As part of the Brisbane Comedy Festival, 'The Project' host Peter Helliar brought 'One Hot Mess' to the Powerhouse (12 March), asking the important questions like “if you can't Netflix and chill, can you Foxtel and finger?”
Early on in the show, it felt as though the audience was slightly awestruck by the fact that a TV personality was standing before them. Eventually, however, Peter made them feel right at home with his quick wit and relatable scrutiny of society.
It was impressive that the show catered to both young and old audience members, with references to marriage – how women are like PacMan and men are like Donkey Kong – all the way to rants about how Jesus has secretly resurrected in the form of iCloud.
Peter burned through myriads of different topics, and the audience was engaged from go to whoa. “This is the kind of stuff I can't talk about on 'The Project',” he laughed.
He spent a good 15 minutes at one stage talking about women on netball teams who volunteer to “fill in” and then never actually show up to games, describing the horror of one particular occasion: his volunteering wife decided not to pick up her phone when being called by the netball coach... Chilling content.
Peter also managed to sneak in his approval of gay marriage, which was met with cheers and applause from the audience. It felt liberating to witness a comedian voicing his stance on this particular issue, and having it be well-received by practically everyone in the room.
It's clear that a performer has true talent when their connection with the audience is not achieved with force or effort, but rather through the performer's genuine ability to make a room full of people feel like old friends at a get-together.
Listening to Peter's wild, comedy-driven anecdotes, it was clear to see that he was the type of man that really tried to turn almost every life experience – good and bad – into pure comedy gold. For this, he should be commended.
'One Hot Mess' cleverly referenced the then and now, observing the behaviours and surroundings of human beings in the 21st century with an unmistakable wit merged with genuine intelligence.
Four and a half out of five stars!
