Comedy
By Dave O’Neil
Rigby’s Bar – Veranda Room
Thursday 12 February

Dave O’Neil has become a household name through his ability to appeal to both the “bogan” and the “ABC watching” side of Australia, usually at the same time. With references to getting his dad’s car stolen at the local pub and to the host of the ABC show Collectors he continues this achievement with Dave O’Neil and Brad Oakes Live!

Kicking off the show was Brad Oakes, who began by being unable to get onto the stage, which quickly became a running joke throughout his set. The rest of his jokes ranged from the ultimate pain of stubbing your toe to picking up a girl 25 years ago. He also heavily relied on audience interaction, which felt a bit forced, as he was unable to establish enough of a rapport with the audience to make us willing to participate. This was not helped by remarks he made throughout that the show wasn’t going well, when the mostly mature aged audience seemed to be greatly enjoying themselves.

Dave O’Neil, as the more famous name, was who everyone was there to see, and it is clear to see why he is as successful as he is. He started off by making on-point jokes about Perth (Mandurah is Indigenous for “bogans by the beach”) and makes quips about what Tony Abbott would have been like at school, both sure-fire ways of getting the audience onside. He then continued on to talk about his life and especially his dad (who grew up in Inglewood but left before the BMW’s started moving in) and his brothers. He illustrated his jokes with slides of photos of him as a boy (or with that haircut possibly a girl). Although bumpy in places, his first show for the year was bound to have bumps.  O’Neil kept up such a steady pace and laughed at himself as much as we laughed with him that any bumps were insignificant in the funny and comfortable atmosphere he created. His conversation with the front row every now and then worked too, as any jokes made at their expense felt like an old mate poking genial fun.

Brad Oakes started the show better than he thought he did himself, but he mostly set us eagerly waiting for the main attraction. And only a few minutes of his performance, instead of sitting on plastic chairs in the upstairs room of a bar, it felt like we’d been transported to Dave O’Neil’s own living room where he’d invited us round for dinner and was telling us hilarious stories of his life and getting out the occasional photo album.

Dave O’Neil and Brad Oakes Live! continues until Saturday 14 February at 8pm. You can book tickets here.