To be a lone performer on a blackened stage without props takes courage, and that’s what the three members of The Dead Set deliver alongside their comedy. Nothing is sacred’from Pakistanis to postmodern relationships, sign language to Bjork, and recorder poetry to emo music’these three deliver laugh after laugh.

MC Andrew Horabin fills the stage with his hilarious songs that will appeal to anyone with either a slight left leaning or self-love issues. It took me about half of her performance to warm to Claire Hooper, but when I got there I nearly fell of my seat with laughter. And Xavier Michelides’well what can I say. Thank God Perth has released this comic genius for Melbourne’s laughing pleasure. What an incredible talent he is for being able to put on and cast aside a multitude of riotous characters. And I do love a comic who can laugh at his own jokes on stage.

The show is well-paced, with Horabin’s musical escapades providing the perfect buffer between the styles of Hooper and Michelides. It is only an hour show, so there is no looping back on old jokes for narrative drive. But it’s not needed because the show powers along like a bumpy yet thrilling train ride, with no clear segues between jokes, but plenty of energy and raw talent.

Check out The Dead Set before Michelides becomes so famous you won’t be able to afford to.