Review: Tessa Waters Volcano by Mark Tripodi
Posted on: Sun 18 Feb 2018
Hi, I’m Mark Tripodi and I’ve just seen award-winning comedian, Tessa Waters’ new show Volcano.
Tessa Waters is a consummate professional. For physical comedy, this means she’s welcoming, positive as heck, and super funny. With a Tessa Waters show it’s pretty safe to assume you’re going to be in for a good time and Volcano is no different. It’s a show that’s a little bit of classic Tess, a little bit of back to basics Tess, and a little bit of a Tess we haven’t seen before. She’s a festival mainstay for a reason, and that reason is she always creates solid content.
Tessa Waters is a Gaulier trained clown, so her physical comedy always lands her in a good place. Her sketches, though brief, are classic Tess, playing relatable comedy in a physical way.
Her stand-up, though, isn’t something we know Tess for, so it’s no surprise that as of this review, her long form comedy doesn’t feel like it’s where it needs to be. It’s preview night though, so that’s easily forgiven, in a week Tessa’s show will live up to what we’ve seen before. The rest of the show more than makes up for any weaknesses in the second half.
Volcano is a show that’s deeply body positive because Tessa Waters is an inescapably positive performer. Her show is full of joy, which serves as an anathema to the stereotype of comedy we have become so used to at Adelaide Fringe. If you want something happy, peppy and goofy as all heck, Tessa Waters is the comedian for you.
She’s not quite done cooking yet, so it’s ★★★1/2 stars right now, but in a day or two she’ll be falling off the bone with ★★★★ comedy.
You can find a transcript of the review here.
