Donna Brookbanks YOU DO YOU BABES
BATS Theatre, Studio, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
08/05/2018 - 12/05/2018
NZ International Comedy Festival 2018
Production Details
Characters! Physical comedy! Weird facial movements! Catch 2018 Billy T Nom Donna Brookbanks as she takes her signature awkward charm to new heights.
“An endearing comedian, a joy to watch and the kind of personality you need in your life.” Theatrescenes
Follow her attempts to navigate through anxious social spheres, accept the cat lady she is becoming, and all the while trying very, very hard to be happy.
An organised chaos of stand-up, sketch, and improv, this show is unlike any other you’ll see in the Fest. You’ll leave feeling smothered with the ‘feels’, with newly developed abs from laughing (you’re welcome).
Founding member of SNORT and Finalist – 2017 NZ International Comedy Fest Best Newcomer.
BATS theatre: The Studio
8 – 12 May at 8:30pm
Full Price $22 | Cheap Wednesday $18
Concession Price $16 | Group 6+ $15
BOOK TICKETS
Accessibility
*Access to The Studio is via stairs, so please contact the BATS Box Office at least 24 hours in advance if you have accessibility requirements so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Read more about accessibility at BATS.
Theatre , Solo , Comedy ,
1 hr
A mistress of the running gag
Review by Maryanne Cathro 09th May 2018
There’s something afoot in Kiwi comedy and it’s coming from the women. A style of humour that is quirky, awkward but fast-paced, farcical yet observational, lives somewhere in the space between sketches and stand up and I LOVE IT. If Donna Brookbanks were cheese on toast I’d be washing her down contentedly this mid-week evening with a glass of chilled Chablis.
Donna greets us as we come in the door, wearing a black hooded robe, as a member of the clergy of the Church of the Singles or some such. (For once I wish I had written notes because so much material gets covered in the course of this show but I would have hated to miss a moment of it to do so.)
The church sequence is fast and funny and segues into the first of many vignettes of life as a single, cat-loving 30-something. This is a bit of a cliché, but Brookbanks ensures that it is anything but dull.
All of her material feels highly relatable. The audience tonight is a diverse cross section of types, genders, ages, etc, and all seem to see themselves or their friends in her humour.
A mistress of the running gag, turning the stage area into a mess that any teenage bedroom could rival, Brookbanks never lets up until the very end, and even then she is shaking our hands on the way out. For someone who admits to seeing the sad side of many occasions (in the funniest way!) she has sure made a full house very, very happy tonight.
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