MICF: Natalie Palamides – Laid

MICF Laid Natalie PalamidesLaid is majestic anarchy. Whether audience or artist, Laid is compulsory viewing at this year’s comedy festival. Beyond superlatives, beyond the thesaurus, beyond any frame of reference that a show could be compared to, lies Laid. Performed by Natalie Palamides, the show tells the story of one hen’s dilemma when she lays an egg: should she raise it or eat it?

So much of Laid is wonderful. We may never have seen Judy Garland act modest with a wet cloth in The Wizard of Oz, but there’s a quaint gloss of innocence early on in how Natalie evokes something of Dorothy. Irreverent, clever, and not without a little risk, Natalie tells a fun and madcap story. But, then it keeps going and that’s when things get turbulent and hilarious. And dangerous.

In, A Clockwork Orange, when Alex listens to classical music he is ecstatic: “Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!” I felt the same way about Laid.

Natalie Palamides – Laid
Playhouse Rehearsal Room – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne
Performance: Wednesday 4 April 2018 – 9.40pm
Season continues to 15 April 2018
Information and Bookings: www.comedyfestival.com.au

Image: Natalie Palamides (supplied)

Review: David Collins