UTG Review @ Melbourne International Comedy Festival: Joel Creasey – ‘Rock God’

April 2nd, 2014

Brenton Harris

Comic: Joel Creasey
Show: Rock God
Venue: Swiss Club

There is a moment in every Rock God’s career where they make the transition from aspiring mere mortal to exalted deity. At the age of 23, Joel Creasey is on the precipice of making that transition; and if there is any justice in the world, the appropriately titled Rock God should prove to be the pièce de résistance that enables his crossing over.

A side-splittingly funny 70-minute display of stand-up that moves at a frantic pace of several laughs per minute while remaining focused enough to enable several moments of great poignancy, Rock God finds the enigmatic Creasey at the absolute peak of his comedic powers.

Opening with a hilarious yet helpful reminder regarding the appropriate Instragram filters to use when you’re posting photos from the show (do not use the toaster filter), the sold-out room is in stitches from the get-go, as Creasey utilizes his unique combination of wit, candor and all-out bitchiness to deliver carefully crafted anecdotes in his frenetic, and yes, fabulous style. Essentially a show about heroes (or Rock God’s as Creasey dubs them) and our relationships with them, Rock God provides a wonderful insight into the mind of this brash young comedian, revealing a layer of emotional depth and humanity that had only been hinted at in his previous outings.

A perfectly structured show, Rock God allows Creasey to cover a mindboggling array of topics and the audience is left breathless as this eccentric comic moves seamlessly between tales of taking Zumba lessons with his 60-year–old alcoholic mother to misadventures in gay bars across the world and all the way through to accidentally offending his own personal Rock God, Joan Rivers.

Rivers is actually a rather appropriate comparison for Creasey, who has mastered the rather rare art of being hilariously catty while remaining caring and compassionate, a rare talent that ensures he remains imminently affable even when he is trying his hardest to be unlikable.

Highlighted by a series of stories surrounding his own relationships, with his friends, with his hometown and of course with his own personal Rock Gods (which include comedians, female tennis players, his mother and of course Meryl Streep) and bookended by some seriously funny displays of physical comedy, Rock God is an absolute riot from start to finish and should ensure that Creasey’s profile evolves from that of ‘promising young comedian’ to ‘comedy superstar’ or perhaps more fittingly, ‘Rock God.’

Flamboyant yet thoughtful, sassy yet sensitive, unashamedly confident yet self-depreciating, Joel Creasey possesses all the hallmarks of a bonafide ‘Rock God.’

Do yourself a favor and head on down to the Swiss Club to see Rock God before Creasey’s inevitable rise in fame. Don’t forget to take some photos to prove you were there and Instagram the hell out of them, but for the love of Meryl Streep, DON’T USE THE TOASTER FILTER!

SCORE: 5/5

Joel Creasey’s Rock God is on now at the Swiss Club. A complete set of dates and ticket details can be found here