By Suzanne Tate
It’s hard to know how to approach this review. Sammy J is undoubtedly a very funny man, and I love his satirical humour. But this particular show has grown from a very long series of happy ‘accidents’ and coincidences bordering on the unbelievable. The fact that this amazingly funny story has grown around Sammy J since he was a teenager, through to just a few years ago, boggles the mind. The story of Duncan Munro…
Sammy begins the tale from the end, where we find him at the top of a ladder, that represent his pull-down attic staircase. In the following hour, we follow Sammy’s apparently rambling (but always amusing) tale that leads us from interactions with the school gardener, a growing obsession with the superhero the Phantom, numerous trips to Canberra, international diplomatic negotiations, a criminal act, meeting and winning over his wife and the international fandom of the Jack Reacher novels. With much laughter and feelings of disbelief, Sammy J shares the story of how all of this is connected, leading inevitably to that moment of climbing into his attic, followed by a Federal Police officer. And the common denominator in this bewildering tale of coincidence and fate is the one and only Duncan Munro.
Sammy J has such a talent for storytelling, and this show, interspersed with a few of his amusing songs, does not disappoint, with the laughs coming thick and fast. But also gasps of astonishment, as the real star of this show is the mind-blowing series of events that connect Sammy J and Munro throughout decades. Little more can be said without giving too much away, but with only a few nights left of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, do try and catch Hero Complex before time runs out!
