l-r: Timeca Seretti, BeckiJo Neill, Shannon Sedwick, Patrick King, and Shaun Branigan, raising a righteous ruckus at the Follies’ packed reopening on June 17 (Photo by John Anderson) It's Thursday, June 17, 2021, the COVID pandemic finally dwindling in the rear view mirrors – and, in the bustling Downtown of Austin, the Esther's Follies comedy troupe is preparing to return to their live stage for the first time in 15 months. More than a year of unplanned downtime has passed, with the writers and performers secluded in quarantine, each sheltering in their separate (or sparsely shared) abodes. More than a year in which a pivot toward Patreon-supported video content has been their sole means of connection with an audience, any audience. More than a year in which the internet has been the company's only connection with those for whom the Follies' mix of music and madcap sketches skewering the topics of the day is what makes life, no matter how harsh, more tolerable. Maybe – as Ted Meredith and Shaun Branigan crack wise in a political song-and-dance number, as Shannon Sedwick pulls another Patsy Cline prop out of her rigged dress-front, as magician Ray Anderson walks through a haunted mirror, as newcomer Timeca Seretti does a pop-star turn as VP Kamala Harris – maybe such clever antics even make life, in spite of its vicissitudes, worth celebrating?