Comedy Festival review: Maria Williams, Anxiety...The Musical!?

You will often find a certain type of show at the Studio in the Basement Theatre. Normally a projector is involved, factoring in a lot of Photoshop and videos that wouldn't have felt out of place in the early days of YouTube. The performer has a few costume changes to match, as well as a lot of props and sporadic audience involvement that you never quite see coming.

Rarely do those shows work, often weighed down by too many ideas and not enough editing before the performer works on stage. Few performers are able to pull these types of shows off to the extent that Maria Williams did on the opening night of Anxiety…The Musical!?

The interrobang there is important – as Williams states early on, it's not quite a musical, not quite a comedy show, and definitely not inspirational. The question of what it is is never quite answered, but Williams has made something that feels unique and never ceases to be entertaining.

Anxiety and mental health sit at the core of the show. Williams takes the audience through her history of mental health, starting from her potential inherited conditions through to her 30s, with tangents on cross country, how Wellington harms your mental health, and forcing Rwandan genocide articles on school friends.

Interspersed through wonderfully crafted punchlines are a series of musical parodies. Williams has an amazing voice, and the twists she puts on the songs scored the best reactions during the night – her Julia Michaels impression for an audience-assisted Issues parody was an easy highlight.

Where Anxiety works better than other shows of a similar erratic vibe in festivals past is there is a clearer throughline, one that's relatable and framed well through Williams' unique perspective. A section analysing her life achievements compared to Taylor Swift's was the show's clear stand-out, and featured the best use of Photoshop and that trusty Basement projector I've seen.

All of this is aided by Williams' high energy, charismatic personality; it takes a lot of energy and commitment to stay at level of that intensity for a full hour, but Williams breezed through the show, effortlessly moving into dance breaks and her parodies and consistently delivering the laughs.

Ultimately, Anxiety…The Musical!? is a delight from start to finish. It works best for a millennial audience who can best relate to a set oozing with naughties references and are more willing to enjoy such a frank but entertaining discussion of mental health, but there is plenty for all audiences to love in Williams' resoundingly enjoyable show that defies categorisation.