Amelia Ryan: Lady Liberty

Lady Liberty (Amelia Ryan) is wheeled on stage aboard a trolley, bearing a champagne bottle held aloft in her right hand and looking rather like, surprise suprise, a certain famous statue. For the rest of the show, we struggle to catch our breath from laughing at her satirical songs and jokes.

The show's theme is actually pretty serious: women’s quest for liberation. Ryan makes fun of female emancipation and some other pretty important issues of the day too: alcoholism, relationship break down and the removal of unwanted nipple hair.  

Lady Liberty needs some role models, Ryan explains, so in between songs we're shown pictures of potentially suitable icons, including Maya Angelou, Joan Rivers and Gloria Steinem. All these famous celebrities remind us that a liberated woman “has sex before marriage and a job afterwards”. Howls of laughter greet this and her other aphorisms.

Ryan interrogates members of the audience on what they’ve done personally to improve their lives. One woman responds by saying she has divorced her husband and now lives with another woman, Sandra, who is sat a couple of seats along from her. The audience goes wild.

The show takes the proverbial piss out of much our culture holds dear, provoking especially hearty laughter when Ryan sings about how a Nutribullet might be saving her life. If you are female and have ever felt fat, single or unlovable, watching this show might just save yours.

http://www.ameliaryan.com/#!ladyliberty/c21tg