Life may have got her down but she can always cheer herself up by listening to the down-heartened stories of her eternally unemployable roommate Rebecca, or feeding her addiction to Macleod’s Daughters. Anne is certainly engaging – and the outback jokes and sexual innuendo never get old. Her standup is interspersed with a series of original bush ballads, performed on her banjo which, yes, is named Steven.

You can’t help but feel sorry for Anne as she tells of her embarrassing adventures and laugh at her anecdotes, accompanied by pianist Amy Bennett. Outback musical humour isn’t usually as funny as this. But as Anne says, if it’s not for you – just wait 5 minutes. Solid comedy that just gets funnier and funnier.

Häckner’s act is a thoroughly humourous goofball character – laughing embarrassingly, tripping clumsily over the stage, lamenting over the poor quality and style of his Ikea furniture. He is both subtle and shambolic, going from magic to slapstick to amusing musical performances, all with a rich dose of unabashed Swedish pride.

His simple appearance belies his magic talent – very clever tricks which make up the majority of his act. He also regales his audience with anecdotes of encountering his childhood idol, Mötley Crüe singer Nikki Sixx, stuffing his face with kebab sauce in a London restaurant.

Häckner uses a lot of audience interaction which makes him all the more engaging. His goofy antics may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I for one laughed unashamedly.

Häckner’s approachable and friendly nature gives the appearance of a likeable buffoon and the show takes chaotic but amusing turns throughout. Having appeared previously in La Clique, but has been working throughout Sweden for more than three decades. Swedish Meatballs is a follow up to his previous show Big In Sweden. He has a wealth of acting, poetry, music and magic up his sleeve – this is a master performer whose simple nature belies the excellent talent.

And that’s not all he’s got up his sleeves (or in his pants). He clumsily strides across the stage, presenting his own personal brand mix of magic tricks, musical segues and illusions, along with very expensive (or not so expensive) props. He appears not so much as a master magician but as an eccentric entertainer. “Ah”, the audience thinks, “I know how he did that. But it’s still funny. Oh wait, am I so sure now…?”

This is part-camp physical comedy, part-kitschy magic. He attempts a series of clever tricks with varying degrees of success. And he teaches the audience how to perform too.  Mistaking ‘bandanna’ for ‘banana’ brings hilarious results.

This is a performer who loves his audience and takes himself so lightly the crowd can’t help but laugh along. Right up to the shows Hitchcockian finale, this is entertainment at its best. Truly enjoyable.

Heffron is charismatic and likeable – a Glaswegian George Costanza who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Unfortunately his work here is not as well put together as one might like. His stage presence and feel for the audience is good, but the timing and delivery is off. More than one punchline was met with an awkward silence.

Overall, it appears as though Heffron is trying too hard – the subject of the show only emerges halfway through, accompanied by various slides and amusing drawings. The content does appear to be a bit all over the place – but where Heffron succeeds is in the anecdotes from his heritage and extended family. When his geekiness shines through (Tetris and Admiral Ackbar!) the connection is much stronger, and one feels that the show would benefit greatly from more of this. The material is there, but sadly hampered by a lack of cohesion and poor timing, and the audience could at times sense a lack of confidence.

Despite this, you can’t help but like him – and an odd Wikipedia gag can never go astray. Mildly entertaining, but the chemistry was rarely there.

This is a show that will appeal to young and old – Facebook, Harry Potter and a Japanese cat dancing to Shania Twain all make an appearance. Heartbreak takes centre-stage, and Ballard may have us reaching for those Seachange DVDs yet. As Ballard says, ‘I’d never been warned that heartbreaks were so hard… Oh wait, I was – by 90% of the songs every written.’

Throughout the show he reads excerpts from a journal his mother kept during his first 21 years, with amusing effect. Ballard’s confidence and comic timing keep the audience entertained, and he raises several issues that many of us can relate to. At his young age, Ballard has already performed throughout Australia and overseas , and he knows how to hold an audience. Or to make them squirm uncomfortably. Not much is sacred here. But Ballard seems to pull it off.

If anything though, the show seems at times to be more Ballard looking back upon his relationship with Thomas than using it as a basis for comic material. ‘Hung up’ doesn’t seem to quite cover it. It feels at times like Ballard is using the show as an outlet for his own personal closure. But despite this, strong comedy is there and it’s consistently entertaining.

If you’ve ever pointed out to your partner the correct use of punctuation, laughed at Redundant Acronym Syndrome Syndrome (ie. ATM Machines) or cringed at acronyms – ROFL! – then this is the show for you. This show is as much about relationships as it is about syntax – and Butler seems just the person to tell it. He has brilliant stage presence – from the moment he steps out you are totally engaged. You can’t help but be on his side as his goes through his past loves and their linguistic inadequacies.

But just to make sure, he involves the audience too: Which little grammatical quirks are forgivable in a date and which aren’t? Perhaps your favourite song of all time isn’t as well written as you thought . . .

Turns out, grammatical errors are abundant in everything from music to the annoying little habits of the person next to you. The material is topical and Butler is edgy and downright hilarious. His timing and delivery is perfect – a first-rate performer. He has been performing for nearly 10 years and it is evident. This is a man in his element and his popularity echoed through crowded venue. Sure he may come off as a despicable, pedantic twit with no life – but he does it so damn well. LOL.

The film runs in retrospect, beginning with a climactic scene before returning to George’s earlier, unhappy and almost misanthropic lifestyle. As George moves through these stages, dealing with the death of his nephew and the stoned indifference of Betty (the only girl in his life), he discovers that training this particular bird becomes synonymous with accepting his place in life and finding true meaning.

Goldberger extracts strongly convincing performances from his actors. Giamatti depicts George with a sardonic unhappiness, with the only thing he cares for being his hawks and his nephew. Giamatti’s co-actors perform with similar believability: Betty, the young stoner who is not only George’s occasional lover but his only real emotional outlet; Fred, his nephew, whose raw and innocent experiences of life (and love) provide some of the film’s most moving moments; and even the bird, who seems to understand its owner’s feelings and ‘see into his heart’, as George says.

While the film seems to drag early on, the characters are captivating, particularly George with his insistence on carrying the hawk on his arm everywhere. The film’s emotional depth is also heightened by its variety of themes: devotion, parental responsibilities, love and relationships are all explored with stark realism. The camerawork is often handheld’somewhat reminiscent of amateur film-making’but beautiful imagery, performances and an uplifting ending give this film a depth that makes it definitely worth the watch.

One day while hunting deer in an Argentinian forest, he finds his dream a reality when he becomes heir to a plot to rob a nearby casino. Espinosa is an epileptic, and just before an attack he feels a moment of stillness, where time seems to stop and sound fills his head that is described as an aura. As the film progresses, he must outwit both the police and his accomplices to pull off his master plan.

An excellently captivating watch, the film is complex and intelligently written. As the story unfolds, an air of tension is never lost, so much so that the audience is enthralled and the connection to the onscreen character is palpable.

The supporting characters are well acted, but seem almost unneeded. Dar‚àö‚â†n’s performs well as Espinosa, with his introverted and usually silent nature evident in every movement and facial expression. The ‘auras’ themselves are especially interesting. With everything seeming to freeze, quiet noises are suddenly amplified and Espinosa cannot move. These moments are paralleled in the dead animals that Espinosa initially works on as a taxidermist. Animal emotion is a strong key in the film, particularly in one wolf-like dog that seems to know and understand Espinosa’s every move. It is also very entertaining watching Espinosa bluffing his way into his accomplice’s confidence, using the plans he found in possession by the former plot-mastermind.

The Aura is a must-see’captivating, intriguing and above all entertaining.

Humourously examining the way publicity and public opinion affects our decisions, these three talented comedians examine Brian’s story as other kids get the same treatment and people start rallying against ‘Mature Aged Adoption’. The comedic performances are excellent, not to mention a variety of character personas complete with foreign accents. Cutting from live theatricals to footage of pre-recorded interviews, it follows Brian’s journey as he is shunted from a ‘Czechoslovakstanian’ family to a pair of tripped-out hippies, while his parents get on happily (mostly) without him, his neighbour Des lives in his own weird world, and a crazy Fairy Godmother appears now and again attempting to guide Brian on his ‘path’.

With the three actors switching flawlessly between characters there is never a dull moment, even until the climax where everything is resolved and all the ‘important moral issues or something like it’ come to the fore. A hilarious satirical show and social commentary combined’not to be missed.

Captain Frodo’s story offers a look not only into the early life of this wonderful entertainer but also into the art of the travelling sideshow itself, which is rapidly becoming smaller in today’s world. Frodo may appear to occasionally fumble, but his stage presence is captivating. The slapstick comedy pervades and everything is done with a flourish. There is a point when Frodo tells a story from his youth that inspired him and, as he tells of the characters ascending into the air to safety, the feeling of this performer’s delight in what he does is palpable and touches everyone in the audience. This is as much a reflection on his life as a complete one-man show. As he says, though, ‘It may be sideshow, but I like it.’

Featuring songs by Tom Lehrer, Stephen Sondheim and others, and accompanied by the talented David Young (who must never speak), this is as much a true ‘cabaret performance’ as it is ‘comedy’ made all the more captivating by Krum’s excellent vocal skills and stage presence.

His mood changes from soft (‘Girlfriend in a Coma’) to boisterous (‘We’re Going Down’) and is accentuated by the intimate atmosphere of the Butterfly Club. He makes the audience feel comfortable, before hilariously shattering their dreams while somehow keeping them continually entertained. In bad taste (but constantly amusing) and topped off with a little schadenfreude, Reuben Krum captivates and serenades the audience’reflecting on ‘postcard Israel’ and intimate concocted asides about audience members, as The Pun found out.

He shocks and offends, but always feels good doing it’and so will you.