Ghosting, confusing side sex and ‘BYO condoms’ Tinder bios – my, my dating has changed!

By Stephanie Bal

Photo by media release

You’ve probably heard her voice – if not her name. Lisa Woodbrook gives a heads up about traffic on Ten News First and Melbourne’s KIIS101.1, she co-hosts Foxtel’s ‘Get a Life’ and she co-wrote and produced ‘The Art of Being a Wingwoman’, a musical comedy which sold out across Australia and internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Now, The Butterfly Club can’t get enough of her, and she’s back for five more shows of her musical comedy It’s Not Me, It’s Definitely You: Songs of Amy Winehouse & Lily Allen this week, after a sold-out season in December.  

Fresh from a breakup, Woodbrook offers solidarity and laugh out (actually) loud moments for anyone bumbling along in the swipe left, left – oh no! He was a right – online dating fiasco. I thought the crowd would be mostly gal pals on a girl’s night out, but there were a few date nights happening too. So, if you’re lucky enough to be seeing someone regularly enough to be kinda-sorta dating, bring them too! The guys in the room were chuckling along just as much as me. I’m seven months into a relationship, but the days of Bumble and Hinge don’t feel that long ago. The woes of ghosting, awkward bios and accidentally swiping left – sandwiched between Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse favourites like ‘Not Fair’ and ‘Tears Dry on Their Own’ – were too relatable. And yes, we did meet online (there’s hope!). As Woodbrook says , “Dating has changed – meeting someone organically is like trying to get a guy to wear a condom”.

The Butterfly Club is so damn Melbourne – tucked away at the end of a little laneway near my favourite after hours chai fix, Sensory Lab. The walls and shelves are chockablock with the most random memorabilia, to everything imaginable – Elvis Presley, Hello Kitty and Jesus are all there. The bar staff are laid back and lovely; fitting for a bar that has clusters of comfy couches and wafts of mulled wine. I’ll be back for a drink and a round of whatever game the four friends in the corner were playing, thank you. The upstairs space, where we sat in mismatched chairs and pews for the show, is small but not at all squashy – perfectly cosy enough to feel the energy in the room and hear the hecklers (“f**k me harder!”) yell out in response to Lisa’s question about the dirty talk “words, phrases, sentences – paragraphs?” they like best. Hers was “exclusivity”, rare enough to be “in museums”.

There were moments I forgot I was at a comedy show, distracted by Lisa’s actually amazing note-holding (and the cute winks and smiles of support from the brilliant Josh on piano). But then Lisa would do a little hop, wiggle or thrust and we’d all giggle again. She’s wonderfully animated, belly-laugh hilarious and she made a thin stage on a Monday night absolutely entertaining. We all walked away with silly smiles humming ‘Valerie’.

Give your swiping thumb a break and catch Lisa Woodbrook at The Butterfly Club – this week only!

Catalyst has been the student publication of RMIT University since 1944. We may be older than your parents but we’re still going strong!

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