Review: Is She Hot?

Jodie Sloan image courtesy of Adelaide Fringe

It’s maybe bad form to quote another review in a review, but the poster for Jodie Sloan’s Adelaide debut features the line “scandalously relatable”, and it’s a mostly accurate appraisal.

Through a mix of charming ukulele ditties and a slideshow presentation, Sloan fills Is She Hot? with reflections on her youth in Canada, her sex life and her internet fame. And they are indeed often relatable, or salacious, but all hilarious and smartly observed.

Any one of those areas could be rich seams to mine but she never dwells overlong – the show is deftly structured, intelligently written and emotionally candid. Able to spin comedy out of both her own genuine pre-teen diary entries, and the unexpected TikTok notoriety that ensued from a particularly bizarre push notification sent to millions of users, Sloan appears at once confident and down-to-earth. An enviable balance many seasoned performers would hope for, and one Sloan strikes seemingly without effort.

There’s a little of Kimya Dawson to the songs, though very much with her own flair: just the right mix of sweetness, frankness and everyday-ness, entirely justifying her dizzying social media numbers. The transition from the vertical screen to the festival stage trips up many a promising young star, but – it’s clear tonight – not Jodie Sloan.

Is She Hot?, The Majestic, until 10 March