Lara Ricote’s latest show, ‘GRL/LATNX/DEF’, is an absolute comedic marvel. Describing her show as one for people who can relate to being hard of hearing (“in the ears mostly”), Latinx or just anyone “who is or knows a girl,” Lara manages to masterfully cover all bases, delivering a show that is somehow incredibly niche but capable of making a diverse audience laugh uncontrollably as she sings about ovarian cysts, kidney theft and “stupid” younger siblings.

Taboo topics make up Lara’s set, as she confidently exposes her dad as an “anti-vaxxer…before it was in,” and discusses everything from birth control and abortion (a topic she links to Marie Kondo in exactly the way you’re thinking), to her deafness, and the climate crisis. Whilst topics like the climate crisis and reproductive rights can begin to feel repetitive in the stand-up comedy environment, Lara touches on these subjects in ways that are so unique they are almost shocking. So much so that the punchline of her pregnancy jokes warranted gasps from the audience before they had processed the dysfunctional brilliance of the bit. And, performing at The Westin, even she notes some of her jokes were “gross…to make in a place with a curly stair.”

In her discussion of the climate crisis, Lara is once more witty and out of the box. She introduces audiences to a parallel-universe version of herself in which she is in Extinction Rebellion to criticise her own environmental action. She draws upon a book of “metaphors for the climate crisis” to string increasingly loose and questionable topics together. However, instead of forcing an explanation for these metaphors or a thought-out segue, Lara’s brilliance comes from the way in which she hilariously jolts from one topic to the next, insisting that audiences “don’t think about it now because we’re in the present.”

And where this scattered approach could seem like a lack of care or preparation, I wholeheartedly believe this is part of the charm. Her shows are eclectic, wild and unexpected, and for this reason they are exciting; something new for the avid comedy goer who has surely thought, “hey, that segue was too smooth.”

Her jokes about her own place as a minority are self-aware and right on the pulse of current discourse. She explores the realisation of her place as a person of colour, acknowledging that “being a minority is very in,” However, she confidently rides this wave (as she should) and quickly silences anyone who may see this as a problem, asking “were you wearing low rise jeans last year?”

Lara is a comedian who is keenly aware of her place in the comedic zeitgeist and plays to her niche with undeniable skill and flair. From her daringness to tackle taboo topics in the most outlandish ways, to her acknowledgement that, yes, that is what her voice sounds like having sex, Lara truly is a cool girl in every sense of the word. And though we are practically the same age, I’d really love to be her when I grow up.

Lara Ricote’s GRL/LATNX/DEF featured at this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

And these are Lara’s climate change resources, to “make [her] carbon footprint worth it.”