Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Obviously Tom Cashman’s show is geeky – but in the same way as those PR-generated ‘news’ stories which claim something like: ‘scientists have created the perfect formula for loading your nacho chips.’ It’s fun, but real nerds might complain about the flagrant misuse of their beloved science.

That can be expressed in the following graph:

Actually, though, the titular graphs are only a small part of this PowerPoint-dependent documentary stand-up show, which is sure to invite comparison with Dave Gorman.

Cashman is a similarly playful comedian, starting with some witty ‘self-appreciating’ stand-up to give himself a boost and a gag or two demonstrating he’s not averse to some Wikipedia vandalism in service of a good punchline. However, the routine about ‘small penis prejudice’ is cheap and barely in keeping with the more authentic tone of the rest of the entertaining hour.

That revolves around a couple of incidents that landed social media-loving Cashman in the headlines last year. First, after tiring of all the red tape he had to go through to secure a lease on a Sydney property, he cheekily asked a prospective landlord for THEIR references. 

He went viral again after his cleaners left his garbage in the street – a clear eyesore and health hazard that rightly attracted an angry letter from a neighbour, which Cashman posted online to mock the disproportionate intensity of the fury.

All this media coverage attracted the attention of the producers of the reality show Beauty And The Geek. His routine about auditioning for the role he never wanted is a stand-out of the show, especially when it called his – and possibly the planet’s – most embarrassing interview ever. Interestingly, this segment requires not graphs nor PowerPoint, just his natural storytelling skills, of which he possesses plenty.

Meanwhile, his references-for-landlords joke has gained political traction as a genuine idea to help rebalance the broken housing market. A campaigning comedian would have been delighted with this, but Cashman reacts with disbelief that a silly gag is being taken seriously. It makes him something of a passenger in his own story, so we’re not quite invested in the idea's progress.

But it remains a funny tale, delightfully told with easy charm and a good sense of pace and structure. The trajectory of Cashman’s career graph is definitely upwards.

• Tom Cashman: Graphs is on at Melbourne Town Hall at 6pm until April 22.

Review date: 19 Apr 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival