Ten antipodean shows who have already made a splash down under

Kicking off our annual season of Edinburgh Fringe previews is this list of ten Australian and New Zealand acts that had strong runs at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival earlier this year…

1. Dan Rath: Tropical Depression 

For a man who portrays himself as an abject loser, Dan Rath is a surprisingly frequent winner, including scooping the Director’s Choice Award in Melbourne and Best Of The Fest in Sydney this year.  Our five-star review of his latest hour, Tropical Depression, drew attention to the unique way his mind works and the relentless onslaught of inventive punchlines from the bewildering misery that is his low-status life.

Monkey Barrel at Cabaret Voltaire, 6.40pm

2. Jessica Barton: Dirty Work 

The Ecole Philippe Gaulier clown school has produced a number of memorable Fringe performers in recent years, and Jessica Barton looks set to join their ranks with this, her quirky take on the prim, Mary Poppins, perfect housekeeper character. She also brings her musical theatre background to bear on her alter-ego, singing merrily along as she teaches the audience how to keep everything spick and span. The show – nominated for best newcomer in Melbourne – is great fun, with the audience participation 100 per cent voluntary, and with undertones about women’s invisible labour and more, should you care to look. Original review.

Underbelly Cowgate, 5.25pm

3. Robyn Reynolds:  What Doesn't Kill You 

Also on Melbourne’s best newcomer shortlist was British-born, Australian-based Robyn Reynolds with this impressive and funny show in three acts. The first is about her alcoholic, narcissist of a mother – a caricature akin to Ab Fab’s Edina Monsoon, though with darker undercurrents. The second about her ill-fated move to Australia with her father, and the third about medical issues that raise worrying points. The transition from broad comedy to serious issues is seamless, and even in the show’s grimmer moments she remains buoyant and good-natured in the telling, even though she would have every right not to be.  Original review. 

Assembly Roxy, 5.40pm

4. Brett Blake: Little Scallywag 

Goodness knows why the title of this show was changed from the Australian dates, when it was called Little Turd – an expression that more accurately describes Brett Blake’s behaviour as a teenager when he was arrested and charged with instigating a riot, disorderly conduct and assaulting a police officer. ‘Scallywag’ conveys a more naive mischief than that… Nonetheless, this show offers a sharp social commentary on his working-class background that puts his unruly behaviour in context, without excusing it, and carries a message about the power of redemption. Yet such points are not laboured in a raucous, laughs-first hour from a compellingly rambunctious comic.  Original review.

Assembly George Square Studios, 8pm

5. Kate Dolan: The Critic

A British comic who splits her time between Sydney and London, Kate Dolan felt like one of the discoveries of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival: an unhyped act playing in an unprepossessing bar basement who’s more inventive and funny than many of the big names. There are elements of Harry Hill and Terry Alderton in her frenetic fever dream of surreal consciousness. It’s a blast. Original review.

Assembly George Square, 6.25pm

6. Lou Wall: Breaking The Fifth Wall

The third Edinburgh Fringe show from comedy dynamo Lou Wall offers more of the Gen Z native digital mashups we’ve come to expect as they expand on a hilarious story they’ve  previously told about trying to get shot of a bed on Facebook marketplace to a weirdly obstinate woman. The question the hugely likeable Wall is most often asked is ‘is it true?’, which is kinda answered in this oblique show, directed by Aussie festival stalwart  Zoe Coombs Marr.  Original review (including a video of that pivotal  ‘Where is bed?’ routine).

Monkey Barrel Comedy, 10pm

7. Two Hearts: Don’t Stop Throbbing 

The Kiwi musical comedy powerhouses are a late addition to the Fringe, but a welcome one. The divaish Laura Daniel and her beta hubby Joseph Moore always serve up a riot of a gig with all the sensibilities of a full-on pop concert – and this is no exception. Expect a metal song about pescatarianism, a not-entirely sincere country track about men’s mental health, and a Six-inspired musical-theatre number about the wives of a modern-day despot, all as catchy as they are funny. Original review. 

Pleasance Courtyard, 8pm

8. Bronwyn Kuss: I'll Allow It

With her wry, cynical delivery, Bronwyn Kuss has exemplary command of comedy timing, amply demonstrated in this droll storytelling hour celebrating ‘unprofitable and unproductive pursuits’, such as the bizarre games she invented with her brother in her tiny Queensland town growing up. Original review

Assembly George Square, 7.45pm

9. Emma Holland: Don't Touch My Trinkets

In this hour, Emma Holland offers a freewheeling, often bonkers, ride into the ethics of using other people in your art, whether it be comedy or photography. It’s explored through  amusing stand-up stories of her own experiences, pithy one-liners and some off-the-wall moments that are barely apropos of the subject in hand, fuelling the sense of muckabout fun that prevails.  Original review.

Assembly George Square, 9pm

10. Laura Davis: Despair Is Beneath Us 

Now based in Scotland, Laura Davis always has a vaunting ambition for their personal, philosophical and political shows, an invigorating blend of intelligence and humanity. Despair Is Beneath Us speaks of resilience and stoicism, qualities we all need to draw upon at these times – both geopolitically, and to cope with the rigours of the Edinburgh Fringe.  Original review

Monkey Barrel Comedy, 5.45pm

Published: 7 Jul 2025