As we've all learnt in 2020, a lot can change in a year. When this year's Billy T nominees were announced at the end of 2019, they couldn't have imagined a pandemic would mean it
Comedy Festival review: Problem Areas, Lana Walters
Lana Walters. Photo / Supplied
She regularly threw questions out into the crowd, and while the idea of audience interaction is generally terrifying, the room was eager to be involved, the dialogue including people her set without making them the butt of the joke.
It's the closest the show came to the improv background that Walters has come from – she's a Snort regular and has shown up in the annual all-female parody shows at the Fringe. Unlike many of her fellow cast members from those shows, Walters has stuck to a straightforward hour of stand-up, and makes for an excellent storyteller with brilliant punchlines around her police officer partner and previous weight-loss attempts.
Walters also excelled dealing with the woes of performing at the Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen. It's a new venue on the festival lineup in what is hopefully only a one-year arrangement, as Walters' Thursday night show had to compete with live music bellowing through one wall while some sort of hedge trimming demanded attention from the other. It was an unfortunate pairing but Walters took it in her stride, slipping easily between her set and poking fun at the circumstances.
"Problem Areas" is a simple, effective and joyous hour of comedy, a thoroughly entertaining show that feels like a catch-up with an old friend who has all the best stories. Walters' pleasant brand of comedy is soothing to watch while also leaving you breathless with laughter, and I am already looking forward to what she does in 2022.
What: Problem Areas, Lana Walters.
Where: Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen, until May 22.