By Peter Hodgson
You only get one chance to make a first impression. We can’t control what people remember about us. To most of us, Mish Wittrup is a talented comedian, writer and and podcaster who has won the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Best Newcomer Award in 2022 and who brightens up any Aunty Donna project she’s involved in. But to Google, her first notable achievement was …okay, how do I say this without spoiling it? Let’s just say it was something private and sex-adjacent and it happened back at uni.
After reeling from the pure mortification of this discovery, Mish uses it as a springboard to examine her sense of self and to look at the various hats she’s worn in her life. Off With Her Head! takes us on a tour of the different core values Mish has taken on in her journey to find out who she truly is, outside of the context of the person who did that stuff at house parties at uni. Is she a lover? A fighter? Can she lock down a crush who looks like everyone’s favourite early 2000s rock star? Can she cut it as a scholarship student in the horrifying world of private school? This fast-paced show takes us on a Powerpoint-aided exploration of the postmodern psyche, like those memes of Charlie from Always Sunny piecing a mystery together with photos, maps and red string. It’s all there: call centres, Rubik’s Cubes, Chris Pine, the intricacies of corporate procurement, even a big musical number.
This is only Wittrup’s fourth year in comedy but it sure doesn’t feel like it. She has that unique ability to make an entire audience feel like we’re all mates at a party, but the writing, direction and multimedia components keep the show moving forward. It may have taken Wittrup a while to find live comedy but clearly she belongs here.
Mish Wittrup – Off With Her Head! Has added extra shows! It’s playing April 11 and 12 at The Greek.
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/mish-wittrup/
