The premise of Justin Hamilton’s show lingers behind each sentence he utters. The world is in a bad way, he reckons, and this can be seen in any number of places – tedious jobs, horrible relationships and terrible politicians. Why his show is called Smash!, though, is never quite made clear – does he want to smash the state, smash the world or smash his boss? Whatever: the nebulous title is a foil for Hamilton to talk about the ills he sees around him. As a comic, Hamilton sees humour in everyday things and situations. He wanders over territory that is personal, revealing and easily grasped by audiences.

This is traditional stand-up: a few questions asked of the audience, a few diversions and a lot of observations about the world. It’s bread and butter stuff, but, still, it’s served up well by few and sloppily by many. Hamilton is one of the few – his material is fresh and unpredictable, while his casual style is disarming. He willingly makes fun of himself and his routine (not in a Daniel Kitson way, but in an ‘I’m fallible’ way).

His voice and face will be familiar to listeners of triple j and viewers of ABC’s ‘The Glass House’. And, indeed, the night The Pun attended, ‘The Glass House’ host Wil Anderson’s hefty peals of laughter were providing a one-man laugh track up the back of the audience. There’s nothing overtly flashy about Hamilton, but his material is uniformly enjoyable and his ad libbing yielded some brilliant moments.