Cvnt review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

How does one even begin to review a show like Cvnt? Sophie Power doesn’t just perform, she saunters onto the stage in a whirlwind of clowning, comedy, and unapologetic exploration of the word that makes many people squirm. This is an hour of raw, unfiltered energy, where cvnt is not just a word but a playground, a statement, and a challenge. Power revels in its many meanings, contradictions, and taboos, dragging the audience along for a ride that is as ridiculous as it is revealing.

You can't talk about Cvnt without mentioning the spectacular costume. Power emerges from a small black booth, draped in a dazzling explosion of pink and red, transforming herself into a human-sized vulva. Its cavernous depths invite exploration, complete with moans, groans, and the eager hands of audience members keen to get up close and personal.

Rising Damp review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Nicolette Minster has worked her butt off to get to her 40s. And having recently turned 41, rather than feel like some sneaky mould is creeping into her life, she decides to mark the milestone by swimming 41km in 41 days. Rising Damp is a solid hour of stand up that celebrates ageing and how there are always ways to surprise yourself, even if it means getting knocked over by the occasional waves.

Water isn’t simply a motif in Minster's swimming challenge, but it runs through every part of the show. It’s in the writing, the visuals, and the sound design, shaping the reflective mood that is set and creating a noticeable sense of cohesion in the production. Minster wears a cartoon shark T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “Stay Positive,” and her stage features three oversized and brightly coloured pieces of seaweed that serve as a representation to her outlook to life. Water sounds, such as rainfall, and ocean waves, are layered into the performance, adding an extra immersive element.

(The) Joshua Ladgrove (Show) review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

I've been attending Joshua Ladgrove's shows for over ten years. Time really flies. His sense of humour, his characters, and his ability to connect and engage with an audience have been incredible to watch. In his new show, (The) Joshua Ladgrove (Show), Joshua must more or less save Christmas after a horrifying accident occurs at Carols by Candlelight.

With radio personality and baritone singer Denis Walter is incapacitated in hospital, Joshua is asked to step in to host his TV variety show on Christmas Eve. The opening is quite impressive, with Ladgrove seamlessly inserting himself into Carols by Candlelight via the magic of VFX. It’s an exciting start and a promising glimpse of what’s to come, or so I thought.

Teen School High: A Highschool Teen Story (21+) review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Everyone remembers their first day of high school or starting at a new school. There’s always that sense of possibility - that this will be the year everything changes, the chance to go from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. But not everyone is that fortunate.

In Teen School High: A Highschool Teen Story (21+), Jake Glanc plays Jake, a father whose child is about to start high school. To calm his anxieties, we flash back to Jake as a 16-year-old and his own first day at a new school, and the emotions that come with it. Even if he is effeminate and slightly chunky, he’s determined not to be the butt of every joke this time round.

Glass Houses review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

It’s easy to assume prison is something that happens to other people. It's distant, detached, a world away from your own life. But what happens when that world collides with yours? In Glass Houses, Alice Tovey explores that very question with humour, heart, and a whole lot of flair.
 
Dressed in a green velour tracksuit emblazoned with the word DRAMATIC, Tovey appears on stage with a hard-edged, “don’t mess with me” attitude. Yet beneath that tough exterior lies a vulnerability that instantly wins you over. The show is deeply personal, centring on their parents, particularly her father, who was sent to jail for a white-collar crime.

Jokes About The Time I Went To Prison review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

In 2021, Andrew Hamilton was arrested and charged with supplying psychedelic drugs. After spending four months in two Sydney maximum-security prisons, the self-proclaimed Mushroom King of Sydney decided that if he couldn’t help people get high on drugs, he’d help them get high on laughter, and so he turned to stand-up comedy. The Melbourne encore season of his show, Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison, is quite literally just that: jokes about the time he went to prison.

Hamilton has an affable nature and easily draws in his audience. He has a solid grasp of his material and delivers it with confidence. As the narrative structure weaves in and out of his life before, during, and after jail, his reflections, along with a steady stream of dad jokes and one-liners, keep us entertained. One particularly memorable anecdote recalls how his bail conditions required him to be accompanied in public by his 70-year-old parents, so they had to chaperone him to his stand-up gigs.

A Couple Decides What To Have For Dinner review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

As a single person, I choose what I want to eat, when I want to eat it. I don’t need to discuss my choices with anyone. But when you’re in a relationship, deciding where or what to eat can become an arduous task. This is exactly what unfolds in A Couple Decides What To Have For Dinner. With neither partner being particularly fussed, despite their own preferences and dietary requirements, the discussion veers between the blissful, the banal, and the bizarre.

Chris Saxton and Amanda Buckley are impressively engaging as a long-term couple trapped in the eternal struggle of making a straightforward decision. Their chemistry is effortless, and they normalise the ridiculous tangents they go off on, ranging from porn consumption to musings on what will happen when the other one dies. The way they bounce off each other makes every moment feel unscripted, except of course, it isn’t.

Cancer Card review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

At 38 years of age, Becky Steepe - just Becky, as she jokingly tells us she wasn’t fancy or cool enough to be named Rebecca - was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer. Not exactly the kind of topic you’d expect to turn into a comedy show, but when you have it, you can do whatever the hell you want: just play the Cancer Card.

Steepe structures her show in three acts. The first act explores her diagnosis and its impact on her life, covering the medical procedures she’s undergone and how they’ve affected her, including her sex life. She allows her vulnerability to shine through as she touches on body image, the possibility of living with a stoma bag, and the dependence illness forces upon you. She delivers sharp one-liners and conjures vivid, memorable images, like when her hospital gown comes undone exposing a single breast like she's a Renaissance painting.

Bangtail review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Bangtail is the baddest cowboy in Texas. With his thick, bushy eyebrows and three perfectly sculpted moustaches (yes, three) that men would kill for, he’s a take-no-prisoners, no-holds-barred cowboy. Co-created by director Cecily Nash and performer Lil Wenker, Bangtail follows our eponymous hero as he saddles up for a wild ride of self-discovery, facing the lifelong question: Who am I?

Wenker ropes us in from the instant she makes her dramatic entrance. Her physicality and mannerisms as Bangtail show her complete command over the character, allowing this outlandish cowboy to be utterly believable. Her crowd work is sharper than a spur as she wrangles the audience into playing various townsfolk, animals, and sound effects with ease. Audience participation is a given, but in a space this intimate, with a character this charming and a performer this skilled, everyone is a willing participant.

Don't Let Me Eat My Babies review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Holly Bohmer coolly enters the stage, cradling a baby in her arms. She stares out at the audience, challenging them. Then there’s a mic drop. Except instead of a mic, it’s a baby. A baby drop. Welcome to the sketch comedy Don’t Let Me Eat My Babies.
 
In her debut solo show, Bohmer presents a variety of characters born from her mind and nursed into existence. From an artistic perspective, this mind is delightfully wicked and oddly enchanting. We meet a woman growing frustrated with a retail assistant because the only clothes available are for “huskier” women. Then there’s a Lifeline worker who despite successfully keeping her suicide rates low, probably should be looking for other work. Bohmer leans into uncomfortable playfulness, highlighting the absurdity of real-world interactions in a way that is unsettling and amusing.

Feminist Trash review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Nicola Pohl, Tessa Luminati, and Stephanie Beza are highly trained thespians. Artists who take their craft VERY seriously. That is, until they unleash Feminist Trash, their latest show of epic proportions. Is it a musical? Circus? A magic show? Who cares! Just sit back and let these Sugar Bits take you on a hilariously wild ride through feminism in all its messy, marvellous glory.

What truly sets this trio apart is their undeniable chemistry. They don’t just perform together but they revel in each other’s presence. Their comedic timing is razor-sharp, matched only by their instinct for what makes an audience erupt with laughter. That playfulness extends beyond the stage, with quick, effortless interactions that pull the crowd into their world without ever making anyone feel on the spot.

Promising Young Mensch review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Jacob Sacher is running late to his show, Promising Young Mensch. The crowd is getting restless. Murmurs of refunds begin to grow. Unable to provide one, he enlists the help of his 12-year-old cousin Jakey, who just happens to be in the audience, to entertain us. And so, Jakey takes the stage and begins talking about Jewish rituals and traditions, from circumcision to confession.

Sacher’s show balances a charming DIY aesthetic with surprisingly high-tech elements. He precariously hangs a TV screen monitor around his chest as if strapping in a baby, while his complicated yet undeniably impressive camera boom helmet, held together with cable ties and resembling a makeshift satellite dish, looks like it could fall apart at any moment.

Slay review

Devised by Sarah Iman, Steph Lee, Raven Rogers-Wright, Jackie van Lierop, Anita Mei La Terra, and Louisa Cusumano, Slay is a sharp-witted, politically charged horror comedy. When a young woman is brutally murdered, four lesbians become prime suspects. As they race to uncover the killer, they must also contend with the growing chaos of radical group SLAM (Society of Lesbians Against Men) and its dangerous manifesto, which is spreading like wildfire.

Many of the creatives take on multiple roles on and off stage, creating a strong awareness of cohesion as they work seamlessly toward a shared vision. While some characters, as individuals, lean into stereotypes or are not as compelling as others, the group scene dynamics keep the energy fresh. The natural dialogue allows pop culture references, like lesbian icon Sue Sylvester from Glee, Julia Gillard's misogyny speech, and Marty Sheargold’s recent AFLW comments, to drop in effortlessly. The humour is well-balanced within the show’s absurd world, where SLAM’s ultimate goal is to cap the cis male population at 10%.

Djuna review

Djuna is a sexually charged thriller that explores power, vulnerability, and the unsettling dynamics between two complex strangers. Set within the claustrophobic walls of a hotel room, the play pulls the audience into an intimate yet suspenseful psychological struggle between two people who meet to play out a mutual fantasy. Written by Eva Rees, Djuna keeps you second-guessing everything you hear and see until the very last moment.

Dion Mills delivers a captivating performance as Marcus, the right-leaning, financially successful, cisgender heterosexual male. From the instant he steps onto the stage, his presence demands attention. Every aspect of his portrayal, from his confident stride to his phone conversations before Djuna’s arrival, reveal a man brimming with self-assurance with Mills holding a commanding energy that fully embodies Marcus. As cracks begin to show in his demeanour, they reveal an intricate side to the character, providing further dimension to his otherwise unshakable exterior.

The Removalists review

It’s been 54 years since David Williamson’s The Removalists premiered at La Mama, a gritty, darkly humorous examination of domestic violence and abuse of power. Fast forward to 2025, and the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production proves the play still packs a punch, delivering a searing exploration of violence against women and systemic corruption.

The narrative follows a tense encounter between two police officers, the corrupt, manipulative Sergeant Simmonds (Steve Mouzakis) and the naive rookie Constable Ross (William McKenna), who are called to assist Fiona (Eloise Mignon) in leaving her abusive husband, Kenny (Michael Whalley). What begins as a routine removal spirals into a savage climax, revealing the casual cruelty of law enforcement and the failures of authority. As the violence escalates, Constable Ross is pulled into Sergeant Simmonds' toxic influence, blurring the lines of justice and brutality.

Boys on the Verge of Tears review

A public bathroom is a private moment to do one's business. For most people, you're in and you're out. But in Boys on the Verge of Tears, a public bathroom becomes a confessional of sorts, as 40 male characters spill their secrets, fears, and repressed feelings regarding masculinity, from the safety of these fluorescent-lit walls.

With a cast of five actors - Ben Walter, Karl Richmond, Justin Hosking, Damon Baudin, and Akeel Purmanund - the talented ensemble showcases exceptional chemistry and skill. Under Keegan Bragg’s direction, they execute seamless and surprising character transitions complete with swift costume changes. Vocal coach Matt Furlani has achieved brilliant results in bringing out the London accents, and even when racing through dialogue or falling into drug-induced stupors, the performers convincingly maintain their accents.

The Robot Dog review

Janelle, a woman of Cantonese heritage, and Harry, a First Nations man, are a seemingly happy couple living in Australia in 2042. When Janelle's mother dies, she and Harry move into her mother's home as they attempt to clear out the house. But this is 2042, so there are a few distinct additions to this home, such as an AI system that controls their daily movements (sometimes literally), and a robotic therapy dog.

As they begin packing and cleaning, the two are forced to confront their own cultural identity and the way it has shaped them, even if they feel little attachment to it. Written by Roshelle Yee Pui Fong and Matthew Ngamurarri Heffernan, The Robot Dog, offers a quirky exploration of how technology has become an inseparable part of our lives, particularly in an ever-changing world.

Goldfish review

Goldfish is a striking collaboration between Tasmanian puppetry company Terrapin and Japan’s Aichi Prefectural Art Theater. It’s a playful yet thought-provoking exploration of nature and climate, urging audiences to reflect on the lasting impact of human action (or inaction).

The play begins with Mayu Iwasaki using shadow puppets to tell a story. Dylan Sheridan’s layered sound design and Greta Jean’s delicate puppet creations lull us into a hypnotic dreamscape, making the opening moments feel otherworldly. But that tranquillity is soon shattered when two volunteers from a Disaster Response Coordination Team (CRDT) burst into the theatre announcing that a flood has hit the city, and we - the audience - are now evacuees.