When you’re attending a show like the Adelaide International Comedy Gala you know you’re in for a laughter-filled good time. And at the iconic Thebarton Theatre I was lucky enough to grab a seat on one of the beautiful leather couches on the balcony – I can honestly say I’ve never been more comfortable sitting in a Fringe venue in my life. Gorgeously stuck in past, the Thebby (built-in 1928) doesn’t care about the modernisation of other theatres and just keeps on bringing in great shows and talent. But it seems like the Thebby is not the only thing stuck in the past. Because, as I discovered on Saturday night, whoever organised this show only managed to book one female stand-up out of twelve comedians. It seems like the words ‘gender diversity’ haven’t found their way to this International Comedy Gala as yet! Damian Callinan started off the evening to joyous applause. The sold-out crowd loved his family-friendly schtick before Sri Lankan comedian Dilruk Jayasinha took over. Leaving us in tears of laughter, Dilruk went into detail about his experiences with a 70-year-old waxing lady until Rudy-Lee Taura took the mike. Walking onto the stage looking like a “drug dealer off the street”, Taura took great delight in mocking his own appearance while also spreading a message about Aboriginal rights in Australia. And as the first third of the evening came to a close, one of my favourite divisive comedians appeared onstage. Amos Gill usually takes no prisoners with his abrasive style of comedy, and it was no different on this night. He seems to take great delight in dividing his audience, with half either cackling hysterically at his off-beat humour while the other half gasp in horror at the wrongness of it all. I can’t really tell you much about the other eight comedians who appeared onstage. They were all entertaining but didn’t pack the punch that the first four had. When you hear penis and ex-girlfriend jokes over and over again you kind of zone out after a while. It was up to Fiona O’Loughlin to hold the lone comedy spot for the women but even she seemed a little discombobulated in front of the audience. It was a nice night of comedic entertainment that had a really strong first hour but sort of just fizzled out toward the end. THREE STARS ***