We pull apart Melbourne Fringe with equal parts affection and frustration while admitting we’re still a bit wobbly from the last episode. Culture feels splintered, audiences feel cautious, and we ask whether Fringe should be stranger while stand‑up finds its own lane.
• Melbourne Fringe as identity crisis point
• hypnosis shows, improv energy, and audience buy‑in
• culture reset after lockdowns and a lost zeitgeist
• competing with the past and novelty fatigue
• Warhammer ResinGate as a metaphor for diminishing returns
• MC choices, safety cues, and setting the room’s world
• stand‑up vs clown, music and theatre at Fringe
• letting Fringe be Fringe with clearer expectations
• honesty about fear, therapy energy, and stagecraft
• outdoor recording, nostalgia riffs, ads and video stores
Subscribe, tell a friend, and drop a comment: is Fringe in Melbourne better without stand‑up or stronger with it?
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Cold Open, Hiatus Jitters
02:20 Fringe Festival Becomes The Topic
06:00 Words, Rubbish, Collingwood Rant
10:30 Hypnosis At Fringe And Improv Bias
13:45 Melbourne’s Fringe vs Comedy Identity
17:00 Culture Reset And Lost Zeitgeist
23:00 Competing With The Past, Tech Plateau
27:30 Warhammer ResinGate And Nostalgia Bits
31:40 Security Questions, Names, And Costs
36:40 What Audiences Want: Laughter vs Mission
41:30 MC Energy, Safety Cues, And Agency
46:00 Meta: Podcast, Park, And Validation
