You can’t say that, but Anisa Nandaula? Just try and stop her.
In her only Darwin Festival performance, Anisa thoroughly entertained the Top End crowd, expertly balancing provocative humour with commentary on life, identity and relationships.
‘You can’t say that’ followed anecdotes of Anisa’s life and loved ones; moving from Uganda to Rockhampton with her single mother, growing up Black in regional Australia, meeting her partner – and the adventures that followed.
Anisa’s high-energy and banter immediately disarmed the audience, allowing the show to deliver on its promise. Anisa grabbed taboo subjects with both hands, happily ignoring the social ‘niceties’ that are so often followed to avoid saying the wrong thing.
The show started with exaggerated hip grinds and hyping up the audience (a.k.a “cutiepies”). A cheeky anecdote about a stolen washing machine and the importance of acknowledging the previous owners – “Always wash, Always will rinse” – set the tone of the night; incisive social commentary wrapped in wisecracks and banter. And repeated riffs on a “bourgeoisie tuna pussy”, obviously.
The pace of the show varied, a run of one-line punchlines that would play beautifully in a social media clip, were a tad stilted in a live setting, but the Darwin Festival crowd got Anisa at her best when winding the audience through clever patter, personal anecdotes and unexpected callbacks.
Anisa brought the audience along on the ride, stopping to chat to the crowd, find out where folks were from, how much money they made, and whether a Zimbabwean woman had found her ‘white person’ in a Coles or the pub.
She only lost the audience once, after a dig at older people, which provoked a nervous cheer from the crowd, warning of a line being crossed. Anisa promptly jumped right over the line and got everyone back onside with “oh fuck off, they’ve got property”.
Themes of privilege and wealth showed up consistently throughout the show, wrapped in witty barbs and relatable moments, such as the desire to do “rich people shit” like visit the dentist regularly and own more than one pair of glasses.
For a show that covered serious topics such as racism, culture shock, and homophobia, and consistently pushed boundaries, Anisa’s ability to bring the audience along was effortlessly smooth.
Anisa zig-zagged her way across the invisible line of what you can and can’t say with ease and charm, keeping the crowd squirming and laughing in equal measure.
You Can’t Say That was performed at Darwin Festival 2025
BY ALANA JAMES