Dilruk Jayasinha: Heart Stopper

Wordplay is clearly very dear to Dilruk Jayasinha’s heart, so he must have been delighted to discover that his first name translates from Hindi to English as ‘heart-stop’ (even if he’s actually Sri Lankan).

Because another thing very close to Jayasinha’s heart is a stent inserted during last year’s festival when an 80 per cent blockage was discovered in one of his arteries, known evocatively as ‘The Widowmaker’. Presumably a terrifying experience, but also a gift for someone who excels at storytelling and Jayasinha relays the tale of how a minor pinch in his arm turned into a near-death experience with no shortage of aplomb.

Proceedings begin with a few minutes of crowd work as Jayasinha asks audience members what their names mean, which reaps the former accountant plenty of dividends as he handles the room expertly and deftly weaves the resulting exchanges into later passages of the show. The heart attack yarn unsurprisingly takes up a significant chunk of the remainder, with Jayasinha also riffing on some familiar topics like his overly supportive family and his struggles with weight and dealing with a negative inner voice.

Whatever past battles with self-esteem, one thing Jayasinha is not short on these days is confidence, and he does carry over some faux-arrogant flourishes from his early days when they felt a little bit more enjoyably ironic. He also can’t seem to resist a puerile gag or genitalia reference, which mileages may vary on, culminating in an excruciating (in more ways than one) account of an unlikely bikini wax. A classic case of the reviewer being out of step with the rest of the crowd perhaps, given the rapturous reception it received.

It’s difficult to fault the skill and execution on show here or the energy level that Jayasinha is able to build and sustain in a large room. Even if not all of the material worked for this particular audience member, the majority response was undeniable.

After some more knee-slapping comedy? Check out the regular comedy nights in Melbourne.