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Photo – Seemingly Sane Photography

Jenny Wynter's Unexpected Variety Show is a surprising night of gaffs, laughs, sincere moments and hilarious songs. In the very best of ways, it was an unexpected display of Wynter's variety of talents, stories and humour. Her own personal variety show (of life) has taken her many twists and turns, veering from her initial focus on worldwide stardom into the midst of a growing family and the wonders and horrors of motherhood.

Wynter's story makes the basis of her show, but also reveals her motivations and her very real humanness below all the fantastic wigs and hilarious characters.

While she deals light-heartedly with most topics, there are moments of real emotion in the show that reveal the truth behind it all – that Wynter's way of coping with and expressing herself in life is through humour and cabaret, but that doesn't make her life one ounce easier. In her own inspiring style, Wynter laughs her way through pain without shying away from it or trivialising it.

Her showmanship is enhanced by several very poor technical delays and mistakes. This leaves you wondering whether the prompt she needs to give to the techy for the music is, in fact, scripted? No, it couldn't have been, she couldn't act that well... or could she? She's such a confident performer, and loves to riddle her shows with moments of blunt honesty and complete divergence from the script, that at no point can we rest on our laurels and safely expect anything. She somehow makes her extreme theatricality merge perfectly with self-deprecating humour and audience interaction. She embraces her limited resources, turning a simple show into a feat of imagination and dry humour.

Mention must go to the gorgeous Matthew Hadgraft (a man who really knows how to wear a top hat) for his musical and moral support of Wynter. He makes a wonderful pianist and delights in responding to Wynter with his facial expressions. He is at once part of the show and part of the setting. Wynter is very much a one woman show, and he supports her wonderfully without encroaching on her lime-light.

This is one very talented lady and she brings her wide range of talents fully to bear on transforming her unexpected road of life into a hilarious, educational, down-to-earth yet wildly theatrical variety show.


2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
An Unexpected Variety Show
Jenny Wynter

Venue: Butterfly Club | 204 Bank St, Sth Melbourne
Dates: 10 – 22 April, 2012
Times: Tue & Wed 6pm, Thu-Sat 7pm, Sun 6pm
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: $27 – $15
Bookings: 9690 2000 | thebutterflyclub.com