It’s a great night for comedy on North St on this drizzly September Sunday; Ahir Shah is doing a double work-in-progress show at Bar 57, and just ten minutes away, Helen Bauer brings her tour show ‘Bless Her,’ to the Tobacco Factory. I head to the latter, where the usual large stage area has been covered with seats and despite it being a Sunday, the vibe is giddy and excited. Bauer has an effortless charisma and magnetism that would get the audience immediately on side – if they weren’t already from the second she steps out – and she does a short set before introducing her support, local comic Emma Hughes. Emma is an Aussie comedian who made it to the semi-final of the Funny Women Awards this year, and her brand of chaotic, merry deliriousness (‘I’m normal! I eat apples!’) compliments Bauer well. I’ve seen her perform quite a few times locally, but it’s a testament to how funny she is that her set was no less hysterical for it; she gauges perfectly her mix of silliness and hysteria, riffing on everything from her large cervix to pringles, and is undoubtedly heading for great success.
After a break – with excellent music – we settle in for the main event. Bauer’s relentless and immediate, rattling through her desire for a real relationship, while trying to reckon with the intense relationship she’s increasingly having with her inner eight year-old child. She’s uproariously silly, but it’s anchored in truth; talking us through the levels of therapy (risk: unlocking your inner child), familial trauma and the complexities of mother-daughter relationships compared to mothers and sons (‘He doesn’t know anything about you! Because he never asked!’) There’s still time for the mundane too, taking in petite women, childhood ghosts and the suffragettes – and the show is peppered with callbacks and running jokes. She’s a master of momentum and timing, expertly undercutting her punchlines as the audience sparkle with enjoyment.
The show takes a turn into sadder territory as she discusses her struggles with binge eating disorder, and it’s sincere while still brilliantly witty. It’s challenging to achieve the former when you’ve set up a precedent of undercutting so consistently and skilfully, but she manages it, although it might’ve been interesting to hear a little more about her experience squaring her post-rehab wellness with having to suddenly eat restrictively ahead of gallstone surgery. However, it sounds like the year has been a personal and medical rollercoaster, especially given her having to go back for a second round of emergency surgery in the middle of her Fringe run; it can’t have been easy to create and hone such a tight show while being in and out of hospital. I left on the brink of tears, which takes real skill, as does the creation of a confessional, gossipy atmosphere so intense you wish nothing but the best for her.
Helen Bauer is on tour throughout the UK this autumn. Tickets available here.