Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Cringe-inducing teenage memories have been fuelling comedians for years, now Cameron James has packed his up into this cheerfully entertaining hour about his youthful rock-star ambitions – and picked up a ‘most outstanding show’ nomination for his efforts.

We start with the adult comedian giving a Wonder-Years-style voiceover to footage of his 16-year-old self. He and his outfit, Electric Dreams, are just about to do the biggest gig of their lives, the high school’s Battle Of The Bands, with a setlist that includes their heartfelt ballad A Love That Makes The Roses Cry.

If that clichéd, overblown title makes you laugh, this is the show for you, as James has a guitar case full of awful band names (Nu Prophecy, Tears & Roulette…) cheesy song titles and insincere lyrics. 

He sang about sex and drugs and punkish rebellion – with zero experience of any of these things. And now, after rediscovering a cache of teenage notebooks containing these masterpieces, he’s ready to rock out again – but now with a raised eyebrow towards the preposterous fake earnestness of that young man.

As a rundown of embarrassing tracks, Electric Dreams runs the risk of repetition, which Cameron doesn’t entirely dodge. But he’s put in some structural tentpoles to reduce the risk, such as sharing the encounters her had with his hero – former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns – and, guess what?, their first meeting ended in ignominy too.

The narrative also takes an unexpected turn, while there’s the obligatory final thought that spins a life lesson from the reflections on the rock career that never was.

James is a thoroughly engaging stage presence, upbeat and animated and excelling at the easy to-and-fro with the audience that gives a looser edge to a tightly-scripted show. And while his content might essentially be slight, he’s built it up into a rock-and-rollickingly good time.

• Cameron James: Electric Dreams is on at Comedy Republic at 7.10pm until April 23 and 8.10pm on April 24.

Review date: 20 Apr 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival