Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

The ritualistic behaviour of a church service is always ripe for parody, and Andrea Barello offers a clown’s eye view of all the pomp and ceremony involved.

What is the sign of the cross if not a mime? And with Barello in the dog collar, the hand movement for the invocation rarely follows the usual pattern. Holy water gets sloshed around liberally, call-and-responses are subverted and when he reads a passage about Lot from the Bible, he is stunned to discover that it’s about drunken incest. We even get a conjuring trick, of sorts.

Although he’s messing about, Barello maintains a calm, benign demeanour, preserving the dignity of his position to reinforce his clerical alter-ego’s exalted position. The parodies land especially  hard with some members of his flock (whom he calls ‘little sheep’) – Catholics, presumably, with their ingrained memories triggered.

One game punter is the subject of an exorcism, while a Confessional session is less fruitful as Barello seems flummoxed about the problems his up-for-it congregation bring him. The Italian largely just sits there listening with a confused seraphic smile before offering a trite aphorism. Though maybe this awkward moment is simply an accurate reflection of the real clergy.

When he passes a collection bag around the congregation, the expectation is that he might improvise something with the eclectic hoard of items he collects, but no such luck. It’s just the church’s haul for the night.

Still, the show, or service, engenders a fun, late-night community spirit, especially when the ‘party padre’ leads us in a merry dance. We can all say ‘amen’ to that.

• Andrea Barello: Full of Grace is at Bard's Apothecary at 10.30pm until April 18.

Review date: 16 Apr 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival