My oldest friend died last year. Despite being diametrically different we loved each other for nearly 60 years. Cheerful beginning to a review of a comedy show, eh? My point is that I would have taken Meryl to this one, instead, looking for new perspective, I took a bloke. A lovely bloke, but a bloke. It wasn’t the same until … I turned to him at the end and saw the colour of his face from stifling his laughter. You know, big booming man laughter caught in the chest desperate to escape. Some laughter just has to be swallowed in ICH NIBBER DIBBER because you are in fomo danger of missing the next clever, telling, hilarious thing that these women come out with.
Zoë Coombs Marr, Natalie Rose and Mish Grigor work together as ‘post’ performance group. These three have also been friends since school, but, since they have recorded their conversations in various ways, they have severely messed with the natural order of things. You are supposed to forget the drivel that you talk at 16, 23, 33 and in Meryl and my case 45, 66. Distilling it into a comedy show that puts friendship, fierce female friendship, on display for the world to see is just not natural. Unless, like these women, you are fiercely funny with it.
With no care about incriminating themselves, these women come screaming out of the female experience of learning to love self and others. Mind you, despite all the female nurturing, supporting and sharing going on, there are lots of times when the voice of two will pull the third into line with a less than gentle and loving bullshit call. They don’t always agree. And in the hysterically droll frustration of friends, when one of them doesn’t get Pretty Woman, I could hear own friend shaking her finger at me about Easy Rider which we saw in Townsville in 1970. And by the way Meryl, if it’s a competition, I was right!
Passing out and spew dominate early on. Yup! Get that! I don’t recall Midori being invented but my mother’s crime de menthe got many a sneaky hit. Actually, there is a bit of ” I’m gonna ask me mum” and “Mum says…” early on. That wears off quick as they grow into appallingly dodgy youthful politics and an emergent brand of feminism that nicely circumvents circle mirror parties … hard to explain but some of you will be with me here. My vagina was certainly blowing in the wind by the time these three had gone through marriage, breakups, birth, and had started thinking on the future. Re menopause, the answer, girls, is ‘no’ btw.
Lots of shit in this show, too. Apparently “poo stories help every situation”. Wonderful really from a trio who initially present as sirens or goddesses but later when the talk will turn to Jesus, maybe Angels. They are perched on high … above us … on a practical level, no sight line issues here. But they become increasingly restless as the 70 minute show travels to the Now through world events that place the time very neatly on the growth map. In the relaxed familiarity of delivery, there ends up an attention to nails, a trip to the loo, various itch and scratches and an increasing informality in re-positioning. Plus, lots of wry smiles at their own enjoyment of being together.
Laugh wise, there is a variety on display. Hands to mouth gasps, head shaking ‘did I hear that?’ mixed with chuckles and guffaws. And we watching get lots of laughs too … several times way ahead of them and alert for their breathtakingly irregular take on life. Until the gag hits too hard to contain a laugh-out-loud. And I noticed an hysterical amount of companion nudging, being nudged by a man is new for me! Which does rather lead me to a discussion of the sexual aspects of the show. Ask me. Go on just ask me! Fuck no. I don’t want to talk about it, leave that to the young ones. Wa,wa,wa,wa,wow!!!
But when it was all over and they were still chatting to each other as the friendship and their story continues into the future I fiercely hope to see them when they are old ladies together. Grey hair, up and down, is great fun girls! As is ICH NIBBER DIBBER. Enormous fun and I, and my man friend, can’t recommend it highly enough. Genuinely warm, uproariously funny and riotously irreverent, it is unaffectedly human.
post’s ICH NIBBER DIBBER is at Sydney Opera August 15 to 19, as part of UnWrapped.
