Out of Order begins like so many other shows at the Comedy Festival, with witty anecdotes about the comedian’s life, topical events like the Grand Prix, dating, growing up and audience members could be forgiven for wondering: ‘So, what’s different about this one, other than it’s being performed by that TV chick Corinne Grant?’ The witty ‘you-wouldn’t-believe-what-happened-to-me-on-the-tram-the-other-day’ anecdotal style has become the predictable ‘norm’ for comedians and comedy, particularly at this current Festival and I was left half-way through wondering where it was all going.And then...
Corinne did what experienced comedians do, separating herself from ‘the pack’ by giving the piece a purpose and reflecting a truth about life in an attempt to answer the profound question: have we honestly lived the lives we think we have lived or have we distorted our memories to serve our egos and maintain the persona of the person we have become or prefer to be? The show was about Corinne’s personal past, about looking back on her childhood to distinguish the truth from the fantasy, to determine what was real and which bits she’d made up or exaggerated to make her life seem more interesting (and less embarrassing) but, while she reminisced about the fantasy, she had photographic evidence to prove the contrary, which she revealed at the end of the show. If you don’t want to know the ending, please stop reading now: she did intentionally wee in the playground, she did perm her hair in the 80’s, she did have awful teeth during her childhood and she did once wear a slapped-together cow costume, which looked anything but a cow.
Out of Order is essentially Corinne’s self-realization that her life wasn’t always the way she has since imagined it and her memories have been occasionally distorted, but her anecdotes of the small town she grew up in, ‘Dairy World’ and her teenage-turd existence all make for an entertaining 55 minute show and does make one wonder, if only while walking down the stairs at the Melbourne Town Hall on the way out, which lies have we told and what memories have we distorted to make us feel better about ourselves and why.
A Token Event
Out of Order
Corinne Grant
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall | Cnr Swanston & Collins Sts, Melbourne
Dates: 20th Mar - 13th Apr
Times: Tue-Sat 7.15pm, Sun 6.15pm (no show Sun 30 Mar)
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: Full $27.90, Conc $25.90 (N/A Sat), Tightarse Tuesday $19.90; All Tix Saturday $27.90
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 & at the door