Guest review by Emma Maguire

Uther Dean is sad and he wants you to know it.

My Fat/Sad is a comedy and a tragedy, a balance between joy and seriousness, and a show with more of a duality to it than you might be expecting. In my desperate quest to avoid spoilers, I’ll leave the show’s structure as that.

Laden with pop culture references – a heckler at our performance had particular trouble with the mere concept of Game of Thrones – and musical interludes, Dean’s wit is incredible and he’s not afraid to point out the irony or meta nature of some of his jokes or the comedy world on a whole.

Dean is charming, a tad cocky, and very, very likable. It is his demeanor that keeps the show moving steadily forward, despite some of the darker subject matter.

You might laugh, you might ‘awwww’, but there are times you might just be silent, unsure of what emotion best fits the situation. There are points within this show where content hovers on the edge of discomfort, but it never falls into all-out awkwardness. This show is the sort of thing that might feel a bit new and unique for the average comedy-goer.

And that’s fine. It’s fine to go to a comedy show and realise that not every moment has to make you laugh.

For a comedy show that explores a few more emotions than the usual, and has a rad pre-show playlist, check out My Fat/Sad.

My Fat/Sad is running at 9.00pm every night between now and Saturday at BATS theatre in Wellington. As a warning, it contains significant mentions of mental illness. Get amongst!