Comedian Anthony Locascio in Heart of Darkness

On Friday night I made my way to the Greek Centre in the city to see Sydney-based comedian Anthony Locascio perform his solo show about “some morally questionable things he’s done in his life, and how he has reconciled them with finding love and happiness”. This is an encore performance of Anthony's highly successful Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, after his 2022 show “Don’t call me a wog!” which I unfortunately didn’t make it to. 

Opening for Anthony was local comedian and feminist Charisa Bossinakis, who I’ve previously reviewed and love for her ability to stir the pot in Greek culture. Because, of course, there are certain things women in our culture are not supposed to talk about, but Charisa does go there. As a Greek-Cypriot controversial artist myself, there was something really empowering about Charisa performing her comedy at this particular venue, as it does draw a mixed-bag of Greeks that tends to lean more to the conservative side, and even maybe if someone in the audience could relate to some of the things being said, they might not outwardly show it, and hence, this is a difficult crowd for artists discussing taboo subjects, as Charisa and Anthony do. Charisa was definitely the right choice for opening the show as Anthony also does push the envelope and stir the pot. Placing a female before him rather than a male is significant, as Greek culture is still very much a “man’s world”. That action itself was significant for me, because we do need more men that put women first.  

I kept my laugher loud, even though at times, you could hear a pin drop when both comedians performed. The whole night felt a bit naughty, like it was almost wrong that some of the things being discussed were being discussed. The Greek Centre felt like Dad, things you were not supposed to talk about in front of your Dad. But that was, again, empowering for me, as I often feel I shouldn’t say or do certain things when it comes to my own art. But if we don’t push the boundaries, will things ever shift? Can they shift? Isn’t that the purpose of art?

Charisa made commentary on ethnic families, gender norms for babies and being the black sheep of her family. Her commentary about friends in relationships and how they function within a larger friendship group of singles was clever. Charisa is still quite young, and my hope for her is that she keeps pushing those boundaries of culture and feminism. 

I was expecting straight comedy with Anthony, but what was delivered was more a night of storytelling that fluctuated between serious and funny. It was interesting hearing from a comedian who has both Italian and Greek ancestry, one that doesn’t seem to fit the male comedian stereotype we often see in “wog comedy”. He talked very vulnerably of situations he has found himself in within his life and how he has overcome them. Themes explored included toxic masculinity, things he did when he was younger that he was ashamed of, and how he found reconciliation through the love he has for his girlfriend. He talked about his body, sex and masturbation in a way that I haven’t come across before, without hesitation, within the context of it being this hidden thing that we are not supposed to talk about, and how we sometimes do it to bring comfort to our bodies when things get really overwhelming. I was impressed with his bravery. I haven’t seen any of Anthony’s other shows to understand how this piece fits in within the body of his work, but am interested in seeing what he comes up with next.  

Koraly Dimitriadis

Koraly Dimitriadis is a Cypriot-Australian writer and performer and the author of Love and F—k Poems and Just Give Me The Pills. Her theatre show “I say the wrong things all the time” premiered at La Mama in 2016. Koraly’s opinion articles/essays have been published widely including international publications in The Washington Post. She was awarded an associate artist residency at Theatre Works in 2020.  

Photographer: Supplied by the artist