Annie Louey: GOLD - Bondi Festival (NSW)
Reviewed by Juliana Payne
Bondi Festival, at Badlambs Barbershop
Saturday 8 July 2023
3.5 STARS
Annie Louey's "Gold" is, well...Golden!
The Bondi Festival is back and luring punters to the beach on chilly winter nights. Thankfully Annie Louey’s standup comedy made it worth the trip. Once out of the wind and into the cosy barber shop (yes, a barber shop), it was all good. With the pleasant smell of pomade in the air, and the promise of drinks in the tiny cute bar next door afterwards we settled in to enjoy Louey's quick wit, infectious charm, and relatable humour. Even when skewering audience members who are bald or old or loudmouthed, Louey is just so charming that she just gets away with it. No hard feelings at all.
Louey delivers heaps of laughs with her unique perspective on life, combined with excellent comedic timing and an impressive improvisor’s memory for bringing the audience into the show. With lots of classic observational content, all-out self reflection and sections where she riffs on audience participation, she runs a seamless gig. She shares hilarious personal anecdotes and cleverly dissects everyday situations, effortlessly connecting with her audience who were laughing, cringing and joining in simultaneously.
Louey uses some nice unconventional touches sprinkled through her tales of the ridiculousness of everyday life. With touches of high absurdity or surreal moments, she employs that kind of Monty-Python technique of taking a joke to its extreme and it works pretty well for her. As she told us tales of the many dates that had gone horribly horribly wrong, the absurd blended with the real to make it even funnier. With bittersweet moments scattered throughout, her comedy resonated with pretty well everyone in the room.
With some well-placed social commentary in her comedy, she tackles cultural differences and gender dynamics but her personal charm takes some of the edge off. I’d like to see her at a late night show to see if she’d go in a bit harder with some of her themes. Tonight she served us hearty comedy with a light touch, no one was offended and everyone had plenty of laughs to chuckle about over drinks later. Where else do you get a bar of chocolate after the show wrapped in a picture of Annie Louey painted gold? It was a win-win!
See the full lineup at the Bondi Festival now.
