The Sydney Fringe Comedy Festival continues at the excellent Factory Theatre venue, with its great vibe, multiple well-appointed venues and diverse acts.
What do we expect or need from comedy in 2022? Everyone likes a show with a litany of one-liners, audience banter or participation and ad lib diversion.
Kate Knott’s comedy show, How to be Happy, is different to the usual stand-up fare. It offers us a polished seminar on the status quo of our struggles with happiness.
Knott wows us with this intelligent, gung-ho take on the modern self-help or life coaching model.
Her delivery of scripted material, original song is supported by a plethora of quick costume changes, skit-like characters and personal vignette bursting with integrity.
This comedy takes our survival of the pandemic, our humanity and the inequalities of our current situation well into account. It uses the comedy show format for clever analysis of obstacles, habits and lifestyle.
Knott uses the contrasts of characterisation and delivery method to gently suggest tactics for improving self-esteem, reactions and clearing up some of our bleak regard of the future.
Through slick, high level satire of modern motifs and characters such as cabaret singers or HR RU Ok event organisers, or PC parenting approaches and social media itself Knott helps us jettison the pressure of successful self-help challenges.
Presentation slides, video snippets and movement in and out of strongly drawn characters helps this reassuring discussion rocket along.
Nothing is off limits here, and non-helpful pressures, biases, standards or suggestions we labour under on the road to a happy, motivated, progressive work-life balance are attacked via Knott’s endearing seminar-with-a-skit-and-a-song style.
Tales from real life as a parent, daughter, worker, woman and tenant resonate with us on a level we can directly identify with.
By artistic extension Knott confidently drives her comments to a multifaceted stage conclusion. Here her dramatic skill offers a blend of live and pre-recorded characters to help us understand the pressures of capitalism, inner anxiety and social media profiling upon our happiness and happiness building.
The result of this entertaining but high-level observation is a progressive festival-fare manipulation of the comedy model.
The show does empower and liberate some anxiety as it gives food for thought. Knott’s inventive songwriting with hard hitting lyrics also lulls us into a sense of security which is never false.
The last chance to catch How to be Happy is tonight Sep 18 at 7.15pm, again at The Factory Theatre. Try to be happy, check you are OK, get a babysitter, a cupcake and see it!
