The alternative to having a brilliantly written and perfectly constructed show (as Ed Byrne has done this Festival) is to go in the completely opposite direction and just wing it.
Nina Conti has never been faint of heart, so when she comes out on stage and tells you she hasn’t scripted the show you’re about to see, you believe her and you trust her. But there’s a tiny bit of terror lurking, especially when one of the people who comes up on stage seems like such a loose cannon that you’re genuinely afraid of what may happen next…
Simply put Conti takes ventriloquism to the next level and then, every time you see her, she ramps it up all over again. Your Face or Mine features the beloved and foul-mouthed Monkey, but mostly comprises Conti’s trademark “audience as puppets” routine (does anyone else do this? I don’t think so). And she has even built on it, so this show starts with one audience member, builds to a duo and then somehow Conti pulls off having four masked human puppets on stage at once and, on the night this reviewer attended, gets them to pull off a dance routine in unison. Superb.
Her courage, her quick wit and intelligence, her ability to read people and her sensational improv skills mean that whatever comes up, she handles it. With aplomb, with hilarity and, more often that not, with some perfectly pitched expletives to seal the deal.
Read: Comedy review: Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time, The Malthouse, MICF 2024
Tickets: $33-$41
Nina Conti, Your Face or Mine will be performed in The Capitol until Sunday 14 April 2024 as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF 2024).
