Dawn French embraces shame in her new stand-up show. Photo: Marc Brenner
While fierce gales blew around Auckland on Wednesday night, British comedian and actor Dawn French turned up the heat at the Civic Theatre with her one-woman show, Dawn French is a Huge Twat.
French burst onto stage with the first of many self-deprecating jokes. She is the roly-poly comedienne of the 80s, and did you know she's a twat? Her words, not mine, and oh boy did she mean them. The first hour was a fast-paced introduction into what she means by twat, story after story of embarrassing moments, each punctuated by the loud proclamation that 'Dawn French is a Twat'. The show is on until Saturday, so I won't go into the subject matter.
It took minutes for the first mention of her longtime collaborator Jennifer Saunders (Fatty Saunders as French calls her) and the first discussion of The Vicar of Dibley wasn't far behind. The rapid-fire patter through the early years of French's life and career culminated with a truly triumphant retelling of the red carpet at Elton John's 50th birthday party.
Dawn French on stage during her live show. Photo: Marc Brenner
Celebrity moments aside, French was certainly sharing stories that would evoke shame in most people, noting the shame she had felt in herself, and yet consistently acting opposite to that shame. She spent the evening (and presumably many others) deep in shameful memories, accepting that they had happened and were part of her past and retelling them with a smile. During intermission, I overheard a group of middle-aged women sharing their greatest hits of embarrassing moments, so she'd obviously struck a nerve.
Before any deep messaging though, French regaled the audience with stories about neck fannies and Norah Jones. The second half was similarish to the first, but slightly stronger. That could well be because there was more content from an era I can remember, and a pretty great story involving a pygmy hippo (French tells it better than I can).
There was a brief moment at the end of the show where French declared that twatness shall be embraced. While I thought that would be a fitting end to the show, there was one surprise left before French headed off into the night, unencumbered by her twatness, with a scattering of adoring fans on their feet for a standing ovation.
Dawn French Is A Huge Twat is on at The Civic Theatre, Auckland, until Sunday.