Spending an hour with Dave Thornton is kind of like spending an hour in the pub with one of your older brothers funniest friends. Thornton has an Australian lackadaisical style without the overplay of some recent ‘Australiana’ comedies. In fact, Thornton delivers a hilarious critique of what it means to be ‘Australian’.

Never Sweat looks at Thornton’s childhood and adolescence without making the audience feel as though they are sitting through a public therapy session. The focus on the narrative of an Australian regional centre did not exclude those in the audience from overseas. One German woman in the front row ‘completely lost her shit’ (as Thornton put it) listening to an admirable imitation of a German BMW car salesman. Thorton interacted with her and others in the audience in such an easy and affable way that I found myself wanting him to engage directly with me. A lot of others in the audience clearly felt the same way with some displaying very overt ‘pick me’ ‘pick me’ behaviour.

Thornton gives an overtly strong physicality to his show. I found myself seeing glimpses of Jim Carey in some of his faces and movements, but if like me, you can’t stand Jim Carey, don’t let this observation put you off. Despite his physical humour missing the mark with me due to personal preference, I found Thornton totally engaging and am still chuckling to myself, days later.

Finished reading this article? You might also like:

• PunCast Episode 10 – Dave Thornton
• Dave Thornton – A Different Type Of Normal
• PunCast Episode 20 – Dave Thornton