Off the back of last year’s, I’ve Got 99 Problems and Here’s An Exhaustive List of Them, award-winning comedian Ange Lavoipierre returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with another one-person sketch show: Your Mother Chucks Rocks and Shells, aptly described by Lavoipierre as “50% about The Exorcist, 50% about trying to sleep [and] 0% about your mother, rocks or shells”.
Titled after a cleverly butchered line from the 1973 horror film, Your Mother Chucks Rocks and Shells is what happens when moments of sleeplessness and anxiety get personified. Those are the moments when you’re lying in bed, wide awake and unable to turn off your brain who may or may not have a cartoon-y French accent. When you start to stumble through internet rabbit holes (When did the web start sounding so sexy?) about what’s troubling you, it is probably terminal cancer and yes, you definitely want to see pictures and/or surgical videos. And wait, how is it still 2am when you’ve been at this for hours?
Upon entering The Butterfly Club’s upper room, Ange Lavoipierre is dressed in pjs and is trying to sleep on the stage. Moving from wall to wall with a pillow, this is the perfect little tease for the show you’re about to see.
For audience members who maybe haven’t seen The Exorcist, don’t worry. Lavoipierre is going to give you a quick rundown of the plot, and then also weave core characters from the film into other blockbusters of past decades, sandwiched between horrible childhood memories and guided meditation.
It’s a subject list that seems, on the surface, overwhelmingly incohesive. But Lavoipierre is an incredible storyteller and throughout Your Mother Chucks Rocks and Shells, they use those skills to play one of the funniest games of ‘6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ you’re likely to ever see at such close proximity. Not even the very brief fumbles over dialogue or a forgotten line could possibly detract from how hysterical and clever this show is, which is truly just a testament to Lavoipierre’s infectious stage presence.
Much like their show from last year, Your Mother Chucks Rocks and Shells is a powerhouse monologue that easily fills the little Butterfly Club stage, even without the extensive use of props. Utilising only a pillow and well-placed audio-visual cues, Lavoipierre is able to create a full landscape of what the inside of their brain probably looks like (lots of blue and red lighting, and very cosy) and leads the audience through a hilariously crafted narrative, which once again included several moments of audience participation at various points (no spoilers, they’re some of the best parts!).
It’s obvious when seeing someone who you feel was born to be on stage in some capacity, Lavoipierre is no exception. They are consistently expressive, welcoming, condescending but, like, in a really funny way, and deftly capable of carrying the weight of a sketch this grandiose.
Ange Lavoipierre’s Your Mother Chucks Rocks and Shells is playing as part of the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival at The Butterfly Club until the 23rd of April 2023.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/your-mother-chucks-rocks-and-shells
https://www.facebook.com/angelavoipierrecomedian
https://www.instagram.com/angelavoipierre
https://twitter.com/angelavoipierre
And remember: Ducks are not citizens. Maybe something to think about.