Have you heard the saying ‘two countries divided by a common language’? If there is anything that will bridge the cultural divide, it is the one shared love of bragging rights around how weird/strange/dangerous our country is! That seems to be the basic premise of Abroad. Two comedians, Andrew Silverwood, a Brit living in Australia, and Robyn Perkins, an American living in Britain, team up for this comedy game show where countries compete for who is the most. The most outlandish, the most weird, and definitely the most funny.
In my notes, I’ve written ‘when did the show actually start?’ The doors opened early to Silverwood and Perkins already on the stage, and we joined in with a chat between friends. Anecdotes were shared and then at some point after the show was due to start, someone realised that they hadn’t yet introduced themselves. It could sound like it was ill-prepared, but it felt like hanging in the pub with mates, laughing ‘yes but we’ve got…’.
Each show, Silverwood and Perkins are joined by a guest comedian. Last night it was the fabulous Nebulous Niang, Singapore’s biggest lesbian mum comedian. After a 5-minute set, the game show began. I’m not sure how many rounds the game show is supposed to have, but after 47 minutes, round one, the quick-fire round, was complete with Niang taking out the round but points also awarded to the audience who were duly representing their home countries as well!
The basic premise of the show: Perkins or Silverwood host the game show, and the other with the guest comedian square off on stage to work out who has the best anecdotes about their country. Audience members can join in and share their stories of their home countries as well. As someone who hates audience participation, this was audience participation at its best.
Last night we had England (Silverwood) vs Singapore (Niang) vs Scotland, South Africa, Australia, Tasmania (I know they are part of Australia, but there are some things only people from Tasmania can say! IYKYK!), and Germany (audience members). We battled it out with ‘who has the best law’, ‘most weird food’ (side note, we never got back to this—I am going to have to Google if Singapore toast with jam is actually served with egg, who puts jam and egg together? That story needed finishing!), ‘best TV show’ and more to find out which country got bragging rights for their most unique culture.
It was a relatively small crowd. Come on Perth, what are you doing? You are giving us a bad name. How is 10:30 pm too late for a comedy show on a Friday night? It was a glorious way to end the night. I laughed so hard I pulled a muscle and then laughed some more. If you are looking for a great show to end your night, give this one a go!