Melbourne Reviews

W

ith an Irish mum and Asian dad, Lizzy Hoo knows her benefits – white privilege and no Asian red-drunk face. Being bi-racial, Hoo has plenty of complex material at her disposal, but she keeps Hoo Dis? on the lighter side, talking briefly about visiting her Malaysian dad's childhood haunts and a handful of one-line observations, but stops short of deep diving into any particular topic. 

Instead, the Brisbane-bred, Sydney-living 37-year-old goes for 90s nostalgia – for prank calls and discmans, sitting on trains (pre-mobile phones) coloring on her shoes, cargo pants and a side hustle as a mini-loan shark. Straddling this with the fact that she's getting older and most of her peer group have kids, she admits she's trying to figure out her next steps as her life heads towards 40. 

It's all fairly casual, comfortably rambling, forming an easy hour of musings as the affable Hoo peppers her routine with a whole lot of different seasonings and nuggets. 

Her fertility window is closing and she wants to do something about this....only she hasn't discussed that with her boyfriend. She thinks stand-up paddle-boarding and "paint and sip nights" are for wankers, hates escape rooms, but loves Jungle Body aerobics and ceramics classes.  She admits her addiction to news (she’s “jacked up on content” and struggles to remember what she actually cares about), is baffled by the confidence of millennials and tries to convince us she was a real party girl, even though she looks like she could be on the board of a not-for-profit.  

Occasional pauses intersperse segments, as if Hoo is remembering what comes next, but it could just be her relaxed, friendly style that isn't rushed or hyper-engineered. Overall, Hoo Dis? is a cruisy hour from a comedian-on-the-rise.