Are you nursing some physical (and emotional) aches from life knocking you about as you get older? They say laughter is the best medicine, and luckily for you, affable Aussie comic Daniel Connell is taking the stage this MICF season with I’m Always Sore, his humorous ode to the pains of fatherhood and ageing.
It’s his 11th brand-new show at the festival and comes off the back of his sold-out tour last year entitled Gutless Wonder. And just like in last year’s show, Connell has once again proven himself to be a master of spinning yarns, turning the most mundane everyday occurrences into knee-slapping gags. From neighbourhood (literal) catfight antics and the remarkable tourist draw of massive salt piles to school trips gone wrong and kissing surprise sex goodbye, Connell covers a lot of bases and leaves the audience in stitches every time.
His soft-spoken demeanour and wry smile lend an air of effortlessness to his work. When you realise some of the aforementioned mundanity was actually a set-up for an effective throughline, it’s clear that Connell is operating on the level of a comedy veteran. These qualities also help his darkest material hit home; he uses the same gentle tone of voice when introducing a punchline about a grisly death as he does when talking about hot cross buns, bringing out a mix of laughs and gasps from the crowd.
The first half of the show is stronger than the second, and while the audience was laughing through the entire set, there is a marked sense of unbalance. And while Connell delivers exactly what his repeat audience members are after - an expert mix of mundanity with the macabre - it would be nice to see him push some boundaries and play with some different material next time.