Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

This is the story of an online scam. But if you think it’s the sort of show in which a smart, savvy comedian outwits the fraudster, you’d better think again.

The guileless, gullible Michelle Brasier skips merrily into the racket, ignoring more red flags than a Chinese May Day parade. In search of a Pilates Reformer – like a bed with ropes and pulleys for exercise – she plunges into the shark tank of online marketplaces and is quickly bitten.

Her tale unfolds excellently as she strides inextricably towards her fate (losing $500). As in a horror movie in which the victim-to-be makes obviously wrong decision after obviously wrong decision, the audience recoil at her every naive exchange, audibly urging her to make better choices.

Brasier also gives the story a wider perspective, highlighting how manipulative men take advantage of women whose instinct is to be accommodating – the non-confrontational passivity as embedded in every ‘…or good if not’ email sign-off.

This lively, lovable performer accepts every transparently fake excuse from the dodgy Jacob – initially out of pure naivety, but later in the (admittedly still naive) belief that he’s just going through a hard time and needs some support. ‘I am riddled with empathy,’ she says. ‘It’s pathetic.’

But is it? Her blind faith in humanity is also affecting – even if it could cost her dear – and she maintains it long after even she realises the scam. But she concludes: ‘I would rather be fool than a cynic.’ That’s her epitaph sorted.

Brasier’s real-life partner Tim Lancaster takes the brunt of the audience’s antipathy as he so convincingly plays the role of Jacob when recreating the exchange of messages. He’s also part of the three-piece band that backs Brasier as she sets some episodes in the saga to music, showcasing her powerhouse voice with the witty compositions. Reformer is not so much 'a great rock and roll swindle' as a fabulous cabaret one.

There are a few detours into supposedly ethical banking and the foot fetish sub-culture, among other topics, but Brasier rightly keeps focus on the narrative she makes so gripping. And the tale holds plenty of extra dramatic twists as it reaches its climax, and more surprising details emerge. 

By the end, there are still unanswered questions – especially about how much leeway Brasier should have given her scammer – which only help the themes of this excellently told story remain in your mind even longer. One thing’s for sure – whether the Reformer really existed or not, it turned out to be $500 very well spent if it resulted in this fine piece of work.

• Michelle Brasier: Reform is back at the Arts Centre Melbourne at 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday.

Review date: 19 Apr 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival