Adelaide Fringe. Michelle Christine. 15 Mar 2017
Free show! Yes, truly!
What does one expect from a free gig?
Cheap, stale, old stand-up routines? Superficial, technically well executed, left of field, clever stuff from that pretty girl on a flyer who looks like a cute Canadian Mountie?
Nope. Not gonna happen.
All the free-loaders got the shock their lives.
Michelle Christine didn’t really officially ‘start’ the show. She worked up to it chatting with the front row audience with ease then began the tale.
Christine is a story teller and a bit more. Deceptively, delightfully so as the audience was regaled with the ‘story of a failure who became a comedian’, told in a spirit reminiscent of a Bugs Bunny/South Park animation.
Christine seemed at first ‘Stan, Cartman, Kyle and Kenny’ traipsing across the frozen wastelands of Canada in Winter seeking her fortune, dumping her boyfriend. Then, like a savvy, bright eyed cruisy Bugs, she would pull off save-the-day scams accompanied by a happy little shimmy and a cheeky smile.
Deftly looping the audience conversationally into her tale, Christine formed that intimate bond which makes a great tale feel so close and personal. She makes the rude bits extra human and funny; the embarrassing, crushing moments less black and more crash-bang-in–bright-lights funny.
It’s not punchlines that make this wonderful gig work, but very subtle timing cued by body moves. That little shimmy dance, that sharp, yet contented little smile punctuates the show’s pace superbly. Pure craft at its finest. For free.
Yes. You should go before the season ends. You should be embarrassed and thrilled, that you saw greatness in action for free.
David O’Brien
When: 17 Feb to 19 March
Where: Turi E Caffe Bar
Bookings: FREE
