Nicole Henriksen – Techno Glitter Penguins

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Don’t be fooled by the title and timeslot – this is no high-concept fancy-dress rave. Nicole Henriksen just loves to throw awesome words at the Underbelly’s cavey walls and see what sticks. Last year’s show was called Honeycomb Badgers on Acid, for example, and though there are no penguins or glitter and more rap and electropop than techno, this one seems quite fitting, somehow. Our host is a one-woman weird-party.

Henrikson—an "alt comedy human", as she puts it—has come over from Australia with two shows this year: Makin it Rain, a play about her time as a stripper, and this more free-form late-night grab bag of characters, dance, physical jerks and minor meltdowns, plus tentative forays into the comedy minefield of sexual politics.

That may sound a mess, but Henriksen holds it all together with sheer radiant enthusiasm – and lots of talent, which is always helpful. Everything she does is unpredictably watchable but clearly well-crafted and carefully honed, from warped wordplay to a hilarious quasi-ending which leaves the audience unsure whether to leave, stay or wander over and join in.

Well, 'audience’ is pushing it. What’s particularly impressive is how Henriksen manages to remain upbeat and focused even though she’s occupying a sizeable room with only eight people in it this particular evening, including herself. That awkward situation can sometimes feel more like an audition than a show, but, oddly enough, it works on a whole different level here, as the cheery host welcomes us like old friends at a freaky house party. We’re all in it together.