Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Vulnerability is the default for so many comedians who use their festival shows to share their weaknesses and insecurities. Bron Lewis – joint winner of last year’s Raw new talent hunt – has no truck with that.

‘We’re not going to think about yukky things,’ she asserts. ‘We are just going to have a nice time.’ Vulnerability, in her book, is a selfish indulgence,

And she certainly delivers on that, with delightfully told anecdotes drawn from her past and present. As a poor kid who attended private school, class mortification was never far away, whether it was her mother dressing inappropriately to watch her at netball or picking her up in the family jalopy that screamed embarrassment compared to the other mums’ spotless luxury cars.

But her mum’s cheery attitude meant this never left emotional scars, just another great story to share in her naturally charismatic, conversational style. She talks of the scammers and irritants who populate Facebook Marketplace, takes guilty pleasure in seeing someone being attacked by a magpie, and reminisces about Chiko Roll adverts of the past, considering the leather-clad model brandishing the snack as a powerful woman to be emulated.

True to her optimistic credo, she always tries to see the best in situations – empathising, for example, with teenagers forever portrayed as problematic in local newspaper headlines. Though the sour-faced woman who refused to engage with Lewis’s baby on a plane deserves less sympathy. But generallythe comedian gets on with life, and if there are any difficulties, it’s fingers in the ears and ‘la, la, la’ till they blow over.

She has a skilful, natural delivery, in control of her material and holding the audience rapt without seeming to make an effort. And while the stories are disparate, a theme subtly emerges that maybe Lewis isn’t quite as chill as she makes out – but without ever labouring the point. If this is the guiding hand of director Claire Hooper, then chapeau to her.

But that is not to take away from Lewis’s innate yarn-spilling abilities that make her a very welcome addition to the comedy festival circuit.

• Bron Lewis: Probably is on at The Westin hotel at 7.40pm 6.40pm Sundays, not Mondays) until April 23 (

Review date: 8 Apr 2023
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival