Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Although his relative inexperience still peeks through, Kaileb Hyland’s Melbourne debut is a dependably funny hour of club-style anecdotes.

As a mulleted metalhead from an unsalubrious quarter of Frankston, performing in a small bar basement, there’s often a grimy undercurrent to his stand-up, with tales of mosh-pits and vomit-splattered evenings in squalid clubs.

It sits with his self-deprecating air, established with some fairly standard ‘what I look like’ quips about the likes of his ‘lesbian’ haircut to kebab-fuelled physique. The beta-status of a subculture nerd is further emphases by his social anxiety, failings in bed, and more.

Some of the jokes touch on dark territory, while occasionally he’ll drop a progressive gag about the likes of the gender pay gay that doesn’t immediately sit with that persona. Although there’s no reason this shouldn’t be what a feminist looks like, it does feel slightly tacked-on as the sort of thing he feels like he should talk about.

That’s probably because Hyland – who’s not not a musical comic, despite the AC/DC-inspired pose with a guitar on his artwork – is fairly restrained when it comes to delving too deep into what makes him tick. These are funny, but superficial stories, just wanting that extra reason to warrant an hour-long show.

Review date: 4 Apr 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival