Melbourne comedy festival review by Steve Bennett

Venezuelan comic Ivan Aristeguita is selling out his festival run on the back of one televised routine – a few minutes affectionately picking apart the sausage sizzles held by DIY chain Bunnings which has come to symbolise his relationship with his new homeland. If he could figure out how this culinary atrocity is so loved by Aussies, surely he could be one of them?

It is a great routine, which firmly establishes who he is, and his take on Australia. But food is, in fact, the theme of his entire third solo hour – not such a hard sell in epicurean heaven of Melbourne, but quite the feat to spin a whole show on the subject without repeating his themes, but he achieves it.

Sometimes he hits on familiar ideas, however. Is every comedian gluten-intolerant intolerant and sneering of the vegans, surely the twin comic pinatas of this festival. Aristeguita puts his disdain for fads into context, however, saying his obsession with meat, and eating every part of the animal was indoctrinated into him by his grandmother who survived the scarcities of the Spanish Civil War. His stance has reputedly made it a target of the ‘vegan mafia’. The Soypranos, I suppose…

That family background adds some texture, as does his experiences back on the dating scene after his 16-year relationship fell apart, now he can use every ounce of his charming ‘Latin superpower’ to woo the women. A superpower he never had back home.

He is, indeed, infectiously endearing. A foreign accent goes a long way, of course, and he engineers a laugh every time he drops in a multi-syllabic word to prove what a ‘good immigrant’ he’s being by learning the language. But his slightly off-kilter pronunciations are backed by such warmth, curiosity and self-effacement that you can’t fail to be beguiled.

His timing’s strong, as too are the comic voices he affects when bringing to life other characters in his stories, the high-pitched Little Timmy being an adorable favourite.

All this means that even if the material is low-calorie discussions of the smell of durian fruit, the joy of bacon or the phrase ‘smashed avocados’ – he remains thoroughly engaging. However, other fish-out-of-water observational routines resound stronger, from the joy of an electric kettle to a vivid description of the taste of a Fisherman’s Friend.

So while Aristeguita’s material might be a little too safe a little too often to get nom-nom-nominated for any awards, Chorizo Sizzle is a tasty feast of good humour. Tuck in!

Review date: 15 Apr 2016
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett