| HANNAH GADSBY - The Cliff Young Shuffle |
| Written by Brendon Green |
| Friday, 30 April 2010 17:26 |
 It's a risky bet devoting an entire show to one story. What if the story isn't funny? And, heaven forbid, what if the themes brought up in association with the story aren't comedic at all? That's why I give Australia's HANNAH GADSBY a huge hat-tip for 'The Cliff Young Shuffle', a show that takes on both of these challenges, and wins. As she asks herself on stage - "Why the hell would you do a show about the most boring and pointless thing you've ever done? And who the hell talks about depression at a comedy show?" The show takes the form of Hannah describing her attempt at walking across England. A feat that she regularly describes as stupid and a huge mistake, and one that allows her many sharp jokes about her complete lack of physical conditioning. Hugely self-deprecating, 'The Cliff Young Shuffle' paints our star as an anti-hero, but still manages to have a strong heart and a feel-good factor that will leaves you inspired. A major factor in the show is Hannah's battle with depression, and thankfully she avoids the heavy-handedness that often accompanies the subject. Her descriptions are original, funny, and bang on the money. If you suffer from depression, there are many 'oh that's so true' moments, and if you don't, your understanding of mental illness will be entertainingly increased. As you can tell, this isn't the the most laugh out loud sounding show in the world, and the most important thing a comedy show has to be is funny. Despite it's premise, the show has constant laughs throughout, and the structure of the storyline allows recurring characters and jokes to develop into bigger and stronger punchlines. Hannah's delivery is fast and quite twitchy, a style that is not helped by the venues echoey acoustics, so unfortunately a few of the quick asides are lost on the audience. The majority of them do land however, and it makes for a fun night of rooting for our underdog anti-hero to succeed in her wholly pointless endeavour. |
