Review by Benjamin Lamb
There’s always something special in the air across the state when it comes to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, comedy fans and curious minds make their ways into some back corners of Melbourne for a laugh or two. Tonight’s proceedings took place at Comedy Republic, one of the most popular spaces when it comes to stand up – comedians from across the world hit the stage to test out their sets every now and then.
After accidently ending up in the front, mere centimetres from the microphone, there was nervous chatter to the degree of audience interaction we were in for – but luckily picking on the front row wasn’t Alex Ward’s style.
Hitting the stage right on time, the comedian referenced the close front row, mentioning that only the people in the back will get picked on (they weren’t). She quickly got right into the jokes, without spoiling the punchlines, she dived into stories about her engagement, the Boroondara Council, Airport Security and much more.
Alex clearly has a knack for telling a killer story, but once the audience were drawn in, stories were quickly finished, and Ward moved onto the next one. There was a noticeable lack of connection between the stories, but luckily that was quickly forgiven due to the increasing humour throughout. It begs the question if some stories were fleshed out more and the punchlines were stretched out, the audience could’ve come along for the journey and a bigger laugh may’ve come at the end.
Yet another highlight came closer to the end of the set, when Ward started to chat about her dog. While mentioning a certain trait of her pooch, Ward used a soundscape, which was the perfect addition to the set, really pushing it into a new gear. It’s interesting to consider how the set would’ve felt if this was the closer, the energy Ward brought to this section was synonymous with the energy brought to closing jokes.
Alex Ward is a talented comic, continues to get better and better, she’s definitely a must see when it comes to the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
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