Hey there, !

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is one of my favourite festivals in Melbourne of the year. I'm pretty sure the endorphins that come from copious laughter is like a month-long flu shot.

On the off chance you didn't know about the absolute wave of talent we have at the festival, we're in the final week of it, so there are limited chances to go see some excellent comedians while you've got 'em here in Australia!

As such, here are some quick-fire reviews and recommendations for people who I've seen this season, in no particular order:

Tom Cashman - has a hilarious show full of graphs about a very weird and insane story in his life. Very highly recommended as he takes on a slightly different persona to his Taskmaster assistant role, which I think appeals to many more people. Watch this if you don't know what else to watch at the MICF - it's good for all

Lou Wall - a wonderfully talented comedian who is super entertaining and dives into the quirky research of 'where are all the tall grandmas' but also ties it to their own life, their comedy, and a whole bunch of fun singing and dancing. This was their set a year or two ago and MY GOD I instantly fell in love with the comedy. FANTASTIC. Watch this if you liked the video clip and/or you also want to know where the Tall Grandmas are

Tom Gleeson - the Taskmaster himself - I think I watch him more from a nostalgia point of view rather than anything else. I have watched him for SO MANY years (from Good News Week days) and now he's so successful, and Out of Touch (that's the name of his show, and also a description of who he's becom). Be prepared for a lot of 'I'm rich and successful and I'm still doing this shit', but still pretty funny. Watch this if you're a boomer and/or you like Hard Quiz or Taskmaster. Or if you like angry bald men ranting about shit

Noah Szto - He's got two shows, they're on this weekend. I went last year, and went again this year to his trial show - and he's GODDAMN incredible. It's a show about his time in Med School (he's a doctor) and it is all-singing all-dancing all-entertainment, and pretty much the asian guy your Mum compared you to when you were young. Or maybe still compares you to idk. Watch this if you're an underachieving Asian who never lived up to their parents dreams, or a doctor

Hannah Gadsby - another one from the past - this show was a bit disjointed and all over the place, but in that chaos Hannah was still able to bring together something hilarious. The talk show concept is...kinda stupid, but the guests and the standup set were still very funny. Location is out at the Malthouse Theatre though so it's a bit far, but stack it with Lou Wall for a good night out! Watch this if you watched Nanette on Netflix and you're okay with something adventurous in terms of comedy

Sashi Perera - first set that was new to me, a really great hour of comedy after taking some time off, finding herself, and realising that there are more things to life than the things we plan for. Enjoyable! Watch this if you used to do law and think that it would be a really good idea to just fuck off somewhere overseas to get back to your roots

Michael Hing - wish he had a bigger room - he deserves so much! I've watched Michael Hing for YEARS and he has had consistently good comedy through that whole time - the style is so so good. Yes, it's a bit more dad comedy so it's less relatable for me specifically, but it was still great. Watch this if you like zoos, you have a kid who likes zoos, or you like nerdy Asians who somehow turned out pretty cool

Matt Okine - saw his preview show, he's come back to standup at the MICF after lots of years doing other stuff (TV shows etc.). He was one of the first people I ever saw at MICF when he won Best Newcomer the same year that Ronny Chieng did, so I knew he'd be good - he has this wonderful way of writing that meanders, but comes back all together at the end in a really satisfying way. I think he was a bit rusty for the room - no shade on him - and it was still a good set but less good than the others. Watch this if you recently tried to buy a house...or actually bought one

Lizzy Hoo - one I have seen on the scene for a while but had never gone to her show; this one was bordering on boomer humour but had so much fun energy. Be careful of any product called Ball Boost, I'll tell ya that much for free. Watch this if you want to know what Ball Boost is, or if you need Jenny Tian humour, but older

Jordan Barr - this one was a rando for me, and it was fine. She has some great bits about 'never being bullied' in her life and I liked how she could control a room. Good shit, but perhaps not fully my vibe. Watch this if you were the weird kid in school who thought you were popular but you weren't really

Sam Campbell - ADHD comedy, but else would you expect from Mr. Campbell! The bits just kept rolling and rolling and you had to run to catch up to the next hilarious thing he was saying. Absolutely LOVED the random bits but had to run off early to get to my next gig. Doesn't matter, still good. Watch this if you 2x all your Instagram Reels because people talk too slowly

Kate Dehnert - I bought tickets to this because it was recommended on insta by other comedians and DAMN it is a powerful show about a very impactful breakup for Kate. A rollercoaster of emotions that had me laughing then cringing then heartbroken then laughing then sighing in awe at what a journey I had taken. Watch this if you've come out a bad relationship and want vengeance

I've had other recommendations from friends - Scout Boxhall, Sam Taunton, Buffy Revamped by Brendan Murphy - I'm going to try and get to others like Alexei Toliopolous, Jenny Tian, Emma Holland if I can before the end of the season, but it's coming up so quick and I'm SO BUSY agh.

Anyway, any recommendations let me know!!! Man loves to laugh.

Chat soon :)

(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)

✔️Real Life Recommendations

• Nah, not this week, you got a bunch up there already!! GO WATCH SOME COMEDY

🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway

1. Why Glasses cost $800: the EssilorLuxottica Eyewear Monopoly - surprise surprise, the answer is capitalism

2. The Peril of Laziness Lost - it's a bit more focusd on coding, but I liked the general take about AI I hadn't been able to put into words; that by taking away the effort of work, we actually lose the skill of optimisation, which somewhat stems from laziness.

3. Murder-suicide case shows OpenAI selectively hides data after users die - just a bit yikes all round.