By Peter Hodgson
Look, life is hard and we all just want to feel better. It’s only natural, and nature is comforting. So it makes sense to turn to nature itself to feel better, right? Right?!? That’s the question at the heart of Trick Or Treatment, a science-centred comedy show that tracks Alanta Colley’s investigation of various alternative treatments for the chronic fatigue that can rob her of energy, time, creativity and joy.
Public health practitioner, comedian, storyteller and big brain Colley wants us to look at the parallels between big pharma and big chakra. The ways we’re guided towards specific treatments that may or may not be in our best interests but which are certainly interesting to someone else’s bottom line. So we’re taken through four treatments from the perspective of data collection and evaluation (we’re informed there’s another audience watching an empty stage elsewhere as a control group).
These treatments – homeopathy, acupuncture, some e-meter kinda thing that measures your skin conductivity to apparently determine how much money you should spend on expensive treatments, and psychedelics – are laid out in terms of ‘What are they said to treat? How are they said to treat it? What do the experts say? And what are Alanta’s findings?’
You may expect a certain cynicism going into this show, but there’s a lot of heart to this story. There may be some alternative-medicine shysters trying to bilk scared people out of their money, but the critical eye is directed at those shysters, not the ordinary folks just looking for something, anything, to help them feel better. We look at the mechanics and dichotomies of homeopathy, the history and applications of conductivity meters, the consumer demand for acupuncture, and the claimed benefits of psychedelics in resetting the worldview. We also look at the placebo effect and how it can be employed to achieve real benefit. And we’re given a first hand rundown of an ayahuasca ceremony from soup to nuts (or rather, from tea to psychedelic mindf**k). But not once do we feel Colley is punching down at those who seek these treatments. Some of the practitioners sure take some hits though.
The show is tied together with a Powerpoint presentation and audio-visual cues executed with perfect timing and wit, from a hilarious chart about the research and evaluation phases of the scientific method to the uncomfortable juxtaposition of elevator music and …well I won’t say any more but if you’re frightened of needles you’ll want to bring along a stress ball.
Trick Or Treatment is a hugely entertaining, educating show, and Colley is such a warm, confessional storyteller that you feel drawn into her world within minutes of the show starting, and thinking about it long after it’s over. You may never want to drink arsenic again!
Trick or Treatment is on at The butterfly Club until March 31
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2024/shows/trick-or-treatment