Felicity Ward: Busting A Nut

★★★★

While most comedians who grace one of the many stages at the Adelaide Fringe tend to do a run of shows over a week or two, Felicity Ward instead opted for one night only in 2019, ensuring that the Spiegeltent was packed almost to the gills with fans on this hot summer’s night.

Entering to the Supergrass song, Alright, as well as the sound of her own voice (literally, having just introduced herself from backstage), Ward had us right from the start.

The Aussie expat who now calls London home (or, rather, a launchpad for visiting better places in that part of the world) has in the past been frank about her mental health challenges. While her anxiety and depression was covered tonight, it was deftly handled in a way that many of us could relate to and was just one of many topics that featured. The standout gag featured a national scheme to have drunken women in toilets provide emotional support to those suffering in silence.

While there was no underlying theme to the show (other than digs at her husband and his ’feeder’ mother), musical references did feature strongly. The chicken-singing finale was a crack-up and thankfully some in the crowd had seen the show before and knew the perfect songs to request.

Ward is quick to laugh at herself and the sometimes delayed reaction from the audience. The hour-long show was fast-paced and passed quickly, which is always a good sign. The sound of Aretha Franklin’s Think (her karaoke favourite) helped us spill happily out into the night.