Advertisement
Australia markets closed
  • ALL ORDS

    8,153.70
    +80.10 (+0.99%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,896.90
    +77.30 (+0.99%)
     
  • AUD/USD

    0.6514
    -0.0005 (-0.07%)
     
  • OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Bitcoin AUD

    107,737.98
    -895.45 (-0.82%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • AUD/EUR

    0.6035
    +0.0001 (+0.01%)
     
  • AUD/NZD

    1.0891
    -0.0012 (-0.11%)
     
  • NZX 50

    12,105.29
    +94.63 (+0.79%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    18,254.69
    -26.15 (-0.14%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     

Megan Stalter at Soho Theatre review: In-your-face, oddball and absolutely hilarious

 (Chanukah Lewinsky)
(Chanukah Lewinsky)

Megan Stalter, already acclaimed in the US, was on the cusp of making it big when Covid struck. Instead of scuppering her ascent the pandemic has accelerated it. Confined to her New York apartment she concentrated on character-based clips that went viral. These kooky quickfire shorts alongside her breakout role as fan favourite Kayla in HBO Max’s Hacks are the reason her Soho Theatre debut run sold out before it even opened.

If you have secured a ticket you are in for a treat. As long as you appreciate oddball humour. Stalter is a spectacularly in-your-face performer and the energy rarely lets up from start to finish. This is more like extended sketch comedy than self-revelation, but as far as subgenres go it is so funny categorisation hardly matters.

It is certainly not conventional observational stand-up though. Or conventional anything actually. The premise is that Stalter is filming her own TV special and wants to get everything absolutely right. Even though the fictional special is for an obscure no-budget channel with a broken camera and a ginger ale sponsor: “it’s not brown, but it’s not not brown ginger ale,” gabbles the super-confident star.

ADVERTISEMENT

This means that she spends the bulk of her set ironing out non-existent wrinkles in the show’s introduction. After she has dismissed her guitar-playing sidekick and banished him to the stalls she press gangs an audience member into introducing her. However perfect he is – and on this night he was a real pro – this deluded diva is never satisfied.

Some moments are pure split-your-sides knockabout hilarious, such as when she enlists the audience to sing along to her unashamedly silly composition, Pigeon Tuesday. Or when she breaks into a Dick Van Dyke cockney accent direct from Mary Poppins for no logical justification. The laughs often erupt from places you least expect.

It is hard to play the comparison game with such a unique talent. The onstage persona with zero self-awareness has a touch of David Brent’s cringe humour about it, while fans of C4’s Stath Lets Flats will enjoy Stalter’s similar grammar-mangling patter.

There are echoes of that other recent acclaimed American Catherine Cohen in this full-on bravura performance. She also evokes a freewheeling powerhouse from a previous generation, Sandra Bernhard, best known for her six years in Roseanne and her out-there cameo in Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy.

So is Stalter the new Queen of Comedy? Very nearly. If there is a niggle it is that at times you cannot tell how much of the chaos is planned and how much is seat-of-the-pants improvised. There are moments where it is bracingly brilliant through sheer force of personality. And one thing is abundantly clear. Stalter has plenty of personality.

To December 11, sohotheatre.com

Read More

Pento: London payroll startup led by 28-year-old raises $35 million

New York City orders all of its workers to get vaccinated within weeks

Cycle lanes blamed as London becomes world’s most congested city