Despite the uncertainty of opening night, Mathew Kenneally and the Great Escape drew great support from Comedy Festival die-hards. In a questionable room at the Portland Hotel, the place rumoured to be haunted by a dead stripper, there is a nice buzz in the air as people take their seats. Kenneally takes to the stage with a concerned yet intense look on his face as he nods in a business-like manner to the crowd in acknowledgment of their applause.

Mathew Kenneally and the Great Escape refers to the story of Kenneally’s incarceration in Maribyrnong Detention Centre; before we get to that point, however, we are taken on a hilarious journey fraught with confusion and displaced intentions. Nothing is off the table when it comes to Kenneally’s opinions, and he points out the problem with every major politician and political party within the first 10 minutes of the show.

Kenneally is known around the Melbourne comedy circuit as a political satirist, and it feels like the crowd which joins him on this first night have seen him before. The reason they keep coming back is soon apparent. Kenneally is affable, earnest and intensely baffled at the obtuseness of Australians when it comes to social issues. He has the crowd giggling madly as he derides old people, young people and everyone in between. Middle-class activists are Kenneally’s particular distaste and soon the crowd comes to hate his Sydney Rd nemesis Henry as much as he does.

Kenneally reeks of well thought out opinions and intelligent views, and behind his aloof and wry manner lurks a sharp and passionate mind. He is at ease on stage and finds his niche in political humour. He is co-author of the satirical blog Diary Leaks and on a monthly basis works with a group of young comics performing Political Asylum, a news based comedy night. This is a hot Melbourne comic offering an engaging range of topics to the discerning comedy crowd.