Penny Arcade would easily make it into my ‘top 3 people to invite to a dinner party’ list, my first remark to my plus one after spending an hour getting to know her at the Spiegeltent this Comedy Festival. This counterculture icon has led a remarkable life – running away from home age 16 to New York in the sixties, growing up with the likes of Lou Reed, Andy Warhol & Patti Smith “before they were famous”, spending her years “getting high and having sex” and remarkably never having seen Star Wars, ET or Raiders of the Lost Ark – as a statement.

With a flaming red hair and dress, she took the stage with a monologue slamming the post-gentrification state of our cities – where cupcake shops took over from the dive bars, strip joints and everything that was authentic from New York to King’s Cross. For those unfamiliar with Penny, and expecting stand-up comedy similar to any other hundreds of Comedy Festival performances, the first 10 minutes were a bit jarring. But the energetic vintage rock n’ roll soundtrack, her charisma and captivating wit won us over.

Penny herself claims that this was not stand-up, cabaret or performance art. It is quite an original mix of biography, travelogue and social commentary.  It reminded me of a Ted Talk – Penny is very eloquent, her insights are well thought out, and she delivers them with an almost poetic beauty.  While I stopped at time and thought that I didn’t quite agree with one observation or another, I can’t say that she is wrong about anything. She has an incredibly original view point to someone locked in the perspective of the 21^st century. The more time we spent listening to her though, the more I wanted to find out more about this incredible person and what she had to say about the human condition – expensive cocktails, disengaged youths, propaganda or the characters she grew up with in the last 50 years. I’d recommend Penny Arcade to anyone, and I hear she is writing her biography – I’m going to read it and bring it to her to sign next time I have the chance!

-Christian G.
Is an international man of mystery; lover of books, cats and the performing arts; moonlighting as a finance professional by day.

Penny Arcade – Longing Lasts Longer runs until 3 April, at the Melbourne Arts Centre Spiegeltent.  The venue is accessible.

Check out our guide to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for more great shows.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of TS Publicity.