Lou Sanz: Neverending Storage

Lou Sanz: Neverending Storage
Matchbox @ The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. April 25 – 29, 2012.

We're informed that this performance is flowing smoothly, subsequent to opening night, and that the Festival organisers / venue have ironed out the technical issues mentioned in our review.

When Festival organisers buy a pitch from a comedian, they get a pretty good idea of what equipment will be needed to put the show on the stage. So why did Lou Sanz have to put up with such a sad lack of technical support on the opening night of her 5 night season? Where was the large screen she needed for the power point presentation that was basic to her theme? Why did she need to cue the sound operator when the backing music was too loud?

Obviously she had no time for a tech run as the tech wasn’t running! And the performance started 15 minutes late! Not a good start – and certainly not conducive to a confident performance.

Nevertheless Sanz bravely battled through with the small screen that organisers managed to connect. She was forced to describe the images of the ‘baggage’ in her storage unit as they zipped on to the screen, and read material that the audience should have been able to read themselves. This affected the pace of her performance – and lost the impact of the presentation.

Pace and tempo and some comic effect was also affected by her constant need to refer to the script and to turn pages. This was a distraction for her, and for the audience. It is her own script, she should really know it a lot better.

Some of the material is funny – and certainly appealed to some members of the audience.  That it became a little repetitious was part of the ‘neverending’ nature of her relationship failures!

Sanz connects personally to the audience. Her timing is good. Her material is well written, if a little predictable. Hopefully she will get the technical support she needs to make the next four shows much smoother and more relaxed than her opening night.

Carol Wimmer

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