Best moments from the Oxfam Gala at Melbourne International Comedy Festival
From racy jokes to Tom Gleeson's Logies campaign and Tommy Little's tats, these were the 30 best moments of the Melbourne comedy festival gala.
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From racy jokes to Tom Gleeson's Logies campaign and Tommy Little's tats, these were the 30 best moments of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Oxfam Gala.
1. Sex! Now that we have you attention, this was one of the racier Galas in recent memory, with regular mentions of orgies, obscure genres of porn (Scottish amateurs, anyone?) and even lawn-related fetishes.
2. Barrie Cassidy insisting Gala host Tom Gleeson take over his Insiders job. Under no duress whatsoever.
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3. Nath Valvo opening proceedings by yet again whipping the Palais crowd into a frenzy. After his epic marathon yarn last year, this year’s food-based furore smashed it just as hard. Attaboy.
4. The rare opportunity to see a grown man admit to a baby fixation, especially the fat and confused ones. Good for you, Phil Wang.
5. Peter Dutton doin’ the floss (Gleeson).
6. Anne Edmonds trying to be sassy and confident, an unusual look for the local legend.
7. Daniel Connell rocking a dashing ’tache that put one in mind of a WWI fighter ace, which suits the stalwart’s steady rise to elite comedy altitude immensely. We hear he beats up old ladies on planes though.
8. Aunty Donna not actually attending but managing to make one of the ‘donate to Oxfam’ clips actually funny.
9. Nikki Britton’s wedding dances down the generations fuelled by secret Jagermeister consumed in a cupboard at 10am. Work that bend and snap.
10. A child (who inevitably looks like Peter Helliar) being raised in a different religion every day, courtesy of Nazeem Hussain.
11. Velvet, lots of velvet, most eye-catchingly sported by Malaysia’s finest, Douglas Lim, and superb Scot, Fern Brady.
12. Steph Tisdell tormenting cafe hipsters who make racial slur-adjacent breakfast selections.
13. Damien Power winning the unofficial “most memorable opening line” comp by a street.
14. The ’70s ’tache and tux combo sported by Power as he danced to some poo-plopping beats. A vision of the future we can absolutely get behind.
15. Glaswegian Larry Dean — who normally sounds like a young Billy Connolly – nailing a posh Australian lady voice, complete with weird inward laughing.
16. To check whether last year’s Barry Award winner Sam Campbell’s excellent Wallabies joke and four minutes of mayhem makes the broadcast (considering he ended with the line “ABC is run by Zionists” we’re guessing not).
17. The flawless Rhys Nicholson — sporting a dazzling dinner jacket — revealing the 30-year-old secret to a successful marriage.
18. Guy Montgomery’s 45-degree impression of an overly hasty plane passenger.
19. Egg Boy mentions, of which there were a few, most impressively from Deanne Smith, who managed to seamlessly work him into her upbeat ukulele song about love, sex and death. Mainly death.
20. Tommy Little’s tatts (if you haven’t already seen them several thousand times on Instagram).
21. A world in which redheads rule, and brunettes are mocked for their “choc tops” (Gleeson).
22. The sound of 3000 people lying to themselves and a fart so powerful it knocked over a child, both courtesy of John Hastings.
23. Paul Foot’s questionable imaginings of what lesbian sex must be like, delivered by a man dressed as Deep Purple’s bassist on his way to a job interview.
24. One of the better airport security Jesus impressions you’re likely to see, courtesy of Geraldine Hickey.
25. Pam from Brisbane, you know, Westpac Pam (Mel Buttle).
26. Dave Thornton’s imagined future when a kid will have to come out to his hipster parents as a straight footy player.
27. Nurse Georgie Carroll’s hyper flexibility and hyper shonky health advice.
28. You Am I turning it up to 11 with an epic Spinal Tap impersonation that appeared to be completely lost on at least 75 per cent of a fairly youthful crowd.
29. Foot attacking other comedians during the closing farewell with a tiny Stonehenge from aforementioned Spinal Tap impersonation (ask your mum).
30. $30 to Oxfam can pay for six collapsible water bladders which allow families to transport and store clean drinking water in the aftermath of an emergency. Donate now.
The Gala will be broadcast on ABC TV on Sunday, March 31 at 8.30pm, or catch it on iView.
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