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Photos - Ponch Hawkes

Yana Alana is the alter-ego of singer/performer Sarah Ward. She’s a feminist performance poet with diva-esque tendencies and her shows are a mix of original song, poetry, burlesque and interactions with her band, Tha Paranas. Clocking in at just over an hour, Bite Me is a lot tighter than her offering at last year’s comedy festival and has elements of the excellent show she presented in the Full Tilt program at the Art Centre in July last year.

What works best is Yana in song – her voice is fantastic and the contributions of the three piece Paranas are crucial to the presentation and humour within them. Young Liberals, Australian celebrities, tram conductors - few, including her own band, are spared her sharp tongue. It’s pretty crude and sexually explicit stuff – and, with proud gusto, Ward rides her controversial material to its full potential and successfully pulls it off.

Yana spends a good deal of time putting down her band as a way to develop her own narcissistic tendencies. It’s all part of the shtick – but the joke is overdone. Yana never introduces them, throws things at them, patronizes them and even makes them do dopey circus tricks. When they pull too much attention, she breaks down, leaves stage and can’t understand why nobody notices.

As characters, Yana Alana and Tha Paranas have developed well and their content is multi-faceted, ironic, clever and sexy. But where will they go from here? When Ward came out as herself to sing an encore – History Repeating, there was no doubting her chanteuse abilities. It sent chills up the spine. Equally, Tha Paranas are just as talented and diverse as musicians. Continuing to use the vocal and musical abilities of all collaborators will keep Yana Alana and Tha Paranas in a league above and beyond a typical cabaret or comedy offering. If you’re up for Yana’s no-holds barred ravings and graphic sexual imagery, Bite Me definitely won’t disappoint.


Yana Alana and Tha Paranas
Bite Me!

Venue: fortyfivedownstairs | 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Dates: 1 - 25 April
Times: Tue-Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm (no show Sun 12)
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: Full $30, Concession $25
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 | 9662 9966 | at the door | www.fortyfivedownstairs.com