Teen School High: A Highschool Teen Story (21+) review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Everyone remembers their first day of high school or starting at a new school. There’s always that sense of possibility - that this will be the year everything changes, the chance to go from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. But not everyone is that fortunate.

In Teen School High: A Highschool Teen Story (21+), Jake Glanc plays Jake, a father whose child is about to start high school. To calm his anxieties, we flash back to Jake as a 16-year-old and his own first day at a new school, and the emotions that come with it. Even if he is effeminate and slightly chunky, he’s determined not to be the butt of every joke this time round.

Glanc kicks things off in true musical theatre fashion with his “I Want” song. And what does he want? To be more than cringe. It’s a familiar tale, but Glanc does a great job of building the foundations and pulling us into this wacky world. At times, it feels like a heightened offshoot of Not Another Teen Movie, with its absurdity and randomness. The climax even gives a slight nod to 10 Things I Hate About You, but with a clever twist I doubt most will see coming.

The focus of this show lies with Jake’s… friendship with his teacher, Mr. Aguilera. It’s immediately a little icky, but as a comedy show, Glanc thankfully doesn’t lean too hard into it despite the description of an intense and all-consuming crush. The PSA-style moment condemning such relationships is out of place but lands much better when the same message is woven into a later song.

Glanc gets creative with his set, presenting projections of various locations to establish locations, including a high school student’s bedroom (complete with Spice Girls and Beverly Hills 90210 posters), a gymnasium, and his family home. Extra points for using the iconic Tanner family living room from Full House.

Teen School High: A Highschool Teen Story (21+) is a chaotic, touch off-centre 50 minutes spanning Jake’s first day of high school. If you found yourself in this world, you’d think it was a normal place, until small strange things start happening that make you go, “Hmmm. Something’s not quite right.” I suspect that’s exactly how Glanc’s mind operates. He views his surroundings a bit differently than the rest of us, and it’s a delight to see what he presents, cringe and all.

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: Motley Bauhaus, 118 Elgin St, Carlton
Season: until 6 April | 6pm
Duration: 50 minutes
Tickets: $29 Full | $25 Conc | $23 Tightarse Tuesday
Bookings: Melbourne International Comedy Festival