Pam Ann Landed at the Colony Theatre and Said What Every Flight Attendant Was Thinking

In October 2009, Australian comedian Caroline Reid — performing as her alter-ego Pam Ann, the gutsy, glamorous, and deeply unfiltered air hostess — brought her 11-city American tour to the Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road for two nights. PGM's Kristin Philippi caught up with her ahead of the shows. The interview has been lightly edited and reframed for 2026 — but the voice is all Pam Ann.

There is a specific kind of comedy that only works if the performer has done the research — or lived it. Pam Ann had done both. Caroline Reid's alter-ego is a flight attendant who has seen everything, endured everything, and has absolutely no intention of keeping quiet about any of it. The uniform is immaculate. The opinions are not.

By the time she arrived in Miami, the tour had already sold out dates across Europe and Canada. Reid had toured with Cher, crewed for Elton John, and earned a personal endorsement from Madonna — who called her "cruelly funny," which is perhaps the most accurate two-word review in comedy. She had just wrapped her own talk show on Australia's Foxtel and an advertising campaign for British Airways. The Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, was the right room for her: intimate enough to feel dangerous, formal enough to make the irreverence land harder.

Kristin Philippi sat down with her before the curtain went up.

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PGM: The European and Canadian dates all sold out. Were you surprised by the response?

Pam Ann: They were remarkable shows. People just seem to enjoy this Pam Ann character.

The understatement was deliberate. "This character" had by then become one of the most recognizable comedy personas in the English-speaking world — a Dame Edna for the jet age, a Kathy Griffin with a trolley cart and a safety demonstration. The appeal was obvious: air travel is a shared misery, and Pam Ann was the person finally saying the quiet part loud.

PGM: This was your first US tour in years. What brought you back?

Pam Ann: I just really enjoy being and performing in the US. It's lots of fun.

PGM: You perform the entire show in a flight attendant uniform?

Pam Ann: Yes, I put on the whole garb. The dress, hair, shoes, stockings — it's fabulous.

The costume was the point. The uniform carries a specific cultural weight — authority, service, composure, the expectation of endless patience — and Reid wore it while systematically dismantling every one of those expectations. The comedy worked because the container was so recognizable.

PGM: What can Miami audiences expect from the show?

Pam Ann: Pam will probably talk about Miami airport and flying in and out of there. There may be a pretend hijacking. Pam likes to say what flight attendants really want to say to the passengers. There will be entertaining video inserts. Every show is different — it always includes much audience participation and Pam just goes with whatever is happening and funny, so there is no guessing what to expect.

"What flight attendants really want to say to the passengers" — that line is the whole premise, and in 2026 it reads even sharper than it did in 2009. The years since have given the airline industry a full catalog of new material: the chaos of the pandemic years, the staffing collapses, the shrinking seats, the passengers who treat the cabin like their living room. Pam Ann's comedy aged well because the absurdity only compounded.

PGM: Do you bring up the problems with the airlines?

Pam Ann: Yeah, I like to poke fun at the airline industry.

PGM: Are you looking forward to Miami?

Pam Ann: I am really excited for Miami. That show might have a Latino flavor to it. It's going to be tons of fun!

She was right about that. The Colony Theatre audiences gave her two nights of exactly the kind of room she thrives in — loud, warm, and willing to go wherever she took them.