Laura Davis takes us on a weird and wonderful journey through her mind at the NZ International Comedy Festival in If This Is It.
Winner of Best Comedy 2021 for the Auckland Fringe, the Australian comic draws on her childhood memories and personal experiences to craft a deeply relevant show for this day and age. Jokes about the Australian bushfires or losing one’s job and home because of a pandemic can only be so funny in the midst of an apocalypse.
Laura’s bumbling and chaotic energy can be hit or miss. She’ll take off on wild tangents that lose me along the way, or tell jokes that go on for a moment too long – though Laura is self-aware enough, even admitting the unpopularity of her infamous bone joke after telling it to dead air.
Despite all this, I’m happy to be along for the ride. When her jokes hit, they are hysterical. Her bit on the female experience of walking around at night is phenomenal. When she reflects on what it means to be a comic or artist today, she balances poignancy and absurdity in what I can only describe as NSFW performance art.
If This Is It was made for this moment – and Laura Davis is the moment.