Hell hath no fury like a gay man scorned. What starts with sweet dates and musical theatre singalongs descends into something far more sinister. In The Ex Files: A Comedy True Crime Tour, Matt Bell blurs the line between true crime and total fabrication in his 'investigation', guiding audiences around the Melbourne CBD to uncover the evidence behind a crime that may or may not exist.
With each audience member armed with a pair of Bluetooth headphones, Bell guides us through a series of locations tied to the relationship at the centre of the story. We move from the bar where the first date occurred, to a cinema shaped by a wicked lie, to a restaurant that ends in heartbreak on the most romantic night of the year. Bell has clearly put thought into the structure, and standing at each location as he reminisces, makes the experience immersive, like we're re-living it ourselves.
General anxieties on gay dating and apps come into play, from the sea of headless torso profiles on Grindr to the sudden, all-consuming spark of a single message, or 37. When one six-packed gay opens with a simple 'how are you?', Bell is immediately hooked, diving headfirst into a whirlwind romance. His focus on details, from the man's big hands to a [redacted] penis, paints vivid pictures of these dates, but it’s his oddly intense fixation on random items, like the man’s glass Tupperware that becomes a telling marker of just how quickly infatuation takes hold.Bell may play himself with heightened awkwardness, but he remains firmly in control throughout. Given the nature of the show, there’s plenty of potential for outside factors to disrupt things. On the night attended, there were street closures, a drunk passerby convinced they were the funniest person in the room (so to speak), and one moment involving an aggressive man pushing a bicycle that could have easily escalated. Bell takes it all in his stride thinking fast and ad-libbing some great responses.
Between stops, a fun, curated soundtrack fills our headphones, hinting at what’s to come and tying each place to the next chapter of the story. The distances are short, keeping the momentum going and the audience immersed rather than distracted by the logistics of the walk.
By the end, The Ex Files: A Comedy True Crime Tour is less about solving a crime and more about unpacking the messy, all-too-relatable fallout of modern dating. Bell walks a fine line between sincerity and comic exaggeration, turning supposed personal heartbreak into something both hilarious and sharply observed. The result is a cleverly constructed unravelling that suggests the most dramatic stories aren’t always true, just well told.
SHOW DETAILS
Venue: Meeting Point: Corner Swanston Street & Collins Street, Melbourne
Season: until 5 April | Tues - Sat 7:30pm, Sun 6:30pm
Duration: 70 minutes
Tickets: $25 Full | $20 Conc
Bookings: Melbourne International Comedy Festival
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