Ok, before I start this review, I’d like to point out I am a huge fan of Rove/Rove Live and have grown up watching Peter Helliar on the telly for pretty much half my life. So I will try my best to not sound like Eddie McGuire commentating a Collingwood match…
Pete’s new show Dreamboat is his first stand up show in two years, and in effect marks a fresh slate. With Rove McManus wrapping up the show last year, on which Pete was propelled into main stream comedy and spent 10 years of his career, and his Triple M radio show being axed, Pete could be forgiven for stepping back and taking a bit of a break. Instead he has flung himself into a new TV hosting gig (The Bounce), wrote and stared in a feature length film due for release in may (I Love You Too), and gone back to his roots with this new stand up show.
Pete begins the show like many comedians, introducing himself in the 3rd person from backstage; which he then repeated after the audience “insisted” we try again. The second attempt resulted in an amazing “unprovoked” standing ovation that moves Pete to tears. This cheeky mockery of his own popularity sets the mood for the rest of the show.
The show started up a bit slow, some material falling flat at the beginning. Some intentional comedic pauses work well, whilst others left some awkward gaps. But once Pete warmed up a bit, relaxed and got some great comedic banter out of the front row, the audience was back on his side and his timing was perfected.
A lot of Pete’s material is extracted from his personal life with his young family and adored wife. He plays up to his “clueless bloke” persona telling of his struggle to decipher the difference between a tea towel and a cloth, and coping with challenging questions from his “gifted” son. His hilarious, rough-cut role playing style funnier for the fact that he constantly giggles throughout.
By the end of the show, you feel like you’ve been chatting with the funniest guy at the BBQ, having a yarn over a beer, bitching about the ol’ ball and chain and the kids. I think Peter Helliar is one of those comedians that you either love or hate, well that’s the feeling I get amongst my family and friends. So as a general rule, if you don’t like him on the telly, you probably won’t like him on the stage. But of you’re a fan of his work, definitely get down and check him out in the flesh.
For full booking details go to the Melbourne Comedy Festival website