Review: SUGAR DADDY, Underbelly Boulevard
Mark Senior
Trauma-comedy is in no way a new genre (perhaps one of the oldest), but the dissecting of grief in a comedic operating theatre where the anaesthetist administers poppers certainly is. Sam Morrison’s show Sugar Daddy at Underbelly Boulevard is as equally heartfelt as it is saccharine; never too much, sating, and touching.
The show, a reimagined staging of Morrison’s hit solo piece, finds its perfect accomplice in director Amrou Al-Kadhi. The marriage between Al-Kadhi’s directorial hand and Morrison’s performance is seamless. Al-Kadhi, known for their own work exploring the intersections of identity and humour, brings a sophisticated theatricality to the piece. Under their guidance, the staging feels focused and intentional, grounding Morrison’s chaotic energy in a way that amplifies the show's emotional intelligence without smoothing over its necessarily jagged edges.
At the heart of Sugar Daddy is the love story between Sam Morrison and Jonathan, his partner of five years, who died of COVID-19 in 2021. Morrison does not merely recount the loss; he excavates it. With great alacrity, he flits from hilarity to intense grief and back to hilarity again, often within the span of a single breath. One moment he is detailing the specifics of bear culture and Provincetown hookups, and the next, he is describing the Type 1 diabetes diagnosis received in the wake of his bereavement and how this is an oddly comforting gift from beyond the grave.
The brilliance of the performance lies in this tonal whiplash. Morrison possesses a rare ability to weaponise his vulnerability without the performance ever feeling manipulative, largely because Morrison is so transparent about his life. He states, "what is trauma if not un-monetised content?”, yet what he has written and performed here is so much more than a frivolous capitalist pastiche of ‘grief content’. The pain aches in the bones of this show even when the audience is belly-laughing (“BELLY”!), and serves to remind an audience how laughter can be medicine.
Sugar Daddy stands out as a fearless, unapologetically queer, and devastatingly funny meditation on how we carry the people we lose. It is more than a comedy show; it is a vital, living memory of a love that was, and is, far too big to be contained by traditional last rites.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Jeff Mostyn
For more information, please click here.