If the show Anne Edmonds – You Know What I’m Like sounds familiar, that could be because it did good business at Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2015. That season led to Edmonds receiving the MICF Piece of Wood award from her peers.
If you don’t actually know, for the last week of Melbourne Fringe 2015, you’ve got another chance to find out what Anne Edmonds is like. In part, that’s someone who is pretty funny.
For audience members who don’t yet know her, Edmonds is quite happy to get you up to speed. An opening on dealing with a hangover on the day of a family holiday shows a more novel touch than many on the seemingly obligatory bodily functions content. Other personal insights relate to her Mum’s belief in the ability of processed meats to salve emotional pain.
Departures into some character comedy based on Edmonds’ suburban upbringing seemed a bit too specific and lengthy, lacking the appeal of other aspects of the set as a result. What Edmonds does do well though is to find the oddity of small things. Her comments on the life of a bus driver, or the consequences of supermarkets moving their vegetables around, earned good laughs.
Having seen Randy in this very same ballroom only two nights before, I had the feeling that Edmonds gave a much more mainstream, and for me, less rewarding set. Her performance might not change your mind if you’re not such a fan of conventional stand up comedy.
However, she’s very gifted at what she does, and the good-sized Sunday crowd was solidly entertained. There are some hints of pretty serious nuttiness here, reaching their zenith in a banjo-playing conclusion that will finally explain that photo in the Fringe guide.
I’d like to see her do a show where this leaning comes to the fore, and Edmonds shows us that, actually, we don’t know what she’s like. I’m sure we’ll be surprised, shocked and darkly amused to find out.
Melbourne Fringe: Anne Edmonds – You Know What I’m Like
The Ballroom – Lithuanian Club, 44 Errol Street, North Melbourne
Performance: Sunday 27 September 2015
Season continues to Friday 2 October 2015
Bookings: www.melbournefringe.com.au
For more information, visit: www.anneedmonds.com for details.
Image: Anne Edmonds
Review: Jason Whyte