Brighton Fringe comedy review

She might fit the stereotype of a cougar with endless stories of sexual derring-do, but don’t ever call Amelia Jane Hunter predatory. Empowered is what she is, knowing what she wants and how to get it, and any judgment passed down on that is just a facet of misogynistic, morally censorious society.

Indeed, she’s empowered in every aspect of her untamed life, lived to its fullest. She seems to have more experiences in an afternoon than many people have in a lifetime, even if only even a fraction of her wild stories are true, from waking up next to an Indian price to tripping – and vomiting - on ayahuasca.

She performs to her fullest, too. This is a tour-de-force of defiant attitude, a clarion cry to be proud of who you are and not be confined by convention. She hints at having an outré gay man’s sensibilities but trapped in a straight woman’s body. If there were going to be Stonewall-style riots to unshackle female sexuality from patriarchal prudery, she’d be manning the barricades. 

She now lives in Berlin, having been drawn by the promise of sexual decadence in its myriad ‘dark rooms’. But the hedonism she seeks is tempered with stereotypical German humourlessness that leaves her disappointed. Even the fetish-driven excess of the city’s hardcore club scene doesn’t sate her avaricious appetite.

Hunter’s powerhouse attitude comes with waspish one-liners – is it because she’s Australian that her acerbic tongue sometimes seems to evoke the straight-talking wit of Dame Edna? Also, she’s got a sharp, streetwise intelligence that calls out hypocrisy and timidity for what it is. 

She reserves special scorn for those Gen-Zers who don’t embrace every opportunity to behave with abandon that youth offers. How can you form into an interesting, rounded person, she convincingly argues, if you are afraid to experiment with the limits of experience? Meticulously curating a persona based on vagaries like being ‘spiritual’ is vacuous timidity that will not build character ready to take on the world.

As a show, Exquisite Pervert is a little rough around the edges, but so is Hunter herself – thriving in living, unpolished, in the moment. Her raw attitude steamrollers over any bumps in the narrative backed with an endless torrent of outlandish tales and a fierce insight into how the world works that reinforces her ‘seize the day’ philosophy. 

It’s invigorating to share that no-fucks-given existence, even vicariously through this full-force one-woman show.

Review date: 9 May 2023
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett