Tahir, Jimeoin, Arj Barker, Jimmy McGhie and Akmal were the standouts for me in a 12-strong, two-hour showcase of some of this year’s acts from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It’s a taste-test – and if you want more you can catch their individual appearances. There’s a lot to like. They’re slick, professional, well-rehearsed ……
Many comics seem to be insecure, unhappy, lonely. They turn to comedy as a way of dealing with their emotional pain, and they often use humour as a defence mechanism. And this the plight of the heroine in Funny Cow. This unapologetically bleak tale follows a damaged woman trying to make it in the male-dominated…
Young Jewish comedian Michael Shafar relates stories about his life as they pertain to his girlfriend of nine years, Amanda, and his parents. They include a particularly lame “dad joke” that keeps haunting him and various body parts of his that his mother has kept. His grandmother also isn’t spared his opprobrium – all these…
As an 18-year-old nerd, Brit Steve Bugeja decided to reinvent himself. So he flew to the US and volunteered at a summer camp for children with autism. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be known as “Cool Steve”. Well, that didn’t work out, but still he gives a hilarious account of…
