Kate Dolan – The Critic

By Colin Flaherty

A lot of comedians, even the most successful ones, talk about having self doubt and some form of Imposter Syndrome during their career. Kate Dolan uses this widespread affliction as the basis of her show, employing a brilliant device as a counterpoint to the cheerful performer we see on stage.

Her inner dialogue pops up at various points in the performance: a voice possessing an accent that sounds appropriately thuggish. It offers performance tips (which Kate immediately ignores), tut tuts the lukewarm response to her A-material and wonders aloud if the audience are bright enough to appreciate the jokes. It is one hell of a tough taskmaster.

The material proper covers anecdotes from her life including her dating experiences, being en guard against would-be attackers, body image, shopping for a wedding dress and getting intimate with her partner. All seemingly fun, breezy topics upon which she expertly adds considerable heft. Some weight is applied via uncomfortably amusing dark turns that keep the punters on edge. A feminist subtext appears as she regularly lands killer punchlines by laying the boot into the Patriarchy. There is silliness galore, taking concepts to their daftest conclusion. Her brilliant witty wordplay is a treat for all the word nerds.

Kate is a loud and brash personality on stage delivering her material at a brisk clip. Lots of mugging and broad gestures drive the points home. Constantly on the move around the small stage, she’s a bundle of manic energy. A few prop gags go to a lot of effort for a laugh, giving her inner demon ammunition to taunt her.

Things calm down towards the end with a beautiful monologue set to a cosmic light show. It is here that we are allowed to catch our breaths as she seriously reflects on her troubling thought processes with the occasional amusing quip thrown in for relief. A little more levity follows to end things on a happy note, wrapping up a hilariously inventive variation on the stand up form. Bravo!

The Critic is on at Bard’s Apothecary until April 19

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/the-critic/

Jude Perl – Jude Perl tries to finish a sentence.   

By Lisa Clark                                                                                             

Words eh? You can go through life thinking your hat is red and then one day your friend will say it’s pink and you start to question your ability to discern colour and it may escalate to the point that you never speak to each other again. Sometimes you can’t finish a sentence because you can be so caught up in the anxiety of how it may be perceived. Jude has written a complex cabaret show about her life’s trade which is exploring and playing with words and ideas.

Jude Perl is one of the most talented cabaret artists in the country. Last year she created and performed a musical called Share House: The Musical with a cast of five that was one of the funniest, and most endearing productions about depression I’ve ever seen. You could watch it as a wacky comedy show about a share house and friendship or be moved on a completely different level by the searing allegory and enjoy it for that as well.

This year’s show is about the unspeakable, the inability to say certain words or express your beliefs in case they are misinterpreted, confused or angrily rejected. It’s also about all the words that stay in your mind (ad jingles and bad song lyrics) when it could be full of more useful stuff that might actually help you get through life, but you have no choice. It is framed by an in-depth celebrity type interview with a disembodied voice called Anabel Cramp. Jude tells funny stories about life at band camp and as a wedding musician and in therapy with Dr Haddish.

A lot of Jude’s humour relies on the audience being familiar with popular culture such as pop songs and television. The funniest song in the show is about a guilty pleasure; a trashy unloved 90s sitcom she enjoys while everyone else bangs on about Friends. She knows it’s an unpopular point of view and puts her case that both shows have characters with bad behaviour and questionable values, but that her favoured show explores and deals with them better than Friends. Sometimes it feels so confusing that such a huge amount of people can love something that you just cannot agree with.

Jude Perl tries to finish a sentence is a comic play with fabulous songs. The songs are gorgeous, funny and moving. She plays them all on a grand piano and the vibe of the show is very intimate, off Broadway in the classy surrounds of The Arts Centre, albeit hidden down in the bowels away from the main  theatres. It’s definitely worth venturing into the deep with the amazing soon to be superstar Jude Perl.

Note:  Jude Perl is on at a new theatre space at the Arts Centre on the third floor which turns out to be down below the Arts centre, that you need a lift to get down to. Be aware that at the end of the show you will be herded up 3 flights of back stairs to the street. Let the usher know if you have difficulties climbing stairs.

Jude Perl tries to finish a sentence is on at the Arts Centre til April 20.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/jude-perl-tries-to-finish-a-sentence/

Chloe Petts – How You See Me, How You Don’t

By Lisa Clark

Without hardly trying, Chloe got every comedian’s dream – their own show on TV, even more, she also got every sports lovers dream show, she was hosting her own sports show on a sports channel on TV. She was having a ball until she was attacked by the online trolls. People who didn’t know her were criticising her for her voice, her looks, her gender and her sexuality, when like us all she’s still trying to work herself out. Though she’s not wringing her hands or weeping at us about it, it has clearly been a very disturbing experience for someone who was never bullied about such things at school.

Chloe opens the show with an amusing glossary, a list of unusual terms that will appear in the show, giving us their meaning, so that we all understand them when they happen. As she explains the terms, the glossary starts to bleed into the show proper in which she braids several stories and ideas together, including tales from highschool contrasting with tales from her job in television. When the words from the glossary appear, they get a laugh despite not always being part of a punchline.

Chloe Petts has a very jolly, friendly demeanour, promising a “loose night” but as someone who has wrangled crowds in the UK, she is extremely adept at crowd work and dealing with any potential trouble makers. No one messes with Chloe, which could be why she was not bullied at school. She and her friendliness keep everyone onside, even when picking on audience members that might be getting a little boisterous, and her wit and dry humour keep the audience laughing.

Chloe Petts performs How You See Me, How You Don’t at the Melbourne Town Hall til April 20.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/chloe-petts/

Scout Boxall – God’s Favourite

By Peter Hodgson

Have you ever had to white-knuckle a night without your meds? Scout Boxall definitely has. Boxall’s 2025 MICF show sees them face this dreaded dilemma in what’s gotta be one of the worst times and places to have to go through a mental health crisis: the night before a LARP wedding in regional Victoria, far away from precious Seroquel and getting deeper and deeper into the sort of stuff that your mind throws at you when you’re off your meds and getting into your medieval nun outfit.

This is the setting for a theatrical confessional that ponders the LARPy charms of medieval life verses what it really might have meant to be on the spectrum in the oldentimes. It could easily have gotten real dark and stayed that way, but Boxall expertly lifts us back up at the perfect moment, often with emphasis from the most utterly perfect sound and light cues. Sometimes it’s as subtle as a background light effect gently shifting with the story. Sometimes it’s a Scout-on-Scout conversation, or an atmospheric soundscape under a monologue, or a perfectly timed audio sting on a particular word. Boxall certainly doesn’t need all this stuff in order to be funny, but it sure is a treat to see this level of production after previously enjoying shorter standup sets at local shows.

Boxall has crafted a show that is relatable, intimate and sensitive, and which had me cackle-laughing, particularly at some of the specific references (Questacon, a certain type of jellybean, an infamous Scienceworks incident). It’s an ultimately uplifting story, beautifully punctuated with amazing atmospherics.

God’s Favourite is on at The Malthouse until April 20

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/scout-boxall-god-s-favourite/

Abby Howells – Welcome to My Dream

By Peter Newling

Over recent years Australia’s comedy clubs and television shows have been blessed with an influx of incredibly talented thirty-something New Zealand comedians. Abby Howell’s is an important voice in this mix.

She comes well credentialed. She is a past winner of the prestigious Billy T Award whose past winners include Cal Wilson, Rose Matafeo, Guy Montgomery and Melanie Bracewell. Fans of Taskmaster New Zealand will remember her from season 5 where she finished a solid fifth.

Through Welcome To My Dream, Howells offers us the chance to take a sneak peek into her mind. Much of the material is based on the impact of neurodivergence on her childhood, her family, her aspirations and her career. It’s really personal, really insightful, and really funny.

Often dreams don’t come true, but sometimes they do. Through masterful storytelling, Howells takes us from childhood expectations that she should be more like everyone else, to the growing realisation that difference is powerful. Along the way we learn that she is very good at vendettas – impishly seeking comeuppance on businesses, trolls and improv artists who have tried to thwart her dreams.

We also learn that Howells is a master of the punchy non-sequitur. Seemingly completely random thoughts are delivered with hilarious bluntness, and take us off on a completely new direction. It all makes sense eventually.

All this adds up to an hour that’s insightful, disarming and full of laugh-out-loud surprises. Howells’ style is endearing and engaging, underpinned with just the right amount of menace.

In Welcome To My Dream, Abby invites us to be part of her world. It’s well worth a visit.

Abby Howells – Welcome to My Dream is playing until April 20 at the Melbourne Town Hall Lunchroom, at 7:40pm and 6:40pm on Sundays. Tickets through

//www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/welcomed-to-my-dream/

** Footnote – the performance I saw was Auslan interpreted. Big shout out to the festival and to the performer for making this happen.

Sez – Keeps Me Young

By Lisa Clark

Sez is a country girl in the city reflecting on being in the world for a quarter of a century. Being a cabaret performer, she mostly does it in the form of comedy songs.

Sez has a very bright, confident, charming personality. She can hold the stage and warms the audience up with some silly call and response but there really isn’t a lot of singalongs so don’t worry/get your hopes up. Sez is a very good singer and excellent musician, playing her amusing comedy songs on three different instruments.

Most of Sez’s humour is fairly self deprecating and skims lightly over her topics, without any type of through line, the songs are short and end abruptly without a punchline. Sez, unsurprisingly, sings about all the issues of a person in their 20s, living in a share house, relationships and dealing with nasty social media comments. It’s amusing to watch a 25 year old reminiscing about being 20 and how young that is and there seemed to be no irony. It was hard to tell because Sez is pretty chirpy and upbeat throughout. Even when singing a scathing rebuke to a cheating boyfriend.

Keeps Me Young is a bit scrappy and waffly and  it’s sometimes hard to work out the point she is making but it’s certainly entertaining throughout. Sez says that we’re all here for a fun time and that’s what she presents, nothing too deep, no story line just a kooky collection of amusing anecdotes and songs.

Sez performs Keeps Me Young at the Victoria Hotel until April 20.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/keeps-me-young/