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Life has been a bit rocky for Fiona O'Loughlin lately. Following her drunken collapse during a Brisbane show last year, the Alice Springs comedienne publicly announced she was an alcoholic (not that this came as much of a surprise to anyone). Earlier this month she drew worldwide negative publicity for joking about Bindi Irwin on the ABC's Spicks and Specks.

It's perhaps understandable that O'Loughlin would approach the first show of her festival run, and indeed the opening day of the comedy festival with some trepidation. But the infectious and irrepressible mother-of-five soon found her feet and the audience settled in for a funny, if slightly low-key hour of entertainment.

O'Loughlin is well known for her frankness, especially about her own failings - indeed this is the source of much of her appeal. Her new show On A Wing and A Prayer is a sort of mea culpa for everything that has gone wrong lately. She talks about being an alcoholic, but she is at pains to point out that this is not a show about alcoholism.

It's the Fiona O'Loughlin you know and love, but from a side you haven't seen before. Her stories of family, friends and faux pas are all imbued with that peculiar brand of Irish Catholic mischief which she mixes expertly with down-to-earth authenticity and a healthy dose of self-deprecation.

With O'Loughlin what you see is what you get, and while audiences are used to getting Miss Conviviality, the setting for this show is more about the morning after the night before. It has the feel of a conversation you'd have with someone while you clear the plates away. It might not hit the energy levels of O'Loughlin's previous shows, but fans will enjoy the new sense of intimacy.


On a Wing and a Prayer
Fiona O'Loughlin

Venue: the Arts Centre, Playhouse | 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Dates: 24 March - 3 April, 2010
Times: Wed - Fri @ 7pm, Sat - Sun @ 3pm
Duration: 60 minutes
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 | Arts Centre 1300 182 183 | theartscentre.com.au