Alexandra Neill is a writer and critic based in Melbourne. She blogs at alexandraneill.com.
April 2026
Cassie Workman: You Are Here review – a remarkable standup on a crumbling world
Melbourne international comedy festival This show is an extended metaphor about modern capitalism told through a young boy’s battle with a sentient shopping mall. If that sounds weird, that’s because it is
Anisa Nandaula: No Small Talk review – chatty fun with rising star of Australian comedy
Melbourne international comedy festival The Ugandan-Australian standup has amassed a significant following online with her almost aggressively bubbly audience interactions
Bronwyn Kuss: Bronwyn & Sons review – parchingly dry comedy about success in your late 30s
Dan Rath: Help Me Please review – you won’t find another standup with more jokes a minute
Steph Tisdell: Fat review – standup unpacks a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and disordered eating
March 2026
Scout Boxall: God’s Favourite review – charming standup about one of the worst nights of their life
Melbourne international comedy festival This funny, thoughtful show is a gentle nudge to think about history’s sidelined women and embrace the nerdiest parts of yourself
April 2025
Greg Larsen: Geggy review – a very funny standup on why he’s quitting comedy
Assured performer leads a chaotic journey through his career’s highs and lows – and the decisions that led him to a McDonald’s drive thru …
Lou Wall: Breaking the Fifth Wall review – a silly and profound standup masterpiece
Melbourne international comedy festival, then touring The Australian comedian’s latest show takes a straightforward story about Facebook Marketplace and unravels it into something much more meta
From Classic Penguins to One Man Musical: the best live shows to see at Melbourne international comedy festival and beyond
Lou Wall’s Breaking the Fifth Wall, Aidan Jones’s Chopin’s Nocturne and Laura Davis’s Despair Is Beneath Us are among the comedy shows touring beyond Victoria’s capital
April 2022
Dave: The Opener review – Zoë Coombs Marr’s toxic male comedian is back
Taking in six years of ‘cancel culture’ and events as recent as the Will Smith slap, the comedian’s latest show lacks the polish of her previous
April 2018
Zoë Coombs Marr: Bossy Bottom review – a surprising (and silly) reinvention of standup
Award-winning comedian sheds her alter ego ‘Dave’ but is no less critical of the brash, male-dominated cult of standup
