Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Dilly Dallying is not the show it’s described as. In what could be one big meta joke, Melanie Bracewell hasn’t written the billed hour about procrastination, and instead tells the story of how she got engaged after a chequered dating history, defined by her encounters with what she calls the Four Fuckboys Of The Apocalypse.

From these horror stories of conspiracy theorists and short kings, she weave in talk of freezing her eggs as she turns 30, doomscrolling with your hands full and – the big one – the attritional war she’s waging with her neighbours over the bins.

Warm and buoyant, she’s a queen of the engagingly gossipy style of stand-up that’s most readily likened to mates catching up over a sav blanc to download all their personal stories. Cheeky, witty and very accessible, her lively storytelling is a safe bet for any comedy audience.

Bracewell's tales are liberally dotted with gags, even if they are often corny and occasionally hackneyed. She’s not above a pun confusing Wales and whales, for instance. Indeed the tentpole story of how her autistic partner proposed to her hinges on one big dad joke.

The disarming, sparkling Kiwi is also a careful craftswoman, and the anecdotes weave together nicely, with callbacks and other surprises belying the structure behind what superficially appear to be routines connected only by her natural, freeflowing style.

The flip side is that show can feel slightly too engineered, making us feel so secure in her company that the potential thrills of stand-up have been sanded down. And that saga of the bins doesn’t quite carry enough drama to get us emotionally invested. We even know from the get-go that she gets engaged in the end, though there is a twist – her best, in fact – to that yarn. But still she’s got the charisma to make it an enjoyable ride.

• Melanie Bracewell: Dilly Dallying is at Max Watts at 7.30pm (6.30pm Sundays; no show Mondays) until April 19 and at 4pm at Melbourne Town Hall on Saturday 11.

Review date: 7 Apr 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival