Victoria Healy is the BeyoncĂ© Knowles of Australian comedy. Sheâs dated the baddest of the bad boys, sings with all her heart, and can bring it to the dance floor. Of course, those bad boys are less like Jay-Z, and more âappeared on RBTâ. And her microphone is a water bottle. And you may need to dodge flying bits of Pizza Hut beef mince as she shakes her booty. But hey, thatâs all part of the charm.
Independent Women Part 2 is a coming-of-age musical journey. Transporting the audience through her formative years via the likes of Destinyâs Child, Shania Twain and (God help us) Fergie, Healy tracks her path to independence right from those first awkward friendships at school, as she tries to figure out exactly what it means to be a successful woman.
As a kid of the 90s, Healyâs show spoke to me. The songs that Healy loves are those ones that you know all the lyrics to, even if you hated them, because they were the ever-present soundtrack to every school trip and boozy backyard birthday party. The show is often crude, but is also very sweet and incredibly relatable. Her characters are spot on. Healy pinpoints the Australian male voice with alarming accuracy, used to great effect when telling stories of her early dating history. You could almost hear the audience crawling with discomfort as she re-enacted a date in Chinatown with an absolute charmer.
Independent Women Part 2 is painfully funny, wonderfully nostalgic and full of bogan charm. You can tell that Healy truly cares about the people she portrays, for all their flaws and eccentricities. Her story of finding independence is one she really wants to tell, and with good cause. This is a show to be seen with friends. Good friends and old friends, as many as you can convince to come along. You wonât regret it.
Warning: You may end up with Destinyâs Child songs stuck in your head for days after seeing this show.
Victoria Healy â Independent Women Part 2 is on at Rue Bebelons Upstairs until April 22
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2012/season/shows/independent-women-part-2-victoria-
healy/