As perhaps a response to shows such as ‘Mum’s The Word’, the show Who’s Your Daddy? gave four fathers the opportunity to relay the humour of raising children. Each comic took to the stage solo and spent ten to fifteen minutes to tell their amusing stories about family life and their offspring.
Acting as MC for the evening’s proceedings was Terry North. In between introducing the other performers, he regaled plenty of stories including some hilarious tales about the birth of his children. There was something about his delivery and English accent that gave an ‘old school comic of the UK Clubs’ feel about him (thankfully without the tired mother in law jokes!). Having been on the circuit for a number of years he was able to effortlessly pepper his wonderful stories with punchy jokes, put the audience at ease with some gentle banter and keep the evening rolling along.
With Pete Melrose having to pull out of the show due to a family emergency, a replacement dad was found in Paul Hastings. Beginning with a number of feeler jokes, I was worried that he hadn’t been briefed on the shows’ concept but he soon veered into fatherhood territory. He included a number of jokes that put down his wife which were on the crude side. These were met with little response which he attempted to laugh off on account of his English accent. Seeing as they didn’t do well with the predominantly male audience I was part of, it was strange that they were included at all. Apart from those questionable jokes he kept the punters entertained.
Next up was Mr Alabama who provided an African American perspective to fatherhood. He played up on the the stereotype of having multiple chidren to multiple partners (at least I hope it was an exageration!) and told tales of his brassy methods of dealing with his child. He was also the only performer to explore in detail some of the differences between childhood and parenting in the US and Australia which provided some interesting and hilarious anecdotes.
Rounding out the evening was JJ McClean who had the stage persona of a flustered father who had been run ragged by his kids antics. This fit perfectly with his stories of the embarrassing things that children do and say, and his typical Aussie bloke delivery had the audience on side and laughing throughout.
Who’s Your Daddy?’ was a wonderful show that would definitely hit a nerve with parents. Those without offspring were able to relate using their own upbringing as well as getting a humourous glimpse as to what life may have in store for them in the future.
Visit the St Kilda Laughs website for booking details.