Presented by Lori Bell
Reviewed 20 November 2013
Lori Bell presented her annual spontaneous late show at the Feast Festival with the assistance of comedian friend Geraldine Hickey.
The late night crowd were pleased with the ad lib styles of Bell in her 2013 show, which had the simple premise of “you tell her yours, she’ll tell you hers”. It was a very casual and unpredictable show which opened the way for audience participation without awkwardly forcing unwilling crowd members to talk.
The topics for conversation were wide-ranging and were jumped between quickly, making it an incredibly fast-paced show. The downside of this was less room for exploration into individual topics and stories but it didn’t detract from the overall feel of the show.
A pleasing sign in the performance was the decreased use of older material from Bell. It provided the chance for her to present the witty and blunt humour that seems to come naturally for her and made it clear she doesn’t have to rely on her old stories for laughs.
Her co-host for the night, Geraldine Hickey, was a dry and calm performer. Her role for the evening involved mingling with the crowd and providing the microphone for all to hear what individual audience members had to say. Hickey was more likely than Bell to push crowd members to participate which bordered on some awkward territory that Bell sharply moved away from.
Both Hickey and Bell presented in a very relaxed style allowing for the flow of the show to change as required to keep the audience entertained. The banter between the two different comedy styles worked naturally allowing for them to comfortably pull each other out of potentially tricky situations with the crowd participation.
The cabaret setting of the Queer Nexus space provided a comfortable environment to relax and enjoy one of the standout comedy shows of the 2013 Feast Festival. As with previous years, the show appeared to end swiftly with a lingering desire for more.
Bell is performing again at the Port Adelaide Comedy and Cabaret Night on Saturday 23 November as part of the Movable Feast program and as the MC at the annual Picnic in the Park on Sunday 24 November and
Reviewed by Alex Dunkin
Venue: Queer Nexus, Nexus Multicultural Cabaret, Lion Arts Centre, Adelaide
Season: 20 November 2013
Duration: 60 mins
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