The comedy festival has kicked off – here’s a look at the opening weekend

This wrap of shows across the Melbourne International Comedy Festival includes “a ripper of a show”, a performer who is surely a lock for best newcomer, a show in progress from the greatest comedian of his generation, a tropical holiday (sort of), a promising sketch performer, one of the best mental health jokes of the festival so far, stories of amorous kangaroos, an extremely impressive debut and plenty more.

COMEDY
Gillian Cosgriff | Actually Good ★★★★½
The Butterfly Club, until April 23

A lockdown-themed show of sorts may seem unfashionable in 2023, but not in the deft hands of Gillian Cosgriff, returning to the comedy festival for the first time since 2018 – mostly because it functions as a mere frame to explore what’s actually good in life. Each night, Cosgriff solicits her audience to find out their top 10 likes – all of which she notes down in a self-professed “book of tiny delights”.

Actually, Good is on at The Butterfly Club until April 23.

Interspersed with this gentle form of audience participation are humorous anecdotes and highly infectious, clever, original songs that Cosgriff belts out about her own likes while her hands move across her keyboard at a dizzying pace. Cosgriff’s a whip-smart, quick-witted, confident performer.

It becomes clear towards the end that what undergirds the show is a simultaneous sense of sorrow and joy – it’s a credit to Cosgriff that she can hold space for both, leaving audiences with an incredibly affirming (and funny) show that marvels in the tiny profundities that make up our lives.
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

COMEDY
Patrick Golamco | Pork Adobo
Trades Hall, until April 23

Patrick Golamco is surely a lock for a Best Newcomer nomination this festival.

Pork Adobo is on at Trades Hall until April 23.

Having come runner-up in the 2021 RAW Comedy National Grand Final, and storming Comedy Zone in 2022, his debut Melbourne solo show is loosely tied together by a story of visiting his 99-year-old grandmother in Manila to let her know he loves her while she may be on her deathbed.

Through song, breakneck-speed jokes and tales of therapy gone awry, he harnesses the neurotic, introverted nature of Luke McGregor, the shake-your-head puns of Tim Vine and the pull-the-rug-from-your-feet energy of Mitch Hedberg all at once.

There are sharp jabs at Catholics, his Chinese upbringing, and of course, tales of the titular recipe – all which are delivered with the aplomb of a festival veteran.

At only 40 minutes in length it’s on the leaner side of shows this year. But for those who prefer quality over quantity, you simply can’t miss it.
★★★★
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

COMEDY
Comedy Zone
Trades Hall, until April 23

A five-dish taster, the hand-picked lineup of Comedy Zone decided by festival staff is a glimpse of the future stars of Australian comedy.

AJ Lamarque hosts Comedy Zone, which is on at Trades Hall until April 23.

Hosted by AJ Lamarque, he turned the camp up to a degree that would make Joel Creasey blush with stories of coming out and being mixed-race. Ben Hunter shared his love of playing goal defence in netball and hesitation to hang out his clothes; Samuel Gebreselassie delivered deeply dark material of why Ethiopia is now famous for aviation disasters rather than famine; and Annie Boyle’s delivery was so dry that it left the audience parched. That said, a brilliantly employed dance move quenched the thirst in mere moments.

Alexandra Hudson delivered the strongest set of the evening honing in on her disabilities. However, 80% of her material was verbatim from her televised RAW Comedy-winning performance last year. If you’re yet to see it – don’t until after the show.

A well-rounded evening, but not as strong as previous years.
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

COMEDY
Daniel Kitson | I Shall Have a Good Think When Everybody’s Gone Home
Malthouse Theatre, until April 23

If you know, you know.

In 2002, Daniel Kitson took home the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2007, he won the top gong at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. If the rules allowed you to win more than once, he’d have another half-dozen on his mantelpiece.

Make no mistake – Kitson is the greatest comedian of his generation. Even if his aversion to press, media and podcasts means the majority have never heard of him. When other comedians see him perform, often they consider quitting the art form, knowing that they’ll never reach the same heights. It’s known as a term within the cognoscenti as “the Kitson effect”.

Does this all sound sycophantic? Probably. But is it hyperbole? Absolutely not.

A poll conducted by Dave, a TV channel that is a subsidiary of BBC, saw British comics including the ilk of Bill Bailey, Stewart Lee, Tim Vine, Mark Watson, Jason Byrne and Greg Davies all agreeing that he reigned supreme.

I Shall Have a Good Think When Everybody’s Gone Home is on at The Malthouse until April 23.

The sold-out audience for the stuttering Brit’s latest 90-minute show at 12pm on a Sunday is filled to the brim with other award-winning comics from the festival watching on.

The show is a masterclass of delivery, quips and callbacks. Be it comparing his own work to a pavlova, keeping an audience member as a time-keeper or heartbreakingly cutting observations on the human condition – he’s armed with a vocabulary and wit that could rival Shakespeare.

All are delivered with rapid-fire articulation and multi-layered gags – and the interspersed crowd-work and reactionary exchanges are phenomenal.

Melbourne has long been his testing ground. If this is what he’s calling (read: deliberately underselling) as a work in progress, it’s near impossible to think how good the final product will be.

This is stand-up at its very finest. All for a measly $20.

Book yesterday, thrice.

Then you’ll know.
★★★★½
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

CABARET
Alice Tovey | Not Like the Other Ghouls
Malthouse – The Tower, until April 9

Channelling the wounded rage of Carrie, doused in pig blood, and the extreme camp of Courteney Cox’s absurd fringe in Scream 3, Alice Tovey, in a Ghostface leather corset dress, is not having a good night.

Not Like the Other Ghouls is on at The Malthouse until April 9.

Playing a version of herself that’s hosting a spooktacular dinner theatre show at Frankenstein’s Palace, she has to cope with headliners dying en route. Now a meta one-woman show, Tovey stitches her generously vulnerable cabaret into a musical ode to teenage years of self-doubt, when she sought refuge in the queer otherness of horror movies.

Tovey’s mum pulled her out of school to read Twilight finale Breaking Dawn, after all, and she was just as much into mopey vampire boyfriends ­as fight-back final girls. But just who is that demanding, discombobulated voice in her head that sounds a lot like a Aussie Hollywood A-lister? There’s a lot going on here, and it’s all ghoulishly good.
★★★★
Reviewed by Stephen A Russell

COMEDY
Scout Boxall | Turbo Lover
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

Scout Boxall is what happens if you’re raised on a diet of educational media, including the nightly news, Oregon Trail, the history channel, and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing: an adult with a true crime and conspiracy theory obsession – one not killed off by working for five years as a court reporter.

Turbo Lover is on at Melbourne Town Hall until April 23.

Who doesn’t love conspiracy theories and true crime? Not this audience, who are thrilled to banter about their favourites and hear about Boxall’s.

This night was heavy on audience interaction. Boxall managed to take even the most banal responses and weave magic.

Turbo Lover is broadly about romance and love which Boxall claims are a mystery to them, but their material about being a non-binary bisexual finds favour with the crowd that loves it all, from the relateable to the risqué.

Their take on this universal material provides weird and wonderful truisms you can’t imagine any other performer pulling off.
★★★★
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

COMEDY & THEATRE
Lou Wall | vs. The Internet
ACMI, until April 9

At six foot four, dripping Y2K vibes and geometrically precise braids, Lou Wall could be the Eureka Tower of Melbourne comedy. If only our architecture was as weird, queer and extremely online.

Lou Wall vs. The Internet is on at ACMI until April 9.

Of course this country kid was denied the internet until their mid-teens. Who else could nail the sorry-not-sorry ambivalence we all feel towards digital life? Wall’s envy of a schoolmate was turbo-charged by social media, but this is theatre, not therapy, and that jealous energy fuels a 120bpm multimedia onslaught that refuses to settle into any one genre, tone or voice.

Example: an early bit about an innocent Insta post seamlessly shifts into a hilarious exchange with an online foot fetishist that again morphs into a Lizzo-esque musical number as wrong as the whole thing is real.

The show’s Shyamalan-level twist ending proves that for all its high-wire lunacy, Wall is as sure-footed as they come.
★★★★
Reviewed by John Bailey

COMEDY
Laura Davis | Well Don’t Just Stand There Dancing
Campari House, until April 23

“If you’ve seen me before, I’ve changed,” says Laura Davis standing before us in pale chinos, denim shirt, red kerchief, and wide-brimmed hat. It’s not just the outfit.

Well Don’t Just Stand There Dancing is on at Campari House until April 23.

Since last performing in Melbourne, Davis has been altered, as many of us have, by a pandemic and the curveballs of this new world we live in. Things are less predictable, more disorienting. Alarming things happen.

With a hectic pace, Davis veers between topics as varied as Jurassic Park, collecting rocks, and dispatching spiders, dropping in and out of character while delivering laughs that seem only tangentially related. It’s anarchic and the audience is with her all the way.

As the show unfolds, unravels, tangles, untangles and turns back on itself, we are brought full circle and Davis’ skill at weaving a story you didn’t know you were being told is unveiled. It’s remarkable and gratifying in equal measure.
★★★★
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

COMEDY
Clara Cupcakes | Yee Howdy Rides Again
Malthouse Theatre, Playbox, until April 9

With looks like American drag queen Trixie Mattel and zany humour like Lucille Ball, Clara Cupcakes’ Yee Howdy Rides Again is a knee-slapping good time.

Yee Howdy Rides Again is on at the Malthouse Theatre until April 9.

Dressed in a red hat, pink plaid shirt, denim shorts, cow-print boots, dark leather holster with a banana, then topped off with a bolo tie fastened with a cupcake slide, this camp one-woman show is a theatre western riding high on its theme.

The production incorporates a cardboard cactus called “Clara Cactus Face”, animated projector fire, elaborate costumes and whiplash sound effects, transporting audiences on a thrilling adventure that uses patriarchal cowboy culture and “cowpitalism” as a metaphor for feminist ideals.

Cupcakes is a versatile performer, transitioning between clowning, burlesque, improvisation, song and mime, adapting to sound and prop mishaps without faltering. Reliance on audience participation is always a risk, but Cupcakes’ guided cues enable a comfortable interaction.

So, giddy up! You’re in for a wild ride.
★★★★½
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

COMEDY
James Nokise
Campari House, until April 23

One performer, one microphone, and one hour of straight stand-up resulting in sore cheeks for the audience. This is a ripper of a show.

God Damn Fancy Man is on at Campari House until April 23.

Nokise, eponymous fancy man, makes it look easy as he freewheels between tales about himself, his Samoan family and his home country of Aotearoa (New Zealand) as only a performer with this level of skill can do. These deeply personal stories demonstrate a remarkable ability to draw the political from the personal in a way that avoids proselytising and endears him to the audience.

In his home country, he is known not only as a brilliant stand-up but as the host of mental health podcast Eating Fried Chicken in the Shower. His material about this potentially difficult topic is empathetic, well-handled and, yes, funny. No small feat.

Nokise’s years of experience delivering award-winning performances are evident in his comfort on stage and disarmingly charming delivery. A delight.
★★★★
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

COMEDY & CABARET
Mel & Sam | High Pony
The Toff at Curtin House, until April 12

A line of purple netball bibs strung against the back curtain sets the scene for a show-stopping introductory song-and-dance number about sports culture.

High Pony is on at The Toff in Town until April 9.

Award-winning performers and podcast hosts Samantha Andrew and Mel O’Brien deliver a high-energy, seamless cabaret show with non-stop laughs that’ll make your cheeks hurt. Dressed in ’90s girl band-inspired outfits with high ponytails, black midriff halter necks, flared black and neon pants and bright eye shadow, they deliver musical hit after hit that has the audience in fits of laughter.

Featuring tunes about Where’s Wally, babies being cancelled and lesbians not getting “the ick”, they hilariously mock queer stereotypes from their own perspectives and experiences. Swift and simple costume changes also ensure limited respite from the lols.

A fitting sequel to Shit-Wrecked! (2022 MICF), Andrew and O’Brien have great on-stage synchronicity, chemistry and banter.

A chart-topping parody pop duo in the making.
★★★★★
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

COMEDY
Diana Nguyen | Going All In
Melbourne Town Hall – The Flag Room, until April 23

Stereotypes harm us all, but the joyous Diana Nguyen is empowered – thanks to expensive breathing classes and an extensive range of dildos – to reclaim the “Asians can’t swim” slur.

Going All In is on at Melbourne Town Hall until April 23.

She’s leapt headlong into roiling oceans to feign surfing proficiency to net not one, but two boyfriends (at separate times), all while being a prime candidate for Bondi Rescue who can’t float in a swimming pool. Often snort-laughing at her own (saucy) jokes, Nguyen is a hoot who can sweep even the most blush-prone audience into her silliness.

If the show’s a bit loose, it all hangs (10) together in the end, with a powerful undercurrent beneath the surface of this generous-hearted hilarity. A trigger warning that there will be intergenerational trauma content washes up in the final lap, as the threads of family and the indomitable spirit of her Vietnamese mum, who came to Melbourne as a refugee, leave you beaming.
★★★½
Reviewed by Stephen A Russell

COMEDY
Brendan Wan | Yummy Yummy Cha Cha!
TIC Swanston (The Nicholas Building), until April 9

Brendan Wan isn’t interested in dissecting the Chinese-Australian migrant experience in his debut solo sketch comedy show – and fair enough. There are plenty of comedians who do just that.

Yummy Yummy Cha Cha! is on at TIC Swanston until April 9.

His interests lie more in the realm of the absurd and surreal, manifesting in the 10-plus sketches that make up his high-energy, hour-long show.

A member of the Chinese crime syndicate Hutong Dragons delivers a presentation on how the group can make themselves more inclusive (a definite standout of the show that has the audience in stitches). A rendition of a perennial favourite karaoke song goes wrong. Appearances by Wan’s “stuntman” Rusty Lopez are another highlight – his spot-on impersonation of a certain Australian comedic trio is so startlingly accurate, it elicits uproarious laughter.

The punchlines of many of Wan’s sketches are in the set-up, but certain premises feel underdeveloped and go on for too long. However, as a debut comedy show it shows promise – Wan is a sketch comedian to watch.
★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

COMEDY
Luke Heggie | Grot
Morris House, until April 23

“This country’s built on theft,” quips Luke Heggie, positioning himself as an anti-left, anti-right, no-BS anthropological commentator who has a few things to get off his angry chest.

Grot is on at Morris House until April 23.

There is no knowing wink. No applause breaks. No sip of water.

Grot is line after line of lacerating truth about this ridiculous, ugly and (sure) lucky country we inhabit. Following last year’s magnum opus, Lowbreed, Heggie’s new set is another scathing critique on Australia’s class system, face-palm hypocrisy and the way we’ve veered into an era where the most flexible people in the country – those who do yoga etc – “are also the most useless”.

The crowd were in hysterics at what a mental health day really is (I won’t spoil it) and, apart from a spotty bit on Indonesia (which will be ironed out across the 42 performances he’s doing), this is a perfect hour of sharp, slaying-them-in-the-aisles, stand-up comedy.

Surely, an early contender for most outstanding show of the festival.
★★★★½
Reviewed by Mikey Cahill

COMEDY
Stephen Hall | Letters From My Heroes
ACMI, until April 23

Never meet your heroes. Or in Stephen Hall’s case, never write to them.

Over 50 minutes, Hall reads the fictitious responses from celebrities that he has reached out to for advice: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Nicholson, Rodney Rude, Billy Connolly and a host of deceased names – Thomas Edison, Sean Connery.

Letters From My Heroes is on at ACMI until April 23.

It’s a flimsy concept at best. At its worst, it’s nothing more than an excuse for Hall to deliver an abundance of impressions.

Ironically, the strongest moment of the show highlights its weaknesses – when Hall screens a real impromptu vox pop with his father who abandoned his family during his childhood. It’s a bittersweet moment of sincerity that no impression could ever match.

While his ability to manipulate his voice is impressive, those hoping to witness the type of satirical whiplash that he’s previously delivered on arguably Australia’s best comedy of the past decade (Mad As Hell) will be left underwhelmed.
★★★
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

COMEDY
Anne Edmonds | Why Is My Bag All Wet?
Comedy Theatre, until April 23

All it took was an apocalypse for Helen Bidou’s real-life alter-ego to capture her Welsh boyfriend.

Why Is My Bag All Wet? is on at the Comedy Theatre until April 23.

When lockdowns lifted, she held onto him the good old-fashioned way: by getting pregnant. Her words, not mine, in a riotous hour of “I’m a mum now, can you believe it?” that sees the award-winning comedian reach heights almost as delirious as her Get Krack!n counterpart, including a lesson in how best to slouch down a wall drunk.

She’ll whip you from doom-scrolling Facebook Marketplace through to sequestering a defective high-chair from a troll coven in Edinburgh, and on to a regrettable incident in a two-storey Coles Local in the NSW capital that has her pondering why they don’t just drain the harbour for more real estate?

If new motherhood isn’t the freshest show idea, then Edmond’s hurricane-force edge-of-hysteria humour sells it, delivering the kind of high you get from the good drugs in hospital.
★★★★
Reviewed by Stephen A Russell

COMEDY
Chloe Petts, Rob Auton, Huge Davies | New Order
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

New Order brings three of the UK’s newest, most original and best unknown-to-Australia comedians to the festival.

Chloe Petts

Chloe Petts delivers the most straightforward set of the trio, opening the night describing the joys of being a masculine lesbian in self-deprecating fashion. Having good-naturedly made herself a target, she then turns her attention towards the English-Australian relationship, sports fans, and bantering with the frankly odd audience.

Rob Auton has a lackadaisical presence, dispensing observational material with a side-serving of the absurd. Add in a dash of poetry combining melancholy and humour, and you have a unique fusion that leaves the audience pleasurably baffled.

Huge Davies ends the night with deadpan delivery and a keyboard that he wields to deliver musical comedy and comedy about music, both of which have a delicious dark streak.

With 15-20 minutes per performer, the material is tight and the variety proves a strength.
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

COMEDY
Sam Campbell | Every Single Emotion
Max Watt’s, until April 23

Sydney crackpot Sam Campbell is on a tear.

In the past five years he’s scaled the highest heights in comedy by winning the top gongs at Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2018 and last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Every Single Emotion is on at Max Watt’s until April 23.

Every Single Emotion is not so much a return to earth as a madcap hour of swerving, unnerving LOLs that needs lots of tightening up but is still undeniably Cambo (read: utterly brilliant, constantly wrong-footing and spectacular value for money).

Playing his biggest room yet, Campbell’s demonic voice modifier and extra shouty approach engage the crowd well.

A mid-show cameo from a fellow comic lands nicely as he bags out The Hundred with Andy Lee and professes a desire to be on another more successful panel show. Just imagine.

He’s on fire when he riffs on Jason Statham’s culinary skills and Christian O’Connell’s odd level of fame, while a Pet Barn bit needs to be neutered. Wait for his call-back to The Three Ls – it’s classic Campbell, where you think everything has gone pear-shaped but in fact it’s all cool bananas.
★★★★
Reviewed by Mikey Cahill

COMEDY
Kirsty Webeck | A Bit of Fun
The Westin Three, until April 23

If you’ve accidentally been hoodwinked into going to the ballet by anyone pulling the “fun voice”, the last thing you’ll want to do is squish into a pair of tights, get up on stage and perform a pas de deux.

A Bit Of Fun is on at The Westin Three until April 23.

Kirsty (never Kristy, maaaybe Kransky) knows this, and that Swan Lake is too long. So if you love short and snappy comedy gigs with a great deal of heart but are terrified of audience participation, relax, you’re in safe hands.

An animal farm of content, from shocking rat attacks to the unfortunate fate of sperm whales, unfolds. Webeck’s obsessed with naming our furry friends and will take it personally if you don’t let her, even if it’s your second birthday (firsts are just dumb). There are busloads of LOLs to be had in a show that, unlike the ballet, isn’t flashy but will leave you wheeze-laughing a great deal more.
★★★½
Reviewed by Stephen A Russell

COMEDY
Dane Simpson
Comedy Republic, until April 10

Dane Simpson named his show Always Was, Always Will Be…Funny on a whim, but it’s easy to imagine the funny kid he was when watching the cheeky, likeable performer he is now.

Dane Simpson creates a natural rapport that results in steady laughter.Credit:

The show centres on Simpson’s recent life experiences and relationships, and his material remains personal even when it explores the more political aspects of life as a Gamilaraay man.

He sometimes uses short videos and pictures to help illustrate his material, but this is essentially a classic stand-up show with wordplay, callbacks and quippy one-liners in between longer stories.

He isn’t the only funny one in his family, and his delight in sharing their antics is contagious. Simpson appears to be having as much fun as the audience as he giggles at his own jokes, inviting the room to laugh along with him.

His personable delivery creates a natural rapport that results in steady laughter and applause.
★★★
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

COMEDY
Lucinda Price and Louis Hanson | Besties
Trades Hall – Solidarity Hall (show’s run is now complete)

Besties is an intimate slumber party filled with storytelling, confessions, witty banter and deliberately dorky singing and dancing.

Lucinda Price and Louis Hanson perform in Besties for the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Originally from Melbourne, comedians and creators Lucinda Price and Louis Hanson return home to a loving audience of social media fans, childhood friends and family. Dressed in Hello Kitty pyjamas, Price and Hanson get vulnerable, sharing parts of themselves yet to be disclosed – even on their respective Instagram and TikTok accounts. Price’s divulgence about a sexual encounter with an unnamed celebrity will leave audiences googling on the trip home.

From footage of embarrassing gigs to a fake image with an ex’s ex, their wizardry in video editing and Photoshop adds a meme aspect to the show, representative of their work at Pedestrian TV and as online personalities.

Witnessing Price and Hanson’s close-knit kinship feels like a warm hug, inviting the audience into a three-way call that you never want to end.
★★★★★
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

COMEDY
Nina Oyama and Jude Perl | We Should Hang Out!
The Westin Three, March 31 (show’s run is now complete)

Six comedians, one hour. What better way to spend three nights at the comedy festival? (n.b. this show’s run ended on April 1).

Nina Oyama and Jude Perl hosted a “loose and live” late-night variety show.

Nina Oyama, with her effortless charm and affable on-stage persona, and Jude Perl, with her virtuosic combination of dark humour, remarkable keyboard skills and a killer voice to match, are the hosts of a “loose and live” late-night variety show – featuring four comedic acts as divergent in their styles as their hosts are.

The jokes come a mile a minute in Suren Jayemanne’s confident set, spanning topics as varied as gentrification, rescue dogs and accents. Heath Franklin has the crowd on edge by deliberately wading into taboo territory, but subverts expectations in surprising ways. Aurelia St Clair’s languid, ASMR-pleasing delivery is responsible for perhaps one of the best mental health jokes of the festival thus far. And rounding it out is Frankie McNair as the sultry, chain-smoking Tabatha Booth, cleverly interweaving her off-kilter humour with burlesque.
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

COMEDY
Rose Bishop | Feral
Chinese Museum, until April 9

Rose Bishop is a feral.

What is a feral? In Bishop’s view, it’s a term to depict the lower-socioeconomic class that she grew up around in regional Western Australia. Ferals will get drunk enough to ruin Christmas (but not bash anyone); ferals will get vaccinated as long as it’s covered by Medicare.

Feral is on at the Chinese Museum until April 9.

Directed by festival mainstay Claire Hooper, Bishop’s debut solo hour is a patchwork of stories about her own feral-ness – be it tales of an amorous kangaroo that she took in as a pet, looking after a greyhound allergic to its own teeth, aiming to always have sex on the first date or inheriting trauma instead of property.

Oh, and a frankly absurd anecdote about spending time on a billionaire sheikh’s super-yacht with snarky Russian sex workers. We’ve all been there, right?

While there is an over-reliance on expletives for laughs, Bishop’s well-structured storytelling and confident delivery makes for an impressive debut.
★★★½
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

COMEDY & CABARET
Ali McGregor | Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night
The Famous Spiegeltent at Arts Centre Melbourne, March 31 (on until April 9)

At an indeterminate point in time, Ali McGregor’s Late-Night Variety-Nite Night reached cult status.

Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night is on at The Famous Spiegeltent until April 9.

For 16 years, the soprano has plucked a melange of comedy and cabaret acts from a massive trove for a 75-minute showcase. Each evening, there’s a different haul.

A tight band of keyboards, drums and bass welcomes McGregor into the hazy lights of The Famous Spiegeltent – an ideal venue for such a show.

Not quite seamlessly, the acts pour onto the tiny stage.

First-up is comedian-actor Diana Nguyen, followed by hyper-expressive acrobat-artist Jess Love and her jaw-dropping hula-hoop set.

Comic/songwriter Gillian Cosgriff enchants with a keyboard takeover, skipping through a joyous observational score that lets rip.

Stand-up Carl Donnelly entrances with a 12-minute shower gel discussion.

McGregor, interspersing the acts with soaring, melodic mash-ups, describes it as a “bargain of a show”. Spot on.
Reviewed by Donna Demaio

COMEDY & THEATRE
Osher Gunsberg | Night Time News Network National News
Malthouse Theatre – Beckett Theatre, until April 9

Osher Gunsberg drops his sanitised reality TV host persona for an evening of participatory theatre that satirises live news.

Night Time News Network National News is on at The Malthouse until April 9.

Performing alongside a ragtag Sydney-based improv troupe, unique headlines are written prior to each show, acting as a live prompt similar to Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

Gunsberg is dressed as a Ron Burgundy-esque news anchor in a pink suit and orange-rimmed glasses. His prologue – projected loudly in signature fashion – contextualises the show, laying the groundwork for a future commercial television pitch.

Incorporating live crosses and crew interactions, there’s inconsistency across the performers in their ability to deliver convincing news segments. Alex Reynolds and Orya Golgowsky are standouts in their world building, characterisations, facial expressions and physical comedy – getting the largest laughs in any sketch.

Reminiscent of The Chaser, this is a thoroughly enjoyable comedy show that could be ripped (but for liability reasons is not) straight from the headlines.
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

COMEDY
Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow
Palais Theatre, March 29

A 150-minute melange of taste-testers, the annual Allstars Supershow delivers the audience bite-sized teasers to satiate every form of the comedic palate. This year, to mixed results.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Allstars Supershow was compered by Hannah Gadsby.Credit: Ben King

Hannah Gadsby took on compering duties, and warmed the crowd with reflections of her recent marriage to her former tour manager. Anne Edmonds opened proceedings with her regular polemic style – shooting daggers at D-grade celebrities who seek fame on reality TV and commercial radio. Dilruk Jayasinha followed by bringing up the cricket rivalry between Australia and his home country of Sri Lanka – and the uneasy fact that his mother fancied the late Shane Warne.

On the international front, the beat-boxing skills of the Icelandic Ari Eldjarn landed soundly; American Kyle Kinane took shots at himself when referencing the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol and the social faux pas that comes with buying a telescope; and New Zealander Guy Montgomery skewered the Bechdel test and explained the difficulty of implementing it into his everyday life. All to uproarious effect.

Similarly, Douglas Lim, Anirban Dasgupta, Leo Reich and The Lucas Bros all easily won over the crowd – albeit it with a vastly ranging difference of styles.

Best Newcomer at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Lara Ricote delivered the most risque gag of the evening – regarding cysts in her reproductive organs and an abortion. It slayed the room. If the ABC actually air it during their broadcast next week, I wouldn’t want to be working in their complaints department.

Among all the well-placed bullseyes, there were of course a few that failed to hit the board.

David O’Doherty’s ongoing cheap keyboard shtick elicited yawns; Bronwyn Kuss’ never-ending repetitions about Tina Arena well overstayed its welcome; and Huge Davies’ barbs and impressions about modern-day dance music read the room about as well as Tommy Wiseau.

Georgie Carroll’s anecdotes about rotator cuff tears went down like a balloon over the seas of South Carolina; and headline grabber Reuben Kaye doubled down upon his recent controversy with Catholics by employing juxtapositions about the church, priests and drag queens. Clever enough, but you could see the punchlines coming from St Kilda Road.

Concluding the evening, Dave Thornton scored the highest decibels of applause of the night with a sharp attack at King Charles and for a proposition of vasectomies versus IQ levels.

A few lulls aside, inevitable in such a gargantuan event, the merriment of this year’s Allstars Supershow lit the fuse to set off the celebratory firework of more than 600 shows across the city over the next month.
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

COMEDY
Elyce Phillips | Pretends to Be On Tropical Holiday For 50 Minutes (Definitely Not A Scam)
The Butterfly Club, until April 7

Elyce Phillips has only been staying at premium luxury resort Poseidon Sands for a day. Or has she?

Featuring an elaborate mix of gross-out hijinks, well-crafted props and costumes, and sophisticated multimedia (no doubt drawing on Phillips’ other hat as an illustrator), nothing is immune from censure in Phillips’ delightfully chaotic, multilayered show.

Elyce Phillips’ delightfully chaotic show is at The Butterfly Club until April 7.Credit:

The show’s episodic structure has Phillips oscillating between a bikini-clad tourist, a sea cucumber and the unwilling assistant of a chauvinistic big wet ham – among other characters – while the sound and light design effortlessly shifts the tonal register between sequences.

Phillips is a master at pulling the rug out from under her audience – nothing is what it seems at the ramshackle Poseidon Sands, too far from the beach to be anything other than the ‘jewel of the inner coast’.

The Butterfly Club, with its tightly packed pews and haunted tiki bar vibe, is the perfect setting for its unravelling.
★★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

COMEDY
Bec Petraitis | Merry
Campari House, until April 9

The carols are pumping, the decorations are hung and the stage is set for the tale of Bec Petraitis’ Christmas Day, 2021, her worst on record.

Bec Petraitis is at Campari House until April 9.Credit:

It’s true, the Christmas in question was not that bad – something Petraitis is quick to point out when she promises at the outset nobody died. However, amid the COVID years, our tolerance for disappointment was low, and Petraitis is quite the Christmas fan.

What follows is a series of unfortunate events told with the aid of dramatic inner monologues, neat stagecraft, and a knack for storytelling.

With her expressive face and charming style, Petraitis’ tally of dissatisfactions brings frequent laughs of both recognition and sympathy. There are understated punchlines dispensed with dry wit and the occasional diversion into silliness, which delight the audience.

Here’s a performer who keeps the laughs rolling, the snark light and the atmosphere warm – just like a good Christmas.
★★★
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

COMEDY
Courtney Crisfield | Cult Classic
Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, until April 18

You know that friend who always speaks in film quotes? That’s Courtney Crisfield.

Courtney Crisfield performs at Queen Victoria Women’s Centre until April 18.

In her own words, she was raised by movies, spawning a multi-faceted show featuring trivia, short films and costumed portrayals of recognisable characters that cinephiles would relish.

Parodying genres from horror to silent films, Crisfield disarms the audience with her awkward nerdiness, unafraid to call out the derivative nature of new cinema.

A working actor, the short films – in which Crisfield also stars – show off her acting chops, playing beloved protagonists from David Bowie in Labyrinth to Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind.

Cult Classic relies heavily on the make-shift cinema projector and it’s clear Crisfield has invested a lot into the film production aspects of the show. However, more weighting towards the live stand-up component would have made it more balanced.

Crisfield delivers an endearing Oscar-worthy performance that successfully convinces us why she’ll always love … movies.
★★★½
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

COMEDY
Urvi Majumdar | Urvi Went To An All Girls School
Trades Hall – Common Rooms Bar, until April 2

Urvi Majumdar reprises her debut solo show from 2022 for just four nights between the light-studded, grandiose purple curtains of the Common Rooms Bar. The setting evokes the same feeling as a high school formal – incidentally the pivotal event that foregrounds Majumdar’s recollection of her teenage years.

Urvi Majumdar is at Common Rooms Bar in Trades Hall until April 2.

Reading verbatim from real-life journal entries out of a comically oversized stage prop diary, Majumdar swings between acting out her adolescent fears and humiliations and retrospectively examining these ordeals through an adult lens.

Her experience growing up as a first-generation Indian-Australian in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne is joyfully resurrected through Majumdar’s animated, confident storytelling and endearingly pithy quips – though she has the tendency to needlessly over-explain her well-crafted punchlines.

Majumdar’s deftly re-enacted MSN Messenger conversations, intentionally cringe dance sequences executed with the fist bump of an iPod and a jaunty noughties soundtrack has the audience laughing in shared recognition of a fraught but memorable period of heightened emotions and thwarted desires.
★★★½
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is on now until April 23. The Age is a festival media partner.

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