Creative people in Australia need to leave Australia to become really successful. It’s just a fact of this big continent and its small population. Jenny has always dreamed of going to America, to get a Hollywood happy ending – like in her favourite Home Alone film, Home Alone 2. She was all set to leave in February 2020. Instead, she moved in with her mother.
This isn’t
a COVID lockdown show, though. It’s a tyrannical Chinese mother story. And it’s
a story of Jenny’s adventures in the UK – while she waits for her real dream to
come true. Even though Donald Trump is President and her mum is scared if she
goes to America she’ll get shot.
The
aspiration to make it big in the US is tarnished by the current news out of
America, but Tian doesn’t dwell on that at all. She focuses on her time in London,
telling us about her flatmates and her sexual adventures and about the day her
phone was snatched out of her hands. This travelogue show is a lot of fun. Tian
is a good mix of charming and blunt; and her brutal honesty gets the biggest
laughs.
The night I
saw the show, there were some technical issues, which meant Jenny had to do her
whole routine under house lights. She nailed it, even though there were some jokes
she prefaced with “it’s really hard to tell this one when I can see you all out
there”.
It’s a shame that Jenny’s American dream feels a bit uninspiring under current circumstances, but a comedian’s gotta do what they gotta do. And at least she’s having fun getting there and taking us along for a joy filled ride. Even while her mother criticizes her every move.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
Jenny's Travels is on at the Town Hall until April 20
Photo: Ian Laidlaw
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