Brothers Lachlan and Jaxon Fairbairn have come a long way since they began uploading home-made sketches on Youtube. Their achievements include 1.68 million subscribers, hosting a successful podcast, an AACTA nomination in 2020, and winning the Screen Australia “Skip Ahead” initiative in 2023. Now they are debuting their first live show, starting with a brief run at the Adelaide Fringe, which sold out before the opening night.

The brothers briefly greet the audience and describe their show as “like what we do online but in person,” squeezing six sketches into sixty minutes. Each scene starts with a different scenario that soon spirals into absurdity. From drunk airline pilots navigating pre-flight checks to medieval blacksmiths bickering over career ambitions and social faux pas, their humour thrives on awkward escalation and deadpan delivery. They are not afraid to laugh at, or even judge, their own material. Lachlan breaks character after the line “I wooed her with my juggling six seven” to berate the audience for laughing at what he considers a terrible joke. Everyday situations – a routine medical exam, a job interview, a visit to the principal’s office – quickly unravel as the brothers fixate on strange details, commit to bizarre character choices, and push a joke well past the point of comfort.

Without the magic of editing, the audience can see the mental gears grind and clank as the two brothers improvise. When a joke falters or a premise drifts, they do not hide it – they break character and call it out, with varying success. Each night includes a new, unrehearsed scene. On Friday, a sketch where Lachlan convinces Jaxon to join his UK soccer team falters under repeated false starts and crude Russian stereotypes. It lands unevenly, but the brothers’ willingness to let it wobble is part of the appeal.

Fair Dinkum is dry short-form comedy that thrives on awkwardness and self-awareness, fuelled by the chaotic energy of Lachlan and Jaxon constantly pushing each other – and the joke – further.