Comedian Sammy J, perhaps best known as the host of ABC Radio Melbourne, makes a happy return to the stand-up stage with new show The Kangaroo Effect. In true Sammy J fashion, he opens the evening with a song. Singing and playing keyboard, he takes the audience back to an ill-fated night in April 2024, when he misunderstood the invitation to a friend’s formal dress birthday party, and turned up in a plush kangaroo onesie. He explains, “For the first time in my life as a professional attention seeker, I don’t want anyone looking at me”.

While he was able to dash into a private room and quickly change, avoiding immediate humiliation, this was still a seminal moment for Sammy J. He saw the comic potential and was inspired to write his new show – and eventually, even quit his stable job at ABC in favour of touring.

The audience joins Sammy as he attempts to unravel the events which lead to this social blunder. There are many pieces of evidence and suspects to examine; from his friend’s spouse to fellow comedians and distant relatives, nobody is safe.

There is an autobiographical feel to many of Sammy J’s anecdotes, offering glimpses into how he became a comedian, and his relationship with family. He presents a slideshow of the many varied costumes he has worn throughout his life, including some true nineties gems, timed perfectly with a comical pattern song. “I’ve been dressing up for decades, dressing up is just what I do,” he croons. Indeed, his most embarrassing stories are usually told in song form, perhaps the peak of which is “Don’t Catfish Your Buddies”.

Beginning with a funny anecdote about a sartorial faux pas, under the comic genius and detail oriented mind of Sammy J, The Kangaroo Effect becomes something greater. Equal parts autobiography, history, and musical comedy, it is a uniquely bright and fun hour of comedy.