This Aussie has come across the world to tell us about her weird and wonderful family. It’s a ridiculous hour of homegrown tales and genuine love.
Even the setting of this show is reminiscent of your gran’s living room, full of trinkets that range from the extraordinary, to out-and-out tacky rubbish. The items themselves aren’t important, it’s the memories and sentiment that Danielle Walker treasures and urges us to do the same.
Only perspective can say what a normal family dynamic is, but as an outsider to the Walkers’, theirs is delightfully wacky. Walker tells anecdotes of experiences the family have shared or simply the outrageous things they have said. Most of these would usually be shrugged off as too absurd for reality but Walker has come with receipts. Home videos from when her mum was small to now all prove with certainty that these people are actually real!
Walker has a really snappy way of telling jokes and her oration is nicely supplemented by an abundance of props that have come across the world with her. Books that she was obsessed with as a kid and sculptures that she made for her family and friends really highlight how close this show is to Walker’s heart. It may be because of this that Walker sometimes gets a little flustered if she feels the feeling isn’t wholeheartedly reciprocated by the audience. But even in these moments she manages to laugh it off and keep spirits high.
Walker’s mum and gran are as insane as each other, but her true role model is her grandad. A jack of all trades who has big opinions on the world and has always been the light of Walker’s life. And while us, as an audience, may not fully understand this man, he endears himself to you in such a short amount of time with his captivating campfire stories and dry humour.
‘Nostalgia’ will make you laugh and very possibly cry. It’s a piece of art based entirely on Walker’s undying love for her daft and charming family and that means the result is something quite special.
Danielle Walker: Nostalgia
15:35 at Assembly George Square Studios (Venue 17)
August 10 – 14, 16 – 28
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/danielle-walker-nostalgia
