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Underbelly – Bristo Square
Aug 1 – 25 (17.50)

Material:  Delivery:   Laughs:   Room:

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Without doubt there is only one Robyn Perkins; a most affable, laugh-with-able lady. She is clearly motivated to entertain & loves what she does, but will we? Well yes, was my answer, for a while anyway, as she illuminated a collection of tales from the packs of American Tinderwolves which are roaming her homelands today. Her quicksilver, anecdotal delivery is peppered with punchlines that trample over any sense of seriousness one might have had when we sat before her. Multiple aspects of the app-happy Game of Modern Love are dissected by this self-confessed ‘sexpositive‘ with an unsquirming frankness & speedy fluidity that invigorates a room of strangers into mutual friendship.

Half-way through the show, however, things take a rather technical turn. Love is explored scientifically through graphs & explanations of how our brain chemicals work. Then Robyn asks the audience to whip their phones out to do some online voting, with the results being relayed back onto the screen before us via more graphs. ‘Am I still a punter, or simply just a part of a study now, because… wait a minute, aren’t I supposed to be seeing a comedy show,‘ is the kinda sensation I got through all of this. It was all done very well, mind, & there are technophiles out there who would absolutely adore this section. For the random visitor, tho’ they’d be like ‘where’s the jokes gone?‘ They are there in the second half, but with everyone’s phones being out folk are starting to lose focus, their neurotransmitters angling for a game of Candycrush.

Damian Beeson Bullen