Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Even if you couldn’t tell from the title, you pretty quickly know what you’re going to get with Tom Witcombe, as he kicks off his hour with a set list of all the provocative topics he’s going to address. 

Expect jokes about paedophiles, abortion, pornography, and tragedies as he sneers at poor people, or women. Anyone, essentially, who’s not a cynical upper-middle-class white guy like him.

The jokes are ironic, of course they are. Nasty, but not THAT nasty. Witcombe is not an out-and-out edgelord, rather he’s flirting with the idea of being an offensive, crass prick. He would never really say the things that he just said. 

On a practical level, he’s a pretty decent writer of hard-punchline jokes – sometimes even an excellent one – but the approach seems a bit dated, and we’ve already got one Jimmy Carr.  

Like Carr, the Sydney-based comedian has an air of smug superiority and is entirely impersonal. He doesn’t want to share anything about himself other than being a vessel for the intellectually clever, if entirely amoral, one-liners. It makes the tone is relentless, leaving you gasping for some light and shade.  

The gags that emerge from some logical progression, however misguided, tend to be the better than the blunter instruments that cut straight to the harshness.

The comedians in the room, of whom there are several, seem to love it most, maybe admiring the undeniable craft or maybe just craving the hard stuff. Sometimes the rest of the crowd pull back – which Witcombe acknowledges, then ploughs ahead regardless.

Despite such misgivings in this room, there is a huge market for Witcombe’s style of comedy. His festival blurb brackets him with the likes of ofter offence-baiting male stand-ups like Ricky Gervais, Anthony Jeselnik and Louis CK, and there’s certainly shared ground if that’s your bag. 

Review date: 9 Apr 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival