Review By Antonia Korn
This show is an absolute riot! Myra Dubois is a TRUE drag queen and performer. With her incredible comedy and wonderful stage presence, she gave us a show just packed with fun. She delivered a show that was a fantastic mix of macabre, dark humour, social commentary and an uplifting egocentricness. With some incredible audience interaction, she quickly got the room comfortable, engaged but also willing to be involved.
This is one performer who is not afraid! She took every opportunity to roast everyone and everything, from the audience members (by name in some cases) to herself, the Opera House, the bushfires, Australian culture (or lack thereof) to the LGBTQI community- no one was safe. Her off-the-cuff wit was on full display with her reads of the audience members- so on point and hilarious the whole way through. She even went so far as to make some of the more well known audience members- much to their chagrin- apart of the show in very unorthodox and practical ways; I'll leave the how’s and why’s for those that view the show.
What I commend her on, is her incredible way of never going too far when poking fun. It is a skill not all those who practise insult comedy can boast, but at the Myra Dubois show, you are presented with a masterclass example of this skill. No one in the audience was made to feel uncomfortable or wholly insulted, so at no point was there tension in the room. She read the room like only a true performer can.
With a wonderful flare of irreverence, she took us through a show that was so much fun it seemed to fly by. The setting of her own funeral was the spring board for a majority of the show’s content but with what I’ve come to love as a Myra Dubois twist. In her own words, what better occasion than a funeral “it’s all about me and no one else!”. She joked about her life, her family and romantic relationships but mostly, how bereft the world would be without her; and I have to say, she’s not wrong! Even with a whole show centred on her death, she somehow found a way to bring us the a beautiful and heartening conclusion.
Paired with some incredibly entertaining and live vocals, clever lyrics, video sketches, even some educational moments for the audience and a surprisingly uplifting conclusion, Myra Dubois delivered a wonderfully entertaining and hilarious show. I genuinely don’t think the smile left my face the entire time I was there. It was a real pleasure to see her show, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Myra Dubois: Dead Funny is at the Sydney Opera House until February 29
Image Supplied
All opinions and thoughts expressed within reviews on Theatre Travels are those of the writer and not of the company at large.