Alexander Lamarque

Sydney’s exclusive exhibition of Ancient Egyptian artefacts has finally landed, and lovers of history and all that glitters are trying to remain cool. That overly-excited, Prince-doppelganger in the pictures (and in Time Out's First Look video of the exhibition) is me, AJ Lamarque: comedian, presenter and amateur egyptologist. I suppose anyone can call themselves an amateur egyptologist in the same way that anyone who’s ever been to Holey Moley can call themselves an amateur golfer. But I did spend a year learning Hieroglyphs at UC Berkeley (instead of actually doing my course subjects) so I do have some credentials to back up my claim.  Like many people, I was enamoured by Ancient Egyptian culture from a young age, and that fascination has only grown as I’ve gotten older. The grandeur and mystery of this civilisation that spanned more than 3,000 years has captured the minds and imaginations of nearly every culture since its demise in the early BC. As soon as I heard that the Australian Museum had managed to secure this exhibition, I knew I had to get my nerd on.  Photograph: Alannah Le Cross | AJ Lamarque poses with bust at 'Ramses & The Gold of the Pharaohs' Now, the fact that this exhibition even is in Australia is quite a big deal in itself. So, unless you venture to Egypt yourself, there’s a very good chance that this may be the only time in our lifetimes to see these items in Australia.With some 182 priceless artefacts on display, there’s definitely a lot to check out

Sydney is Mixed Race – and I don’t just mean that this city is multicultural (although that is also true). Sydney is Mixed Raced in the sense that it continues to live in a complex rhythm of navigating different identities simultaneously. It’s equally as artsy and vibrant as it is corporate and barren. Beautiful and lush yet also comprised of ugly ‘Ikea-kit’ high rises and vacant office squares. It’s brand new whilst also being on the land of the oldest continuing cultures on Earth. Sydney – it’s a complicated city. But being complicated is something I can relate to as someone who is also Mixed Race. Well, multiracial but who’s counting (me, I’m counting). To explain, my heritage is British, Indian, Chinese, South African and Jamaican. I was born in London, which you can tell because people have a habit of hearing my accent and then regurgitating the following line: “YoU sOunD liKe yOu’Re fRom LoNdOn”. Trust, it never gets old. If you’re wondering how one human ends up with all those cultural legacies, the simple answer is colonialism. I suppose in some twisted way I owe my existence to colonisers (geez, I really should book my next therapy session). My whole journey through life has been spent frantically darting between cultures, societal pulls and overwhelming imposter syndrome. This is why, when I moved to Sydney officially in 2015, I could relate to its “complicated” nature. Photograph: Katje Ford At first, I encountered Sydney’s barren side. Two years after the rollout

Funny, surprising and moving, Forgetting Tim Minchin is a must-see piece of new Australian writing filled with witty and heartbreaking original songs.  After moving back home during the pandemic, Jules (played by the show’s creator, Jules Orcullo) has spent their entire savings investing in their craft as a playwright. It’s not gone well. Her room is a mess, too. The set is giving peak millennial vibes: fairy lights, unwashed laundry, and a barely-living pot plant. Set and Costume Designer Hailley Hunt has done a great job of making the most out of the small space at Belvoir’s humble Downstairs Theatre whilst not sacrificing the maximalism that really illustrates the messy artist’s life.   Starting out on stage as the audience enters, Orcullo states directly to the assembled onlookers that the story they’re about to tell is 100 per cent made up. It’s fiction. Still, Orcullo’s endearing and charismatic energy makes you completely fall back into the story without second guessing. Forgetting Tim Minchin essentially explores three main threads, and each is well articulated with entertaining songs before moving on to the next. Further to the credit of Jules Orcullo’s writing, each thread coalesces beautifully into a tear-inducing climax.  In the first “thread”, there are songs that tie into Jules’ existential anxiety around what it means to be an artist, which simultaneously provide a very contemporary meta-commentary of the musical genre and the arts industry itself. One specific

Last summer, the Australian Museum lit up the sunny season in Sydney with Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs, a blockbuster exhibition filled to the brim with priceless Egyptian artefacts. It drew every amateur Egyptologist out of the woodwork, attracting more than 508,000 visitors and contributing more than $57 million to the NSW economy – and also earning a nod in the inaugural Time Out Sydney Arts & Culture Awards. This year, the country’s oldest museum is transporting visitors into the ancient Andes, sharing the secrets of five distinctive Peruvian Empires with Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru. Exclusive to Sydney, this carefully-curated summer blockbuster showcases 134 artefacts including exquisite gold and silver ornaments, astoundingly-well-preserved ceramic objects (including depictions of x-rated scenes, and drinking vessels that were used in ceremonies of human sacrifice) and textiles that you won’t believe are thousands of years old (such as a wall hanging made out of brightly pigmented parrot feathers!). Plus, you can add on a pretty next-level VR experience called Machu Picchu and the Spirit of the Condor, which includes a bird’s-eye tour of Machu Picchu – which was filmed during the height of the Covid pandemic, a rare moment when the landmark wasn't swarming with tourists.  Photograph: Australian Museum/Cain Cooper Once again, Time Out Sydney teamed up with local comedian and ancient history nerd AJ Lamarque to take a deep dive into the year’s big