The Definitive Guide to Comedy
**** (out of 5) Paul Williams plays the role of assistant on Taskmaster New Zealand, but for his third show at Melbourne, he wants to recount for us a very special task that he assigned himself that took him around the world, all because of the story he told himself …
**** (out of 5) Geraldine Hickey is another festival favorite in Melbourne, having won for most outstanding show in 2021, and the Piece of Wood Award (voted on by her peers) in 2019. This year’s show took a bit of a turn, however, when Hickey set about focusing her new …
**** (out of 5) The global hit Amazon Prime series, LOL: Last One Laughing, may have started with an initial comedy competition series set in Japan, but it feels tailor-made for Sam Simmons. Simmons competed in the lone Australian season in 2020, ready with all sorts of over-the-top gags to …
**** (out of 5) I didn’t see this in my program, but Catherine Bohart informed us up top that her show was billed as “a relaxed performance,” which apparently meant audience members could come and go as they pleased?! She’s certainly not relaxed. And she warns us she can see …
****1/2 (out of 5) Lou Wall delivered one of my favorite shows at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. That she’s back with another spectacular hour so soon is a testament not only to her talents but also to her perseverance, as we now learn just how much turbulence was whirling through …
**** (out of 5) Greg Larsen is a loud white male comedian in a suit, and not an aristocrat from a bygone era as depicted in the show’s promotional materials. But that’s not the revolting part. Before Larsen began appearing in the dramatic TV series, The Tourist; before his award-winning …
****1/2 (out of 5) Are you ready? Are you steady? Because Irish comedian David O’Doherty is about to perform perhaps his greatest trick yet, a quite personal show that’s heartfelt whether or not you get to his parents witness it for themselves. This is an hour in which O’Doherty reflects …
***1/2 (out of 5) This felt very much like a work still in progress, so take these stars with a pinch of salt and whatever vinegar you feel appropriate. But Fern Brady’s audience is coming to see her to talk about anything, really. She jokes that her biggest fan demographics …
**** (out of 5) Lizzy Hoo has burst onto the Australian comedy scene, and scored an Amazon Original stand-up special last year, Hoo Cares!? My review of that special had left me wanting to hear more. As I wrote then: “But this hour is a snapshot of a comedian finding herself …
****1/2 (out of 5) When a couple of punters arrived late to Rhys Nicholson’s show, the comedian quickly caught them up with a quip: “Hopefully I’m gay. Otherwise this is a very homophobic character.” Nicholson won the top prize for their 2022 Melbourne show, and they’ve returned with the news …
