Melbourne comedy festival review by Steve Bennett

If there’s one thing that the Deadly Funny competition proves as it celebrates its tenth year, it’s that there’s no such thing as ‘aboriginal comedy’, with the final offering a mix of styles and skills to match any other new act competition.

After some typically upbeat compering from previous winer Kevin Kropinyeri, the pace slowed for Benny Eggmolesse. Some of his material had an air of familiarity, particularly about black people raising their children by beating them, while other routines that played with the fact white and indigenous people rarely share the same social circle offered more edge. He had a nice, laidback delivery, and his runner-up prize of a mentorship could help build on that.

Desley O’Dwyer’s inexperience showed as she seemed nervous on stage, and took a while to get to the point until she relaxed into the moment. After all, being the single mother of five children is a rich source of material, and she has a engaging physicality to her delivery.

Jack Buckskin has a confident swagger that boosts his stage presence but hinders his jokes – boasting of being hung like a horse is pretty much the level. Derrick Vale, too, went below belt as he spoke of erectile dysfunction adverts and an extended analogy between cricket and menstrual pads that was forced and unrewarding. Which was a shame as he started strongly with quips about being part of the ‘stolen generation’.

Lynette Hubbard looked like she owned the stage as she shimmied on to the backing track, but unfortunately her confidence evaporated as a tale about meeting Princess Diana got mangled in the telling and fell on deaf ears, prompting her to bail on her set. Pity.

Jalen Sutcliffe boasts of being ‘big brown and lovely’ – and you can’t argue with that; he’s a charismatic bundle of upbeat energy who entertained with self-deprecating stories of being scared of frogs, before rousing the crowd with a strip show to display his substantial man boobs (and back boobs, come to that). It’s a great mix of storytelling and showmanship, and rightly won him the top prize.

Joanne Donovan’s stories got lost in a wealth of unnecessary detail, and a discomfort about exactly who we were laughing about in a story involving a dwarf – although it turned out not to be mean-spirited at all. But she has a nice manner to build upon.

Rob Braslin – ‘half aboriginal, half bogan’ – seemed the most experienced of the lot, with a relaxed manner and solid comedy rhythms as he told of pranks and mischief. He can fall into cliche, including the ‘….and so I was kicked out of the store’ pullback; but he was a worthy recipient of the other runners-up place.

After the competition came a showcase of more established indigenous acts. Shiralee Hood has a nice edgy attitude, although the verbal tics or catch-cries could be rationed. More or less every line ends ‘…man’, like a 1960s hippy; every punchline followed with an: ’Exactly.’ And a ‘Brrrrrrr’ thrown in every so often for good measure, too.

Sean Choolburra has the energetic style of hip-hop influenced black American comics, even culminating his set in a breakdance involving an unlikely audience member. It’s a triumph of up-for-it enthusiasm over content, though. 

And finally Andy Saunders, with a slick, gag-heavy set about everything from his poor upbringing to  cyclone names (a bit too overdone in comedy this one), all delivered with a compelling charisma. He too ended with a dance, but with his adorable six-year-old son – so that’s forgiven.

Review date: 17 Apr 2016
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett