Sam McGowan Can’t Sleep is the debut show of the Melbourne-based comedian and premiered at the HYMN Bar as part of the Adelaide Fringe.

McGowan is a comedy segment producer for The Project and co-host of the podcast Gaytkeeping. He brought that fun approach to creating work to his first full-length comedy show.

The show regales slights McGowan has experienced or perceived from dating situations that fizzle out, forced parallels between himself and Susan Boyle, and why his life makes him perfect for the song I’ve Dreamed a Dream as performed by Fantine in Les Misérables. 

Being the first show without a preview scheduled in the Fringe program, there were some glitches to the initial flow and tech inclusions in the show. McGowan was able to play this off and presenting a generally fun show that ends with a live rendition of the song to draw his disputes together.

The show for review did feel like an off night, such as the forced inclusion of missed, essential jokes that could have had a smoother recall and the splattering of ‘dad jokes’ throughout that were an enjoyable inclusion without an obvious style to their use as punctuation.

Even with these issues, it was clear McGowan is comedically talented and naturally humorous. All the components for a brilliant stand-up show were within Sam McGowan Can’t Sleep, just in a slightly raw form. 

Once he hit his stride within individual stories his skill shined through. McGowan demonstrated comedic skill simmering away and was quite naturally funny when relaxing into the breaks away from the script.

McGowan is a new comedian to keep an eye on, particularly for later productions as the talent he has is further crafted through live experience of long-form comedy shows.

Following on from the premiere shows at the Adelaide Fringe, Sam McGowan Can’t Sleep is heading to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for shows in April.