Review by Steve Bennett at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Kel Balnaves hampers rather than helps himself with a clunky way of formatting his otherwise robust stand-up set.

Don’t Shirk The Issue is inspired by a pre-match pep talk his insane footy coach once gave, in which he repeated the phrase constantly, despite neither he, nor his players, fully understanding what it meant. 

Balnaves still doesn’t really comprehend the term to this day, so suggests it’s a catch-all phrase that’ll win you an argument in any situation – which he illustrates with increasingly unfunny audio sketches that divide his monologue into sections, each ostensibly an ‘issue’ that shouldn’t be ‘shirked’.

He starts the show in character as that coach, all bug-eyed intensity, gesticulating wildly with his mangled hands. It’s an energetic performance that fires up his audience before he launches into his stories and anecdotes from the everyday life of an ordinary bloke.

These include his frustration at the idiot at the sausage sizzle, childhood memories of parents telling him off for unspecific misdeeds, and an hilarious description of his ill-disciplined freezer regimen. It’s a good mix of vexations that should resonate widely.

Occasionally the relatable nudges into the hack – Lycra-clad cyclists are an easy target, and the idea of never having the canvas bag when out shopping seems too quotidian a complaint – but his game is generally good, with punchy delivery, vivid mental imagery and an engaging manner.

In fact, this Adelaide-based comic should have a bit more confidence in his ability to hold an audience with his solid talents, rather than lean on the rickety conceit of ‘shirking the issue’ that gives the show a needlessly bitty feel, not least because he disappears off stage as each recording is played out. But in the stand-up sections, he gets the job done in an unfussy manner as you’d want from a no-nonsense, down-the-line sort of a guy.

Review date: 3 Apr 2017
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett