Fiona O’Loughlin - Her Greatest Hits

By Daniel Hedger

Fiona O'Loughlin

Fiona O’Loughlin is a lovable comedienne, really. You get the impression that no matter how many people are in the audience, she’d still be speaking in exactly the same way. She doesn’t hold court or grandstand. She even sits down at points. It’s very informal, which I suppose allows everyone to let their hair down. 

‘My Greatest Hits’ doesn’t feel like a show with a beginning middle and end because, of course, it isn’t.

The format is, at the start of the show she asks for requests. People who obviously know her sets better than I do call out the names of her stories and bits and she writes them on a whiteboard (which she needs to get a stand for; it’s very awkward of her holding it across her lap like that). Then she goes through those stories and that’s the show for that night. 

So theoretically you could be seeing a different show every night.
She mostly tells true stories rather than jokes. Life is funny, after all, and Fiona O’Loughlin’s stories are basically funny accounts about her family, which she has reams and reams of material about. Her extended family no doubt takes their lives more seriously than she does; and that’s what Fiona finds so funny about them. She is able to find the funny side of eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, child abuse and many more. 

You don’t guffaw necessarily but it’s very pleasant being in the room with Mrs O’Loughlin.  It’s a very laid back affair and if it weren’t for the time restraints, we very well could have happily sat there for twice as long. In fact it was so laid back that certain people in the audience felt like they were actually speaking to Fiona one-on-one, responding to her funny tales of life in rural Australia or Irish Catholic families with knowing phrases like ‘Yes, that’s right! Very good Fiona!’ It was a little disconcerting but I guess that means she has hit her demographic. 

Still, I’m not sure if this Greatest Hits format works the best when there’s less than an hour to work with. It seems a bit indulgent and at times Fiona seemed frazzled in a rush to fit all the stories in (which she ultimately didn’t). I don’t know if it’s just because this is the first week and everybody is still working out the creases, but the show risks ending up a mish-mash.
I suppose I’m not one of those people who care to hear a joke I’ve heard before, no matter how well it’s told. Obviously I was asking for it, going to a show called ‘My Greatest Hits’, but still I find it weird that people can laugh at something when they know what’s coming. Comedy is about surprise, isn’t it? 

Some guy a few rows behind me kept opening UDL cans. This must have happened 6 or 7 times. It was happening too frequently for him to have been drinking all the cans. And there I was, worried about getting caught bringing a takeaway coffee into the show! Later I saw the guy and he was wearing a pink polo shirt. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the show, but it made me laugh.

"Fiona O'Loughlin - Her Greatest Hits"
When: 2nd - 26th April (Tuesday - Saturday 7.15pm, Sunday 6.15pm, no show 14th and 15th)
Tickets: $35 - $40 full, $32 concession, $32 (Groups of 6 +), Previews $25
Where: Melbourne Town Hall (Supper Room) (Corner Swanston and Collins Streets, Melbourne)
Bookings: Ticketmaster & at the door