THEATRE REVIEW: I’m Happy You’re Here
11.10.22 at Basement Theatre, Auckland
The tortured artist is an overused trope. We’ve heard it all before. Great pain makes for great art; suffering is where creativity flourishes; Vincent Van Gogh painted Starry Night in an asylum. Comedian Brendon Green’s I’m Happy You’re Here challenges the cliche, proving that the best art can arrive after-the-fact.
I am not a comedy girl. I’ve simply never clicked with it. When I was asked by Rat World to attend I’m Happy You’re Here, I went in blind, trying to keep my biases to a minimum. Brendon Green stepped out – a comedian with an impressive resume, I later found – I inwardly groaned. Crossing my arms, I prepared myself for a Jimmy Fallon type, or a Jimmy Kimmell, or, god forbid, a Jimmy Carr. Is it polite to fake laugh during a comedy gig? I wondered. How will I even know if something is supposed to be funny? Thankfully, Brendon Green is not a Jimmy. He commanded the stage with a relaxed confidence, the kind of charming boyishness that forced me back into my seat. He said he was slightly nervous about the contents of the show. He explained that I’m Happy You’re Here was born from a mental health spiral spanning 5 years. And, as the jokes began to unravel themselves, I found myself laughing without needing to fake it.
I’m Happy You’re Here was a pleasant ride through a dark rollercoaster. Juxtaposing the severity of a mental health crisis with a light-humoured approach, Green became a trustworthy guide, able to navigate the ups and downs and brace the twisty loops of anxiety and depression. The jokes were embedded organically into his narrative, working to augment the very serious topic rather than “sweep it under the rug”, as Green admitted comedy has a tendency to do. Positioned in the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel, he glanced back at the past five years of his life, burdened with thoughts of hypervigilance and self-loathing. This retrospective gaze enabled a unique approach of sympathy, understanding and optimism. It’s harder to be funny with this kind of tact, but Green pulls it off brilliantly.
The hour-long show ticked by pretty quickly. There was enough versatility in the routine to keep my attention: a song number, reading out a childhood poem (“B is for Brendon”!), and recounting his most embarrassing story from his dating days. Each component seamlessly blended into the next. There were no awkward staggers or parts that didn’t quite work. Although Green’s dryness wasn’t exactly my sense of humour, I enjoyed the show regardless, and was captured by the narrative for its entirety.
For someone who still has their comedy-show training wheels still firmly attached, I immensely enjoyed I’m Happy You’re Here. The show wouldn’t be half as great without Green’s unapologetic honesty. As someone who also struggles with a mental health vortex, I found the show a fantastic insight into the experience – all of the awkwardness of uncovering trauma to piece together identity. Green said it best: “Mental health. We all have it.” And it’s true. But not everyone can articulate it as truthfully as he did.
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