Melbourne comedy festival 2021: Nina Oyama, Sam Andrew and Mel O'Brien

REVIEW: Nina Oyama, Sam Andrew and Mel O'Brien are the future of Australian comedy. No, I’m not joking.

Nina Oyama, Samantha Andrew and Mel O’Brien are leading the way for the future of Australian comedy.

They are loved in their online communities and known for a guaranteed chuckle but the Melbourne Comedy Festival has shown both are too damn good for us and we don’t deserve them.

While both sit at opposite ends of the comedy spectrum, both shows will leave Melbourne audiences in a fit of belly grabbing, chortling laughter.

Nina Oyama – Is Doing Me Right Now

Listening to Nina’s show makes me want to embrace life’s mistakes and turn them into a celebrated story, or a moment I hope will one day be funny.

Like walking through the back door of a pub, you are guaranteed to find something uncomfortable and dirty in her line-up of stories.

Apologetically rude, this show takes a peek into Nina’s life through her own, often harsh, lens.

In an interview with The Melbourne City News she said although a celebrated comedian, sometimes you just have to take a job as “a possum mascot” to make some cash.

“I’m still a bit of a f*ckup and a failure even though I am working within the industry that I want,” she said.

“I’m doing TV jobs and also taking jobs as a possum mascot.”

During the COVID peak Nina Oyama said she took to Instagram to produce factual coronavirus infographic with her own twist.

“I think that swear words can have power and for example in COVID infographic, when you have something that’s presenting information if it has a cheeky F bomb or a C bomb people think it’s quite funny because it’s not meant to be there,” Oyama said.

“We were swearing culture, and I think it’s ridiculous not to acknowledge that.”

★★★★½

Details: $20-$28, 55 minutes, Melbourne venues including Max Watt’s and Comedy Republic

Suitable for audiences aged 16 and over, to find out more or to book tickets, click here.

Samantha Andrew & Mel O’Brien – No Hat, No Play! The Cabaret

No Hat, No Play! The Cabaret, is written and stars both Sam Andrew and Mel O'Brien.

It is a cringe-worthy take on the best and worst moments of early-2000s Australian primary schools.

Within seconds of both stars walking out on stage I was transported back two decades to my suburban primary school filled with mismatched uniforms, class presentations, schoolyard rivalries and the special bond between best friends.

The yellow and maroon school uniform and original music was a welcome change from one joke punchlines and traditional comedy seen across the festival.

Mel O'Brien's stirring song about loosing a best friend over a juice box came as a refreshing surprise to the hilarious show.

The ode to a lost friends sung by O’Brien had the crowd gasping and reaching for a tissue in the middle of the vivacious comedic satire.

Andrew and O’Brien have a unique ability to pull out memories from their Gen Y and Gen Z audience that are almost lost in our desire to grow up and become adults.

★★★★

Details: $25-$33, 55 minutes, The Toff in Town

Suitable for audiences aged 16 and over, to find out more or to book tickets, click here.

Theatrical comedian Samantha Andrew rose to fame on the social media platform, TikTok, during Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown.

Last month The Melbourne City News spoke revealed her top tips for the app and hopes for the comedy festival season, read the article here.

To show your love for their comedic gold, splash some cash at the Melbourne comedy festival so the future of Australian entertainment can keep us laughing into the next pandemic.

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