If you don’t know who Hannibal Buress is, you’re doing yourself a significant disservice. Buress recently hit Melbourne for his live comedy show ‘The Hannibal Montanabal Experience’, performing for a packed crowd at Hamer Hall. Before reading this article, you should watch this to set the right Hannibal mood (NSFW).

The setup for ‘The Hannibal Montanabal Experience’ at Hamer Hall was fresh. Tony Trimm kicked off the show as an onstage VJ (that’s visual DJing, nerds) to random clips and GIFs paired with hip hop. After the tunes had lulled the crowd into a chill vibe, warm-up comedian Al Jackson took to the stage to help loosen up our cheek muscles. Jackson covered the un-PC to the thought-provoking: the trials of being a science teacher to questioning the significant dearth of dildos in men’s bedrooms considering their market appeal. We’ve all thought about it.

The packed Hamer Hall was super receptive to Emmy Award nominee Buress, who is probably best known for his role as the nonchalant and hilariously awkward co-host of Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show (also NSFW), as well as his ongoing role as the dentist Lincoln Rice in Broad City and various writing credits for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, to name a few.

It’s safe to say Buress won 99% of the crowd in the first five minutes by unashamedly bashing Sydney as a shit place to go out, namely due to the plethora of absurd regulations that plague its nightlife. I haven’t been out in Sydney for a while, but according to Buress, one can only order mixed, not hard, liquor at midnight, which left him fresh to fly to Melbourne the next morning for his headline show at Hamer Hall. Any international guest who shakes down our rival sister city is welcome among us locals.

From there, Hannibal had us eager for more whimsical tirades weaved through anecdotes packaged in idiosyncratic comedic flair the way only talented comedians can. Donald Trump is a natural target, so Buress had no problem opining with scathing interpretations of the Trump calamity, especially to an Australian crowd removed from the blast radius of the U.S. election aftermath.

The screen behind the stage with pre-cued visuals was a well-used prop for Buress to supplement his material. One standout instance had to be showing verbatim a Reddit post from a past fan hookup, where the woman candidly describes her sexual experience with Buress. Self-deprecation as a comedic tool is always easy to digest and relatable, a common theme to Buress’ comedy. Melbourne as a topic was also not off limits, with Buress questioning the recent, freak ‘thunderstorm asthma’ event, which set off a stream of stories about his own health that ended in negotiating with a couple in the crowd over buying their unborn baby. You can also tell Buress is a hip hop fan, as he frequently used the genre as reference material, often calling on Trimm to bump some audio bites for added effect and finishing off in a fanfare of him freestyling a rap parody.

‘The Hannibal Montanabal Experience’ was a sure hit and whether you’re an avid Buress fan or late on the scene, don’t think twice about seeing him live. In the meantime, more Hannibal.

Ate: Cornetto bathing in beer.
Drank: Little Creatures Pale Ale.

– Matt M.
Matt is a mad scientist by day and beer connoisseur by night. When he’s not devouring a new set of craft beers you will find him in a dankly lit room plotting his approach at the next alcohol-related festival.

For more Hannibal Buress, visit www.hannibalburess.com.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Chugg Entertainment.
Image credit: Chugg Entertainment and Comedy Central.