If 2023 was the year of the girlies (think the Women’s World Cup and the Barbie movie), 2024 is the year women embrace our feminine rage. Kiwi comedian, TV host and everyone’s favourite Jacinda Ardern impersonator Melanie Bracewell is on board with this thesis, telling us she’s determined to learn how to unleash her anger.
Aussies are more agro than New Zealanders, she tells us, but apparently Adelaide residents are angrier than Melburnians. It might just be a line to butter up the crowd, but it works a treat, getting us immediately onside.
Bracewell teaches us that learning to let out your rage can take many forms, from joining a social netball team, to questioning a front row punter’s choice to leave their drink on the Max Watt’s stage. She builds layer upon layer of smart quips, woven between silly stories rich with wordplay.
The show attacks an impressive number of varied topics, but the uniting thread running through it all is the winding tale of the time Bracewell lost her airpods. She manages to whip what could have been a pedestrian topic into a recurring plotline worthy of the most dramatic soap opera, thanks to modern technology (aka the Find My iPhone app) and a hefty dose of tenacity. We won’t spoil the outcome here, but rest assured you’ll be heavily invested.
Melanie Bracewell is a smooth comedic operator, mixing finely tuned punchlines and callbacks with off-the-cuff audience interactions with ease. The subject matter she explores in Attack of the Melanie Bracewell is relatively lighthearted, sticking mostly to safe territory. Nevertheless, a smattering of darker jokes (and one particularly risky punchline that thankfully lands well) add enough spice to keep us guessing.
Fans who know Bracewell from the small screen will be thrilled to see her goofy personality shine through IRL, and newbies will likely leave as freshly minted members of the Bracewell fandom.
Attack of the Melanie Bracewell is playing at Max Watt’s until April 21. Tickets start from $35 and are available here.