The Canberra Comedy Festival closed on Saturday night after a stellar week of stand-up, singing and skits that featured acts like Peter Helliar, Cal Wilson and Jason Byrne. One of the last performers to take the stage for the festival was Dave Thornton – most recognisable from his appearances on Channel 10’s ‘The Project”. Although relatively unknown compared to some of the headline acts, he’s a comic on the rise that ticks all the right boxes.
Enter Dave, a thirty something, metro-looking larrikin from Melbourne. With his laid-back hipster chic, Thornton relished the spotlight, ruling the audience from front and centre and he captivated the room throughout the hour-long set.
His routine was unique in the way that he was able to mesh in some deep stuff that played well with the jokes – often delivering a personal truth and following it with a punchline. Psychologically, it’s a brilliant ploy as the audience feels and gets a sense of who Dave is as a person. It makes him relatable, believable and totally hilarious. He came off as a dude you want to have a beer or ten with.
It’s not easy to make people laugh for an entire 60 minutes, but his set was on point from start to finish. Thornton covered topics like relationships, travel and a lot of random stuff in between!
There was plenty of interaction and banter with the audience as Thornton involved them in his stories and even exposing a few to grab some extra giggles. Oozing with confidence, it is clear he has been doing this a long time and knew how to work the crowd.
If Australia ever wants to restart its nighttime talk show scene – one that was dominated by Rove McManus – Dave Thornton should be Candidate Number One. Witty, clever and quick, he’s a naturally funny, likeable and good-looking dude – something our country’s television landscape is sorely lacking at the moment.
