Show Rating:

A relative newcomer to Australia's comedy scene, Menchetti has made a bold effort to produce a quirky, original show based around life's inevitable failings.

And while he doesn't entirely pull it off - the performance is a bit too raw, and the overall feel too rough-edged to really gel - there is plenty here to enjoy.

After being in a car crash, breaking his ankle and robbed, all independently, but all on the same day, Menchetti decided to investigate Murphy's Law - the axiom that if anything can go wrong, it will. More precisely, he has unearthed a series of subsidiary rules governing such bad karma - Murphy's By-Laws? - which he sets out to test by experiment, joke or song.

Things going wrong is obviously the basis for all comedy - the 'derailed train' as John Cleese described it - but Menchetti has avoided the obvious temptation of merely ploughing through a litany of failure for a far more intriguing and ambitious approach.

As such, the finished show boasts more than its fair share of surprises - and while some sketches do misfire, you have to admire the ingenuity and wit at work.

Menchetti himself emits an endearing vulnerability on stage, and his mild-mannered approach contributes a lot to the undeniable warmth of the piece. It may need polish, but it's nothing that couldn't be worked on without sacrificing the essential low-budget charm.

But if he continues to demonstrate such invention, Menchetti could be a comedic force to be reckoned with in a few years time.