Hannah Gadsby

Same-sex marriage might not be the most unexpected ground for Hannah Gadsby to cover in her new show, but with an approach that involved a slideshow and recurring references to a classic 15th-century painting, there was still plenty of room for the unexpected.

Hannah Wants A Wife was at first a little slow to get off the ground, but once Gadsby found her footing, she soon won over the crowd. A quick glance at the number of same-sex couples in the room showed she was maybe preaching to the choir here, but Gadsby's strength is that, as well as being funny, she's also just really likeable.

Although her sights were set on gay marriage, Gadsby took the scenic route to get there, with anecdotes about rough crowds, men trying to pick her up, and gay stereotypes, with a particularly funny story about getting her motorbike licence and hemming a new pair of curtains in the same day.

Although she was clearly wary about getting bogged down in politics, she couldn't resist a few well-placed jibes. She pointed out Julia Gillard's dismissal of same-sex marriage as “untraditional” was a bit rich, given she's a female Prime Minister in a de facto relationship with a heterosexual hairdresser, for example.

It was less a side-splitting laugh-a-thon than just a fun night out, like spending an evening at the pub with your funny mate, except they're on stage… and they're less drunk… and they're actually funny.

Season finished