Misanthropology
Eddie Perfect
The Spiegeltent
31 March – 24 April
Tickets: $30/$35/$40
comedyfestival.com.au

I really wasn’t too familiar with Eddie Perfect’s work. The most I had seen of him was a few eps of Talkin’ Bout Your Generation and appearances in Spicks and Specks. He was also the dude behind Shane Warne: The Musical and performed in the Paul Keating musical. Oh, and according to one of my close pals (an old classmate of Perfect’s), he is a really nice guy and yes, his surname really IS ‘Perfect’.

Comedian, musician, composer and actor, Perfect’s talents easily transverse the gamut of performing arts genres. His fierce satirical style blends comedy with cultural commentary and criticism, culminating in his current solo show, Misanthropology, at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival.

And what a performance it was. Misanthropology is Perfect’s well-articulated ‘social autopsy’ – his take on the cultural rituals that exist within our society from eco-tourism and cycling to football and theatre. Lambasting the pretentious self-indulgence of the wealthy social classes and their search for the highest social status, nothing is taboo for Perfect.

His songs are humourous and risque, pushing the boundaries between political correctness and inappropriateness…and the audience loved every minute of it. One of the most memorable songs for the evening, Daddy’s Tits, is a harsh criticism of wealthy fathers buying their daughters breast implants for their 21st birthdays and though the song is creepy and incestuous, that’s exactly the point Perfect is making.

I’m not going to give the rest of the material away. You should just go and see it. Eddie Perfect is ridiculously intelligent, massively ballsy and absolutely hilarious. He’s one of those performers who have that wonderfully real sense of what entertainment is about. He’s engaging, funny, charming and super talented and definitely one of the highlights on this year’s MICF calendar.

For more info on the MICF, hit their website.

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