I’m familiar with all sorts of stand-up comedians’ presentation styles from the super-hyped to the casual-and-laid-back, but I’ve never encountered anything quite as low-key as tonight’s show from Melbourne Stand Up Diva, Geraldine Hickey. Her manner is so laid-back that she gives the impression of being not quite on top of her material. Admittedly, for this solo hour-long act, its’s a small audience of just a dozen-or-so (although that quickly changes when a couple leave after the first five minutes).  

But the material is clearly well-prepared and her ability to draw humour from that couple of early leavers indicates a quick and witty mind. We, her audience, are as supportive and responsive as possible – as with all shows in a festival like this, we WANT to be entertained; we WANT to enjoy the act – but perhaps, with such a small group, she feels that a more casual and conversational approach might be more suitable. Or perhaps the rapport that can be generated by a larger audience isn’t present here in a way that can sufficiently ignite her theatrical flame. 

Thinking about her material later, I can see the potential for some uproarious humour with punchlines that have the capacity to home in on our comedy antennae, although tonight we seem to have to make even more effort than the performer to make it work.  But there really is some great material – top ten shark movies that include West Side Story; taking a river ferry in the hope of seeing a whale by surprise – and the running gag of saying “yes” too often with a well-timed punchline: “I should have said ‘no’!”, all speak of a cleverly-crafted act that simply falls a bit flat tonight.

Later I find her delivering some of the same material on YouTube, and now it really comes to life with a much larger audience in a different setting. Ah, well – I blame myself. Perhaps there’s just too much good, high-impact comedy in this festival and I’m temporarily immune to the subtle approach.

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