Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

For a man set on breaking records, Julian O’Shea might be able to claim the dubious title of having the most air miles flown to create a Melbourne comedy festival show. 

The proud geek’s stories have him travelling up Chilean volcanoes, taking mammoth rail trips around China, and island-hopping back and forth across the Pacific, all in the service of setting a Guinness World Record.

The book delighted the young O’Shea in the 1990s with its exotic facts about the people with the most tattoos or the longest mullet and he’s made it his life’s ambition to get into its hallowed pages himself. Just like former Prime Minister Bob Hawke who earned a mention for sculling a yard of ale – 2.5 pints – in 11 seconds.

That story features in O’Shea’s brief history of the book, first published to settle pub disputes in a pre-internet age – even if there are questions about the veracity of early records – up to its modern incarnation with corporate tie-ins.

But it’s the Melburnian's exploits in trying to secure his place in the tome that are the show’s backbone, and even if some of the challenges seem pointlessly obscure, he pursues them with passion. The brief appearance of a nemesis besting one of his achievements adds an extra note of jeopardy, but his biggest opponent is logistics.

One For The Record Books is presented more like a talk than a stand-up routine, but O’Shea’s a very entertaining guide with just the right about of self-deprecation about how ridiculous his endeavours are. Yet his zest for them is infectious and has the audience willing him to succeed.

For his day job, he’s an educator and creator of delightfully nerdy online content that would be right up the street of any QI fan – and his love of arcane knowledge and quirky challenges is palpable.

His hour is also impeccably put together, and even seasoned comics could learn a thing or two about structure and elegant callbacks from him. The educator’s still educating…

Review date: 20 Apr 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett