Sian Smyth, has appeared on ABC’s Tonightly with Tom Ballard, SBS Viceland, was a grand finalist in RAW Comedy in 2018, she also co-hosted the Comedians’ Guide to True Crime podcast, and has made a guest appearance on The Doug Stanhope Podcast. She brings her new rich show PSYCH WARD FAMOUS – how I became Jesus and interviewed a warlord to the Mess and Recreation Hall at Adelaide Gaol. Despite her first night nerves influencing her performance, Smyth’s show contains strong material of her eventfully chaotic life delivered in an honest fearless manner.

Smyth was introduced by the affable Duuvy Jester dressed in his usual extravagant clothing and very high hat. Jester cracked self-effacing jokes about, among other things, being Jewish, being poor and how he got the job of introducing Smyth because he is her husband. 

Smyth began her opening night show nervously referring to her notebook and making a couple of slight mistakes but as the show progressed, she became more confident and her presentation became more certain, as would be expected of a comedian of her growing stature. Smyth began her engrossing stories of raw honesty detailing her difficult birth, her Irish mother and growing up. As the show continued, she detailed her violent relationship and how she left that relationship. Further, she discussed her experiences in her stints as a sex worker, her clients, and her meth addiction. The show built to an engrossing story of her involvement in a podcast interview with real life Liberian warlord during the First Liberian Civil War, General Butt Naked, who was a self-confessed cannibal and the fall out of the interview on her mental health. Her stories were told with well portioned humour despite the subject matter and were well received by the audience.

As an added bonus the show is performed at one of this year’s Fringe’s more unusual venues, the Mess and Recreation Hall inside the Adelaide Gaol. The blue mood lighting between the walls certainly adds an additional intensity to any of the shows taking place there. Amidst the new hospital construction, the venue is a little hard to find – so allow an extra few minutes for that. 

The show is definitely R18+ with a number of trigger warnings. 

In PSYCH WARD FAMOUS – how I became Jesus and interviewed a warlord, Sian Smyth discloses a life of disarray caused by her underlying mental health conditions, opening night nerves should settle as the season progresses. Her show lays bare the jumble of her life with humour and honesty making one of the more sincere moments of this year’s Fringe worthy of audience attendance.