Let Me Be The Cool Aunt. Etcetera Theatre.

Sophie Banister’s kind, engaging hour of original songs and gently whimsical stand-up Let Me Be The Cool Aunt showcases the performer’s obvious talents as a musician, composer, and comedian. Better known in her native Brisbane than London, where she is currently on an extended expat sojourn, Banister is also a producer, writer, actor, radio vocalist, and arts facilitator. The piece allows the performer to poke fun at the trials and tribulations of living in London, but one cannot help but conclude that, in this case, Brisbane’s loss is the capital’s gain.

Let Me Be The Cool Aunt loosely hangs together around Banister’s feelings towards her unborn nephew, though it also charts random peeves and reflections on life in the run-up to and following her move overseas. The musical palette ranges from folksy country to light rock and pop, with imaginative use of looped guitar and vocals. Director Maeve O’Haire’s penchant for extensive audience interaction may not suit all tastes (“Wow, you’re so brave, Sophie”, we are required to chant when Banister muses about the challenges of moving to London).  However, the choreographed audience swaying and call-and-response are generally light-hearted and rarely overtly intrusive.

Banister describes her sibling relationships as being a mash-up of “the kids from Narnia, The Brady Bunch, and Bridgerton”, and the emotional wrench of leaving a family and a city she finds fascinating (who knew Brisbane was where Inspector Gadget 2 was filmed) looms large in the piece. On the positive side, the impending move affords the opportunity for a surfeit of more or less casual hook-ups, an experience one song describes as “one last trawl through the bargain bin”.

A top tip for adapting to the UK comes in the musical-theatre style number Don’t Be An Immigrant, which suggests, probably correctly, that if you are white and call yourself an “expat,” life in a new country will be a lot easier.  A folksy number about Instagram explores the challenges of making ‘new best friends’ through an all-consuming quest for ‘likes’ in response to a post. A rock-inspired tune called I Love You reflects on (presumably not just British) men’s tendency to think that regular expressions of love will atone for just about any relationship sin. The tone here is wryly observational rather than particularly insightful, but there is enough pithy wit to make for an engaging 60 minutes. An outing to Edinburgh Fringe beckons, where one suspects Let Me Be The Cool Aunt will do well.

Writer: Sophie Banister

Director: Maeve O’Haire