By Lisa Clark
Bec is a bit of a nerd, from reading comics, to playing online games to dressing in a hand-made furry costume at an Anime convention. All pretty nerdy things to do, but Nerd Fuck is not really about nerd culture, as such, it’s about getting to know Bec.
Bec takes us through her life from kindergarten through primary and high school, touching on some themes that are pretty familiar to many nerds such as having friends that are more about the shared nerdy pursuits rather than any deeper connection, generally not fitting in and the inevitable bullying. She talks about hiding in the school library to avoid the bullies and making connections with the librarians and teachers. This show is not really feeling like a celebration of nerd culture as such. There are shadows of murkiness, but she does not delve or wallow in them. Bec flies across the chasms keeping things pretty light and friendly.
Nerd Fuck is a show of amusing anecdotes from her life. There are no long stories and she never really gets to the meat of why the incidents, such as taking her grandpa’s sword to Show and Tell, are so significant to her, other than making her feel embarrassed and illustrating her nerdy cred. Themes of mental illness and mentions of ADHD seem to be ubiquitous to all MICF shows this year. I’m starting to feel a bit queasy when comedians self-diagnose on stage, but then as Bec says it’s almost impossible to get a therapist who can diagnose you and they cost a fortune. Maybe when you can’t get into therapy, write a comedy festival show and use your audience!
Nerds tend to love things passionately, I was hoping for some of this energy, for Bec to share more about what she loves, rather than suggesting it’s a symptom of some sort of mental illness. She mentions her predilection for hoarding collectables, as a lot of nerds do. I wanted to hear more about them, see some of what has she got and what are her favourites, or her silliest? But it is a tough life being a nerd, you learn not get too weird about these things with mundane people. Luckily the title of the show has brought her the right audience who find laughs of recognition throughout and get some of the more obscure references.
Nerd Fuck is an amusing traipse through the life of Bec Petraitis and we get some enjoyable laughs about some nerdy things along the way.
Nerd F*ck is on at Tasma Terrace until April 21