Uh, ok, that’s a small room under ACMI, usually reserved for children’s education programs, now with pairs of women’s underwear adorning the seating. Just wanted to make sure we’re all seeing the same thing.
Don’t be afraid, Tommy Dassalo has also prepared an adorable little guide so you know what to do with said underwear at the appropriate moment. It’s not even remotely cheesy, and in fact the effort is refreshing after a week of shows where someone walks up to a microphone, yells some swears and walks away from the microphone after an hour. Not that Dassalo keeps the vocabulary or tone squeaky clean throughout (a chunk of the second half hour is devoted to a tale of food poisoning). But even that case of Bali Belly turns slightly touching by the end, which is how Dassalo likes it; a bit of wrong, a bit of right.
The comedian is self-deprecating without seeking your pity – that old line about laughing with, not at, comes to mind when Dassalo smirks at his own stories – and has carefully crafted a performance that is well executed without feeling clinical. Honestly, as a listener to his generally aimless, juvenile but highly entertaining Little Dum Dum Club podcast, I didn’t think he had it in him. That’s a compliment, right?
BY MITCH ALEXANDER
