Felicity Ward – The Hedgehog Dilemma

Felicity Ward is, by her own admission, competitive with the blokes. In her latest show, The Hedgehog Dilemma, she gives then a great run for their money, highlighting her swearing abilities, her blokier than blokey accounts of sex without intimacy, even stripping off layers of clothes with the ‘take it all off’ joke coming from her, not the hecklers. This is comedy squarely aimed the 20-something crew titillated by constant swearing on stage. Uproarious gales of laughter greet a simple ‘fuck’ in one otherwise plain Jane sentence.

I have to own that as an audience member Ward lost my trust when, early in the show, she promised not to show cutesy pictures of animals but proceeded to do just that, cooing and aahing the whole time. If this was an ironic take on people saying they’re going to sentimentalise cute animals or cute baby pictures, then it fell very flat.

With an overall tone of wound-up hysteria, Ward embarked on a series of anecdotes about her previously intoxicated life, her former almost-marriage and a subsequent new boyfriend. Despite the title of the show, there was a dearth of detail about the actual issues of intimacy and friendship. Ward’s skill lies in her imitative abilities – often relying on hyperventilation type acting, where she manages to draw the joke out because of her over-exaggerated facial expressions – and in one case a quite clever interpretation of a therapist. Her imitations of others work well.

There’s a certain quotient of ‘this must be good therapy for the comedian’ in this show, which is certainly a model used by any number of comedians, but for that money, you’d be wanting a little more insight into the human condition – Ward does say she was addicted to alcohol, but then just recites crazier and crazier drunk stories, like the 20-something competition for the ‘craziest’ night evah! The Hedgehog Dilemma lacked genuine authenticity about Ward’s story, despite her occasional display of vulnerability.

The highlight of Ward’s show is her acting ability, and there is some clever writing – the Burqua line made me laugh, and the re-enactment of a phone call was good: “You know, where logic and emotion are running a war between themselves” – but the bulk of the show suggests a comedian who relies on the instant taboo-breaking over-use of swearing. There were too many lines I’d heard the gist of before to really make this a great night of laughs or insights.

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Perth International Comedy Festival
May 2 – 20