To the loud strains of Aretha singing Respect Rachel bounded in looking resplendent in a gorgeous 50s floral gown with sparking diamantes and not a hair out of place. She stops to explain that she wants the audience to take part in making the show wonderful by giving it some special lighting effects. So ushers hand out torches to the audience, she leaves, Aretha comes back on and Rachel enters to flashing beams of light like she’s arriving at a Hollywood premiere. This is contrasted with her comical description of how crap and messed up she felt getting up in the morning and then discovering petrol had jumped up ten cents.
Despite all her angst about the world, Rachel was so in her element, venting her rage with such relish, lashing out at religion, politics, female role models, advertising and all the bullshit foisted upon us. She’s been doing this for a long time, yet she always manages to make it fresh to open our eyes to what’s happening in the world now. She’s even brave enough to crack a tampon related joke. I loved her take on Julia Gillard and the contrast with Amanda Vandstone. I was also delighted to hear her tell one of my fave stories, the one about the pony fluffer, when she spent time on a farm. The pony gets to warm the mares up for the stallions but doesn’t get any of the action himself, awwww. She finishes her show as if she is ending a relationship with us, saying its time for us to go out and see other comedians.
It all seemed so effortless, as she easily goes into banter with the audience and back into her show, you realize why Rachel is still going strong as others come and fall by the wayside. If you have not gone to see one of Rachel’s shows before, this one will not disappoint. She has been referred to, as Australian comedy Royalty, but watching her beaming out last night it occurred to me that she was more like a comedy Goddess. Go and worship.
For booking details got to Rachel Berger – Loose Cannon