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Dan Rath: Tropical Depression

 
Laura Tucker Review by Laura Tucker 4 Published: 6 Aug 2025 Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) Show Dates: 31 Jul 2025-24 Aug 2025

Dark, deadpan and deranged, Dan Rath’s Tropical Depression isn’t comedy that tries to win you over... it’s comedy that stands there in your kitchen, holding a bag of compost, asking if you believe in fate.

Dark, deadpan and deranged – Dan Rath will make you squirm

Armed with ADHD gags, rogue one-liners and a brain that seems to ping off in five directions at once, Rath jumps laterally from musing about Sardinian goat farmers to his own introversion, using each oddball observation as a tie-in for some surprisingly poignant reflections – on masculinity, mental health and the importance of community – before promptly getting distracted and moving on.

Cutting a socially awkward on-stage presence – a self-identified cuck who gives off “beta energy” – Rath’s comedy persona belies a much deeper confidence and self-awareness. His signature Aussie upwards inflection gives even the bleakest punchlines a tinge of optimism, or at least some ruminative open-endedness.

Often tapering off mid-thought, and all the funnier for it, each of Rath’s jokes comes punctuated by an obligatory hair ruffle and an unsmiling expression. Rough crowd work kicks in “a quarter of the way through” – whether a calculated gamble on the audience’s tolerance for awkwardness or a form of sick self-punishment is unclear.

Despite appearing rattled when his ad-libbed jokes don’t quite land, we get the sense that the anti-punchline is the point. His whole shtick is comedy at his own expense – he’s “not doing well, folks”, after all.

Beyond a few Southern Hemisphere-specific references, Rath’s idiosyncratic humour – self-deprecating, imaginative and occasionally profound – mostly translates with ease. He's bound to make you squirm before he’ll make you think.

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I can’t focus. I don’t know if it’s microplastics, Long Covid or because I pay $500 a week to live in a mould experiment. This year I formed a parasocial relationship with a Deliveroo chatbot and I lost all my crypto trying to buy a mermaid skeleton. 'His mind works like no other' ***** (Chortle.co.uk). 'Genius and insanity… a truly brilliant writer' ***** (Scotsman). 'Book yesterday' **** (Age). Winner: Best of the Fest, Sydney Comedy Festival, 2025. Winner: Director’s Choice Award, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 2025. Winner: Piece of Wood Award, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 2023.