There is no one in the world doing comedy quite the way Jo Randerson does it. The maverick kiwi performer’s Billy T Award nominated show Jo Randerson’s Skazzle Dazzle entirely defies genre with its addled blend of characterisation, dance, theatre, puppetry and ‘wig-work’. The show’s (extremely loose) narrative typifies Randerson’s highly original and offbeat style: an alien entity is abandoned on earth in an ‘experiment’ and undergoes a series of bizzare transformations in a quest to discover its true identity.

The broad themes of the show explore loneliness, alienation and failure, and it is precisely this ability to mine the darkest aspects of humanity (or not) that make Randerson’s work undeniably unique and compelling. Past works have included her brother shooting her point-blank with a rifle, and a gypsy washerwoman dipping McDonald’s fries into the bloodied crotch of her baby daughter’s corpse. Understandably, this kind of material does not always generate laughter, but often it does, which can be very surprising – both for Randerson and for the audience themselves.

Randerson seems fascinated by the audience reaction to her borderline humour. As noted before, her material bombs outrageously as often as it succeeds, plunging Randerson into depression and causing us to doubt her sanity in subjecting herself to this kind of failure. Yet she persists, never diluting or compromising her work but delivering it raw and uncensored.

If any label can be applied to Randerson’s weird, perverse, and wildly variegated comedy, it’s that elusive word ‘cult’. Randerson’s work is ‘cult hit’ material if ever there was such a thing, and she has already established a small, baffled and bemused following among Melbourne audiences. Whether amused, confused or genuinely amazed by her material, people seem compelled to come back for more.

Troubling and difficult it may be, but Randerson’s work is also very intelligent. She has a swag of aussie plaudits to attest to her brilliance’a Golden Gibbo for Carry On Randerson (2004) and ‘Best Comedy Melbourne Fringe’ for Cracks in the Garden (2003). She has several strings to her bow besides performance, including two published volumes of short fiction (The Spit Children and The Keys to Hell), and a sideline career as a registered marriage celebrant. She recently collaborated with eminent New Zealand physicist Paul Callahan for ‘Are Angels OK”?a Victoria University lecture series pairing writers with scientists.

What drives Jo Randerson is uncertain, but one thing is clear – her comedy is unlike anything else on this earth.

Finished reading this article? You might also like:

• Jo Randerson’s Skazzle Dazzle
• Dizney on Dry Ice
• Dylan Moran Live!