Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

This, quite straightforwardly, is Rose Callaghan’s ‘new mum’ show. She gave birth during Covid at the age of 37 – an age that would, until recently, make her a ‘geriatric mum’ in medical terms – and this is the full story. In the conversational hour, she takes us from pondering what sort of parent she would make to describing the stressful events of the big day itself in quite some detail.

While much of this plays out as expected, it is infinitely enlivened by the discovery of an independent film her mother made in 1985 – and very much shot in the aesthetic of the era – about single motherhood and the stigma it then carried.

Not that sexism is entirely gone. As part of a recurring theme about gender roles, Callaghan mocks the ‘Beer & Bubs’ sessions that teach men about childbirth – down the pub.

Her monologue is gag-filled, which is sometimes a triumph of quantity over quality, but there are many amusing lines within it. However, despite having a tight, well-structured script and a decade of experience, she tends to pepper her speech with lots of filler words such as ‘like’, making her seem unconfident and less engaging.

A crucial through-line is her birth plan, the bullet points describing in detail how the big day would unfold – which is inevitably abandoned when push comes to shove, if that’s not an inappropriate idiom in the circumstances.
 
However, she finds another bodily function as satisfying as the birth she had hoped for, which she describes in great detail, though this lengthy closing analogy is, erm, laboured rather too much.

Otherwise, the delightfully titled Young, Dumb And Full Of Mum is an entertaining and amusing journey through Callaghan’s childbirth experiences. However, you’re probably more likely to remember the cheesy VHS than the gags.

Review date: 14 Apr 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett