Review: Janelle Koenig in DADDY'S GIRL at The Hellenic Club Of WA

During comedy festivals it's quite common to see comedians meeting with fans and audience members after the show. But Janelle Koenig is the first one I've seen at the Perth Comedy Festival who came out before the show to have a chat. In the short time between my arrival and the show beginning, she pretty much managed to say at least a hello to almost everyone in the audience (which is impressive considering how many were in attendance). This thorough scoping out of the audience continued into the beginning of Daddy's Girl, really nailing down her demographic before diving into her experiences and observations growing up as the only child of a Singaporean father.

The resulting show was both entertaining and very funny, touching on topics like race, sex, and dating with a great deal of experience and humour. As a comedian Koenig is well known for her honesty, particularly when it comes to stories about her personal life. Her delivery style is conversational and relaxed, and she was very obviously enjoying sharing her experiences, occasionally cursing herself out for making a gaff or lapsing into laughter at the ridiculousness of it all.

A good improviser with a great ear for mimicry, the inclusion of song parodies was an unexpected bonus. Of particular note was the song she improvised about an audience member who had previously heckled her - particularly her struggle to find a suitable rhyme for the word 'cartographer', a hurdle which ultimately made the song even funnier.

Koenig has an amazing capacity to present jokes from the female gaze in such a way that even the blokiest of blokes in the room were cracking up, and Daddy's Girl combines her quick wit, a wealth of great jokes, and some hilarious observational humour to give a great performance. An honest show which comes with a wealth of experience, and from a perspective that just isn't seen from a lot of local comedians.

When she isn't performing live comedy, you can also listen to Janelle on Mix 94.5 on 'The Jam with Janelle & Sam'.

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