Test Tube Comedy

Review by Jennifer McKiernan | 28 Aug 2013

Test Tube Comedy throws three performers to a hungry crowd with satisfying results. Compere Dec Munro is energetic and warm, ordering the crowd to clap. With most not knowing who to expect, it's a smart way of warming people up to the unknown.

First up is Frank Sinazi, a Frank Sinatra/Hitler hybrid crooning covers including That's Life with lyrics about the Third Reich, and Come Fly With Me changed to Sieg Heil With Me. From his hairstyle to his surprisingly mellifluous voice, the act was so outrageously tasteless that it somehow worked.

Next on the bill was Harry Deansway, with another character study – this time a geriatric Jew who hobbled onstage with a stick only to come unstuck almost immediately, ditch the persona and launch into a spiel about dogs. Quirky, original and unexpectedly funny – even if unintentionally so.

Headliner Dane Baptiste took to the stage with smooth professionalism and a cocky attitude that never tipped over into arrogance. Focusing on the differences between men and women, Baptiste covered familiar territory but his gags were shrewdly insightful and very funny.