Image by Greta Punch
As the crowds rolled in to a packed Courtyard Studio at the Canberra Theatre Centre on Thursday March 6, many had not expected that in just its second year, the Canberra Comedy Festival would be such a sell-out, smash hit. Crammed into the at-capacity, intimate venue, fans of Sammy J and curious voyeurs alike embraced the festival offerings with gusto exceeding what one would ordinarily expect on a Thursday (school) night.
As the lights dimmed on the stage, the local opening act, Greg Kimble, did the honours of eliciting the first laughs of the evening and introducing the main act. The audience was eager to hear what tunes Sammy J would be belting out from his piano keyboard, on which was delicately balanced a glass of wine, a fruit box and a glass of water.
Sammy J began with a story of how a gypsy had predicted the very moment when he would be performing in Canberra. Little did he know that the same gypsy would apparently be in the midst of the audience (as proclaimed by the very un-gypsy looking man in the front row). The show’s first taste of audience participation was greeted heartily by the crowd, as Sammy J effortlessly displayed his talent in setting the rhythm for a performance in which each audience member felt part of a distinct, one-off moment in time.
Reflecting on the importance of the event by delving into an existential reverie of how such a fateful collection of persons together in the same room was a profoundly unique experience, Sammy J demonstrated his exceptional ability to bond with the audience. Whether it was by making the women in the room scream ‘ow’, while the men yelled ‘prickly’, or by leading the audience to finish off the last lines of his songs in a group singalong, there was no doubt that Sammy J is a moderator of extraordinary, perceptive abilities.
Despite his protestations that the night’s entertainment was merely a random collection of bits and pieces from other acts, this was certainly not the impression given. Contrary to Sammy J’s supporting act (who in his five minutes professed that he had no time for segues) the self-confessed un-Australian comedian expertly navigated the crowd through an exclusively Canberran experience with jibes about Queanbeyan, references to suburban Prime Ministers and – in what appealed especially to the presumably liberal, public servant crowd – an irreverent ode to a republic. Whether Sammy J sensed the mood and delivered the repertoire to match, or whether he had surreptitiously orchestrated an atmosphere of resounding receptiveness, his jokes hit a chord with everyone who could recognise the underlying, ideological subtext of his songs. (I think every woman will thank him for ‘Crotch sweat’.)
With an hour elapsing far more quickly than it felt, not one moment of Sammy J’s performance seemed laboured or dragged. His humour solicited shrill wolf whistles from the crowd and each tune was greeted with rapturous applause. He brought out an appreciation of the absurd with tunes such as ‘You held my hand’ about a single moment of airborne tenderness before eventually progressing onto more crass songs such as the one dedicated to the F word, which the children in the audience also didn’t seem to mind.
As he played his closing score, the aptly named ‘Its time to go’, there was a palpable sense of despondency from the audience that our time spent with Sammy J was over all too quickly. As he remonstrated in his duet with himself, reflecting on the death of his grandma, moments in time can be too easily erased by pressing ‘delete’, and this sense of impermanence was evident after his hour-long monologue. However, although the performance itself may have been fleeting, we hope to see more of Sammy J in Canberra again, where he will be no doubt welcomed back in whatever political, comedic or feminist persona he wishes to incarnate.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
The Sammy J Songbook
Written and performed by Sammy J
Canberra Theatre Centre, Courtyard Studio
Canberra Comedy Festival
www.canberracomedyfestival.com.au
6 March
