Strangely appealing and spectacularly funny

By Margaret Wieringa

Meet Dave. Dave is a veteran comedian, blokey as can be, who is dealing with the fallout on social media from his first comedy festival show. The Feminazis and haters have torn him down, and so he has given up stand-up for the world of mime after some serious clown training at the highly respected French  clown school, Gaulier.

From the moment Zoe Coombs Marr comes onstage as Dave, with his gross neckbeard and monobrow, she connects with the audience. And straight away, the audience is on board with the misogynist with a sensitive side. We want to hear more of his horrible jokes, we hope that he will figure out where he is taking his mime, and we quite like meeting his inner clown. Even if he thinks she is not at all funny.

The Comedy Festival runs over so many different spaces across Melbourne, some which are huge and spacious, but many are cosy (read cramped!) and oddly shaped. The Acacia Room is one of the odd ones  – long, with a relatively small stage at one end. It can be a bit tricky for the audience if you are seeing anything other than standard stand-up comedy, because if you are not in the first few rows, it’s hard to see what is happening. Zoe seemed very aware of this however, and made sure that visual gags were seen by all. Mind you, so much of the comedy came from her fabulous facial expressions – oh, that stare!

I feel like it’s going to be a long time before I recover from this show. I cannot remember a show that made me laugh so exhaustively. If you are after something absolutely hilarious that takes you on an extremely surreal journey and leaves you and everyone around you somewhat wasted, get to Victoria Hotel and check out Trigger Warning.

Where: Victoria Hotel, 215 Little Collins St Melbourne

When: Tues-Sat 9:45, Sun 8:45

Tickets: $18-25  www.comedyfestival.com.au or Ticketmaster 1300 660 013

(Suitable for audiences 18+)