Let Me Know Either Way? is a sharp commentary about the relatable ordinariness of suburban life. It opens with footage of Lynn in an audience, waiting for the show to begin, before Mel Buttle – as herself – appears on stage.

Buttle possesses an uncanny ability to capture those moments in childhood, long forgotten about but suddenly comical with the passage of time. There are no over-the-top stories with grand punchlines, just the things that make you recall small events in your own life, and there’s nothing quite as funny as a bit of reflection.

Buttle is in town for the Fringe for just two nights, and it’s quite the task finding a spare seat in the Garden of Unearthly Delights venue. The audience gets glimpse into her pre-comedian life as a drama teacher and just why she believes PE teachers aren’t real teachers.

She also chats about her life in Ipswich, coming out to her family and the negative feedback she’s received from her jokes. There’s plenty in there about her baby son, and the juxtaposition of today’s gentle parenting and the parenting Buttle grew up with.

But Buttle’s greatest work is the stories about her mum, whom Lynn is based on. Her character work is understated and she seamlessly slips into conversations that exemplify just how she has so much material for the Lynn sketches.

Aside from another Lynn cameo, the highlight is when Buttle closes the show rapping a series of her mum’s text messages over hip-hop music with hilarious results. It shouldn’t work – but it does.

Mel Buttle was at The Garden of Unearthly Delights from March 10-11.

Read more 2023 Adelaide Fringe stories and reviews on InReview here.

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