Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Forging laughter from trauma has become bread-and-butter  for a festival show. But even by such standards, the emotional gap Franke McNair leaps between the most harrowing past experience and the most joyously celebratory comedy is astoundingly vast.

Huge Ass Mindset is a stinging slap of defiance against the man responsible for her childhood sexual abuse. Rather being crushed by the distress he caused, she has emerged a powerful purveyor of happiness. 

The path has not been easy, she acknowledges, requiring much therapy. But she did all that all off-stage. This is no trauma dump but a proud, powerful and hilarious show, and the best advert the therapy profession could ever hope for.

McNair prefaces proceedings with myriad content warnings and assurances that it’s OK to leave the room if the material gets too much. Anyone who fears they might be triggered could not be in better hands, with the comic navigating the tough stuff with warmth, sensitivity and empathy. Oh, and some really dark jokes. 

Nor is the distressing past what defines McNair’s present. Because of the abuse, she has often wanted to make herself be small, but now she is working to overcome low self-esteem and embrace the titular Huge Ass Mindset – ‘big dick energy’, basically, but neither gendered nor problematic.

And how wholeheartedly she has thrown herself into it. After getting the awful bit out of the way up top – not at the traditional 40-minute point, she jokes – she can get on with the matter in hand: comedy. She’s earned the right to do those grim gags  and does so with a disarmingly radiant twinkle, making them ‘fun and relatable’ against all odds. They are even cheekily accompanied by the dramatic sound effect from Law & Order: SVU.

A rich seam of silliness runs through the show - never more prominent than when she introduces us to a noirish femme fatale with a particularly absurd ocular condition.  See, Huge Ass Mindset is not always overtly about overcoming adversity, sometimes it’s about a dumb prop. And it’s never about being a victim.

Indeed, on stage she’s certainly in charge, exuding a hectic yet controlled energy, in full command of pace and tone, pitching the jokes perfectly. Never ignoring the tension she can bring, but steering us down the off-ramp too. 

McNair – hitherto best known for her sozzled lounge singer alter-ego Tabitha Booth –  also talks about her autism, about being something of a hot mess at 32, and being unable to cope with a salad spinner – but imagining how she might be on Love Island. She’s self-aware, winningly honest and happy to own her moments of stupidity. 

Yet her underlying story does have a shocking twist, too, a moment so outlandish no screenwriter would ever dare suggest it as fiction. It’s a tough moment, but a pivotal one for both McNair and the show, allowing both to ultimately soar to greater heights. 

The community she found in comedy was crucial to her finding a path forward – a reassuringly positive message when we hear so much about the bad side of men, especially, in the business. 

To end up with a show as powerful and as funny as this – fully worthy of its place on the shortlist for most outstanding show of the festival – is testament to the success of that journey. More power to her ass!

• Frankie McNair: Huge Ass Mindset is on at the Victoria Hotel at 6.15pm until Saturday, then 3.30pm and 5.15pm on Sunday.

Review date: 16 Apr 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett