Review by Charlotte Leamon
Jenny Tian’s stand-up segment named ‘Picture This’ was not just witty, but also authentic and genuine as Jenny recounted stories from her past in a hilarious manner. Jenny’s enthusiasm and bright smile is welcoming, and her energetic story-telling grasped the audience immediately. In the show Jenny fittingly said some of her friends depicted her as bubbly and others depicted her as dry, which perfectly encapsulates Jenny’s humour.
For a stand-up comedian, Jenny had a very structured performance following the use of a drawing pad and segments called, ‘Betrayal Tales.’ The ‘Betrayal Tales’ were immensely detailed which drew the audience in more as we all felt like we were there. I found relief of laughing in these stories and had a chance to rest my face from smiling too much. This structuring of the show was very smart and clever of Jenny as she could incorporate serious tones, yet still keep it light and funny with one-liners. The drawing pad that was used by Jenny was a wonderful feature in the show. Not only did it add an element of visual imagery, but the roughly sketched stick figures were comedic in themselves and added another dimension to the skit. An example of this witty element was a drawing of a Segway as Jenny cheesily said, “Now as a Segway into my next segment!”, which received a roar of laughter.
Jenny was down-to-earth and had no problem sharing information about her dating life, past friendships, and she did not step back from swearing! Through sharing such personal information in a light manner, the audience felt as if they were friends with Jenny and could laugh with her and her stories. My favourite story of Jenny’s was one of her ‘Betrayal Tales’, which were all introduced by a sound effect of thunder, creating a fun element to the sketch. This particular tale was about a boyfriend that cheated on Jenny at vivid, which explains why she hates vivid and was as she put, ‘livid in vivid.’ She humoured us all by detailing every moment from how they met (on tinder) to how he ended up cheating on her with a Chinese girl he was pretending to date so she could get a visa.
I won’t ruin the rest, but this stand-up hour was witty, grasping and clever. Jenny is bubbly, energetic, yet she has a cracking sense of humour full of sarcasm and sexual innuendos. If you’re looking for a laugh, make sure to catch Jenny at her next show!
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