Funny Rabbit
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Funny Rabbit

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But here’s the thing: Bill is not your lettuce-nibbling, downy-eared, garden-variety rabbit. Brought up by bogans in the hot, dry wastes of Alice Springs, he has shed all ties to his rabbit brethren and instead seeks fame in the human realm. And what’s the best way for a hard-drinking, hard-talking rabbit with a black sense of humour to get famous? Why, by doing standup.

Donning the rabbit suit – a pair of homemade bunny ears, a handlebar mustache and the aforementioned AC/DC t-shirt – is the young and talented Biddy O’Loughlin. She tells the long, strange and often hilarious story of Bill’s rise and fall, set to a backdrop of milkcrate furniture and tinnies of VB.

Bill as a character is a pretty dark sort. Forget about the Flopsy Bunnies or Peter Rabbit; he’s closer to the surreal horror of Donnie Darko’s Frank. O’Loughlin charges him with cynicism and pithy observations on the human condition, but underneath the sneering veneer we can glimpse a cuddly wabbit who just wants to be loved. There are definitely two sides to Bill’s character, and perhaps even more – if you want to split hares. But isn’t that something that all comedians, regardless of species, have in common? It’s something O’Loughlin touches on more than once: the comedian as a fragile egomaniac, lashing out yet vulnerable.

Overall, it’s an interesting premise, and O’Loughlin manages to weave everything into an entertaining, philosophical metacomedy. It’s executed with panache and laced with ample rabbit jokes, all delivered in a broad Australian drawl. There is a bit of a language warning, though; with more references to the female genitalia than an Azealia Banks track, it’s probably best you leave the kids at home for this one. But for anyone who likes a bit of dark comedy with the quirky bits left in, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

Funny Rabbit