Cancer is not the lightest of subjects to tackle in a comedy show, and certainly not in the basement of the Melbourne Town Hall with a start time of 10.45. Feeling fatigued, I must admit to entering the show with a bit of a ‘God, I’m not in the mood for this’ attitude. Then the show opened with a bright and engaging 23-year-old displaying an X-ray of his lungs, one with a massive tumour in it. I suddenly felt a little shallow for being in such a shit mood.

Two things about this show pushed some personal buttons. First, as a woman on the wrong side of forty, I suffer from an unreasonable bias against young people talking about life as though they have lived through fifty years or more of it – yes, I’m a cranky old bag. Second, having nursed my own mother through terminal cancer, I found aspects of the show brought back emotions I wasn’t up for on a Saturday night out.

That said, I certainly got a few belly laughs out of the show. Others in the audience (mostly younger folk) were completely cracking up. The show uses audiovisual props including a Delta Goodrem diary that is juxtaposed with Luke’s own story. Despite the fact that it sent me home with a bloody Delta tune in my head, the use of this medium worked well and provided a circuit breaker for some of the heavier moments.

The show is well worth seeing, and I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of Luke. He has the confidence, style and delivery of a far more seasoned performer. Luke is one of our great emerging talents.

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