In the annual festival arguably the most widespread shared basic formula is standup comedy. As fond as we are of it when done effectively, it is truly refreshing to experience something deeper.  Jan Maree’s Eat Me is such an experience; a show with content you can really sink your teeth into, and I don’t just mean literally although that’s a sweet bonus.

As we enter, Maree potters about prepping for her show, chatting openly with the patrons as we seat ourselves. She passes around garlic bread, which complements my Farnese Farneto Valley Sangiovese 2005 deliciously.  At some point it seems like the show has begun, at which time Jan casually introduces herself and embarks on her opening recipe, as we have just been sampling it:  the garlic butter ‘Bobbit’.  I shan’t explain.  Then we get to the main course, which is made clear and somehow credible by a handy closed-circuit projection of the stovetop.

There is so much more than just standup to Eat Me – already doubly unique thanks to being both a cooking show presented by a comic as well as a comedy show with cooking.  With directional assistance from Katrina Chandra, ‘Uncle Janny’ shares what eventually proves to be an important and indeed very touching story from her formative years as she concocts the dish that connects her family to her heart via her stomach.

Not to say it isn’t funny, she’s still Jan Maree, Auckland’s own self-confessed sex loving slut .  There’s still smut, not least a prize-package of pornography drawn from a selection of contenders who qualify by bringing a tin of food to donate to the City Mission. 

I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more and at the end we ate.  To accompany my portion of the star of the show (Jan’s Italian family pasta meat sauce), I choose the 2004 Chianti which I didn’t write down the name of but it is just as delicious.  The range of wines are supplied by Sovrano Italian Food & Wine Store in Pakuranga, whilst the porn prize is donated by NZX magazine.

The elements of her comedy, incorporating yarns about her parents and grandparents whom she obviously cherishes, and the brilliantly subtle simplicity of her cooking (notes provided) combine like carbs, protein and vitamins with some love-filled memories thrown in for flavour.  She has her own rules, e.g. dried parsley acceptable, dried basil not.  I’ve always held the opposite personally, but as she and any anti-dieting health expert will tell you, enjoying what you eat and not feeling guilty about it is as important as the nutritional quality of the food itself, if not more so.

I understand this is Maree’s first foray both into stage cookery as well as sharing a more personal world through her humour, and for more than merely comedic purposes. I for one wholeheartedly appreciate it and declare her risky venture to be a success.  As she herself puts it ‘man’s primal needs are food and fornication and they are a lot more similar than you might think (and not just in a 9 1/2 weeks way). 

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