The funniest things I saw at Sydney Comedy Festival – Plus, the encore shows you can still catch

Sydney's biggest annual comedy event just wrapped for another year, and I want to give a nod to some of the most hilarious, off-the-wall, and delightful shows I managed to catch during Sydney Comedy Festival's huge 20th anniversary year.
Plus, hot tip: the laughs aren't over! There is an assortment of encore performances coming up for some of the festival's most popular shows. This includes the winner of the Best of the Fest Award, Dan Rath's Tropical Depression – a razor-sharp offbeat observational show offering Rath's fresh take on a broad range of topics from Uber rides to moving to Korea, chatbots and more. (Tropical Depression is playing an encore at the Comedy Store on Friday, August 8. You can book tickets here.)
Highlights of Sydney Comedy Festival 2025
Ruby Teys – Cherry Vinyl: Coober Pedy's Last Show Girl
★★★★★
Ruby Teys' cabaret-esque style is the very definition of prawn cocktail comedy: delicious, decadent, somewhat perplexing, and always existing one minor but dangerous temperature change away from turning your stomach. The ingredients probably shouldn't work together, and yet, she tosses them together with a dash of showgirl chutzpah and mad genius, leaving audiences rolling in regular roars of laughter – satiated, but always hungry for more. Much like a prawn, the body horror also makes it even better (The Substance 's special effects team simply can't compete with what happens to a Gold Coast showgirl after a few too many komodo dragon placenta pills). Also, she appears in a bedazzled prawn costume. What more could you want?
Nostalgically and politically irreverent, Coober Pedy's Last Show Girl is a comedy with two buttons undone on the working class. From following the 'dingo proof fence' to the Gold Coast in order to pursue her dream of becoming a glamorous showgirl, Cherry Vinyl's story is a parable for the little Australians, for the underdogs, for the blind blonde mole in all of us. Incorporating animation, pre-recorded footage, costume changes, old fashioned razzle dazzle, the right amount of crude jokes and some top notch physical comedy, Teys delivers a character performance that simply must be inducted into the Australian consciousness. There's even a frank meditation on the intersection of power and gender and body modification, if you should choose to read into it. All in all, a solid six tits out of five.
Thalia Joan – Dear Future Memoir
★★★★☆
A talented storyteller with a real knack of unhinged brilliance, Thalia Joan is the kind of comedian who can get a whole room singing along, karaoke-style, to 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' by British glam-rock-revivalists, The Darkness. And that's exactly what she does in her latest show, Dear Future Memoir. A suitcase-full of stories from her recent fever dream of a trip to the United States – where, spoiler alert, her suitcase never actually joined her – it's a somewhat looser affair than her previous, more tightly scripted shows. (And that may or may not have something to do with the copious amount of cold 'n flu pills she had to snaffle down ahead of her Sydney Comedy Festival run.) But Thalia has the kind of enigmatic presence that thrives in chaos, winning over an audience with witty quips, kooky mannerisms, effervescent energy, and even some amateur keyboard skills.
While her therapist may be dismissive about her habit of excusing all of her most self-destructive decisions as 'doing it for the memoir', Thalia proves that she is living out stories that are worth sharing – and in doing so, she encourages us to be bolder, too. (And besides, no man who passes off memeable quotes as billable wisdom can tell us otherwise!)
Breaking the Musical
★★★★☆
In the long run, it turns out that the threat of being sued by Rachel Gunn herself was the best publicity that this little-low-budget-show-that-could could've asked for. Sydney-based comedian Stephanie Broadbridge writes and stars in this satisfyingly silly, unauthorised musical satire that is definitely not about a certain Australian hopeful's journey to compete as a break dancer at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Supported by a hardworking ensemble, Broadbridge (as 'Spraygun') strikes the perfect balance in this clever and creative show, painting 'Spraygun' with a relatively sympathetic brush while also holding space for the genuine concerns that certain communities might have about a white woman of a certain demographic representing a dance style pioneered by marginalised communities on the world stage.
Breaking the Musical is able to poke fun at the absurdity of certain strains of academia, as well as the absurdity of taking any sort of artform and trying to rank and judge it on a scale, all while exploring what the Australian identity means in today's world (with a 'Nutbush'-esque instructional dance thrown in for good measure). This show is also packed with a delightful grab-bag of musical references for the theatre fanatics to get down with, as well as nods to British pantomime, some genuinely impressive French mime action, and some bedazzled green tracksuits to boot.
Playing out over about an hour, Breaking is able to pack in a lot without overstaying its welcome. The ending doesn't tie up neatly, leaving us somewhat baffled and somewhat bemused, but this actually lines up rather well with the real story that may or may not have inspired it. This is comedy theatre that is low-budget, high-stakes, and thoroughly entertaining – something that all Aussies need to see.
(Follow @stephbroadbridge on Instagram for updates about Breaking the Musical.)
Reuben Kaye – The Party's Over
★★★★☆
Reuben Kaye reaffirms why he is one of the best entertainers Australia has ever accidentally produced with his latest solo show, The Party's Over. In a show that re-treads some of his greatest hits and sprinkles in some updated social commentary and personal anecdotes, Reuben is able to keep everyone on the edge of their seats with his bitingly intelligent and shamelessly raunchy antics as he struts across the Enmore Theatre stage (and playfully taunts unsuspecting folks in the audience). As fans might be aware, the last time Reuben was at this venue, his show had been considerably postponed after threats were made by far-right 'Christian activists' over a certain Jesus joke on a certain primetime television appearance went down famously well. That 2023 performance was a triumph, and this one in 2025 is a total home run. The best part of a Reuben Kaye show is not just how much he'll make you laugh (and that's a lot), but how he'll leave you feeling energised, and ready to fight back against conservative bores.

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Daily Mirror

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Mirror's Daily Digest - New Madeleine McCann search update to driverless taxis

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Oti Mabuse's baby heartache - 'I could only touch her through glass window' In other news, our Showbiz team exclusively covered Oti Mabuse's heartache after the Strictly Come Dancing star travelled to west Africa to meet stricken mums nursing premature tots. The pro dancer, 34, returned to a neonatal unit for the first time since she endured a 16-hour labour with her daughter, who arrived two months early, weighing 3lbs, in 2023. ‌ The baby spent the next six weeks in intensive care at University College London Hospital after she was born with an infection and Oti developed sepsis. Baby and mother recovered, but the Dancing On Ice judge has revealed her trauma after visiting a UNICEF-funded specialist clinic in Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) in Africa. Reflecting on her own experience, Oti said: 'I remember the only way I could touch my child and have skin-on-skin was through this glass window – there's no mother who wants to experience that.' 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Metro

06-06-2025

• Metro

I went to Cannes Film Festival on a £30 daily budget — here's what happened

Cannes in May is a star-studded circus, stuffed to the gills with black-tie galas, red carpet premieres and yacht parties. The world-famous film festival is also the busiest two weeks of the year for a film journalist, rubbing elbows with celebrities but living a very different experience: lugging laptops across town, planning power naps and fretting over a rapidly dwindling bank balance. During the festival, working days often stretch longer than 16 hours — this is my third year in the trenches. I eat on the go, where and when I can. My priority is to catch as many screenings as possible during waking hours, but a close second is keeping costs low – around £30 per day – in a city known for glitz and glamour. Hollywood and the French Riviera are a decadent and elitist mix. This year's festival saw the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Dakota Johnson, Robert Pattinson, Denzel Washington, Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio and Paul Mescal roll in. 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That results in a €24 (£20.20) spaghetti alle vongole accompanied by an €8 (£6.73) glass of prosecco at Da Tina 33 Cannes. Total spend = €46.40 (£39.06). Regrets = zero. Cannes is never going to be a cheap destination. Its glamorous reputation precedes it, so my best advice is to spend that little bit of extra time walking further away from the Palais to seek out the best quality food and booze. Up Rue Saint-Antoine's cobblestones further into Le Suquet is a good place to start. More Trending A pizza from Tredici, for example, is worth stretching the budget for (from €14-32, £11.78-26.94) – and the best recommendations, from friends, are worth their weight in gold. Hotel costs soar during the festival – up to six times their usual price, I've noted – so if you're not interested in soaking up that cinematic atmosphere, steer clear and visit at another time of year. But if you want to revel in the A-list atmosphere, where anyone can walk past you (I accidentally almost collided with Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge one year), book early – pre-Christmas. And, of course, sniff out those €10 champagnes where you can. easyJet flies from London Gatwick to Nice up to seven days a week year- round, with prices starting from £34.99 pp (one-way, including taxes). Double rooms at ibis Cannes Centre start from £68 per night. Travellers booking now can enjoy 25% off stays with the Accor Summer Sale. Book by 11th June 2025 for a minimum stay of three nights between 4th July and 7th September 2025. Members of Accor's free-to-join global loyalty program ALL – Accor Live Limitless can save up to additional 10% on their booking. 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Daily Mirror

04-06-2025

• Daily Mirror

It takes a twisted mind to bookmark a city's pain as potential comedy material.

While so-called comic Andrew Lawrence defends his right to laugh about Liverpool victims, private clubs have the right not to book him We are the knee deep in a generation determined to exercise its right to set its own trousers on fire for likes, retweets and attention. In our post-truth era, where standards, morals and actual shame are relics of a bygone age, anything goes. ‌ Which leads us to a performer - this column is not referring to him as a comedian - called Andrew Lawrence. ‌ Most of us have been with Liverpool, a city still reeling the incident in which a car was driven thrown crowds at the Premier League club's title-winning parade last week. While the carnage included firefighters needing to rescue three adults and a child trapped under a car, attention-seeking Lawrence saw their trauma as an opportunity to road-test some new material. His remarks on social media remain too offensive to repeat in this column. His attempts to double down on them equally so. For people like Lawrence there would appear to be no line, no boundaries of taste and decency. He woulds go on dismiss his offensive posts as 'mild', adding a string of further, despicable remarks attacking the people of Liverpool. A reminder here that at least 65 people were injured in that Liverpool incident. It remains a miracle that nobody died. ‌ So it takes a twisted mind of some proportions to bookmark the pain of a nation as potential comedic material. Mercifully, the response from comedy establishments across the country has been swift and decisive. ‌ One, Caddies in Southend, immediately cancelled an upcoming gig at which Lawrence was scheduled to perform, saying it did not "condone or support" his remarks. The Comedy Store in London went further. 'He is not welcome at any of our events or venues. His name will never appear on a bill associated with us,' it said. ‌ In a hard-hitting statement, the world-renowned venue added: 'We work with brilliant comedians from across the UK and beyond and we believe in the power of comedy to challenge, uplift and connect - not to target people in moments of real pain. 'That's not comedy. It's cruelty, plain and simple. Mocking a hurting community says far more about him than it ever could about this city. 'Promoters and comedians who continue to book or share a stage with him should think carefully about what that says to audiences. ‌ 'If you're standing by him, you're standing against everything this industry should represent.' ‌ Lawrence responded by insisting in his Instagram defence that he has just finished a nationwide tour and has no plans to do another one any time soon. Predictably, some of the entitled comedy set - convinced they have a pass to try and elicit laughter from every single scenario, regardless of how traumatised the victims - tried to put their heads above the parapet on this one. But real comedy is when we punch up, no down. If kids trapped under cars is suitable material for clowns who want to make a name for themselves then our meltdown as a society really will be faster than first thought. ‌ Laughably, Lawrence is still taking aim at his critics, claiming selective outrage. Tellingly, however, he has been disabling replies to his tweets and has even embarked on a blocking spree. Yep, he was brave enough to dish it out but too terrified to take it. ‌ Even some fans of his right wing humour decided he'd crossed a bridge too far, treating his words and his disgraceful defence of them with the derision they deserved. Lawrence also accused Caddies, the venue that axed him, of 'losing their courage after being bombarded with abuse and threats of violence from online trolls'. It was an attempt to mischaracterise the justified anger from the sensible majority questioning whether his puerile remarks were really going to be indulged at the venue. Because while he might believe he can say what he likes with no limits, private comedy clubs have the absolute right to decide who does and does not perform at their establishments. Thank goodness his 15 minutes of fame are approaching the final few seconds.