★★★
The slickness and honed skill with which Michelle Shaughnessy delivers story after story is at complete odds with her self-concept. She feels a failure, that she’s ‘missed the boat’, in life, and is desperately trying to catch up to her goals, before it’s too late. Yet, Shaughnessy’s skill as a comic performer is solid. The speed with which innocuous details about manifesting and sugar-daddy’s turn into dark and sarcastic asides are whiplash fast.
She really knows how to work an audience too, and her ad-libs are often the funniest part of the show. It almost felt the narrative Michelle hung her comedic talent on, hampered and cossetted the humour at points.
It’s really great to see a comic taking on the nonsense of ‘self-help’ and the constant battle with self-improvement to its natural conclusion. That this chasing an ideal isn’t actually going to get you anywhere.
The serious subtext of Shaughnessy’s hour mustn’t be undervalued, with disclosures around eating disorders and depression an important current throughout.
There is a lot going on in Michelle’s show, and whilst it doesn’t always seem to come together, it is certainly a very entertaining and polished hour of stand-up.
Michelle Shaughnessy: Too Late, Baby is on at Underbelly, Bristo Sq. – Daisy until August 25th
