Actually, Good review | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Melbourne Town Hall

Having missed Gillian Cosgriff’s award-winning show Actually, Good at last year's Comedy Festival, it was with anticipated relief to learn that she was bringing it back to Melbourne this year. This is a wonderful hour of storytelling, original songs, stand-up, and most importantly, it’s a show that leaves you with a big smile on your face and a warmth in your soul.

Cosgriff takes us back to a time when she was having a terrible holiday in the Whitsundays when she spontaneously asked her partner about the ten things he likes. It set the blueprint for this show and for a unique conversation on things we enjoy and we they enjoy it and how it makes us feel. As Cosgriff tells us, it’s better to ask what do you like rather than what do you do. In Actually, Good, the audience helps Cosgriff compile a list of our ten likes – completely voluntary – but once the first one is shouted out, people become eager to share theirs. It’s a wonderful community that Cosgriff fosters within this framework.

Microsoft Orifice review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

The daily grind of the office job. It's not easy. In Microsoft Orifice, John Glover stares down the barrel of a staple gun as he vents and gripes about the current state of the workplace and technology, namely social media. 

Glover has a warm presence and he has a great gift of the gab. Armed with a clicker and a PowerPoint slide show, he is confident with his material and because of that, he can throw to audience members for a brief chit chat or acknowledge something that has been said by an audience member, even when he gets the order of his slides confused, which he handles brilliantly.

Pass the Parcel! review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

It's the biggest party of the year and only those who celebrate a birthday are invited. Meg and Elliot have gone all out with decorations, outfits and most importantly, party games. However, there's only one party game to be played in this show, and that's pass the parcel. Presented by Meg Taranto and Elliot Wood, Pass the Parcel! is an interactive examination of power, rules and disappointment through the perspective of a children's party game.

Taranto and Wood are a perfect pairing who have a strong focus on making each other look good. Their energies and personalities are contrasting and complementary and there is not a single misstep in their portrayals. Taranto is absolutely captivating as the hyper excited and super eager keen bean that not only wants to win all the prizes but be involved in the entirety of the game. Wood on the other hand is the slightly more pragmatic one with a touch of spitefulness and nasty. A nasty boy. To be clear though, there are plenty of times when they both need to be put into the naughty corner.

Pillows xxxx review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Bronwyn Kuss is ready to get straight to the point. There's no time for niceties or pleasantries with her stand-up show Pillows xxxx as she jumps right in and lets us know about the English teacher she had in high school, as well as other musings and anecdotes from her life.

Kuss has a very dry delivery where rather than getting loud and animated, she finds a great pace to work with and plays with pauses to emphasise points and highlight punchlines. The call-backs to previously mentioned stories and the thread she maintains between them results in a wonderful payoff in the final moments of the show, but completely in line with the tone of Kuss' performance and image.

The Bisexual's Lament review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

The Queen of the PowerPoint Presentations returns to Melbourne for their new show, The Bisexual's Lament, where Lou Wall covers the hectic last twelve months they have experienced. Some of it is horrific and traumatic but to get through it, Wall has made a list - they love lists! - of all the things that made them happy in the last 12 months. It's over 800 items so fortunately Wall has whittled it down to a reasonable 69.

Wall's traumatic year includes breaking up with their partner, which happened to also be their first break up, and sleeping with straight men, and that's not even the worst of it. The focus of the show is with Wall struggling to speed up the process of "comedy equals tragedy plus time" and while there is plenty of comedy for the audience, Wall allows for a more vulnerable and intimate side of themselves to be on display.