Comedy fest review: Alice Snedden in Self-titled: Volume II
Alice Snedden is a fucking good comedian. I try to get along to as many Billy T Nominee shows in Wellington as possible because I often don’t know much about the comics and so frequently unearth some gold, like Guy Montgomery from a few years back. Alice is like Guy in that I went in knowing little and left being super impressed.
There’s a self-awareness that punctuates the entire show that makes her seem authentic. It doesn’t even matter if it’s genuine authenticity (tautology?), if you can play it the way Alice does then you’ve got it nailed. From longer-form gags to short little asides to herself, her show was packed full of material. At times it could feel like a little too much material – and there were parts of the show that felt like they went on a bit – but if the biggest complaint from a show is that the comic has too much material, then that is a petty thing to complain about.
The show is filled with anecdotes, gags, and lovely call-backs. Alice clearly has a strong grasp on the technical points of comedy and isn’t afraid to put them to use. In fact this brashness and confidence of hers forms the central thesis of her show: that she was a very confident child. All the stories we get that are filled with cringe and hilarity border on the absurd, but then in a brilliant theatrical device, Alice closes the show in such a way that she validates everything that went before it. It’s a phenomenal tactic because it means we all laughed our way through the show, and then left the show feeling like it was all real, it was all true. Often we’ll know when the comic is taking artistic license with their gags, but with Alice, true or not, the stories felt entirely true when you walked out of BATS.
The scary/wonderful thing is that this felt like it might have been a sort of rehearsal for her full Billy T performance in her Auckland season which means this show is only going to get better and better as it goes on.
I highly recommend seeing her. There’s Billy T winner written all over her (he says not having seen a single other nominee so far).
Alice Snedden in Self-Titled: Volume II
Wellington, BATS theatre, May 1-5, 7.00pm
TICKET PRICES
Full Price $20
Concession $15
Group 6+ $14
Cheap Wednesday $15
Auckland, Basement Theatre, May 15-19, 7.00pm
TICKET PRICES
Full Price $23
Concession $20
Cheap Wednesday $18
