Incident

39658 original

Sometimes comedy really should be just for laughs. No message, no debate, just pure, unadulterated silliness. Australian comics Sam Simmons and David Quirk collaborate on this disjointed but likeable bromance involving a meeting of two men in a shop, an inappropriate sexual advance and some typically immature male bonding to create a thoroughly entertaining, if slightly baffling show.

Shop assistant Quirk meets Simmons as he is browsing his store, and after some small talk, handles his customer in a rather over-friendly fashion. Simmons is livid and demands to see the manager, but is informed that it may take some time for that to happen. What follows is a series of offbeat exchanges in which the two men begin to bond, intermittently forgetting "the incident." The relationship between the two characters has echoes of recent classic American buddy films, but with a distinctly Australian twist and enough absurd dialogue to make it stand on its own.

It doesn’t always make sense, but much of the show’s charm is derived from its shameless refusal to have any point at all. Quirk and Simmons go from genial banter to being at each other’s throats for no particular reason, and musical interludes are peppered across the entire show, often without any explanation. It’s a testament to how agreeable these characters are, and how well-acted this show is, that the audience find it so easy to simply go with it and enjoy the spectacle.