Daniel Kitson

The Athenaeum, Melbourne.

Daniel Kitson returns to Melbourne for the 2008 comedy festival, bringing with him his show full of humanity, dagginess and piss-funny comedy.

Kitson's standup really stands out from the crowd, mainly by virtue of his bare-faced honesty.

Unlike a lot of his contemporaries (for whom he makes no bones about his contempt) Kitson is not just playing a role up there. He's not getting up and being "angry on cue at a pre-arranged time". He's not pretending to be opinionated about things he doesn't care about, just for laughs.

He talks about things that matter to him. And the way he talks makes them matter to the audience.

He talks about the scourge of self-importance. He talks about the lack of genuine compassion in the world. He talks about rage and love and the inability to express out thoughts. Deep stuff, but he does it in a way that has you rolling on the floor, not wisely scratching your chin. And because of this, everything he says makes a connection.

Here's how the show works:

Kitson enters the stage, set only with a microphone and a chair. He hangs his coat on the chair and steps up to the microphone and speaks. The audience is amused, entertained, touched, enriched and enjoined.

Then a few minutes later, you check your watch and find that almost two hours have passed and it's time to go home.

If you get a chance to see Daniel Kitson this festival, don't miss it. He really is a genius.

5 out of 5