Y’all ready for some pageantry?

Joana Joy breaks out of her small town shell with Miss Tui Whanganui 2009, a story-based comedy special that touches on themes of beauty standards, conservative upbringings and so much dance. Tightly-paced and cleverly planned out, Joana Joy delivers a cheeky hour of comedy with her wide-eyed charm.

There are two key framing devices in this show; Joana Joy‘s favourite New Zealand birds, and her journey to snatching the crown of Miss Tui Whanganui 2009. The former is a great way to bring the audience in with a strong bit of crowdwork. We’re consistently impressed and amused at her wide knowledge of birds, and her imitations of them have the crowd eating birdseed out of her hand. There’s only one instance in which she’s stumped by a mischievously obscure bird, but shut the fuck up Kipling, I don’t care how much you love the pāteke #letwomenspeak.

The meat of the show lies within the second framing device; the emotional trials of the Miss Tui Whanganui 2009 pageant. Each part of the story is spliced with various bits of stand-up comedy, which gives the audience plenty to chew on. At no point are we lost, despite the constant time jumps. Joana does an amazing job at keeping the tale emotionally grounded before veering off onto a fun little tangent.

Most of this is accompanied by her most expressive skill; physicality. Joana makes use of the whole stage, taking large strides across the lights, and running into the audience for a song. Her movements are sharp, precise, punctuating her jokes in such a way that the punchlines hit twice as hard. Even when she’s still, her stage presence is magnetic, drawing us all in with just a bit of a stare.

And it’s in these moments of pure magic that the story really hits. On the surface, this could have been just a fun story that makes us laugh and sends us home, but there’s real depth to Joana’s art here. This is a story about breaking out of your programming and deciding what you want for yourself. About recognising who you are, and what you want to do about it. Sometimes success is living it up in Europe. Sometimes it’s coming home to a small town you love, and that loves you back. Whatever it is, you’re the only one who gets to decide that.

Miss Tui Whanganui 2009 is a joyous celebration of self-identity and self-discovery. It’s a journey that’s worth the late night trek out to Te Auaha, and even once you reach the destination, it’ll sit with you for some time. It’s a predominantly inspirational show that also happens to get its audience cackling all night. One day, I hope Joana’s manifestation pays off and she gets swept away to stardom. But if not, that’s okay, because we’ll remember who she is.

Cos who wouldn’t?

Disclosure: As a somewhat active member of the Wellington performing arts community, I may be quite familiar with a number of the performers in this show. Having said that, I am not a liar, and there is zero bias in my reviews, shut up.

Also, tickets were provided to me for free by the production. Literally changes nothing, though.