There’s musical comedy and then there’s musical comedy.

There’s stringing a few funny rhymes together to a passable tune, and then there’s the rare performer like Luke Escombe who can keep jokes rolling while he rocks the proverbial casbah.

Sydneysider Escombe – performing in Melbourne for the first time – has been a serious muso longer than he’s been a comedian, having played in folk bands, worked as a session guitarist and released his own album of laidback grooves in 2008 entitled Golden Ages. Combine his musical panache with some dirty-minded humour and sharp pop culture satire and it makes for one hell of an act.

Escombe’s a versatile performer and he crams a lot into his show. He raps, he croons, he plays folk, funk and electronica. No musical genre is safe from him, and pretty much nothing is taboo either.

Escombe readily makes use of the shocking and the sexual to garner laughs, with song titles like “Hard 2 B a Pimp”, “Hot Bitches” and “Jerk Ya Coq”.

Be warned: these are songs you’ll be singing to yourself for days afterwards.

Escombe’s standup – which he uses to bridge between songs – follows similar lines, although he seems less confident here. This could be attributed to a lack of experience. Or perhaps with Chronic Illness he is moving out of his comfort zone, for he addresses some very personal material. Escombe lost a bit of momentum during the longer standup sections, yet it was never lost for long.

All he had to do was pick up his guitar and the crowd was his again.