Fringe Review: Friendlyjordies presents – Why John Howard REALLY sucked

This show was reviewed at Rhino Room on the 28th of February 2019

YouTuber and stand up comedian Jordan Shanks returns to Adelaide with his sold out show, Why John Howard REALLY sucked. Upon leaving you might end up thinking, well, he’s not wrong.

The show is a mixture of the Jordanism’s recognisable from Friendlyjordies, weird impersonations, a ton of stats and you leave with the niggling feeling that you… learnt something?!

Honestly though, only a satirist like Jordan could make the dreaded Australian economy interesting or fun. The Labor vs Liberal being two sides of the same coin argument is so thoroughly destroyed that any pro-lib attendees would’ve felt flagellated by the cutting facts. Making light of the ways politicians have set us back for years is legitimised by the undercurrent of actual distaste in Jordans delivery. Do you want to know what the surplus actually is?!

The venue does lets him down, he’s sold out his shows so the Rhino room is packed to the brim and with seats that are only comfortable for children. That alongside the woman shrieking in my ear was a lowlight. The good thing is that it clearly reflects how funny Jordan is to incite this neanderthal like reaction from the crowd.

The show is sold out, but from Jordans own mouth, he’s only relevant in Australia so he’s likely to tour again here. Don’t miss it when he comes back.