Romesh Ranganathan: Irrational (MICF)

The comedy zeitgeist is in a state of flux at the moment. The current comic trends are at a point now where the straightforward stand-up of old is quickly being overtaken by the absurdist and surreal fringe acts that were once considered way too "out there" to be in the mainstream. As a result, what was once the most reliably stable area of comedy is less and less the go-to platform for those in search of a good laugh.

Romesh Ranganathan, however, is refusing to give in to new comic fads, instead running head first into the bygone Seinfeld days with a grumpy vengeance in what is easily one of the most well-polished shows at this year's MICF. Ranganathan has a comedy DeLorean ready to drive his audience straight back to a time when this sort of old skool stand-up was fresh and exciting. 

Irrational takes the old mathematical formulas of joke telling and kicks a new life into them, as Ranganathan opens the doors of his life to his audience and abruptly boots anyone who dares interrupt him to the kerb. He is always 20 steps ahead of his crowd, and even sometimes ahead of himself, with perfectly timed gags and some of the most seamless crowd work around. 

Admittedly, Ranganathan's classic approach leads him down a couple of roads that arguably should have been left in the past - a couple of lazy jokes about his wife and homosexuality come quickly to mind. But his Sri Lankan heritage and affinity for rap music gives a 21st-century, culturally intriguing reboot to this comedic style, in much the same vein as Jack Dee and Sean Lock before him.

Ranganathan is the world-weary, deadpan curmudgeon of a comedian that has been lost in the age of alt-randomness and kooky weirdos. His show does have less of the cohesive and formative style that fans of this genre of comedy may be used to, with a series of lightly connected stories and a hilarious but structurally weak ending. However, Irrational takes those old standards and makes them exhilarating again. Ranganathan, for his relatively few years in comedy, is already a master at what he does, and should surely be back soon (if he can be bothered).

Romesh Ranganathan presents Irrational till 23 Apr at Arts Centre Melbourne, part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.