Peter Berner should have been at KRudd’s 2020 summit. He told me so. About 50 times throughout the course of his show Binge Thinker. Sure, he might not have provided Our Beloved Leader with quite the photo opportunity that Our Cate delivered. (And in fact, the man is rocking the most horrific bald-and-beard look you’ll see this festival.) But he’s got the ideas.

In truth it is a pity the once-host of ABC TV BackBerner and The Einstein Factor didn’t get a guernsey. It certainly would have livened up proceedings.

In a stripped-back stand-up session, Berner burns through current affairs with a sharp and original take. Not so much edgy as just plain intelligent. It is all familiar subject matter; what’s wrong with the kids, what’s up with old people, climate change, drought, the personalities in politics.  It is comedy rissoles, but it’s what he’s done with it!

At a time when Australian current affairs are so coma-inducing that most comics won’t touch then with the proverbial, Berner hones in on the role of water pistols in the water shortage, and bonding with the bush via video games. Binge Thinker will leave you wondering how it is Peter Berner no longer graces our television screens. (Although I think the beard may have something to do with it.)