It”s hard to believe that this is Tom Gleeson’s debut at the festival as he has been a familiar face on our televisions from his regular appearances on TV3’s 7Days.  After the hour, he proves that he can completely hold his own and is an excellent comedian in his own right.

Being an Australian comic, it is not surprising at all when he starts poking fun at New Zealand.  Calling us a self-deprecating and simultaneously progressive yet backward nation, he subsequently justifies this by saying that unlike other comics, he doesn’t do New Zealand jokes back home but saves them up so he can do it to our faces.

It is in this audacious and brash fashion that Tom delivers his hour-long set to us and boy does he do it so very well!  His material ranges from both reminiscing and griping about technology (“iCloud backs up your shame” – genius) to hilarious examples of how fatherhood has caused him to see things, like strippers, in a different light.

Each gag and every joke is brilliantly set up and superbly told with some truly remarkable punchlines that will alter your perspective on the most ordinary things – like bread rolls and why you should never pick a mirror up from the floor.  He tells us he is a rule-breaker in real life and this rings true in his stand up routine as well.

Tom himself said it best – he is an acquired taste.  But his crass, in-your-face style of comedy is genuinely funny and wildly entertaining.  A top notch hour of stand up that I would definitely recommend.

The Whimsical Banana rates Tom Gleeson: 4/5 bananas!

Tom Gleeson is performing at The Classic for 3 more nights – for tickets, click here.