Was Ava Vidal funny? Well, last year's Guardian reviewer, according to Vidal herself, found her decidedly not. In this curious opening gambit she continued to articulate her grievances over bad reviews, perhaps to guilt critics such as myself into stunning appraisals.It wasn't that Vidal wasn't funny, it was just that her show consisted primarily of titters rather than full blown laughs. In fact, in an embarrassing contrast, the only real belly laugh she got was from reading out somebody else's joke.So why didn't it work? The material had heaps of potential – her daughters' embarrassment over her stand-up career, the aggravation of kids today using racism incorrectly – but it was her delivery that let her down. Her anecdotes often meandered off without any real purpose or punch line and the jokes which really could have worked she habitually threw away in an offhand expressionless manner. At first impression, her relaxed stage presence seemed an excellent quality but it became increasingly evident that it in fact eradicated much of the energy from her gags, cheating them of the many laughs they could have achieved.Saying all that, the show was in no way bad. Vidal had some interesting and thought-provoking comments to make on racism, but it seemed that her political agenda sometimes obstructed what should be the ultimate goal of making the audience laugh.Vidal certainly has some very interesting things to say, but if she doesn’t invent a more dynamic way of presenting them, nobody is going to listen.
