Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Dilruk Jayasinha knows how to turn misery into comedy, having previously created a lucrative stand-up show about having a heart attack in his mid-30s.

The universe has certainly provided plenty of raw material for his 2026 offering, with the comic finding himself alone at 40, beset by further health problems and worrying about hair loss. His self-esteem hit a low when he became repulsed by his own fart. 

Gratitude Guy charts his therapy-inspired efforts to seek the positives in these myriad negative experiences – and the fact he can produce such good stand-up material from them is surely high on the list.

Complaining about his lot in life is the backbone of the show. He hits us with several fast-talking, hard-hitting routines that ramp up the misfortune, each one building an irresistible head of comic steam before he takes his foot off the gas and allows us to relax before the next onslaught.

Some experiences are clearly funny set-ups, such as getting a colonic irrigation, though his frankness about more uncomfortable subjects  –like the erectile dysfunction he suffered as a result of painkillers taken to deal with an extruded disc – add grit to the cheerfully self-aware jokes he makes about them.

The ED experience triggers a routine about the time he had the opposite problem – as a 22-year-old getting a massage with a happy ending triggered way too readily. Dick, fart and poop gags might be easy pickings, but through the lens of first-hand experience, Jayasinha avoids them seeming hack.

He certainly doesn’t shy away from the darker side of things. His material about needing a relationship goes significantly deeper than the usual ‘so I’m single…’ routines, even if the gags sugarcoat it. 

Seeking answers, he tried magic mushrooms - only to have another near death experience – but the real wisdom eventually comes from a very unusual source, leading him towards the gratitude he was so desperate to find.

The messaging is laid on a bit thick towards the end, but he certainly provided lots of laughs, often self-deprecating ones, along the way. For that, we can be grateful.

• Dilruk Jayasinha: Gratitude Guy is on at the Victoria Hotel at 8.45pm tonight and 7.45pm tomorrow.

Review date: 18 Apr 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival