Olga Koch is winning at life and she wants us to know it. Just Friends is an incredibly feminist and cheeky hour where Koch gaslights, gatekeeps and girlbosses her way through hoe culture and relationships. Walking out to Shania Twain’s Man, I Feel Like a Woman, she quickly livens up the Monkey Barrel Comedy Club, kicking off a celebratory and completely deserved self-congratulatory show.
A masterpiece of a stand-up comedy set
While her definition of hoe culture initially appears pretty broad, Koch quickly shows that there are limits that only she can push, most of which is hoe culture. She has a big personality that breaks the confines of the space she occupies, and she is right in believing and articulating everything she says, including, and not limited to, that she has chemistry with everyone. The way she owns her experiences and self is incredibly empowering.
Containing phrases like "you can’t be shamed if youre not ashamed", Just Friends is a stand-up comedy show that could be turned into the only self-help book worth reading. It is hard not to be somewhat envious of her carefree, ‘do it for the story’ attitude to life, but coming from the patron saint of hoe culture, this definitely seems like a very healthy approach to have. Whether it’s the Mamma Mia! Immersive Dining Experience or a student comedy show, Koch shows the same bravado and slight disbelief that we all do whenever we think really hard about the choices we make. But it does not come off as the self-pitying or embarassing story that she may think it is, mainly due to the impression of being entirely in control that she has given us up to that point. While crude at times, she is a relatable personality that provides some comfort, in that it’s nice to know that there is someone else having the same problems and thoughts as us, the only difference being is that she gets to vocalise it through comedy and get feedback on it.
Koch calls Just Friends her You Oughta Know, and maybe it is. But I hope not, because while this show is a masterpiece of a stand-up comedy set, Koch seems like the kind of comedian who will top this show with the next. There is no telling what she may do or what she is capable of. And that really is hoe culture.
