How has Tom Ballard seemingly never been on my radar? I mean I knew of him and his face was familiar enough, but somehow I’d never really witnessed him in full flight before.
My loss.
In his latest show, Ballard is a dynamo – a whirling, toe-curling bundle of energy, who is as politically powerful as he is fantastically funny. And he’s extremely hard-working, not letting his admirable energy levels flag for a second.
Yes, it helps to be onside and a member (or at least an ally) of the same tribe of queer, socialist, atheist, Greens voting, cyclists (paraphrasing wildly here), but Ballard can take the most potent of topics and wring humour out of them, even if you could be sitting thinking ‘how on earth is he going to make a crowd laugh about the outcome of the referendum on the Voice to Parliament?’
But he pulls it off magnificently. Sure, we can’t all boast such lofty credentials as having a 20-something Aboriginal, circus-performing boyfriend and single lesbian mother-in-law, but we can still join Ballard on his journey through rage, bewilderment and brilliantly articulated analysis.
And the way he handled the extremely well-timed interjection from a hitherto unseen baby in the crowd was genuine comic gold.
Read: Comedy review: Julia Masli: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, Chinese Museum, MICF 2024
Tickets: $30-$39
Tom Ballard: Good Point Well Made will be performing at Rydges One until 21 April 2024 as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF 2024).
