Observer

OBSERVER: Welcome to Hell

Hell on earth could well be a corporate training session where recruits are ‘onboarded’ – an odious word if ever there was one – but, for Andy Balloch, it represents an opportunity to chastise and satirise and, for that matter – demonize everything that’s problematic in society. His Welcome to Hell contribution to the Melbourne…

Observer

OBSERVER: Disunited States

When it comes to farce, it would be difficult to rival current events where the United States are concerned but Richard Mealey has taken on that daunting task in his contribution to this year’s Comedy Festival. Titled Disunited States, we are privy to a range of stereotypical characters that expose the fraught underbelly of a…

Observer

OBSERVER: Birds

Two women lounge in deck chairs, staring out to sea. This is Birds, presented as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival at The Beckett Theatre, Malthouse.Shayna (Alex Hines), a wealthy five-time divorcée, and Beverley (Sarah Stafford), a suburban mother of twelve boys, bond over cocktails and cigarettes, as if Kath Day-Knight had met Prue…

Observer

OBSERVER: A Weight Off My Chest

Celebrating her 20th year at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Geraldine Hickey is a familiar face, and judging by the packed house at the Comedy Theatre, a very popular one. She marks the milestone with a neat piece of crowd work before the show properly begins, spotting an audience member who had seen her two…

Observer

OBSERVER: The Effect

Intriguing, thought provoking, intense – are some words to describe my thoughts after seeing Key Conspirators’ production of The Effect.The opening was stirring with mirrored flooring giving the illusion of space, with a stark white light transforming the theatre into a hospital setting allowing the audience to be within the four walls from the beginning.Well…

Observer

OBSERVER: Maps with Julian O’Shea

Arriving at the cosy, intimate Studio Two performance venue at The Crowne Plaza, I wasn’t expecting to find cartographic comedy to be so entertaining.Surprisingly, it lived up to its reputation as being the “funniest map-showed theme at the festival”.Who knew that a witty, knowledgeable, quirky digital content creator could be so hilariously comical using relevant,…

Observer

OBSERVER: Don’t Ask, Don’t Telfast

Justin Porter greets the audience for his first solo Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Don’t Ask, Don’t Telfast, wearing a fabulous, sparkling, gold muumuu.When the muumuu is discarded at the start of the show, Porter reveals equally fab, psychedelic PJs to present a self-referential, autobiographical show that swings through Porter’s childhood memories.Porter reminisces about coveted…

Observer

OBSERVER: The Riddle of Washpool Gully

Friday, April 17, 2026

Puppetry is a sacred practice. There is a stillness and focus required through objects that carry the soul of the performance and are the living focus. This production of The Riddle of Washpool Gully fulfils its sacred duty.This is a story about a boy and mother whose work takes them to a mine that she…

Observer

OBSERVER: Breakup Variety Hour

The Breakup Variety Hour was brought to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival by New York based entertainer Ariana and the Rose who starred in her one-woman show in the Solidarity Hall at the Melbourne Trades Hall.Ariana takes us on an odyssey through the muddied waters of relationship breakups as she directs us down the pathway…