After winning several awards for her debut show, I Hope My Keyboard Doesn’t Break, and appearing on television twice, musical comedy newcomer Gabbi Bolt isn’t sure what she has left to say.
She starts
out with “Nothing”, a ode to a list of things she won’t talk about – partly because
she doesn’t know what she’d say about them, she’s tired of politics and at lot
of subjects have been done to death. She also acknowledges that, as a white
woman, there is a privilege to switching off. Which leads to “Anxiety”.
If Gabbi
was worried about notorious second-album syndrome, this one-two punch of an
introduction means we get to know her quickly and we’re already in safe hands.
If she has anxiety about what to sing about next, it doesn’t show. It’s a
confident show throughout; even if it feels like there’s nothing new to say
about working in retail, her song about it is hilarious.
There are some
transitions that don’t quite work, but she acknowledges it and we’re already on
her side anyway, so we go with it. And then sometimes the show is interrupted by
an hilarious jingle to remind Gabbi to stay hydrated – which is good for us
all, but even better for a comedian who is up on stage singing about selling
feet pics for cash and her deep love for the last non-problematic celebrity
man, Andrew Garfield.
Gabbi Bolt
might call herself an “odd sock” but the show itself captures some truisms
about people in their 20s – even if the TikTok references left me feeling mighty
old.
Gabbi’s
songs are very clever, very funny and there’s even a heartfelt ballad in there
that proves she’s not only a musical comedian but a very accomplished musician
as well.
I hadn’t
heard of Gabbi before stumbling across this show. Now I’ll be keeping an eye
out for what she does next. Smart, funny and a little bit odd – the perfect mix
for finding humour in the strangest of places.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
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