Sydney comedian and musician Gen Fricker has been touted a star to watch in the Australian comedy scene. As a former Triple J Raw finalist, she’s also dabbled in TV as both an actress and writer, and has opened nationally for US comedian Reggie Watts during his 2014 Hello Humans tour. Things are going quite well for Fricker, but it seems she is experiencing a streak of bad luck.
Despite her chipper demeanour and friendly smile, you can’t miss the sad sling her arm is sitting in. Her dad dropped a wardrobe on her arm, Fricker explains, and she is now facing the morbid reality she may never play guitar again. Unperturbed, she brushes off this scary reality with her trademark acerbic wit. Now that she can’t play her guitar, she urges an audience member to give it a few strums, but other than that, there’s no other use for the beautiful instrument.
Finding out she is most likely infertile due to an insulin condition, Monsterpussy is Fricker’s self-prescribed and ineffective therapy. A self-confessed “delicate flower”, the show starts out really strong with a well-crafted story about her inability to handle hecklers. Her stories are embellished with witty quips meshed with her sardonic sense humour. Trying to deal with the emotions that come from such a diagnosis, Fricker convinces herself it is probably a good thing she can’t have children after divulging the hilarious name she’d call the kid. She deflects her issues, refusing to look too deep, which leads to hilarious results. Other times it gets pretty dark and laughing at her jokes feels inappropriate.
Hindered by her broken arm, the show featured less songs than expected. Fricker has a wonderful rich voice and it’s a shame she couldn’t perform more songs. The ones she did perform, however, were great, especially the closing number about her ex boyfriend. Fricker managed to play the keyboard reasonably well using just one hand. While the moody keyboards gave her anecdotes some atmosphere, at times it felt a bit superfluous.
What’s conflicting is Fricker is extremely likeable but Monsterpussy just falls short of what it could be. The show’s format feels a bit clumsy as Fricker jumps from stand up to musical comedy. Some stories ended too abruptly which broke the flow of the show. A joke about a particular Fred Schneider-penned song was funny but eventually milked dry. It felt as though Fricker’s confidence at the start of the show slowly dwindled. As her comedy has self-deprecating elements, it’s unclear if it was deliberate or if the execution was a bit shaky.
This may not have been Fricker’s best show, but you can tell she has a lot of potential: her anecdotes are strong, her singing is great, and her stage presence is quite charming. With further editing and finessing (and a functioning left arm), Monsterpussy could be a really great show. She’s definitely still a star to watch in the comedy scene and it will be exciting to see what Fricker is capable of at future comedy festivals.
2.5 stars of 5
Monsterpussy
Gen Fricker
The Portland Hotel
Melbourne International Comedy Festivalwww.comedyfestival.com.au
March 25 – April 19
