Dr Julian O’Shea is not your average comedian. A Fulbright Scholar with a PhD, he has built a career translating complex ideas about cities, transport and design into sharp, accessible and engaging storytelling for millions online (including the successful Unknown Melbourne series on Youtube). He has a special gift for making the audience care about his passion projects. 

In his new live show, O’Shea turns his analytical lens onto the Guinness World Records. For many millennials who spent their childhood flicking through a dog-eared copy of Guinness World Records, this show brings a warm and welcome hit of nostalgia. O’Shea recounts that during a fateful hunting trip in the 1950s, Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of Guinness, found himself arguing over which European game bird was the fastest. Realising there was no reference to settle such disputes, he commissioned a book that could provide the answers, decades before Google. The first edition was distributed to pubs to help patrons settle arguments. O’Shea delights in the absurdity of a beer company publishing a trivia book. “It’s like a tyre company rating fine dining restaurants,” he jokes.

O’Shea starts with a tour of bizarre and quintessentially Australian world records holders. From heritage pictures of Bob Hawke sculling a beer in 1954, to our national obsession with being the “biggest” something in the Southern Hemisphere. Next the audience joins O’Shea on his journey to be published in the physical copy of the Guinness World Records.

O’Shea first travelled to China to attempt the record for most distance travelled by train in 24 hours. This involved hopping off at every station to photograph himself beside platform signs – much to the irritation of his fellow passengers. He clocked an extraordinary 3,752 kilometres in a single day, only to be beaten by a handful of kilometres by someone from the United Kingdom. However, O’Shea would not admit defeat! And he brings the audience along for his further attempts, each more bizarre and further afield than the last. From skateboards and 3D printers in the high-altitude mountain ranges of Chile, to Samoa on Valentine’s Day, and finally back home to Melbourne.

Each night, an audience member is invited onstage to attempt a real-time Guinness World Record, injecting a dose of chaos and wholesome fun into an already delightful hour. 

O’Shea blends meticulous research with self-deprecating humour, nostalgia, and fun storytelling. For a clever show that delights rather than befuddles, look no further than One for the Record Books.