At the top of his latest special, 'Drink. Slay. Repeat.', Joel Creasey makes no promises to deliver the kind of stand-up routine popular with his big name peers.
There won’t be any “hard-hitting political humour”, he’s not too keen on “changing the way you feel about a world issue”, or “[tugging] at your heartstrings”. Instead, he plans on calling celebrities “moles and mingas” for the hour, and anticipates the audience leaving dumber than they arrived.
He finds himself similarly out of place when, among 300 young Australian leaders selected to meet the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Melbourne, he’s one of just three people who get to speak to Meghan Markle. Joel takes a certain glee in recounting the royally buggered-up meet-cute. “I’m in a fight with Meghan Markle! Who am I, Kate Middleton?”
The Tivoli is roaring by the time he gets to the part where he's asked where the royal couple can get a good feed in Melbourne – the only restaurant he can think of is most famous for appearing on a scandalous episode of 'A Current Affair'.
No one is safe from the shade of Perth’s sassiest stand-up: not Michelle Bridges, not The Veronicas, not the Ballarat stalker he acquired last year, not even the security guard employed to protect him from the stalker.
And after gaining notoriety for previous gags featuring Ellie Kemper, Vance Joy and Russell Crowe, Joel makes sure Brisbane gets its fair share of ill-fated encounters with fame. We hear about J.K Rowling’s approval of an on-air gaffe in the Eurovision commentary box, and the aftermath of the comedian’s TV interview with Kylie Minogue at Sydney Mardi Gras this year... Safe to say it wasn’t pretty.
Joel might be known for his star-studded gags, but the stories that give us a glimpse of what might come after 'Drink. Slay. Repeat.' are closer to home. Joel’s mum, Jenny, proves herself the real hero of the special when she takes matters into her own hands after Joel is beaten up on a date. It’s also weirdly heartwarming to hear about the popsicle stick splint he crafts supermodel boyfriend Jack, who is sick at home with a – wait for it – twisted testicle. Yeah.
Like his time on 'I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’, Joel Creasey’s comedy should probably come with the disclaimer ‘Don’t Try This At Home’.
I don't think I left the theatre feeling any smarter, but I definitely left smiling.
