When comics segue from rampant rants about sex, government and the press into ‘message’ terrain, the outcome can be as dire as an election-headed politician espousing family values.

But Sean Hughes has a very important message: don’t go drunk to a charity auction.

His main prop, seated on the chair at stage right, is sober testimony to his latest life lesson.

The London-born Irish comic has been missing from the stage for some years, gleaning laughs through TV, film and novel-writing.

So it was a decidedly well-fed Hughes who declared it was ‘great to be back in Melbourne’ and riffed on eejit things in print, relationships and himself.

The ‘adult’ Hughes, at 41, still has all the zest and cheek that won him the prestigious Perrier comedy award at 24′the youngest ever recipient’but the tone is darker and probably funnier.

‘I thought I’d be married with kids by now,’ he says. ‘Or at least be divorced with weekend access.’

Much of the material is about being older, no wiser, watching your parents shrink and dating 25-year-olds.

Being a pet-owning singleton is not all joy: ‘I got so pissed off with myself last night, I slept in the spare room.’

He paces the stage, sips from a wine glass and shuffles through his print props. It’s good to have him back and enjoying himself in a smart and amusingly rambling encounter.

Oh yeah. And there was one other message: don’t take ecstasy before a visit to the Holocaust Museum.

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