Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Lloyd Langford’s career has soared since he left the UK for Australia, primarily down to his appearances on the panel show Have You Been Paying Attention?, which means he can fill a 250-plus seat venue on a weeknight.

That show also earned him a certain notoriety when he made a harsh quip about Princess Beatrice’s appearance that landed him on the (web) pages of the Daily Mail. Though he claims he’s not proud of the gag, here he doubles, triples and quadruples down on it – while savaging the wider Royal Family.

But he does so in a languid Welsh drawl that lulls you into a false sense of security. Langford’s soft delivery does not suggest he will be particularly brutal – but he can be when needed. And because he has such a good way with words, conjuring up hilarious images, the punchlines hit all the harder.

His easy-going persona and a faux wide-eyed innocence also conceal a comic sharpness. So while he can have a pop at anti-vaxxers, the funnier moments are when he casually tells one protester about a worrying grammatical error on their placards.

A thread running through the show is the new daughter the 38-year-old stand-up and his partner, fellow comic Anne Edmonds, welcomed this year. That came much to the shock of the ‘apothecary’ in the hippy enclave of Byron Bay – which Langford vividly describes – that sold them a fertility concoction that even they apparently knew was bunkum.

Some routines built on whimsy are a little too slight, such as pretending he was the man who brought Melbourne traffic to a standstill by climbing on top of a tram, but the notion seems to tickle him.

He’s stronger when there’s a sense of helpless frustration behind the jokes, such as a great routine about a missed delivery turning into a convoluted Kafkaesque quest for his package. But that’s the only fumbled delivery in this entertaining, easy-going show.

• Lloyd Langford: Dilf is on at Melbourne Town Hall at 7.45pm (6.45pm Sunday, no show Monday) until April 24.

Review date: 15 Apr 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival