Comedy Festival review: Rhys Nicholson in 'I'm Fine'

Rhys Nicholson: Cutting humour tied together with real warmth. Photo / supplied

Rhys Nicholson's new show is a sparkling, rapid-fire hour of cuttingly quick wit and surprising warmth.

I'm Fine spans a familiar range of topics, from sex and relationships to mental illness and being a loser in highschool but Nicholson's takes on the themes always feel fresh.

He fires jokes off quickly in a patter which could come across as hollow if he were a more cynical comedian, but despite the perfectly cutting lines there's a real warmth tying the show together.

The way Nicholson talks about social justice issues, like Australia's racism or the way straight women can fetishise their gay friends, it's obvious he truly cares about them but the jokes never feel preachy.

I was first aware of Nicholson through social media, when screenshots of some random punter accusing Nicholson's act of being tired - "a gay comedian talking about being gay, how refreshing" - were retweeted onto my Twitter timeline.

Sure, Nicholson is quite obviously camp, right down to the slight lisp he delivers his bitingly funny jokes with.

But, so what?

Comedian's lives are where they draw most of their jokes from, and Nicholson's observations about his own navigation through life as an anxious, slightly vanilla gay man in Australia are simultaneously specific and relatable.

Only the dullest of comedy fans would reduce the show Nicholson has created to "being gay" and nothing else, as if the only real comedians are self-loathing straight men and everyone else is relying on schtick.

Don't be boring, go see this show.