Goodbye Ruby Tuesday is the latest offering from ambitious comic Justin Hamilton.  It’s a show which mixes stand-up and theatre, raises questions about the role of comedy for the punter and offers a refreshing perspective on both comics and audiences.

For Ruby (Hannah Norris) who has just moved to Melbourne, a chance meeting with comic Jason Harrington (Hamilton) leads to an unlikely friendship and a developing interest in the local comedy scene.  Through their quirky friendship, she is forced to confront the past she’s been moving away from since leaving her hometown of Canberra, and a future she can’t quite face yet.

From the moment Hannah Norris takes to the stage she shines as Ruby, part obsessive in her need for routine and order, part desperate for that special something that will make her life interesting or unique.  Hamilton has written a truly likeable character, and has gifted her with some great dialogue.  She doesn’t play straight man to his funny man, nor is she a prop for a story about him.  This is a show about Ruby, and Hamilton has done well to play Harrington as a second fiddle to her narrative.

The performance follows their developing friendship as Ruby watches Jason Harrington’s stand-up, a hyper-intense and slightly tongue-in-cheek version of the kind of comedy Hamilton himself performs.  Off stage, Harrington’s brash attitude and lazze-faire approach start to filter into Ruby’s life, pushing her outside her comfort zone.

As the story develops, it is clear that Hamilton has written and developed a great script which tells an engaging story that doesn’t fail to draw the audience in.  In the early minutes Hamilton distracts by performing, in true comedy style, directly to the audience rather than to his co-star, but this disappears as he warms up and the audience is drawn into Ruby and Jason’s world.

It’s a playful, and surprisingly touching, piece of theatre which succeedes where many comedy/theatre pieces do not.  The tight narrative, with requisite twists and turns, allows for the all-knowing winks and self-referential humor to sate the funny requisite without neglecting the drama.  Instead of being told a story, we are able to take a journey, which is where most plot-driven comedy pieces fall short.  This is a memorable and enjoyable show to catch amid the many regular stand-up shows.

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