Taking to the stage at Trades Hall last night, Seann Walsh's effortlessly conversational style and impeccable crowd work left us in stitches.
Master of deadpan, observational humour Seann Walsh led us through an hour of stand-up with his signature knack for turning even the most mundane topics into comedic gold. On stage, he boasts an effortlessly conversational tone – performing with all the wit and charm of a great conversation at a pub.
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Captivating the audience with his whip-smart humour – his set dedicated to a lambasting of the mundane spanned all topics from the struggle of vacuuming up crumbs to how you party in your university years. All delivered through his signature dry and unapologetically self-deprecating style, one of the highlights of the show was Walsh’s impeccable crowd work.
He engages audience members throughout his stories, picking out individuals as a prop in the trajectory of his unravelling narratives. Every time he talked about being organised, for example, he’d loop back to the guy in the audience with two portable phone chargers, or each time he talked about getting older, he’d loop back to the man he knew was in his 20s. This conversational approach added to the overall vibe of the show, making it feel like a chat among friends rather than a straight up-and-down standup performance.
Despite having to cancel his Thursday night performance due to feeling sick, Walsh seamlessly incorporated his illness into his set with professionalism and ease by lampooning his own, ongoing battle with an egregious stomach bug that he got coming to the country (welcome to Australia, Seann).
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the show was when two women in the audience found the line “death is the big rest” extremely, outrageously, fall-of-their-chairs, gasping for air funny. Seann engaging with these unexpected audience outbursts, much like all of his charismatic crowd work, was truly a joy to watch.
It’s a must-see show for fans of observational, deadpan humour. His skilful crowd work and ability to find humour in unexpected places make for an unforgettable performance. It’s no wonder the show was nominated for Best Show of the Fringe at 2022’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Grab tickets here.
