Sarah Kendall: Get Up, Stand Up

Sarah Kendall doesn’t do improvisation. She doesn’t like it; she doesn’t feel comfortable doing it. Well, fair enough – it’s a brave admission in a comedy world where ruining hecklers is taken as the mark of a humourist’s stature, or at least the size of their cojones. It also goes some way to explaining why her first 20 minutes feel distinctly lacklustre. Yes, toddlers can be naughty; obviously that’s a bit of a nightmare on planes; sure, being flyered by your own flyering team is faintly amusing. It’s perfectly pleasant, conversational comedy – the sort that’s designed to sound like off-the-cuff observations made between last night’s show and tonight’s.

Before long, however, one starts to sense that Kendall hasn’t opened with her strongest suit. A long scene about a rapper, Pitbull, and his latest video involving three hotel employees “lezzing it up” in a hotel room for his delectation could easily be mindless grumbling about what trash the youth are listening to today. Instead, it’s a nicely weighted set piece which develops unexpectedly and sets the scene for a running theme about perceptions of women in the arts industry. It’s refreshing to hear an eloquent female voice jamming home some truths about an industry with a record for exploitation. It’s also pretty clear that Kendall is steadily moving towards ground upon which she is more comfortable. And then, with a melodramatic—yet oddly hard-hitting—"I have a dream" speech, Kendall hits her stride. Tightly scripted, unashamedly righteous and beautifully performed, Kendall ends big and clever.