Eleanor Morton: Great Title, Glamorous Photo

• Deborah Chu
• 13 August 2018

This article is from 2018.

Disarmingly surreal and quietly devastating critique on sexism

Taking the stage to the thudding bass of Beyoncé's 'Run the World (Girls)', Eleanor Morton announces her re-invention as a sexy, confident (and inexplicably American) comedian who trades on gags about secreting bags of semen from her conquests. Canned laughter punctuates such excruciating punchlines, just in case the audience doesn't cotton on quickly enough.

As the hour runs on, the persona disintegrates as the 'real' Morton breaks through, full of worry over her body and stand-up career. The best jokes come from this Morton, when she takes aim at notoriously male-dominated panel shows and compares women and Ferrero Rocher as symbols of wealth and power. Though 'sexy' Morton's interludes somewhat outlive their comedic value, what she signifies sucks the laughter out of the room when she begins excoriating sexist notions of what a 'female comic' must say or look like.

By conforming, does she not also then invite the danger that comes with simply being a woman in a public space? What of Eurydice Dixon, the Melbourne comic who was murdered this summer while walking home after a gig? Unfortunately, after having revealed the razor-sharp edge beneath her nervous, offbeat energy, concluding with an (albeit spot-on) impression of a typical sad male comic feels like ending on a whimper rather than a bang.

The Stand 4, until 25 Aug (not 13, 20), 12.05pm, £9 (£8).