Rhys Nicholson is like one of those kittens you spy in pet shop windows in I’m Fine. With looks to die for, he seems so cute and harmless. Pressed up against the glass window, you fall for the face with killer cheekbones. You rush in and buy. Once home, another persona appears and he tears your lounge room to shreds. Yes, looks can be deceiving. He is very cute, and very loveable — but he comes with claws! This is what his diehard fans LOVE about him, selling out many of his past Melbourne International Comedy Festival forays. You will, too.
He’s a handsome man with cherry-dipped red hair, nerdy black glasses, and a dress sense to-die-for. Dressed immaculately in a white-with-black tuxedo jacket, his show bares lots. Bones of anecdotes and skeletons in cupboards from the gay regional kid come to the big smoke with stories sampled from real life. It’s scarily relatable.
Nothing is off limits. Nicholson enters into dangerous territory with the innocence of a child, detonating hidden landmines as the best comedians do. He has the audience hanging on his every word, waiting for the poisoned punchline.
School days’ bullying, teen sex peccadillos, body image issues, mental illness, partnership phases, beauty and bravery, sex toys, the pleasures of 50+ women on their fifth chardonnay, and the fact we need ‘more whimsy in our lives’. The audience laughs, fully knowing this stuff doesn’t just happen in country towns. Nicholson ties his varied stories beautifully together, pulling the contemporary funnybone as a true Millennial.
His inner monologue is performed for us with little escaping this mind. He’s not just curious, he’s furious, interrogating the why as well as the way things are done. Nicholson’s ability to get inside humans resembles that of a cultural forensic scientist, and you will die laughing at his observations.
His show includes lines about pre-midnight trips to Target for the highly-anxious, grand statements such as ‘Everyone is ugly’, to talking about ‘dick-hunger’.
Despite the comic vitriol, we love the heart of Rhys. He’s the PA system to our inner thoughts. He’s like the nerdy brother who won’t shut up, asking taboo questions, voicing our silent niggles.
Catch up with someone recently taken his place in the pantheon of stardom on our national comedy stage. You need to have had a session with this bright-as-a-matchstick performer!
– Sarah
Sarah is a dance-trained theatre lover with a flair for the Shakespearean and non-traditional performance forums. On-the-street or in the box seat, she is always looking for works that push the envelope.
Rhys Nicholson‘s ‘I’m Fine’ runs 30 March-23 April, 9.45pm at ACMI Cube. Buy tickets now.
The venue is accessible.
