Playing at Underground Comedy (Thu-Sun) until April 19. Tickets and more information at comedyfestival.com.au/jayne-steer/
Jayne Steer’s brutally honest and upfront show Addickted is both heartbreaking and hilarious, as Steer revisits some of the worst moments in her life, as well as unpacking lots of childhood trauma right in front of the audience.
Steer’s story, while ultimately a triumphant one, saw her grow up in a poor household in rural Queensland with many siblings and an abusive mum, the adverse effects of which lingered long into her adult life.
With the recent passing of her mum coinciding with a lapse in her sobriety, Steer decided to quit a high-paying job that she hated and soon found herself at an exclusive treatment facility in Thailand to overcome her addiction, which leads to some wild stories about her time there, and goes into details about what life was like when she had to re-enter everyday life after her three-month Thailand stay.
Steer is aided by the use of an on-stage video screen which helps immeasurably, with animation, graphs, on screen captions and old family photos helping to illuminate her tales.
Special mention must be made of Steer’s phenomenal wordplay and extremely clever script. Steer comes up with lots of clever puns and plays on words in her show, with some of these whizzing by so quickly that you might miss them on the first watch.
Credit must be given to Steer for being so forthright and open with her past to the audience, it’s a privilege when a performer trusts the audience with stories that are so personal and private, as she does here for almost the show’s entire running time.
Steer touches on a lot of difficult subject matter in the show, but does so in a largely irreverent way, helpfully encouraging the audience to laugh with her during even some of the darker jokes that she tells.
Her discussion of her late mum is particularly moving and tragic, with obvious sadness in Steer’s tone at never really having a close bond with her, but she still finds room for humour in recounting their relationship.
Armed with a clever script, a confident stage presence and even some game show segments that the audience are asked to take part in, Addickted is a really unique and ultimately joyful celebration of life, and it’s great to see Steer happy, thriving and performing at this year’s comedy festival.
4/5 Stars
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 