The Jewry is out, but the Comedy is in!
Daring new comedy show tackles child sexual abuse, religious schooling, and the power of communal healing.
Hot on the heels of an award winning run at the Melbourne Fringe, Melbourne based comedian Jacob Sacher is back to present his hilarious show Promising Young Mensch at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from the 24th March to the 6th of April at the Motley Bauhaus this year.
The show reflects on growing up in the religious Jewish Community in the wake of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Presented from the perspective of Sacher’s 13-year-old alter ego, the show reflects on his ultra-orthodox Jewish upbringing at a school – which was featured as a case study in the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.
With equal parts humour and vulnerability, Sacher wrestles with what it means to be a “survivor”. And, if he passes the high bar that society has placed on the term. The audience is safely and gently invited on this journey of introspection.
The show won a Judges Pick at the 2024 Melbourne Fringe and was nominated for the prestigious “Best Comedy” award. Jacob is also a Melbourne Theatre Company award winner for Excellence Off Stage and the winner of the Melbourne University Comedy competition who’s past winners include Hamish Blake, Sammy J, and Ronny Chieng.
Promising Young Mensch arrives during an eventful year for Sacher, who is also the chair of Melbourne’s Corner Shop Comedy Theatre, and a Jewish Comedy researcher who is presenting at the Australian Humour Studies Network Annual Conference in February.
March 24 – April 6
Promising Young Mensch | Melbourne International Comedy Festival
