Bobby Macumber, This Is Your Life

It’s a poor man’s backdrop, which Bobby cheerfully acknowledges as she opens her own curtains for her show to start. One has to admit, the décor at the Glass House is every bit as unconventional as everything else about it, and Bobby skilfully uses it all to her own advantage.

“There are only two things that scare me,” she says seriously to the sold out crowd. “Death – and my mum.” Bobby then embarks on a forty-five minute family themed monologue, but the tale she tells has no monotony to it. She begins by describing where she grew up, playing a game called “Spot the Aussie” and describes the drawbacks of changing schools and then becoming, as she calls it, the only coloured kid.

If race and gender jokes make you uncomfortable, this show is not for you. Despite a couple of brief F bombs and occasional references to her own homosexuality, however,  Bobby performs one of the more family friendly comedy shows at the festival, with plenty of impressions, improv and an absolute abundance of parental anecdotes. She also speaks with genuine warmth and affection for the inspiration behind the show, a gruff but beautiful mother and a John Goodman resembling father who for thirty five years has “batted well above his average.”