If You're Scared About Something It Helps To Laugh At It

Eli Matthewson's upbeat brand of comedy is coming to Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a bang. His new show Faith deals with religion in a personal way. "It's not so much a Ricky Gervais roast on how dumb Christians are," Matthewson says. "It's more, 'This was my experience, I was in that world and now I'm out of it and how do you deal with all those big issues?'"

The 27 year old from Christchurch, now based in Auckland, brings the big issues to stand-up and puts them in a light context. "It's totally personalised," Matthewson says. "I'm like the naughty son and the audience takes on the role of my parents as I say all these things they don't necessarily want to hear."

At its core, Matthewson's new show Faith talks about religion — when asked why, Matthewson is quick to respond: "I think it ties into the fear we all have. Everyone's scared about dying and if you're scared about something, you want to laugh about it."

Some MICF aficionados might recognise Matthewson from FanFiction Comedy. But he's going out on his own this year for this brave look into all the biggest topics in the world.

Matthewson says he draws inspiration from underdog comedy like '90s cult film Bowfinger and Leslie Knope from Parks & Recreation: "I just love the idea of people trying to achieve something against all odds."

The award-winning comedian speaks to the roots of his comedy, as a nine-year-old kid, the shortest in his class. "I improvised a speech on the Spice Girls," he says, "drew ugly pictures and said, 'This is what the Spice Girls look like'. And recorded myself vomiting and said, 'This is what the Spice Girls sound like'." He's a little taller now, but just as whimsical and childish as that day.

As a queer performer, Matthewson discusses how important comedy is as a bridge to equality. "It's so important," he says. "The normalisation and acceptance of anything happens when you're able to laugh about it."