”Don’t worry if I haven’t offended you yet, I’ll get to you”, says Catherine Deveney on a small stage at Trades Hall.
“I’m an equal opportunity offender.”
Curvy Crumpet is packed full of profanity, and Deveny has a specific fondness for the c-bomb.
It makes an appearance within the first minute of her show to describe various religious groups, along with some other choice words.
Then, like a smiling assassin, she politely told the audience if anyone uses their phone they would find it shoved up their ass.
After this, I admit, I was rather uncomfortable.
Deveny commands (or maybe demands) the attention of her audience, taking aim at AFL players, the Catholic church, and hippies to name a few.
Nothing is off limits for Deveny as she discusses everything from gender roles and family to her permanent Brazilian – even threatening at one
point to reveal it.
Deveny is a provocative host, and her outspoken and challenging rants, actions and language give the impression she’s fairly bullet proof.
However, Deveny says this is not the case, claiming she’s actually “really sensitive”.
An acquired taste, Deveny achieves her main goal of challenging and unnerving her audience, while also making herself vulnerable.
Surprisingly, as much as Deveny prompted and even joked, “There’s the door, see you later”, not one audience member walked out.
Fans of Deveny will be delighted, while others unfamiliar with her approach might be quite outraged.
Catherine Deveny in Curvy Crumpet is at the Trades Hall Meeting Room for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival until April 21.
Jordyn Butler
