UK stand-up Emmanuel Sonubi survived heart-failure while on-stage, turned it into an hour of comedy magic, and is now heading to Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
If heart failure can’t stop Emmanuel Sonubi, nothing can; and Melbourne International Comedy Festival is about to find out.
Emmanuel Sonubi is the kind of comedian who makes you forget you’re watching a man process a near-death experience. The two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee and BBC favourite survived heart failure, dusted himself off, and did what any reasonable person would do: wrote a show about it.
Life After Near Death sold out its run at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and now it’s heading to Melbourne International Comedy Festival for a run at Melbourne Town Hall’s Powder Room.
Emmanuel Sonubi – Melbourne International Comedy Festival
- When: 7 April to 19 April, 7.30pm (6.30pm select shows)
- Where: Melbourne Town Hall, Powder Room
- Suitable for ages 15 and up.
- Tickets here
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The show tackles exactly what you’d expect from the title, and then some.
Sonubi digs into the big stuff: mortality, trauma, the way we normalise substances, and why we’re all so bad at telling the people we love that we actually love them. But none of it lands heavy.
Sonubi has a knack for finding the absurdity in life’s worst moments, wrapping serious reflection in a comedic lens sharp enough to cut glass.
His argument? Everything is about perception. And from where the audience is sitting, the perception is that this bloke is very, very funny.
A former bouncer who has performed everywhere from cruise ships to Dubai, Sonubi brings a physically commanding presence to the stage that somehow makes his warmth hit even harder.
His timing is impeccable, his storytelling genuinely engaging, and his ability to hold a room is the kind of thing you can’t teach. He’s appeared on Live at the Apollo, QI and Celebrity Mastermind on the BBC, but watching him work a live crowd is a different thing entirely. It’s where he’s clearly most at home.
Life After Near Death is a Melbourne International Comedy Festival show that delivers on every level: tight structure, big laughs, and a performer at the absolute top of his game.
Rock up expecting to laugh until something hurts, and maybe leave feeling a little more inclined to call your mum.
Funny, warm, and quietly moving, this is a Melbourne International Comedy Festival hour well spent.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
