Matt Okine Performs The Other Guy To A Completely Rapt Audience – Adelaide Fringe Review

Matt Okine -The Other Guy Palace Nova ExiMax, Fri Mar 6 Superb. What a shame he’s only doing the two nights in Adelaide, because this show is extremely funny, modest and touching. A packed room hung on Matt Okine’s every word, at times he was probably disconcerted by the pin drop quiet of 400 people paying rapt attention. This was positively the first ever airing of the show and he has plainly put in the work to make it tight. You don’t expect fumbling and hesitation, and we didn’t get it. Finally, gainfully employed on Triple J he mock-complained about his lot as the Breakfast Show host, the grind of early rising, sleep deprivation and the surprising amount of venom his very existence generates from Instagram haters; one guy in particular, Rat Gillies, who became a running theme of the show as a sharp reminder that Okine can’t escape the humbling jabs of an ill-tempered listener. His frequent assertion "I’m rich!" could have been an irritant until it became plain that what he meant is normally adult and solvent, being able to pay rent and not prefixing a request for wine with ‘house’. It’s a sharp reminder that most comedians work for years with very modest financial reward, if any, and so ‘some’ becomes a cause for exultation. His self-deprecating stories of clumsy romantic failure, fabulously undignified bedroom disasters and a genuinely sad break-up had the audience alternately roaring, wincing with shared embarrassment or stilled and disconcertingly silent as he spilled his life before us, the successes and the silliness. He made comedy look effortless, without a stumble or a clumsy segue,  He gave an hour crammed with gags enlivened with  a bold physical stage presence, showing more experienced acts how it’s done. Julia Chamberlain Matt Okine: The Other Guy continues at Palace Nova ExiMax until Sat Mar 7. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. Image courtesy of Zak Kaczmarek