There aren’t a lot of international comedy tours doing a lap of Australia at this time of year, so it was a pleasure to head down to the Forum for an early evening set from Charlotte, North Carolina’s Fortune Feimster, the first of two Sunday gigs (23 July) and her final shows in the country.
It was even more welcome given that the past week has been largely taken up with activities that involved watching screens big and small, with Barbenheimer, the Ashes and the FIFA World Cup.
The sold-out crowd had arrived early, so Melbourne comedian Simon Taylor walked out to almost a full house for the warm-up set. And he was a great choice as support; despite, as he pointed out, being a straight male, his material on the night addressed masculinity, vulnerability, fitting in and stereotypes, and he had no trouble getting the laughs from the predominantly femme and gay audience. Much like Feimster, Taylor’s genuine personability and likability is key to his performance, and those several years he spent as a professional magician have surely informed his enjoyable stage theatrics too.
His quick fire set did the trick, and by the time he handed over the mic to Feimster, the audience was suitably warmed. Following on from Netflix’s 2020 special ‘Sweet & Salty', the Southern comedian’s new show ‘Live! Laugh! Love!’ showcased her many talents, including knack for storytelling and a level of comfort on the stage and with a room of strangers that makes her such a likeable artist.
Now 43, the star recounted coming out to her siblings and parents at age 25, of spending her honeymoon with wife Jacquelyn in the Maldives, where it’s illegal to be gay, after a stopover in Qatar, where it’s perhaps even worse. (Side note: like several tourist and international workers’ destinations around the world, Maldives resorts are known to welcoming to anyone who’s spending money.)
Throughout the set, Feimster got the lights up to have a chat to some people in the crowd. First she surveyed for couples that had been married a long time and what the secret was (time apart and medication, apparently). She also asked if anyone had interesting jobs, to which she found a train driver, a woman who pivoted to boudoir photographer after the pandemic, and a prison guard and police officer. Naturally, the latter two provided the comedian with some new material.
Perhaps most hilariously was when she asked if anyone had seen a ghost. Rather than a ghost story, though, what we got was a mother and daughter arguing over whether a paranormal event had occurred (mum being thrown across the kitchen by a spirit) or whether it was, as mum told the room, because her daughter was on acid. It certainly wasn’t the exchange Feimster was expecting, but she was as amused as the rest of the audience. You get the feeling this sort of rogue exchange happens a lot at her shows.
Perhaps the funniest moments of her set came when she was talking about her mum, particularly recounting the story of her mother phoning her to tell her, matter of factly, she’d just driven off a cliff. It was uncannily a phone call my own mother would be likely to make. And, from the sound of the laughter across the room, a few others found it not just hilarious but relatable.
If there was any small criticism to be made, it was the cheap shots she took at herself as she talked about being a woman in a big body, and a more masculine body. However, she also seems absolutely comfortable making these jokes, so it’s certainly not our place to police that. After all, you get the feeling she’s been policed enough throughout life already.
She closed the set with a swim team story from the 2020 special, and then took some selfies with fans from the stage. Clearly conscious of having another gig in a matter of an hour or two, she said her final goodbyes and strolled off the stage.
While we’re sure the later show was a looser, more raucous affair, there was still something smugly enjoyable about getting home from a gig by 8pm on a Sunday night.
