Loserland

Loserland is a solo character comedy performed by Melbourne based physical comedian Michele Owen. She performs to a full room in The Cellar at The Motley Bauhaus. The Motley Bauhaus is truly living up to its modus operandi of being a hub venue for fringe artists. Even at 6pm on a sunny Tuesday evening the venue has a buzz. The Cellar stage that Michele performs on is less than one metre deep, the room is small, so the audience, by necessity, is directly involved in the show. This performer does a fine job at balancing action on stage and soft invitations for audience participation. She does not rely on the audience to completely carry the show - a sign of a good character clown.

This is a character comedy so the show is entirely about the character’s world. It is Big Mike, a seemingly Aussie dude just trying to make it work in this economy, he dreams of being a home owner and getting the girl. In true character comedy form, Big Mike is caught in the dilemmas of his own character traits, he will always be thwarted at his own stupid hand. Big Mike is a big mess of a human and nothing ever goes quite right. He is a barista but definitely not a hipster - you would not find him at a cafe in Brunswick. The barista theme is so good, it has great potential for more physical comedy - I would love to see the artist exploit this more!

The performer relies on her excellent clowning skills and brilliant audience connection to maintain a light delivery. It never gets heavy or harshly didactic. Big Mike is having a heavy time in his life but the audience is always free to laugh or cringe or encourage him along. It may sound simple, but how this performer uses her eyes is extremely precise. She is always looking at the audience with the eyes of the character. She is always speaking with the character’s voice, the vocal treatment was consistent and precise. The shape of the character form, returning gestures, and physical traits are maintained steadily throughout the show. The ‘recipe’ of her character is clear and solid.

What I appreciate so much about this show is that the performer is not using the character to express her personal opinions. Loserland is ever so gently satirical but the artist seems to have no intention of lashing us with her thoughts. She presents a strong character who is on his own whacky journey. Michele performs Big Mike with a lot of warmth and generosity. We, the audience, are left to consider what we love or hate about the ‘Big Mikes’ of the world, torn between annoyance at his naivety and pity at his totally impotent bravado. In my opinion, character comedy should be like people watching, the characters should be grounded somehow in reality and yet also be highly ridiculous; recognizable AND totally extreme. Take a visit to Loserland for some brilliant, well-observed character comedy.

Review by Kimberley Twiner

Image by Madeline Royce