Having the last laugh: Comedy you should catch before it’s gone

From a performer whose show feels like a political act, to a show that draws on the time the comedian spent in prison, the Comedy Festival is filled with unexpected twists and turns in between the laughs.

Nick Robertson & Rowan Thambar | Earnestly Said Than Done
The Motley Bauhaus, April 23

In a slightly unorthodox format, Nick Robertson and Rowan Thambar take to the stage for half an hour each to both share sincere stories that are highly amusing but have potent emotional undertones.

Earnestly Said Than Done is on at The Motley Bauhaus Black Box until April 23.

Thambar, a Comedy Zone alumnus, begins proceedings with a tale that revolves around familial prejudice that leads to the trepidation surrounding his first date. He stumbles over his lines often towards the conclusion, but the rawness and rapport that he’s built with the crowd by this time allows them to forgive it.

Robertson’s story revolves around heading to Edinburgh to work on the Festival Fringe, an “admin error” going awry, and the horrific trauma that comes with being deported back to the country of your origin. How does one handle being held in customs in the UAE with someone that threatened flight attendants with a knife? Making his Melbourne debut, he has a skilful handle of the audience well-past his years – and harnesses narrative abilities akin to that of Sarah Kendall or Cassie Workman.

It’s far from your regular night out at the festival. Gags are more subtlety placed and trimmed back in favour of an engaging portrayal of etched-in memories gone sour – but it’s a rewarding hour to spend with such exquisite storytellers.

Reviewed by Tyson Wray
Note: No star ratings are applied to group shows

Guneet Kaur | Manic Pixie Dream Goblin
Campari House, until April 23

Guneet Kaur’s show starts with the coolest double-jointed party trick ever: looping her arms and passing her entire body through them.

Manic Pixie Dream Goblin is on at Campari House until April 23.

Contradicting the misogynistic voiceover that alludes to the idea that women and comedy are incompatible, Kaur runs through a set list of topics that appear to affirm stereotypes perpetuated by men, but in fact, end up subverting them.

From talking about race to sex to periods to ghost tours, Kaur’s jokes are relatable and intelligent, delivered in a deadpan fashion designed to eventuate in an unconventional punchline.

Comparing ghosting to a tardy period and deciding to bridge the orgasm gap by leaving a man hanging after she climaxes, Kaur uses clever metaphors, statistics and real-life anecdotes to make astute observations about gender dynamics and everyday life. Her tale about a brothel is a highlight.

Kaur is a quirky goblin, and the witty antithesis of Zooey Deschanel and every other manic pixie dream girl.
★★★★★
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

Garry Starr | Greece Lightning
Comedy Republic, until April 23

The bumbling Garry Starr – the brainchild of comedian Damien Warren-Smith – is on a mission to drive tourism to his Hellenic homeland, deep in the throes of an “ergonomic procession”. What ensues is an hour of hilarity full of malapropisms, the best puns, superb use of expertly crafted props, excellent sound design and plenty of audience participation as Starr performs the entire history of Greek mythology.

No row is immune in Starr’s show, but it’s testament to the safe space Starr’s created that the “sausages” are up for almost anything.

Greece Lightning is on at Comedy Republic until April 23.

You’ll struggle to catch your breath and wipe your tears as Starr moves from one sequence to the next at an electrifying pace.

Hercules punctuates the show with progressively zanier shows of strength. Atlas leaps off Gaia, a big bouncy ball, in a G-string. Oedipus raps to a masterfully reworked version of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. A Uranus joke (you know it) is carried out to its most unbelievable conclusion.

Starr’s rambunctious antics belie how intelligent and tightly structured this exhilarating hour of sidesplittingly funny physical comedy is – never has Mount Olympus been so joyfully resurrected.
★★★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

Sonny Yang’s Incredibly Stupid Adventure Game
Trades Hall – Music Room, until April 23

Sonny Yang sits silently on stage while operating a dual screen with his laptop, taking audiences on a choose-your-own-adventure journey that looks a lot like an ’80s video game.

Like Carmen Sandiego, audiences piece together clues through a series of multiple-choice options in order to find Yang’s fictional lost nephew.

Sonny Yang’s Incredibly Stupid Adventure Game is on at Trades Hall until April 23.

Initially reckless in their choices, making selections based on impulse and curiosity, the crowd starts to get into the rhythm of the caper, becoming more risk-averse with their directives as time starts to run out.

The concept is simple yet clever, combining lo-fi pixelated images and robotically voiced characters to create ridiculous scenarios and obstacles – from an open mic night to a neo-Nazi encounter – to repeatedly thwart Yang’s mission to retrieve the child.

This show is incredibly fun for those that enjoy escape rooms and solving puzzles. An addictive, wacky idea that’ll test your fortitude and mental aptitude as Yang toys with you along the way.
★★★★★
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

Tim Key | Mulberry
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

It takes some balls for a Brit to bring a show about lockdowns to Melbourne. In the most locked down city in the world, it was always going to be risky material.

Mulberry is on at Melbourne Town Hall until April 23.

The funny thing about “iso” is, it has a way of bending time. It matters not whether you endured nine weeks or nine months. We all experienced the equivalent of ordering a live cow on the internet, sewing an AI assistant to a teddy bear for company, or graduating from beer to champagne to glue.

There are many layers here, woven with poetry, poignancy and, of course, masterful live comedy. Key’s schtick of reciting absurdist musings, written on playing cards pulled from his pocket, is still one of the most refreshing things you’ll see at the festival. The knowing delivery and self caricature are dynamite. Looming beneath it are sadness, loneliness and the reproachful glare of one’s identity in freefall.
★★★★½
Reviewed by Hannah Francis

Guy Williams | Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy
The Westin Two, The Victoria Hotel – Banquet Room, until April 23

“I f--king hate Australia, hey,” roars Guy Williams as he chastises the crowd for their tepid applause before castigating Australia for its coal, genocidal history and Liberal Party. The audience loves it.

Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy is on at The Westin Two until April 23.

The show is billed as “straight left-wing propaganda” – its central conceit is a renunciation of the argument that cancel culture has gone too far. Williams’ deftly delivered punchlines reveal that cancel culture doesn’t go far enough: Donald Trump was elected president, Louis CK has reprised his comedy career, racism still exists – meaning “mediocre white men” like himself can talk at people for an hour. And therein lies Williams’ charm – he’s a peculiar mix of self-deprecation and raging bluster.

His vitriol is reserved for white people, comedians and, by extension, himself. “Comedy equals tragedy plus time” is subverted – with the aid of a whiteboard – to underline the tragedy of comedians ageing poorly due to their objectionable views.

A towering 6′6 with a voice so thunderous his microphone is superfluous, Williams aims his rapier wit and furious indignation at Nazis, the Winter Olympics and a laundry list of “cancelled” men. You never know what he’s building up to, and occasionally it doesn’t work, but when it does, it’s magic.
★★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

Scott Limbrick | Journey to the Infinite Void
TIC Swanston (The Nicholas Building), until April 23

You hear his booming American drawl before you see him. His ego is both big enough to power the space vessel known as the Thunder Phoenix and incredibly fragile.

Scoot Lambrock: Journey to the Infinite Void is on until April 23.

Commander Scoot Lambrock, simultaneously full of machismo and vulnerability, is comedian Scott Limbrick’s latest creation and a joy to spend an hour with. A treat for fans of character comedy, it’s a multilayered, incredibly well-constructed show about one man’s journey to conquer his ego. Addressing audience members who double as his space vessel’s crew, Scoot outlines his dangerous mission: an expedition to the infinite void.

Limbrick has created a captivating, cohesive and clever narrative that captures the zeitgeist in what it pokes fun at: therapy speak, toxic positivity, the inability to afford a home.

Befitting a futuristic story, the technological and visual prowess of this show is unparalleled. A giant space computer lends verisimilitude to the unfolding narrative. Scoot’s AI system PAL – not dissimilar to HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey – is a crucial secondary character. The room lights up in stark shades of red, blue and green at various junctures throughout, heightening the dramatic effect.
★★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

Andrew Hamilton | Jokes About The Time I Went To Prison
Victoria Hotel, until April 23

Ever wondered whether someone could have a good time in jail? Andrew Hamilton reckons he did. He used his time wisely (by getting into comedy), which serendipitously led to an early release from the big house in a decision of “rare leniency”.

So how did he get here? Well, before he blew up on TikTok doing prison food reviews, Hamilton was doing very well for himself as a pizza entrepreneur in Sydney, accruing a load of cash but also blowing obscene amounts of it on the pokies due to a gambling addiction. This led him into a life of crime, supplying party drugs for 15 years until he was arrested.

Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison is on at Bard’s Apothecary until April 23.

Hamilton’s wordplay and low-key confidence have a dependable, Carl Barron meets Danny Bhoy-esque characteristic.

He has the warm patter of a bloke at the pub who just wants to tell you some stories which are probably more truthful than Chopper Read’s admitted embellishments.

The jocular chap has the knack for a ripping anecdote without letting it overstay its welcome. He delivered tight shiv bit after tight shiv bit to his first sell-out crowd, on what was supposed to be the show’s closing weekend.
★★★★
Reviewed by Mikey Cahill

Wil Anderson | Wiluminate
Comedy Theatre, until April 23

Have you ever sent yourself a reminder email only to be surprised by its arrival 0.2 seconds later? The inimitable Wil Anderson gambled that doing so with a bunch of flowers would be a nice treat during Sydney’s lockdown (acknowledging Melburnians will scoff). Instead, it nearly broke him.

Wiluminate is on at Comedy Theatre until April 23.

Perhaps his most unguarded show yet, the Gruen host and author of I Am NOT Fine, Thanks bares all about loneliness, his fear of emerging and the fact we’re all in denial about COVID-19’s continuing ubiquity. Unsold on Roald being a real name, or people who flap about editing racism out of old kids’ books, he’s a proud social justice warrior who’s all for environmental activists chucking soup at the Mona Lisa.

If this sounds terribly worthy, fear not. A gifted showman, he’s on top of his game, leaning into hysteria to deliver a hilarious hour that’ll hit you in the feels.
★★★★
Reviewed by Stephen A Russell

Maisie Adam | Buzzed
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

Britain’s Maisie Adam is putting her show Buzzed to bed. By the close of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, she will have performed it 98 times, here and overseas.

Buzzed is on until April 23.

Adam gets the room sniggering by dissing Adelaide, the only other Australian city she’s visited. She promptly addresses the “elephant in the room” – her hairstyle. It’s a buzz-cut in the back and full fringe with long bob-like wisps at the front, otherwise known as The Chelsea.

She’s super upbeat and captivating. Her stories are top-shelf fun. There’s the one about the proposal. Then insights into wedding preparations. Followed by mirth-inducing extrapolations about who should and shouldn’t be giving wedding speeches.

She skilfully retains likeability, even after deriding AFL. Reflections on Zoom gigs, COVID chats and her granny Muriel elicit more giggles. Adam’s explanation of where she will honeymoon is hilarious.

If you do happen to catch the final performance in the Melbourne Town Hall Cloak Room (yep, she refers to it as a cupboard) or the penultimate performance (moved to the larger space of Lower Town Hall), her overzealous use of the word “genuinely” may grate.

Overall, a slick hour of jolly good, mostly clean fun.
★★★★
Reviewed by Donna Demaio

Greg Larsen | Slurp’s Up!!
ACMI, until April 23

Greg Larsen was shortlisted for the most outstanding show award at last year’s comedy festival, but since then, it hasn’t been all gravy. From the confusing push-pull of simultaneous panic attacks and depression, to a double-whammy gastroscopy-colonoscopy, we get to see inside his mind, his digestive system and his nasal cavity.

Sandwiched between gags aplenty, Larsen discusses mental health “stuff” with levity and laughs but, importantly, not without self-compassion.

For anyone struggling to talk about their own issues, I’d recommend trying it wrapped in a big bear hug of blokeyness and Maccas binges.

Slurp’s Up!! is on at ACMI until April 23.

Along the way, Larsen flings his beefs at various “ombudspeople”, gesticulates with a tiny knife at useless but expensive psychiatrists and gets himself banned from all Uber apps.

Some of the best bits rely on his new sample machine or pre-filmed jokes. But in all, it goes down pretty well.
★★★★
Reviewed by Hannah Francis

Annie Louey | Gold
Chinese Museum, until April 23

The fact of being an Asian comedian performing at the Chinese Museum is not lost on Annie Louey. In fact, she’s hired actors and created a skit about it for her show.

Gold is on at Chinese Museum until April 23.

Gold is a confident debut of new material for Louey, delivered with a wry smile and morbid humour. Alongside the cultural comedy audiences would expect, Louey’s content is refreshingly broader, discussing sex, dating, ageing and death.

Pursuing comedy since she was 16 – she’s now 30 – her ability to recover when audience engagement or punchlines don’t go her way is impressive and evidence of her years of experience.

Fun games keep the audience on their toes, including interpreting couples’ sex lives based on their first names; guessing ages based on Chinese Zodiac signs; creating pneumonic cues for licence plates (411 Sexy Slut Bitches); and, a running gag about dating red flags, signalled by playing Split Enz’s I See Red chorus and Louey yelping “flags!” at the end.

Maths may not be her forte, but comedy is.
★★★★
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

Best of Comedy Zone Asia
Arts Centre Melbourne – Fairfax Studio, until April 23

Showcasing comics from Malaysia, Singapore, India and Indonesia, Best of Comedy Zone Asia is a meticulously curated mix of emerging and seasoned talent that lays bare cultural differences while highlighting the universality of certain experiences.

Best of Comedy Zone Asia (from left): Fakkah Fuzz, Sonali Thakker, Douglas Lim, Anirban Dasgupta and Sakdiyah Ma’ruf.

Effortlessly funny and assured, host Fakkah Fuzz of Singapore warms the crowd up for the “platter of different varieties of Asians” with jokes about being a bad Muslim, entering one’s 30s and well-crafted punchlines that – though only someone who grew up in Singapore or Malaysia would understand the context – elicit laughter across the room.

It’s a laugh a minute with the wry Mumbai-based Sonali Thakker, who delivers punchline after punchline about being constantly surveilled by her “cool mum”, practising judo to win the approval of her dad, and being the toxic one in a relationship. Her style is conversational as her keen eyes sweep across the room.

Mumbai-based Anirban Dasgupta has an endearing habit of chuckling good-naturedly at his own jokes. Touching on how hard it is to do comedy in India – “India is so funny already” – Dasgupta jumps between topics like working from home, being a new father and drinking too much, while delving into cultural and socio-political specificities of life in India.

Indonesia’s first female Muslim stand-up comic, Sakdiyah Ma’ruf, takes a mirror to her conservative upbringing, paralleling the global experience of a pandemic to growing up in a strict family. She’s unafraid to poke fun at either herself or her community in a self-deprecating manner, with her voice climbing to a crescendo when she’s elucidating her points.

Headliner Douglas Lim expertly works the room, true to his moniker of “Malaysia’s king of comedy”. Stoking the fire of Malaysia and Singapore’s rivalry before launching into topics as multifaceted as Michelle Yeoh, corruption, and Hong Kong serial Square Pegs, Lim roams across the stage with an irrepressible energy and congenially goads the crowd into performing a memorable chant.
Reviewed by Sonia Nair
Note: No star ratings are applied to group shows

Aidan Jones | The Morning After
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

Aidan Jones has effortless charisma, disarming honesty and a sharp, curious mind. Those three things help if you’re a stand-up comedian but only get you so far.

Aidan Jones performs The Morning After at Melbourne Town Hall until April 23.

Thankfully, the Adelaide-bred cheer-jerker knows how to weave a hell of a narrative. Last year’s Taco was about meeting his Colombian biological father for the first time. This year it’s all about how and why he quit drinking ... and what comes next.

Through embarrassing pictures and wickedly explained anecdotes, Jones takes us into his heady youth of pills and endless after-parties, right to the glaring realisation he needed to kick the booze following a night where he acted borderline creepy.

It’s a vulnerable admission and the show benefits from it. His snigger and comfy asides ensure we never leave the narrative and there are some great callbacks regarding the amount of time he spent horizontal in a kitchen on a one-night-stand.

Jones creates a widescreen experience talking to us about his mum, step-dad and friendship circles. Wait for the salsa classes showstopper too and the line: “There’s a full-length mirror so you can see yourself destroying the culture you’re trying to connect with.”
★★★★
Reviewed by Mikey Cahill

Danny Bhoy | Now Is Not A Good Time
Athenaeum Theatre, until April 23

Danny Bhoy’s nan told him, “find a job that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Her words became a prophecy in 2020.

It’s Bhoy’s first time touring outside the UK in several years, and he’s too disenchanted by everything happening on the home front (refer to Josie Long’s show) to “tie everything together in a poignant, optimistic ending”. What remains unchanged is his unsurpassed storytelling skills, amiable on-stage persona and the physicality of his comedy, which leans on impersonations, mimed gestures and the re-enactment of dialogue.

Now Is Not A Good Time is on at Athenaeum Theatre until April 23.

Biblical jokes abound – each of them funnier and more original than the next.

Scotland’s culinary nous (or lack of) is mercilessly pilloried in a punchline no one (except perhaps the Scots in the audience) see coming. Frequent references to living in a castle (Bhoy doesn’t really, he’s at pains to emphasise) recur throughout the set to great comedic effect.

Bhoy is a master at subverting expectations and going down the rabbit hole of meandering tangents, never once losing himself in the labyrinth of narratives that propel his set onwards and upwards.
★★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

Tom Ballard | It Is I
Victoria Hotel, until April 23

It Is I is on at The Victoria Hotel until April 23.

It’s no secret Tom Ballard loves to skewer the powerful, the rich and the right wing, having been cancelled by the ABC more than once for being, well, offensively leftist.

If nothing else it’s been a brilliant branding exercise. His audience knows where to find him and what to expect – a very strong hour of acerbic comedy with a socialist bent.

From Rupert Murdoch’s jowls to the “high-society hippos” running Australia’s economy, he’s putting them all in a bin fire and dancing on the ashes. The late Queen Elizabeth II comes in for a particularly good roasting.

There’s a little less anger and darkness here, a little more glee and levity than in some previous shows, and it is welcome. Perhaps he’s happy about his new TV comedy special and the release of his debut book: I, Millennial – One Snowflake’s Screed Against Boomers, Billionaires and Everything Else. That should give you a clue as to the show’s content too, if you hadn’t got it by now.
★★★★
Reviewed by Hannah Francis

The Listies | Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark
Arts Centre Melbourne, until April 15

Zombies? Nuns? Ninjas? Dinosaurs? This kidult comedy gives us a Hamlet like nothing you’ve seen before. It’s a wild introduction to theatre for kids – always vocal in their enthusiasm for The Listies – and a hoot for parents too.

Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark is on at Arts Centre Melbourne until April 15.

Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly are a classic comedy duo. Their dynamic mirrors and lampoons the adult/child binary – the former the straight man, the latter a rambunctious buffoon.

Here, they appear as two ushers at a production of Hamlet. Due to a smelly backstage crisis, the ushers stop ushing and perform the play themselves, with their stage manager (Olivia Charalambous) stepping in as Ophelia – and rewriting one of Shakespeare’s more anaemic female roles.

Purists needn’t worry. Pretty much everyone onstage still dies, and the curated chaos delivers a potted version of the plot, teasing youngsters to explore Shakespeare later on, while going all out on visual gags, bad puns, dad jokes, toilet humour, and hilarious physical clowning – all the anarchic antics that make The Listies so much fun.
★★★★
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

Chris Parker | Lots of Love
The Westin One, until April 23

Full marks for exuberance. Chris Parker is a bundle of energy, bouncing around the stage in a sweat-inducing frenzy, all the while dropping jocular observations.

Lots of Love is on at The Westin One until April 23.

Parker, a mighty fine storyteller, brings physicality and fun to tales of woe and low-level despair. Eternally ebullient, he launches into a cheery litany of modern-day observations, including life’s quirks and dealing with millennials. Parker ponders driving skills, extreme sports, tow-truck drivers, weddings and the end of the world. Masterful ad-libbing ensues after a brief audience interaction. The crowd is in stitches at every turn.

A singular frustration is missing potential laughs, when a few phrases are too garbled to decipher. The hour rounds off with Parker deducing that about 80 per cent of the audience is from New Zealand. “Tell an Australian to come to the show,” he implores.
★★★★
Reviewed by Donna Demaio

Grace Jarvis | This Is The Last Goldfish That I Am Going to Eat For You
Trades Hall, until April 23

Grace Jarvis isn’t blending in, and it’s wonderful.

In this tight, polished show Jarvis re-examines her attempts to make friends as a child through the lens of being diagnosed with autism as an adult and having come out as queer.

Her litany of tales about “not blending in” in a religious school and regional Queensland town artfully skewer the cliches applied to autistic people and the attempts of her school and peers to shame her into fitting in.

This Is The Last Goldfish That I Am Going to Eat For You is on at Trades Hall until April 23.

In trying to quash the weird out of Jarvis, they also overlooked the wonderful parts of autistic life – the enthusiasm, the joyful self-expression and the pull to justice.

Fortunately, Jarvis has remained resolutely both weird and wonderful, finding freedom in a diagnosis that affirms she was never the problem.

Watching Jarvis embrace the things that bring her delight and invite us in to enjoy them with her is in turn delightful for the audience. This is a show from a performer who will clearly grow in talent with time.
★★★½
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

He Huang | Bad Bitch
Victoria Hotel and Mantra on Russell, until April 23

Watching He Huang feels like a political act.

Bad Bitch is on at The Victoria Hotel until April 23.

The Chinese expat moved to Australia three years ago on the eve of the global coronavirus pandemic, the air thick with bushfire smoke.

Since then, she’s swapped the “leftover lady” label for internet fame via Australia’s Got Talent, raising the ire of Chinese mainlanders for viral jokes about her mother country.

There are some good quips on Dan’s “dictator” moniker as well as her own name – the whiteys in the audience get an amusing lesson on pronunciation, which Huang deftly subverts with gags about pronouns, zoom etiquette and her various English aliases.

Her strongest material charts her sexual liberation, from clumsy first encounters as a young exchange student in the US to a full-blown embrace of X-rated Aussie slang and democracy sausages. It’s a joyous and empowered celebration of sexuality, and a strong solo debut.
★★★½
Reviewed by Hannah Francis

Jordan Raskopoulos | The Fool
Greek Centre, until April 16

In this age of disinformation, Greek-Australian comedian Jordan Raskopoulos wants us to know that Rock, Paper, Scissors is a crock of shit. Paper is not doing the heavy lifting.

The Fool is on at Greek Centure until April 16.

Joking that this was the abandoned theme of her 2017 TED Talk (actually delivered on her anxiety, now joined by an ADHD diagnosis), she’s a giving performer happy to lean into the ups and downs of her life. Just don’t, if you’re a nosy radio host, pry into her transition journey, otherwise you might get a fabulously frank ditty about a rhyming word you might not want to go to air.

A rag-tag sketch show with PowerPoint prompts, The Fool may be a bit rough around the edges, but Raskopoulos rocks it with her pop breakout performances, sassy delivery and a particularly disturbing slash fiction tale involving dinosaurs of both the pre-history and contemporary corporate world variety. You’ll roar with laughter.
★★★½
Reviewed by Stephen A Russell

Dan Rath | All Quiet Carriage Along The Inner Western Line
Victoria Hotel, until April 23

One of Dan Rath’s protean strengths is the way he both commits to the bit and doubts the hell out of himself. “You bring the shiraz, I’ll bring the pizzazz,” he suggests as a come-on – then instant paranoia cloaks any proper attempt at seduction of the audience.

All Quiet Carriage Along The Inner Western Line is on at The Victoria Hotel until April 23.

Rath’s first 15 minutes are straight fire. The joke-writing is Kitsonian-level wordsmithery as he tells us things aren’t going so well but “it’s all water off a cuck’s back”. He explains his neurodiversity succinctly using the plot of the movie Titanic: “I emphasised with the boat.”

Similarly, one must hear his bit comparing the comeback chances of Jeffrey Dahmer to Ellen DeGeneres (one of the top jokes of the festival) and another eviscerating take on J.K. Rowling’s TERF status: “It’s better to dismember than misgender.”

Rath’s jittery delivery makes us love him easily – until the Sydney comic decides to try to banter with the crowd about what they do. Ba-bow.

Perhaps on other nights his eccentric Russian doll wishes will cumulatively stack the crowd’s affection towards him rather than keep us all oddly removed, and fatally wound the show’s pacing.

A reassuring long-game prediction? With a decent life coach, Rath could one day win the festival’s Most Outstanding Show award.
★★★½
Reviewed by Mikey Cahill

Michael Shafar | Well Worth the Chemo
The Toff in Town, until April 23

Michael Shafar needs to viciously cut down the first 10 minutes of his latest hour.

Well Worth the Chemo is on at The Toff in Town until April 23.

Beginning with anecdotes about the domestic minutiae of newly married life, it’s meandering at best. At worst, it seems like an utter waste of time once he hits his stride with perforating cultural and societal material.

Be it juxtaposing the levels of evil between Hitler and the Queen or Pauline Hanson, the physical experiments that a cisgendered male must undertake to prove their heterosexuality, or the difficulty in recognising Australia’s colonialist past, Shafar is far from politically correct but never derogatory or disrespectful.

He walks a tightrope deftly. For a lesser comedian, a misstep here could see them fall into the oblivion of being cancelled (or worse, roped in with adolescent shock-jocks such as Isaac Butterfield or Alex Williamson).

The strong implementation of a red pen would see this show rise a half-star.

(A final sour note: be it the fault of performer or venue, beginning 15 minutes late will ruin the evening for punters who have stacked multiple shows upon themselves. A definite festival faux pas).
★★★½
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

Ashley Apap | Outer Child
Digital on Demand at comedyfestival.com.au until April 23
The Improv Conspiracy Theatre until April 23

Ashley Apap wants us to get in touch with our inner child, and she’s got a six-step program to help us. With her guidance, we’ll be led to understanding and self-compassion. Or we would have – if her inner child hadn’t become a little more out than in.

Outer Child is on digitally and in person until April 23.

As Child Ashley hijacks Adult Ashley’s seminar, we’re served monologues, songs and characters that dish up the grotty (and entertaining) reality of returning to the childlike state before our adult insecurities kick in.

In this digital version of her live show, she’s upped the ante with outstanding production values, working to the advantages of digital performance and storytelling to make a dynamic hour for the home viewer. The film clips accompanying her witty comedic songs are a particular highlight.

For punters still unable to get to live performances, shows like Outer Child are a godsend, giving you the chance to whet your comedy-loving whistles. Apap’s attention to accessibility continues through closed captioning, and a live performance on April 23 that is wheelchair-accessible and has Auslan interpretation. Everyone’s inner child deserves an outing like this.
★★★
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

Geraldine Quinn | Broad
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

Geraldine Quinn is a powerhouse performer.

Accompanied by pianist Cameron Thomas, Broad is a sass-filled hour of uplifting songs of sisterhood and solidarity.

Broad is on at Trades Hall until April 23.

With an exquisite vocal range, stunning Broadway ballads and a glam rock chic (45 minutes worth of make-up is applied before every performance), there’s no doubting her commitment to giving the audience their money’s worth.

However, there’s an underlying theme of self-pity that runs rampant and severely detracts from the show. Quinn constantly laments that her career never took flight to the levels that she believes she deserves. She was never picked up by a talent agency, nor given a plush regular television gig. In terms of the ratio of being nominated for awards and actually winning, plus the success that follows, it’s a case of always being the bridesmaid.

Broad is a show that should be so much more, but its bold and brazen nature is muddled through the ego of the performer and constant airing of grievances.
★★★
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

Ange Lavoipierre | Your Mother Chucks Rocks And Shells
The Butterfly Club Downstairs, until April 23

In her latest fever dream of a show, Ange Lavoipierre expertly evokes the liminal space between sleep and wakefulness. That this time of night is often referred to as the witching hour is the apt backdrop to the show’s secondary preoccupation: The Exorcist.

Your Mother Chucks Rocks And Shells is on at The Butterfly Club until April 23.

A drowsy Lavoipierre enters the stage in her PJs armed with a pillow. After unsuccessfully attempting to sleep (including on audience members), she converses with her brain and the internet (both expertly voiced by comedian Jane Watt) – searching for anything that will cure her insomnia: guided sleep meditation, ASMR, a trailer of The Exorcist.

That’s when things get absurd. Characters from The Exorcist – most notably Pazuzu – are interwoven into films and TV shows of the past in re-enactments of surreal dreams.

There’s a lot going on, from a bag of ASMR sounds (a highlight of the show) to a political reading of The Exorcist.

But just as dreams can lack coherence, Lavoipierre’s sketch show is hard at times to follow. Lavoipierre has a strong, commanding stage presence, but the show could benefit from more signposting and a clearer structure.
★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

Prue Blake | Unfriended
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

Prue Blake has had a dream progression to her first solo show, Unfriended. From winning Raw Comedy in 2021 to hosting Comedy Zone in 2022, she’s got solid comedy chops.

Unfriended is on at Melbourne Town Hall until April 23.

It bodes well for this first full solo show where she explores friendships, or more specifically, friendship break-ups.

For some of us friendships have always been hard, she argues. What comes when friendships go awry is even harder – the friend break-up can be shattering.

From a parent whose mantra is “I’m not your friend, I’m your mother” to navigating the tricky terrain of finding and maintaining friendships as an adult, Blake is able to mine this material for solid laughs. She is a natural storyteller with a particular knack for making her own friendship dramas feel relatable.

With self-assured delivery and a commitment to going the extra mile to make a gag work, this is a thoroughly enjoyable show.
★★★
Reviewed by Lefa Singleton Norton

William Wang | Favourite Only Child
Club Voltaire, Caz Reitops Dirty Secrets, until April 23

Whether it’s jokes about baby formula, fake Louis Vuitton handbags or the perception that Asians are good at maths, China-born comedian William Wang is skilled at leaning into stereotypes – only to dismantle them or make light of them.

William Wang’s Favourite Only Child is on at Club Voltaire until April 23.

Wang is a newly minted Australian citizen who has pivoted from engineering to comedy. But there are many things he still doesn’t understand. Australians’ spider eviction methods. Camping.

Delivered in an offhand manner and with a self-effacing smile, his best bits revolve around cultural expectations, being an only child, learning a new language and drug consumption.

But not all the jokes land, and Wang occasionally swallows his words when delivering punchlines. Performing in what Wang calls a “comedy cellar” has its challenges – loud music from upstairs encroaches on his set towards the end and Wang seems acutely aware of the comparatively quiet audience.

But he brings it home with a strong finish. The show is at its best when Wang is skewering stereotypes and unleashing his observational humour.

A more polished delivery and tightened set would elevate it to the next level.
★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair

Nick Schuller | Fire Brand
Chinese Museum, until April 23

With the vocal pace of a sloth, Nick Schuller has immaculate delivery – but not enough material to make it land over a full hour.

Fire Brand is on at the Chinese Museum until April 23.

Fire Brand is loosely tied together by the Black Summer bushfires of 2019 which incinerated Schuller’s childhood home. While his inclusion of sad music over his brief recollections of the trauma work surprisingly well as a quasi-mash-up, they seem forcefully injected for the sole reason of attempting to form a narrative in a debut show – a trope he admits is needed to win awards.

His elocution is deader than a morgue and more monotone than a test pattern. The experiments in multimedia and faux sponsorship ads are touch and go.

To make his persona work he needs, ahem, more rapid-fire gags. Think Tim Vine without the cheese.

Schuller has the ability. Watch this space.
★★★
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

Lauren Bok and Jay Wymarra | An Evening With The Wymarra-Boks
Melbourne Town Hall – Backstage Room, until April 23

Lauren Bok and Jay Wymarra open the show as a subversive 1920s aristocratic couple hosting a dinner party, the audience being their unexpectedly punctual guests.

An Evening With The Wymarra-Boks is on at Melbourne Town Hall until April 23.

The comedians have distinct styles – Bok is expressive and adopts the physicality of her characters while Wymarra is a storyteller, always quick to return with a dirty retort.

They’re still ironing out the rough edges of their solo components, with Bok referring to her cheat sheet occasionally and Wymarra stumbling at times while ad-libbing. There are parts that run for longer than necessary, including the introductory faux couple bit and Bok’s demonstration of her varied MC styles.

Bok’s confidence has grown in the past few years. Her performance is strongest when she’s bouncing off Wymarra, a compatible scene partner who sets up her best improvised lines.

Wymarra, a foul-mouthed yet articulate Tolkien fan with a tropical Far North Queensland twist, is simply divine.

A fun appetiser to an evening of comedy.
★★★
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

Ting Lim | Every Ting or No Ting
Greek Centre, until April 23

Festival trends can set knees a-knocking, so know that the easel-bound giant notebook that greets you at Ting Lim’s hour doesn’t result in the kind of instructional hand-drawn whimsy that was on-trend 15 years ago.

If anything, Lim harks back to the nights of Melbourne standup in the ’90s, when comedy was synthesised from all over the globe into something new.

Every Ting or No Ting is on at Greek Centre until April 23.

Lim left Singapore for Queensland 14 years ago and found her stand-up feet in Brisbane. It shows. The comedy scene there is newer than Melbourne’s and instead of our chin-stroking it tends to be both more provocative and forgiving. Like many in the Brisbane scene, she’s in-your-face while remaining on your side.

She’s not here to educate, though. You might learn a bit about krav maga and Singapore noodles and cat-walking in passing. Her finest bit concerns a doctor’s visit to ascertain problems with certain fundamentals. There’s no takeaway, or even a resolution, but you’re in good hands all the while.
★★★
Reviewed by John Bailey

Melissa McGlensey | The Briefing
Campari House, until April 23

Love fake news. Fake news is great … when it aligns with your values. Take this press conference with Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Melissa McGlensey). Total fakesauce. You can tell because the real Sanders held fewer pressers than any White House press secretary since the internet became a thing.

The Briefing is on at Campari House until April 23.Credit: Maddie Royce Photography

Plus, the Trump apologist, former Fox News talking head, and current Governor of Arkansas has been too busy to head Down Under. She’s got her hands full facilitating an erection – a planned monument at the Arkansas Capitol building, commemorating all the fetuses aborted during the Roe v Wade era.

Uh-oh. That paragraph is all actual bona fide fact-checked real news.

Which raises the question. When conservative politics in the US is already such a tragic farce, how do you make satire from it?

McGlensey’s answer combines keen impersonation (not inferior to Alec Baldwin as Trump on SNL), outright mockery (including below-the-belt sexual invective), and unscripted audience involvement. Acting as a press corpse – uh, corps – spectators provide amusing gotcha moments. Sanders responds with slippery improv, clutching her power pearls to defend the indefensible.
★★★
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

Kimmie Lovegrove | Yarnz
Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, until April 15

Ngarrindjeri comedian Kimmie Lovegrove’s Yarnz promises an open-mic night featuring funny First Nations performers, however, the reality was quite different.

Yarnz is on at Queen Victoria Women’s Centre until April 15.

Performing alongside her cousin, Gunditjmara Ngarrindjeri comedian Aden Hitchins, Lovegrove jokes about decolonising by dating white men and her mother’s deception about her Aboriginal heritage.

Investing in story set-up and variety would make Lovegrove’s routine more comprehensive and less repetitive (there are only so many times a joke about the legalities of having sex with your cousin can land).

Speaking of cousins, Hitchins was so debilitated by the anti-feminist undertones of his jokes – given the context of performing at a women’s centre – his routine became incoherent, despite starting strong by dancing to Fred Said Right’s I’m Too Sexy.

Lovegrove took a punt and it’s admirable to create a space for experimentation. It didn’t pay off this time, but it will be interesting to watch her contribution over time.
★★½
Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

Leo Reich | Literally Who Cares?!
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 23

It’s a funny thing, stand-up comedy. You can be rocking in your seat and rolling in the aisle and then something can happen: a person can outlast their welcome.

Literally Who Cares?! is on at Melbourne Town Hall until April 23.

Leo Reich has had a sweet trajectory. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe and on tonight’s showing he’s whip smart with both visual gags (various mock-up memoirs land well) and bait’n switch comic timing – example: “They said it literally … with their eyes.”

But after 20 minutes of presenting himself as Gen Z’s Emperor with few clothes, his central question of why we should bother with the rat race runs its course. What starts so well becomes insufferable, with the performer coming off like Troye Sivan’s catty, half-charming, half-charmless cousin.

Reich lines up jokes about being queer and Jewish (Deutsche Bank and Nazis both cop it) and gives nearly every bit a contradictory kicker. His best gear uses the film Call Me By Your Name is offset by two things: shushing the crowd every time we wanted to give an applause break (this got very tired) and him singing approximately five songs.

A bright future for sure, once Reich chooses to read and (more importantly) respect the room. So shouty.
★★½
Reviewed by Mikey Cahill

Paul Foot | Swan Power
The Famous Spiegeltent, until April 23

Seeing a Paul Foot show is like having a conversation with your uncle at Christmas. If your uncle is a regular dabbler in acid and crack.

However, having performed at the festival for well over a decade, the UK comedian’s shtick has now drained the well of goodwill and become painful.

While the well-delivered walk-on introduction for himself is the best I’ve seen this festival, due to hypothetical scenarios of Prince Andrew having an accident on a go-kart, his material this year is especially macabre.

Paul Foot performs Swan Power at The Famous Spiegeltent until April 23.

There are references to the massacres in Dunblane and Port Arthur, putting down of pets, familial suicide on Christmas and a series of advertisement ideas to pitch as a marketer from Specsavers (they all revolve around death).

Combined with his sometimes seemingly endless repetition of innocuous lines and the possessed-like oscillation of his upper body, his mannerisms have become borderline uncomfortable to watch.
★★
Reviewed by Tyson Wray

RAW Comedy National Grand Final
Melbourne Town Hall, April 16

For those unaware, the RAW Comedy National Grand Final is akin to watching the Oxfam Gala five years in advance. Having launched the careers of the ilk of Hannah Gadsby, Ronny Chieng and Celia Pacquola, the festival’s nationwide search for the next generation of comedic superstars comes to its crescendo here, as the state finalists dish out their best five minutes of material.

Winner and runners-up in the RAW Comedy National Grand Final, 2023. Clockwise from left: Jacquelyn Richards, Rapha Manajem, Henry Yan (winner) and Meg Jager.Credit: Nick Robertson

Kicking off proceedings was sommelier Jarryd Prain with R-rated material comparing his job to his sex life. Hadi Kilman poked fun at racist hiring companies who won’t give him a look-in due to his Arabic name, and Ginny Hollands looked on the bright side of being born with only 16 per cent of full eyesight – she never has to be the designated driver.

Nicole Shi took sharp aim at her Chinese heritage, and added a borderline horrendous joke about her dog giving her comfort in lockdown, Jack O’Sullivan mined tinnitus, Tasmania and morse code to varying results, and Scott Northover spoke about the eroticisms of swimming terms.

Elysia Hall savaged hen’s parties for straight women, Trish Hurley detailed how everyone hates hypochondriacs, while William Wang described attaining his citizenship after seven years and how he chooses the origin of his Asian descent depending on cultural preferences of job interviewers.

There was a three-way tie for runner-up: Jacquelyn Richards with deliciously dark quips about being a widow; Rapha Manajem tackling racism and being mistaken for a Sri Lankan, and Meg Jager who brought extreme not-safe-for-work Becky Lucas-vibes, taking aim at private girl schools, her father and Bendigo.

But there was a clear standout. With self-deprecating jokes about his own comedy, the inability to be a gangster and why physics means Ironman is a feminist movie, Henry Yan took home the grand prize and will head to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to showcase his talents in the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny? competition.

The future of Australian comedy is in deft hands. Catch them now before they’re headlining the Town Hall.
Reviewed by Tyson Wray
Note: No star ratings are applied to group shows

The 2023 RAW Comedy National Grand Final will be broadcast on SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand later this year.

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

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