In some rather unfortunate programming, we’re now deep into an evening of comedy and nothing else. Next up we have someone I haven’t heard of before but they come with great reviews, and that’s Khaled Khalafalla: Loose, at Balcony @ Gilded Balloon Teviot, at 22:15 on Wednesday 23rd. Here’s the blurb: “Dubbed the next ‘huge mainstream star’ by respected newspaper The Age, Khaled Khalafalla has performed to royalty in the Middle East, for troops in Afghanistan and at the invitation-only New York Comedy Festival. He’s toured with Jim Jefferies, playing arenas of tens of thousands of people. He’s divisive, cheeky and Loose. With compelling looks and intelligent social commentary, Khaled’s undeniable charisma earned him a spot on several end of year lists as a star set to explode in 2017. ‘Among a sea of comedians that flood the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Khaled Khalafalla stands out’ (Herald Sun).”

Don’t know what to expect – I think it’s unlikely that his humour will be a continuation of the Irish charm we’ve just seen, so looking forward to seeing what he has to offer! Check back around 11.30 pm to see if we found him funny. By then the next preview blog should be available to read too.

Khaled is a very engaging guy who was very surprised to see so many people had come to see his show – there were about twenty of us. Added to that he recognised an old mate, Greg, and told the (slightly lengthy) story of how they’d met. As a result he was giggling to himself throughout the whole show, which could have been annoying if he didn’t come across as such a goddam nice guy. Lots of entertaining material stemming from his general uselessness in the family unit. If he is a star of the future, this was a very enjoyable early twinkle. Keep a watch out!