she went for gold and won over the capacity crowd mere seconds into her 60 minute set.

Using her talented singer / guitarist sister, Penny, as comedy bait, once Flanagan grabbed the mike in joystick - fashion, she took control from the get – go, and was off and running for the entire hour.

Full of manic energy, she has a catalogue of voices to rival Tracy Ullman, the physical appeal of Ab Fab’s Jennifer Saunders and Seinfield’s Julia Louis Dreyfus combined. With a selection of wide – ranging mishaps to choose from, not once did Flanagan relinquish her hold on the capacity crowd’s collective funny bone.

Flanagan covered a lucky dip of topics, sailing from the glaring differences between teenage & Toorak mums, rambling old ladies, senior citizen golfing cliques, dating scene perils, Generation Y and the grammar police, and what not to say when you’re in Paris. In less capable hands they’d be stock standards, but thanks to Flanagan’s wacky cast of characters, her adventures take on a completely different dimension. She’s unafraid to jump in and tackle the insanity of all human behavior, politically correct or otherwise. As a result, there is something here for everyone.

Like fellow comic, Wil Anderson, there is a brilliant free style quality to her performance. Flanagan will often plant a joke, only to reveal or add to the punch line much later. This allows the audience to be in on the act. One example she demonstrated, was the universal language of men miming sex, followed afterwards with how many women do you know who sport in - built handles.

From Flanagan’s tips on how to deal with hecklers, this segued into the anecdote of the show that left the audience in hysterics. I won’t give it away here, but there could be a new German – inspired slang terms for lesbian, floating around Melbourne soon.

Another extended tale was the day her agent, I kid you not, booked Flanagan into a gig at a men’s maximum security prison. How she survived the experience, deconstructing it piece by delicious piece, is worth the price of admission.

Testament to her vocal mimicry and acting chops, I agreed with my guest for the evening that the show simply flew by. For her encore, we were treated to not one, but two original songs. Putting it mildly, Bob Dylan fans will be in for an education.

Flanagan could very well be the showstopper of the 2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Charming & Alarming continues until April 10.