Review: Annick Adelle at Newtown Hotel

Review by Alison Stoddart

The Newtown Hotel, with its multiple performance spaces and live acts throughout the venue, is playing host to the Sydney Fringe Festival. The hotel is a plethora of entertainment, from the piano player in the front bar to the comedians performing multiple shows in the upstairs Caravan and Cinema Theatres (poor acoustics notwithstanding).

One of these performers is Annick Adelle, a calm and gentle presence who’s show ‘I’m Uncomfortable’ is a revelatory and interactive experience. Adelle announces early on that most of his life is spent being uncomfortable in social situations, but contrarily, being on a stage is where he feels most at home, a paradox that reveals a deeper truth as the show progresses.

On this particular night the crowd is small, a mere ten of us, but rather than being confronting, Adelle creates a safe space that has all audience members interacting beautifully with them and even chatting with each other.  Ten strangers who leave the theatre feeling like they’ve been to an impromptu dinner party with Adelle as the host.

After five minutes of getting to know the audience, revealing a mix of nationalities in the room, Adelle launches into his act. He mines the obvious with jokes about the relationship with his mother and how he react to going to therapy (“it’s a game you have to win”). But this act also takes a deeper tone with themes of identity, fitting in but also staying true to yourself.

His anecdotes about his 8-year-old niece and the games they play and the conversations they have are thoughtful and perceptive. Upon discussing his gender transitioning with his niece, he hones in on the innocence of children and how they accept things at face value, something Annick mines for laughs effectively.

Adelle also manages, with his tactic of bantering with the audience, to land on some comedy gold.  Asking the audience for their Australian take on children’s games led to some funny deadpan responses which tickled Adelle more than us.

There is a fine line in performing comedy, where you can rely on your audience participation but not too much, as it can subsequently become the whole act. But in a room this small I don’t think he had much choice. And ultimately it worked anyway.

His topics are so thought provoking and perceptive that they could easily be extended. Some of the best comedy has elements of sadness or trauma woven through it. And a clever performer takes his audience on a journey, has them invested, then lands the joke with impact. This is where the writing of the show and the effort put into that pays off.  The delivery is certainly important, but a clever script is a strong foundation. With this in mind, describing his therapy sessions with his mother was amusing and definitely could be taken further.

Adelle is an inclusive and relatable performer who is on the right track with his writing. The effort he puts into making the audience feel comfortable pays off and ultimately the end of the performance comes way too soon. I wanted to stay and hear more. 

Warm, friendly, honest and engaging Adelle left us feeling very comfortable indeed.

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