Chris D'Elia

After a scheduling conflict caused cancellations earlier in the year, Chris D'Elia is given a riotous round of applause upon his Oz stage debut. His fans may have had to hold off a little longer than expected to see him, but they clearly don't mind having to wait.

D'Elia begins with a sojourn into some off the cuff musings on his plane journey over from LA. Predictable, yes, but his diehards are on board from minute one. After a further ten minutes of rambling, D'Elia stops to announce, "The show hasn't started, by the way." Again, D'Elia apologists are deep into the rabbit hole, but the punters off the street seem unsure as to what exactly is going on. As soon as he begins the more prepared material, it becomes clear the D'Elia isn't what many would think of as a traditional stand-up.

D'Elia's New Jersey patois flows rapidly, but his jokes lack any semblance of a real punchline. Instead, his disdain towards "animal lovers" and possums ends not in a clever payoff, but rather the repeated exhortation "fuck that". It's humorous at first, but as the show progresses, his gags become pallid and obvious.

This being said, D'Elia has a very enjoyable ability to defer from the script and do his own thing while on stage. He can shut down hecklers faster than any other comic around, and his callbacks to improvised material show his impressive ability as a performer. Once he's established just how well he can journey off the beaten track, it becomes clear that D'Elia has some true comedy prowess. Creating anthropomorphic scenes of his pet dogs is definitely giggle-worthy, and it barrels quickly into some of the most bizarre yet relatable material of his set. It's just a shame, however, that these moments fall well and truly into the minority of the performance. Once the final blow is delivered and D'Elia exits the stage, there are a few too many loose ends for the show to feel truly satisfying.

It's not one for those unfamiliar with the comedians work, looking for an hour of polished and rounded material. However, it is quite clearly what D'Elia's fans have come to expect of him. Anyone who has put in the hard yards with D'Elia will most likely leave happy, but going in blind is definitely not recommended.