MICF- DeAnne Smith and Sam Simmons

For tonight's Tightarse Tuesday I booked into two Melbourne International Comedy Festival shows. First up was Canadian comedian Deanne Smith's show Worth It at the Greek Centre. Before the show officially started she came out to admit that the show would not be about money as described in the flyer. Instead it focused on her observations on life, women's equality and tackling her fears as woven through a story about pit bulls. She engaged with the audience and gave a loose and funny set, although I think her show last year was tighter.

Next I headed down to the Arts Centre for Australian comedian Sam Simmons' brilliantly titled show Radical Women of Latin American Art, 1960 - 1985. While the show isn't really about what's in the title, the start and ending are inspired about an incident he observed outside the museum in LA after seeing that exhibition. The show itself is cleverly paced and organised around a series of impressions which are proceeded by a voice over of someone saying "This is an impression of a man...." There was a lot of audience participation, some singing and dancing, and a string of absurd observational jokes which made for a tense yet entertaining hour.

MICF- Tommy Little & Gossling, Rose Callaghan and DeAnne Smith

For tonight's Melbourne International Comedy Festival shows I started at The Famous Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre to see Tommy Little & Gossling perform Heartbreak & Hilarity. Combining the music of Gossling and Tommy's stand-up, it was a great mix of storytelling and songs about love and heartbreak as Tommy talked about trying to get his unicorn. Touching at times with a hilarious musical ending, this was a fantastic and unique show you should definitely check out if you get the chance during its limited run.

Next I went to The Forum for Rose Callaghan's Will You Accept This Rose? As you can guess from the title it was themed around The Bachelor, which is one of my guilty pleasure tv shows (both the US and Australian versions). Rose even got Osher Gunsberg to record the intro and voice overs throughout the show. Along with stories about run-ins with former contestants, Rose also spoke about the adventures of her dating life, with one particularly spectacular story to finish the show.

My final show for the evening was North American comedian DeAnne Smith's Post-Joke Era at Taxi Riverside. DeAnne's show was very entertaining and touched on topics such as depression, gender and identity, equality and how straight men should be treating their women. There were so many mike drops it was hard to keep track, and she finished with a great story about what can happen when you respond to someone's texts to the wrong number.