Bunbury’s New Lyric Theatre is set to erupt in laughter on Saturday 9th August, when Grassroots International Comedy rolls into town with a line-up that reads like a greatest-hits playlist of contemporary stand-up. After a string of sell-out dates in Pinjarra, Yanchep, Perth and Geraldton, Grassroots Comedy’s travelling showcase finally turns its spotlight on the South West, promising an evening that will test even the sturdiest of seat cushions.
Front and centre on hosting duties is Comedy Lounge favourite Evan Willey. Quick-witted and impossibly relaxed behind the mic, Willey has made a name as the act who can shepherd an audience from curious silence to full-throated cackle in a heartbeat. Expect him to keep the pace brisk, the crowd warmed, and the acts on their toes.
First cab off the rank is Xavier Susai—Singapore-born, Perth-honed, and fresh from a whirlwind of international festival spots. Susai has a rare gift for squeezing the absurd out of cultural collision; his stories glide seamlessly from jet-lagged observations to perfectly timed zingers that land with precision.
Flying the flag for British satire is David Hughes—a writer whose résumé includes credits on Mock the Week, Trailer Park Boys and Australia’s own The Project. Hughes’ comedy bears the hallmarks of a veteran room-writer: economical wording, sly detours and a punchline that feels both inevitable and impossibly neat.
Adding a southern-hemisphere twist is Chilean joke-smith Jetro Gainza. High-energy without tipping into chaos, Gainza has a knack for finding the comic pressure points in life’s everyday stumbles—then poking them until the audience howls.
Local favourite Tait Middleton returns east of the rabbit-proof fence after a breakout run as support for heavyweights at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Middleton’s style is delightfully unhinged: half carefully honed craftsmanship, half improvised mischief. He specialises in stories that shouldn’t be funny—until he makes them so.
Rounding out the bill is Nola Bliss, the 76-year-old powerhouse who refuses to let age, decorum or polite society dull her edge. Bliss delivers her observations with the cool authority of a friend who’s seen it all—and is willing to name names.
Grassroots Comedy founder Xavier Susai says Bunbury has been on the company’s radar for years. ‘The South West has always punched above its weight culturally,’ he notes. ‘The New Lyric is the perfect room: intimate enough for off-the-cuff riffing, yet big enough to feel like an occasion.’ That “occasion” will be captured on film, with the theatre’s 200-seat layout doubling as a ready-made production set—so audience members may find their chuckles preserved for posterity.
With every previous Comedy @ date selling out in advance, the smart money is on snapping up tickets early. If you’re after a Saturday night that delivers world-class comedy without the Perth commute—and lets you brag about seeing these acts before they inevitably blow up—this could well be your golden ticket.
Comedy at Bunbury
New Lyric Theatre, Bunbury
Saturday 9 August 2025, 7.30 pm (doors 7.00 pm)
Tickets: via Eventbrite
Leave the house, gather your mates, and settle in for the kind of laughter that rings in your ears all the way home. Bunbury, your rib-tickling rendezvous awaits.
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