Jordana Borensztajn – Like Me, Love Me, Retweet Me

By Lisa Clark

The main impression from this show about social media is that the audience is at a work seminar in a tiny cramped bright room up many flights of stairs in a ‘clean comedy’ venue (so don’t swear too much coming up all those bloody stairs). Luckily it’s a very good seminar by a talented, engaging performer, Jordana Borensztajn, who, yes, does professional seminars about social media.

The premise of Like Me, Love Me, Retweet Me was that Jordana is a bit obsessed with creating a better self-image of herself online, but there was no deep emotional story here, that idea seemed (ironically) pasted over the top of what was more of an excuse to poke fun at how the internet has changed our lives and the crazy pitfalls of social media. Right down to just showing us some time wasting silly cat videos for fun. Well it couldn’t really be a show about the internet without cat videos could it?

All of Jordana’s audio-visual work is top notch from the stunning introductory video to the pictures supporting her act throughout and her vox pop interviews with people about social media on the street where someone rather shockingly, so casually talks about presenting themselves as a brand online. It all goes seamlessly and is also mostly supportive of rather than instead of the comedy. Except maybe her ‘Funny things I found on line’ bit, which fell a bit flat, possibly because we’ve all found much funnier things online than the ones she presents.

Jordana cleverly treats the audience like her online contacts, constantly craving approval, asking for likes, photos and the inevitable selfies. Taking Shakespeare’s idea that All the World’s a Stage and showing how the internet is one big stage upon which we all perform our parts is even more true for a born performer like Jordana. She is bright, perky and passionate about her pursuits.  There is a bit of harmless audience participation that as usual is a bit more fun for the participants and their friends than the rest of us. She also gets the audience to help her out in the fabulous finale which is a brilliant idea as she acknowledges that singing is not her strong suit.

As a bit of a nerd who evolved with computers by hanging out with serious geeks who could build computers from scratch and created IT departments at major universities when there were none, I found it all a bit mainstream and not terribly illuminating. A lot of her observations and ideas are not very new, especially in on-line world. This was not written for computer geeks. This is for groups of friends and family members who find the online world fun but perplexing and want to have a relaxing laugh about how ridiculous it has all become and Jordana has written just the show.

Jordana Borensztajn – Like Me, Love Me, Retweet Me is on at Comedy on Collins which is the clean comedy venue, so no swearing or rude stuff.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/like-me-love-me-retweet-me-jordana-borensztajn

 

5 Good Reasons to see Gavin Baskerville, Jordana Borensztajn and Doug (Tracey Cosgrove’s Dodgy Cousin)

5 Good Reasons to see Gavin Baskerville: Crunch Time

1. I have chips.

2. I’m from Tasmania. In the good way (apples, fresh air, Princess Mary), not the bad way (you know, I know, we all know).

3. I’m allowed to go to the whiskey bar if enough people buy tickets to my show.

4. I love whiskey.

5. Did I mention the chips?

Gavin is giving out chips and comedy at Three Degrees
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/crunch-time-gavin-baskerville

5 GOOD REASONS TO SEE Jordana Borensztajn in SOCIAL NEEDIA: THE EPIDEMIC
1. Are you a victim of Social Needia; an epidemic that’s gone viral? Want to find out? Lucky for you, I’ll be offering complementary checklists and assessments at my shows.

2. Got a short attention span? So do I… So my show isn’t straight stand up. It features multimedia elements. Plenty of distractions to keep you busy.

3. The longest stage spot I’ve ever done is 7.5 minutes and my show is 55 minutes. It’s my debut. Take the risk with me!

4. Rather than banning the use of mobile phones through my show, I’m encouraging them so don’t hide your iPhone or BlackBerry. Put it on your lap, wave it around, take pics, send tweets – whatever you want. If you use an Android though, ummm, you might want to hide that.

5. Got some Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email and other online frustrations you want to vent about? Bring them along. I promise my show will be therapeutic for you and me!

SOCIAL NEEDIA: THE EPIDEMIC will be on at LOOP Project Space & Bar
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/social-needia-the-epidemic-jordana-borensztajn

5 Good Reasons to see Doug: Hello Ladies!(Tracey Cosgrove’s Dodgy Cousin Returns)

1. I’m a poet. And I know it. Also a writer, not a fighter. See what I did there?

2. I’m sweeter than a deep fried Mars Bar and more dangerous than a three-day-old Wing Ding. That’s how the ladies like it.

3. I’m on at 8.30pm so you don’t have to miss Home & Away.

4. I’ll be signing body parts after the show. Any part – I’m not afraid of a bit of culture.

5. (I’ve found it’s always good to finish with a haiku):

Please come to my show,
I will wear my best t-shirt.
I love Chiko Rolls.

Doug will be performing at Three Degrees
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/hello-ladies-tracey-cosgrove-s-dodgy-cousin-returns-doug