Louisa Fitzhardinge: Comma Sutra (MICF)

Pre-show, punters appropriately discuss the validity of Oxford commas in The Butterfly Club foyer. We're ushered into the theatre as ABC by The Jackson 5 plays over the venue sound system and it's immediately apparent that Louisa Fitzhardinge has fixated on Comma Sutra's every last detail. When Fitzhardinge appears she's wearing a lively red dress and cute stockings that are fittingly decorated with punctuation marks.

Comma Sutra analyses various languages - English, German, French and Auslan - exposing Fitzhardinge as a genuine grammar nerd. She tells us she was born this way, dissecting her own name, which contains every vowel and a silent 'e' - how could she not be obsessed with words? Accompanied by a pianist, Fitzhardinge alters the lyrics of well-known songs (Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know becomes 'Some Language That I Used To Know' and details Fitzhardinge's infidelity toward the French language when she chose to also study German) and her singing voice and expressive personality reflect her musical theatre experience.

When Fitzhardinge's jokes hit the mark, they're hilarious ("If you can use a colon, you can stick your dick up mine"?) and the section during which she literally translates German words (brustwarz, the German word for nipple, translates to breast-wart?) is a highlight. Four laminated signs - English, German, French and Auslan - are handed out to volunteers in the audience. When these are raised, Fitzhardinge must change languages while singing Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World - often mid-phrase - which is bafflingly brilliant.

Paperback Writer by The Beatles ushers us out before Fitzhardinge greets us again at the bottom of the stairs where she hands out The Comma Sutra (aka How To Bed A Sexy Grammarian) pamphlets.

Aside from a few lulls in pacing that should be ironed out as she settles into her MICF season, Comma Sutra provides a delightful insight into Fitzhardinge's obsessive brain. Although there are segments throughout this show with broader appeal, Comma Sutra will undoubtedly be better appreciated by grammar vigilantes.

Louisa Fitzhardinge presents Comma Sutra, til 9 Apr at the Butterfly Club, part of Melbourne International Comedy Festival.