Elf Lyons: Swan

★★★★
comedy review (adelaide) | Read in About 1 minute
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Published 04 Mar 2018
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100487 original

Elf Lyons explains that she didn’t have any friends as a child so she would speak to vegetables instead, in case we were wondering why she turned out the way she did. And it does indeed take someone who’s a little bit unique to don a bottomless parrot costume and a pair of knickers, adopt a deliberately unconvincing French accent, and helpfully break down for the audience the plot of Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake.

It’s also a rare performer who can yell at a punter that she is not an aggressive comedian, while standing over them brandishing a pool noodle (her props were, typically enough, seized by customs), and receive a roomful of laughs. But Lyons has strong comedic sensibilities, a highly expressive face, and is fully committed to her personal brand of weirdness. 

Lyons laments that, as a female comic, she is obliged to include a social message in her silly show. But whatever their reason for being there, the asides about sexism, and digs at Germaine Greer, are a welcome addition. As a ballet ignoramus I also heartily appreciate the discussion and analysis of dance conventions.