Dave Bloustien

Review: Well-dressed and with great hair: the first impressions of Dave Bloustien are good. And those impressions didn't change as his show progressed, with the Sydney comic exploring a series of events that occurred last year, beginning with being hired to perform at a high school gig and then subsequently getting sued, bizarrely enough, for not being funny. They didn't have a hope, though: however unpleasant it must have been at the time, the story actually makes for a great show.

Sure, the miniscule room in which Bloustien was performing had all the charm of a broom closet, but he rolled with the punches and likened it to an underground comedy club (Marrickville's low-flying jet planes sounded like Tube trains passing nearby). In fact, the intimate venue added a personal quality to his performance, making this for the perfect warm-up for his run later in the week. Mary Lambe