Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Brett Freeman’s time in America seems to have done him good. His confident, easy-going style has a sharper edge, the delivery boasting just that extra bit of swagger to best sell the punchlines. And boy, has he no shortage of great jokes.

He starts with cultural differences between the nations – bread-and-butter for a travelling stand-up, but Freeman finds both fresh material and a winning way of framing it, a naivety about American ways combined with a more pugnacious Aussie response to being caught out by them.

As he turns into his 30s, the comedian superficially comes across as a slightly laddish, uncomplicated working-class young man from Sydney’s inner suburbs. And well he knows it, for with self-awareness comes subversion.

One of his strongest routines wittily combines those no-nonsense sensibilities, handed down through the ages, with the softer emotional empathy Gen Z are now encouraged to foster. His description of how ‘dumb young man’ energy clashes with sensitive therapy jargon seems to catch the zeitgeist.

Such overlapping sensibilities could apply to himself, too, as he deals in punchy comedy, but ethically sourced. When he could be mocking older people, for example, he praises them for their resilience.

With a similar juxtaposition of contrasting personalities in one body, he introduces us to a right-wing hippy he met, just one of the fine anecdotes that his time in the States –  predominantly Austin, Texas, has yielded – including some Inside Showbusiness gossip from encountering Ice Cube in an airport.  

Freeman was nominated for best newcomer at this festival way back in 2019, but has remained something of an underrated force in Australian comedy. With its stream of consistently strong gags that land hard thanks to his bulletpoint confidence and an easy rapport, Kul ought to right that wrong.

Review date: 17 Apr 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival