Anne Edmonds is fascinated by people who aren’t plagued by the existential questions of life, people who just get on with it. Edmonds, for her part, listens in on their conversations and turns it into a hilarious, gut busting and surprisingly moving hour of comedy in the award-winning You Know What I’m Like.
You get the sense that Edmonds is a deer caught in the headlights in the lululemon-lined streets of Essendon – the hometown that features heavily in her set and, clearly, her psyche. She’s old-world, and her ability to stand apart from the idiosyncrasies of modern life gives her the ‘in’ to skewer them.
Edmonds flits in and out of character, injecting nuance into the spectrum of ‘bogan’ where it tends to get painted in broad strokes. We meet Danni, sports management student; Karen, mother of two whose female friends are ‘girlfriends’; and Beverley, a spinster with a tendency for casual racism. Each is given a unique voice and the characterisation is clear.
Edmonds injects her characters with genuine warmth and there’s never a sense that she’s making fun of anybody. She skilfully works her middle-class upbringing into the narrative – she was ‘brought up on tolerance by Catholic parents’ – so that when she personifies misogynist or racist characters the audience can see the distance between her and the uncomfortable claims that the characters make.
There’s a darker side to the set, too. As Edmonds herself admits, she knows sadness. Indeed, her more slapstick moments – about navigating a whopping hangover on New Years Day – pale in comparison to the raw emotion that comes through when Edmonds talks about her experiences with depression and loneliness.
Reluctant as I am to compare this unique voice to other comedic acts, its clear that Edmonds strikes a balance between comedians like Amy Schumer and Louis C.K.: she can bring levity to issues like misogyny and racism, but isn’t afraid to err on the serious side when she talks about depression.
More than anything, You Know What I’m Like is incredibly generous comedy, setting itself apart from the typical stand-up hour by giving the audience something to ponder. Edmonds’ skill? She puts her whole self out there, not just the funny bits.
You Know What I’m Like will be at Fringe Hub – The Ballroom, Lithuanian Club from 26 Sep – 2 Oct at 8pm Tues-Fri. Tickets $24-$26. For more information or to book tickets, please visit the Melbourne Fringe website or call the ticketing team on 9660 9666.
