Billed as ‘Australia’s first lady of comedy’, Fiona O’Loughlin, much as it pains me to kowtow to such statements, did not disappoint. The mother of five and wife to one from Alice Springs has built up quite a following in Melbourne over five years of festival shows and television appearances. A show of hands from the audience revealed a majority of first-time attendees, resulting in a recap of her life to get the crowd up to speed.

Fiona’s material is based on what she portrays as a careless disregard for the conventions of motherhood. Revisiting the comedy gold of ‘my children say the darndest things’, she scrutinises the machinations of her copious litter to great comic effect throughout the show. Hers is an ethos of pinot over parenting. Finely extracted details from her everyday life are delivered with a grin and a laugh, giving you the feeling that each joke is spontaneous and new.

The laughter, and there is plenty of laughter, comes from recognition of the negative sentiments you may have about people’s children but never expected their mother to say. Her stage persona is natural and well-developed. Seldom do you feel you are watching scripted ‘bits,’ because it’s more like a wine-infused chat with friends. I have long harboured the suspicion that there are very few, if any, good female stand-up comedians (I am not being sexist’go on, name five right now!) but I was wrong. Fiona O’Loughlin is very, very funny.

Finished reading this article? You might also like:

• Charlie Pickering – The Audacity of Frank
• Justin Hamilton in Three Colours Hammo 1: Melbourne
• Fiona O’Loughlin