Becky Lucas concluded her recent run of dates with shows at the Brisbane Comedy Festival.
Becky broke out more than a decade ago and in her new show acknowledges what is new in her life, like being a mum. The subheading for this show reads, Things Have Changed, But The Essence Remains'. This proves notably apt for the most part until a finish that proves riveting.
If you have ever caught clips of the stand-up at comedy festivals, you will know how comfortably she freewheels between topics and moods while effortlessly cracking the audience up. Seeing her live, however, reveals how she dials into the moment intently – always authentically herself and present.
The slightest fluctuation in the audience and she pivots. She preambles edgy punchlines with apologies that zoom past, is self-effacing and then in a microsecond lands a sick incisive burn with glee. In front of a Sunday crowd, she deftly engages the audience and plays off unexpected noises in the room. Her jokes are set-up as open questions which makes the audience ponder things even if the truth is self-evident.
Becky is at once both fearless and open – the true mark of a great stand-up.
There is no big noise and production with her, she steps out on stage, adorned in casual clothes, and gets talking. The comedy zips by with no long awkward pauses and yet you feel the air crackling in the room. At the end of a tour, the jokes are ready, and certain routines must be set – but everything seems to come out of the moment. Playing differently each night depending on the audience, and Becky.
Because while Becky never lets the pace lag, she will not just blindly plough through, she lets herself feel what is happening and lets you feel it too, creating something special in the here and now.
Don’t be misled, this is a very funny show, but it is something more than that. We come full-circle at the end of the show with a story that underlines whether Becky feels comfortable being a comedian who tells jokes, or having other strings to her bow.
What kind of stand-up Becky Lucas wants to be is for her to decide on any given night.
However, in regards to artists, Harley Brown once wrote, “That stroke you are about to make on a painting is as much you as the next word you utter or the next breath you take.”
So, to Becky Lucas, we say thank you for the artist you are.
