Pandemic gags are almost a certainty at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and while other comics might consider the political ramifications of Covid-19, or the existential quandaries of a regulated two-year break from pretty much everything, Dave O’Neil takes a different approach. Bounding on stage in a surgical mask, O’Neil lets us know he’s not wearing it for protection; he just finds it slimming. From here, the comic reminisces about the “good old days of lockdown” and the convenience of using click-and-collect for a Bunnings sausage. A casual link between Covid case numbers and John Farnham’s ubiquitous Whispering Jack album is a uniquely O’Neil-ian take and sets the scene for a night of old-school comedy from a veteran clearly in tune with his crowd.
There’s an unremitting affability to Dave O’Neil that allows him to build fast connections with his audience. He then links those connections so seamlessly throughout his show that you’d be forgiven for thinking the whole thing was entirely off the cuff. In this night’s performance, a 19-year-old student completing a bachelor of arts gives O’Neil the perfect jumping-off point for stories and one-liners about his own uni experiences and those of his wife and son. A real estate agent in the front row links jokes about everything from new Covid strains to retirement homes and a hilarious bit about O’Neil’s purchase of a beach house in Lorne.
There’s rarely a beat between what the crowd offers and what O’Neil has to give. Teachers, parents, a nut expert: everyone engaging in O’Neil’s call-and-response becomes a part of the show. In turn, O’Neil becomes everybody’s mate, and we relate to his self-deprecation and relish his casual confidence when discussing his age, his weight, the CPAP machine he sleeps with at night, and his than less-than-stellar career moments. “You’re lucky to have me here, to be honest,” he says. “I could be doing the Warragul Greyhounds.”
And he’s right. From references to Elle Macpherson and Gravox to Galaga and Leo Sayer’s perm, Best Hair in the Business is a joyful way to spend an hour. The good old days, indeed.