Tom Gleeson
Tom On

Rhino Room
Wed 21 March
until Sat 31 March


Melbourne based comedian Tom Gleeson certainly knows how to charge up a room and hold them to the very end. Starting out by announcing that he's just bought a second hand late model Monaro, Gleeson segues into tales of his recent trip to Iraq and other secret locations to entertain the troops; saying that he also thought it would be a good opportunity to go direct to the source and bring back some duty free oil for his gas guzzling pride and joy.

From here on it's a matter of hanging on for a fast and dangerous journey as the ever amiable Gleeson takes us behind enemy lines and recounts moments of one drunken night with SAS soldiers, American troops with no sense of humour and his meeting with John Howard or more impressively, Jeanette. As serious as some of his fodder was, the audience was left with no choice but laugh as Gleeson's approach to storytelling is both naturally comforting as well as just plain 'ol good fun.

Going full circle by completing the exchange of his Monaro purchase, with five minutes to go Gleeson used the time to further entertain us with an ad hoc story of a group of mates and a camping trip prank that's still being retold years after. Even though he notes his absence from this misadventure, the telling was still typically Tom. That being, very tomical... erm, comical.

Steve Jones