It’s one of the golden rules of seeing a comedy show: don’t be tardy, lest you want to find yourself in the firing line. Thankfully, after sneaking in five minutes late to Alex Ward’s show ‘Saving For A Jet Pack’ at the Comedy Republic, we stragglers were spared a spray of accusatory questions and instead caught the end of the happy news that Ward recently got engaged.
Is there an actual wedding on the cards though? It's a maybe, according to Ward, who would rather “spend our money on anything else, like eating burrata three times a week”. Ward is in a queer relationship, so she has thought of ways to cut down on the matrimonial costs, including telling potential vendors that the big event is simply “two sisters having a joint birthday”.
Ward’s nonplussed delivery, deadpan stare and storytelling panache are a deadly comedy combo, and she breezes through wild tales of being mistaken for Ricky Ponting in India to pretending to be her mother’s new husband after her parents divorced with an easy nonchalance that you can’t help but be charmed into a hearty laugh.
She talks about being at that “worst level of fame”, where she can (mostly) go about her normal routine but every now and then encounters a “person that thinks they know me”. Not for her comedy prowess though, more that she looks like she works for the “Boroondara Council”. Her mum gets another mention for doing “Boomer shit” on Facebook and wanting Ward to “run her account”, and a bit about quitting coffee only to abandon the strict stance because it’s “worth the anxiety” goes down a treat among Melbourne’s discerning caffeine-guzzling crowd.
Speaking of anxiety, the best moment arrives when Ward discusses the biggest stress factor in her life: her “anxious and depressed dog”. Thunderstorms trigger this perturbed pooch, whose favourite pastime is “fighting the sky”. It ultimately leads to an impressively immersive soundscape with recorded dog barks and flailing arm movements, all set to the classic banger ‘Sunchyme’ by Dario G.
There are a couple of times when it feels as though the pace is slowing, and a few of her jokes tie up a little too predictably. But it’s when Ward is simply herself – down to Earth, slightly sarcastic and intimate in her reflections with the audience – that she’s at her funniest.
See Alex Ward at the Comedy Theatre until April 23. You can book tickets via the MICF website.