Parasites Lost by Alanta Colley

By Lisa Clark alanta-parasites-lost

This is an impressive debut festival show from Alanta Colley. I knew Alanta was a brilliant writer, because of her past work for Squirrel Comedy, but sadly, she left us to pursue her need to perform. Over the past year I’ve heard some lovely things from others who’ve seen her work. Now it’s my turn to gush about what a wonderful talent Alanta is on stage.

Alanta is a Health Educator and has worked in some of the most dangerous places on Earth, so no wonder that comedy gigs are a piece of cake for her. Parasites Lost is a show full of her adventures in these dangerous places, like Uganda, East Timor and Cambodia and about her fascination with nasty, sneaky parasites that can cause scary diseases. If you are squeamish, there are some pretty gruesome pics of what parasites get up to, but Alanta provides plenty of Trigger Warnings so that you have time to look away. Also her stories are so engrossing that you won’t mind.

With her United Nations work it is not surprising that Alanta is politicallly savvy and has been doing some great comedy work with Melbourne political comedy collective Political Asylum. Alanta warms the audience with some topical humour and every now and then through Parasites Lost she has fun throwing in political zingers. When you are talking about parasites, how can you resist?

Parasites Lost is a comedy lecture of sorts about a fascinating topic that Alanta has researched and experienced, it has been cleverly structured with witty chapter headings and amusing, if occasionally alarming, slides. Alanta takes this further, proving that she is mastering standup comedy, with great gags rolling throughout her show, clever call backs and knowing exactly where the comedy is in her stories. She is also a delightful presence on stage, an enchanting story teller steering the audience brilliantly through the amazing journey, and her infatuation with tropical diseases is indeed, infectious.

Alanta Colley Performs Parasites Lost at The Butterfly Club until Sun Sept 25

https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/parasites-lost/913dd739-3bbc-44e5-86dd-d52bb203b863