LATEST NEWS:

Seven suspended, but no action on clubs or colleges: UniMelb 2022 Sexual Misconduct Report released

The University of Melbourne has released their 2022 Sexual Misconduct Report, revealing that four staff members have been removed from the University after being found to have committed serious miscon

“It has felt deliberately slow”: UniMelb staff strike for secure work, fair pay as bargaining stalls

Hundreds of staff from the University of Melbourne walked off the job for a half-day strike last Wednesday, calling for better pay and job security amid protracted negotiations over a new employment c

“Online Self-Paid Internships”: a Springboard Or a Trap?

Once again, it’s time for Heng Xu, a Chinese international student studying at the Australian National University, to remind her internship supervisor to send her feedback about the work she submitted

 

Article

An ‘exorcism of perfection’, Beige Bitch forces us to confront the mediocrity within us all

Emily Carr presents a one-woman tour-de-force, a beautifully blunt exorcism of unrealistic expectations as captivatingly honest as it is tumultuously hilarious. Nominated in 2018 for Best Comedy at the Melbourne Fringe Festival for her work QUEENZ and performing regularly with the Mystery Radio Theatre Company, this is her debut solo show. And what a show it is – Emily Carr presents Beige Bitch with such infectious energy and charisma, taking her audience on a journey through carefully crafted

Fodderreviews

Emily Carr presents a one-woman tour-de-force, a beautifully blunt exorcism of unrealistic expectations as captivatingly honest as it is tumultuously hilarious. Nominated in 2018 for Best Comedy at the Melbourne Fringe Festival for her work QUEENZ and performing regularly with the Mystery Radio Theatre Company, this is her debut solo show. And what a show it is – Emily Carr presents Beige Bitch with such infectious energy and charisma, taking her audience on a journey through carefully crafted sketches accompanied by the tightest PowerPoint presentation I’ve seen in a while.

In sketch segments, Carr tells the story of Character X and her failed pursuits of self-imposed perfection and stardom. With bombastic wit and larger than life characterisations, Carr delves deep into the failed millennial dream – the slow and horrific realisation that you’re not actually all that special. Grimly relatable, there are many segments in the show where Carr gets all too real – moments where she forces you to look deep within yourself and confront your mediocrity head-on.  

Somewhat terrifyingly, the show begins with a warning that the show will contain (much to the shock and horror of my friend and me, who were seated in the second row) audience participation. To my surprise – and to Emily Carr’s credit, as audience participation can be terrifying and occasionally insufferable – it was implemented incredibly well. A couple of highlights of these moments of audience interaction were Carr presenting the audience with prompts on cards to be read out and a segment where she marries an audience member to their mediocrity.

The show’s theme has come at perhaps a perfect time after the coronavirus pandemic – it’s okay just to be okay. Tackling and dissecting the pressure that society places on many of us to be the most – the most woke, the most famous, the most beautiful – Carr elaborates that it’s a statistical impossibility for us to all achieve those levels of greatness. It’s brutal in its honesty but delivered with characteristic bubbliness and charisma that truly elevates the show.

Very fittingly with the show's themes, Beige Bitch wasn’t even the show we had tickets to that night. My partner and I were supposed to see Killing Rove – the stand-up show that was happening simultaneously in the same venue and walked into the wrong room; by the time we realised we were in the wrong show, it felt way too awkward to leave because we were in the second row and were too terrified of confrontation. In this way, Beige Bitch was indeed a surprise, a show that I went into completely blind with no expectations (we were quite literally there for a different show) and emerged with a massive smile on my face and a comedian to add to my list for future festival watches.

Described by Emily Carr herself as an “exorcism of perfection”, Beige Bitch is a powerful show that has the capacity to both rock you to your core and leave you laughing about it.

 
Farrago's magazine cover - Edition Two 2023

EDITION THREE 'ANALOG' AVAILABLE NOW!

A photograph develops slowly in the time it takes for a memory to rewrite itself again and again. Moments are frozen in sepia hues upon silver-plated sheets of copper. Read all about it in the third edition of Farrago.

Read online