If you want to do a temperature check on the world, it’s actually bonkers/deeply worrying how many times the Nazis have popped up like a particularly rancid version of the board game Whack-a-Mole this Comedy Festival, including in the routines of UK stars Jordan Gray and the confusingly named Leo Reich.
But the most jaw-dropping Third Reich reference we’ve witnessed so far plays out in a PowerPoint presentation by cheekily charismatic comedian and Gamilaraay man Dane Simpson. Far from a staid office job scenario, he uses said digital deck to address why it might be a good idea to change the fractious date of Australia Day.
Hitting play on shocking archival footage from 1938’s 150th anniversary of Captain Cook’s marauding arrival, we hear all the usual horrible stuff about “savages” in a newsreader’s stiff-upper-lip received pronunciation, adopted from the BBC. But the most devastating WTF moment comes when Simpson plays a clip in which this pompous presenter suggests, over footage of a smiling First Nations man, that the longest continuous Culture in the world might somehow be in league with Hitler. This astoundingly absurd accusation – despite the obvious unlikelihood that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would meet the mass-murdering Aryan idea – provokes audible gasps from the audience as the full horror of the footage sinks in.
Simpson handles this difficult stuff in his trademark bright and breezy way, so much so you can tell why the local council in his current hometown of Wagga Wagga asked him to be an ambassador for their refreshingly truth-telling approach to January 26. But panic not if this sounds like a lot. Most of his gig is way more chilled, with Simpson working his abundant charm to prevent scaring off punters who came for simple laughs. You’ll even see a super-cute pic of him as a kid.
Cutting through the tough stuff, Simpson heads on to cuter recollections, often interrupted by giggles at his own jokes. Skipping seamlessly from a skit about the first Aboriginal comedian’s stand-up routine 60,000 years ago to that terrifying video and on to goofy jokes about his nearest and dearest, the recently married Simpson dunks on his dad for a dumb move at his wedding.
While it’s not as sharp after that startling opener, Always Was, Always Will Be... Funny proves Simpson can tackle complicated stuff when he wants to. It’s all in the name of the show, after all, which he came up with it in a heartbeat when asked by his agent and, panicking, read it off the T-shirt he was wearing.
It’s really easy to dig Simpson’s big-hearted act, so much so that I found myself hoping that the Yes campaign taps him to help out in the coming referendum on the Voice. Because his voice is bright enough to make a case for doing the right thing at long bloody last, bringing us all along for the ride.
