Melbourne International Comedy Festival review by Annette Slattery

After a super low-tech intro, Tegan Higginbotham hits the stage like an exuberant pixie in this, the third in a trilogy of shows which nonetheless functions as a standalone piece. Higginbotham’s recent TV exposure has awarded her a sizeable crowd willing to adore her and this, together with her palpable effervescence and joy on stage, boost the energy levels.

While the show is advertised as being ostensibly about sport, in line with the first two parts of the trilogy covering boxing and former AFL player Brendan Fevola, the material is more about religion, family and  personal experiences.

This is not really an issue, but it does result in the sense that main ‘sports’ under focus – pole dancing and lingerie gridiron – have been shoehorned in to fit with the theme. There’s nothing wrong with having a show without obvious structure, but this show faltered by trying to apply a theme artificially.

Higginbotham’s material, whilst getting consistent laughs, is patchy. The show is punctuated with some real zingers, including one involving the misuse of sunscreen, which may stay with me till my deathbed. However these are padded out with old-fashioned observational humour, overusing the pull-back and reveal. Success emanates from Higginbotham’s natural and substantial charm, while her goofy acknowledgment of some of her more groanworthy jokes only endears her more.

Higginbotham’s finale involves the unveiling of a Brendan Fevola themed prop, which felt slightly out of place since he only got two or three passing mentions throughout the show. In fact they were so brief that I (as a non footie-loving person) had to make a guess as to who it was and Google the image later. I can’t be certain, but I get the feeling that this may be a leftover prop from her previous show. Either way it struck me as fairly lazy.

Higginbotham’s confident presence and bubbly, goofy demeanour make this an enjoyable hour, but the unfocussed patchiness of the material stops this highly likeable comedian reaching her full potential.     

Review date: 1 Apr 2014
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett