Brisbane Powerhouse March 8

Perhaps it’s down to his familiarity as co-host on Triple J’s breakfast show, but Tom Ballard has an extraordinary knack for putting his audience at ease. Fans in the front row were so relaxed they sat back with their feet up on the stage, as though they were hanging out at a mate’s place rather than attending a comedic performance. Ballard started out by explaining that his show would be all about politics, but soon became distracted by an audience member with a very unusual laugh, which he aptly described as sounding like a “dying rhinoceros”. This diversion had the audience in stitches before he even touched on his written material. He eventually composed himself and carried on.

His hour-long performance seemed to fly by and I would have happily listened to more. Whether he was bemoaning the disarray within the Australian Labor party, explaining why he’s a vegetarian who eats meat, sharing the gruesome details of gay sex gone wrong, or just poking fun at the lady with the weird rhino laugh, Ballard did what he was on stage to do and kept his audience engaged and thoroughly entertained throughout.