REVIEW: Amy Hetherington ‘Don’t Feed the Ducks’

Festival, Review
February 22, 2021

ADELAIDE FRINGE REVIEW: KIDDO reviewer Carla Caruso booked a babysitter and headed out on the town to see NT comedian Amy Hetherington in her comedy show about trying to make a baby! She gives us her review on how many LOLs to expect from the show!

WORDS: CARLA CARUSO

You know from the get-go that Darwin’s Amy Hetheringon isn’t your typical comedian when she greets guests as they arrive with a friendly smile and banter offstage. Then does her own introductory spiel before jumping into the spotlight.

She’s like a bucket of sunshine in her glitter circle earrings, lace crop top, and floral culottes. This is a comic who can drop the F-bomb on repeat while beaming winsomely like a Spice Girl. (She references the girl group during her performance.)

Don’t Feed the Ducks: Adelaide Fringe 2021

The focus of her latest Fringe show, Don’t Feed the Ducks, is on trying to fall pregnant and start her next life chapter as a mum, which she describes as “ducking terrifying” (à la the show’s title). Her co-pilot in this journey is her ‘nerdy’ civil engineer husband, who enjoys tracking her ovulation cycle “in a cloud-based document”.

Facing down mum-hood also brings up memories of the DIY fun she had in her childhood. She describes her dad as “a cross between Russell Coight and Tim the Tool Man” and reminisces about daddy-daughter trips to the dump (I can so relate!) and her pa’s version of The Floor is Lava game, involving barbecue coals. Ah, simpler times, lol.

A highlight is her re-enactment of Mortal Kombat: Mum Edition, where you can choose your own mum character from ‘activewear mum’ to ‘free range mum’.

Throughout, Amy sprinkles in local references, from Port Adelaide to Rundle Mall, along with including a heap of Darwin humour. She also praises Adelaide. “You’ve got a festival happening during a global pandemic,” adding laughingly, “I got to use the big venue because Lehmo’s stuck in Melbourne!”

Every now and then, Amy breaks into song, joking that she must do so due to the stipulations of a Tourism NT grant. As she says: “It’s f—ing hard being an artist this year.”

Organise a babysitter and get to her show at the newly relocated Rhino Room (now in Pirie St)!