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Time Out
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The funniest things I saw at Sydney Comedy Festival – Plus, the encore shows you can still catch
Sydney's biggest annual comedy event just wrapped for another year, and I want to give a nod to some of the most hilarious, off-the-wall, and delightful shows I managed to catch during Sydney Comedy Festival's huge 20th anniversary year. Plus, hot tip: the laughs aren't over! There is an assortment of encore performances coming up for some of the festival's most popular shows. This includes the winner of the Best of the Fest Award, Dan Rath's Tropical Depression – a razor-sharp offbeat observational show offering Rath's fresh take on a broad range of topics from Uber rides to moving to Korea, chatbots and more. (Tropical Depression is playing an encore at the Comedy Store on Friday, August 8. You can book tickets here.) Highlights of Sydney Comedy Festival 2025 Ruby Teys – Cherry Vinyl: Coober Pedy's Last Show Girl ★★★★★ Ruby Teys' cabaret-esque style is the very definition of prawn cocktail comedy: delicious, decadent, somewhat perplexing, and always existing one minor but dangerous temperature change away from turning your stomach. The ingredients probably shouldn't work together, and yet, she tosses them together with a dash of showgirl chutzpah and mad genius, leaving audiences rolling in regular roars of laughter – satiated, but always hungry for more. Much like a prawn, the body horror also makes it even better (The Substance 's special effects team simply can't compete with what happens to a Gold Coast showgirl after a few too many komodo dragon placenta pills). Also, she appears in a bedazzled prawn costume. What more could you want? Nostalgically and politically irreverent, Coober Pedy's Last Show Girl is a comedy with two buttons undone on the working class. From following the 'dingo proof fence' to the Gold Coast in order to pursue her dream of becoming a glamorous showgirl, Cherry Vinyl's story is a parable for the little Australians, for the underdogs, for the blind blonde mole in all of us. Incorporating animation, pre-recorded footage, costume changes, old fashioned razzle dazzle, the right amount of crude jokes and some top notch physical comedy, Teys delivers a character performance that simply must be inducted into the Australian consciousness. There's even a frank meditation on the intersection of power and gender and body modification, if you should choose to read into it. All in all, a solid six tits out of five. Thalia Joan – Dear Future Memoir ★★★★☆ A talented storyteller with a real knack of unhinged brilliance, Thalia Joan is the kind of comedian who can get a whole room singing along, karaoke-style, to 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' by British glam-rock-revivalists, The Darkness. And that's exactly what she does in her latest show, Dear Future Memoir. A suitcase-full of stories from her recent fever dream of a trip to the United States – where, spoiler alert, her suitcase never actually joined her – it's a somewhat looser affair than her previous, more tightly scripted shows. (And that may or may not have something to do with the copious amount of cold 'n flu pills she had to snaffle down ahead of her Sydney Comedy Festival run.) But Thalia has the kind of enigmatic presence that thrives in chaos, winning over an audience with witty quips, kooky mannerisms, effervescent energy, and even some amateur keyboard skills. While her therapist may be dismissive about her habit of excusing all of her most self-destructive decisions as 'doing it for the memoir', Thalia proves that she is living out stories that are worth sharing – and in doing so, she encourages us to be bolder, too. (And besides, no man who passes off memeable quotes as billable wisdom can tell us otherwise!) Breaking the Musical ★★★★☆ In the long run, it turns out that the threat of being sued by Rachel Gunn herself was the best publicity that this little-low-budget-show-that-could could've asked for. Sydney-based comedian Stephanie Broadbridge writes and stars in this satisfyingly silly, unauthorised musical satire that is definitely not about a certain Australian hopeful's journey to compete as a break dancer at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Supported by a hardworking ensemble, Broadbridge (as 'Spraygun') strikes the perfect balance in this clever and creative show, painting 'Spraygun' with a relatively sympathetic brush while also holding space for the genuine concerns that certain communities might have about a white woman of a certain demographic representing a dance style pioneered by marginalised communities on the world stage. Breaking the Musical is able to poke fun at the absurdity of certain strains of academia, as well as the absurdity of taking any sort of artform and trying to rank and judge it on a scale, all while exploring what the Australian identity means in today's world (with a 'Nutbush'-esque instructional dance thrown in for good measure). This show is also packed with a delightful grab-bag of musical references for the theatre fanatics to get down with, as well as nods to British pantomime, some genuinely impressive French mime action, and some bedazzled green tracksuits to boot. Playing out over about an hour, Breaking is able to pack in a lot without overstaying its welcome. The ending doesn't tie up neatly, leaving us somewhat baffled and somewhat bemused, but this actually lines up rather well with the real story that may or may not have inspired it. This is comedy theatre that is low-budget, high-stakes, and thoroughly entertaining – something that all Aussies need to see. (Follow @stephbroadbridge on Instagram for updates about Breaking the Musical.) Reuben Kaye – The Party's Over ★★★★☆ Reuben Kaye reaffirms why he is one of the best entertainers Australia has ever accidentally produced with his latest solo show, The Party's Over. In a show that re-treads some of his greatest hits and sprinkles in some updated social commentary and personal anecdotes, Reuben is able to keep everyone on the edge of their seats with his bitingly intelligent and shamelessly raunchy antics as he struts across the Enmore Theatre stage (and playfully taunts unsuspecting folks in the audience). As fans might be aware, the last time Reuben was at this venue, his show had been considerably postponed after threats were made by far-right 'Christian activists' over a certain Jesus joke on a certain primetime television appearance went down famously well. That 2023 performance was a triumph, and this one in 2025 is a total home run. The best part of a Reuben Kaye show is not just how much he'll make you laugh (and that's a lot), but how he'll leave you feeling energised, and ready to fight back against conservative bores.
Sydney Morning Herald
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Get 2-for-1 tickets* to Sydney Comedy Festival
As a Herald subscriber, you can get 2-for-1 tickets to Sydney Comedy Festival. Featuring performances from the finest Australian acts, the biggest international stars and the most promising emerging talent offering up everything from stand up to sketch, satire, musical, absurdist, theatre, magic and kids comedy. To redeem, simply add two full priced tickets to your cart from the offer page. Be quick, ticket allocations per session are limited and subject to availability. Take a look at the list of eligible shows here. *The 2-for-1 ticket offer is available to Herald digital subscribers and print subscribers with 2+ days of home delivery. This offer applies to selected viewings of selected Sydney Comedy Festival shows and ends on May 18, 2025 or when tickets for selected sessions are exhausted. Offer is limited to specific sessions and allocations per session are limited and subject to availability. To redeem this offer, navigate to selected sessions via the link provided on this page. The offer must be redeemed online and cannot be redeemed for cash.
Sydney Morning Herald
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Riffing on anxiety, death and Elon Musk, this comic takes no prisoners
Nish Kumar: Nish, Don't Kill My Vibe ★★★★ Factory Theatre, April 22. Until April 24. Reviewed by DANIEL HERBORN Midway through his Sydney Comedy Festival show, British comic Nish Kumar outlines the topics he's about to cover: anxiety, death and rage. No wonder someone recently told him he should try more relatable material, like riffing on the contents of his fridge. He'd already rattled through a litany of injustice and nonsense, from billionaire biohacker Bryan Johnson – who injects himself with his teenage son's blood in a bid to live forever – to his deep frustration at being told he should be 'pleased about the representation' of having a fellow British Indian, conservative Rishi Sunak, in power. The 39-year-old Kumar seems so energised by white-hot rage that he barely pauses for breath. The breakneck style makes for an urgent and wide-ranging excoriation of powerful individuals demonising minorities for their own gain. Crucially, though, Kumar doesn't settle for making right-on points but draws consistent belly laughs with his furious monologues, aided by vividly grotesque descriptions of his foes – from Elon Musk to his transphobic comedy peers – and his knack for unexpected but spot-on analogies. In the second half of the hour, he turns his focus inwards, giving a potentially one- note show some much-needed light and shade. 'I'm like this all the time,' he says of his exasperated state, reflecting on how exhausting being constantly outraged is and how it both drives and results from his anxiety. Loading
The Age
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Riffing on anxiety, death and Elon Musk, this comic takes no prisoners
Nish Kumar: Nish, Don't Kill My Vibe ★★★★ Factory Theatre, April 22. Until April 24. Reviewed by DANIEL HERBORN Midway through his Sydney Comedy Festival show, British comic Nish Kumar outlines the topics he's about to cover: anxiety, death and rage. No wonder someone recently told him he should try more relatable material, like riffing on the contents of his fridge. He'd already rattled through a litany of injustice and nonsense, from billionaire biohacker Bryan Johnson – who injects himself with his teenage son's blood in a bid to live forever – to his deep frustration at being told he should be 'pleased about the representation' of having a fellow British Indian, conservative Rishi Sunak, in power. The 39-year-old Kumar seems so energised by white-hot rage that he barely pauses for breath. The breakneck style makes for an urgent and wide-ranging excoriation of powerful individuals demonising minorities for their own gain. Crucially, though, Kumar doesn't settle for making right-on points but draws consistent belly laughs with his furious monologues, aided by vividly grotesque descriptions of his foes – from Elon Musk to his transphobic comedy peers – and his knack for unexpected but spot-on analogies. In the second half of the hour, he turns his focus inwards, giving a potentially one- note show some much-needed light and shade. 'I'm like this all the time,' he says of his exasperated state, reflecting on how exhausting being constantly outraged is and how it both drives and results from his anxiety. Loading
The Age
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
This Russian comedian grew up super rich - and she's not afraid to laugh about it
Many comedians squeeze material from hard-luck origin stories. Not Olga Koch. She grew up wealthy and privileged and, instead of avoiding the issue, she leans right into it. In fact, the title of the show she is bringing to the Sydney Comedy Festival, which began this week, gives it away – Olga Koch Comes From Money. 'The fact we don't talk about privilege only works for the powerful and the privileged … the only people forced to talk about it are the working class,' she says. 'I wanted to write about privilege and confront it in a way that was unemotional, it wasn't an endorsement but wasn't bragging or even self-flaggelation, I wanted to discuss it in a neutral way … it's not about having privilege but what you do with it. '[The show is] an examination of privilege and culture in three different countries.' That's another thing. Koch, 31, was born in Russia but educated in London – at an American international school, so she speaks with an American accent. Then she went to New York for university, and studied computer science. And, she notes, she has lived through pretty interesting times. 'How they lived in Russia at a specific time in the early 2000s was this neoliberal golden egg era, where everyone was really excited about what we could be, but then it took such a dark turn,' she says. 'And also I was in the US when Obama got elected. I have lived at some very specific times.'
