The Break Out Comedy Tour delivered a mix of young, fresh and diverse misfits, writes Tanya McGovern.

The Break Out Comedy Tour brought the Godfrey Tanner Bar close to capacity on Thursday night of O Week. Nothing could be more in place. Spirits were high and the crowd blaring while some of the country’s best up-and-coming stand-up comics sipped beers, standing to the side, waiting for their time.

The tour’s line-up consisted of five who’ve made the Australian comedy scene their stomping ground. A mixture of comedic styles – Ray Badran, Becky Lucas, Sam Campbell, John Cruckshank and MC Nick Cody. Young, fresh and diverse.

An act of brash, testosterone and expletive filled 20-something attitude.

MC for the night was Melbourne-based stand-up comic Nick Cody, who has well worked the Australian comedy scene, performing solo shows at the Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne Comedy Festivals among many others over the past few years.

Stepping up to the mic, the 26-year-old’s alpha male persona became well and truly apparent, and you knew you’d be in for an act of brash, testosterone and expletive filled 20-something attitude.

In an interview with Yak TV, Cody described his comedy as “self-deprecating”, a constant kick to his own face.

His description was spot on, with his act filled with back-to-back recounts of typical Aussie bloke stupidity that we don’t at all hesitate to deafeningly ridicule with our schooners raised high in hand.

His bravado filled act spilled out into the crowd with recounts of cycling past an RBT bus while drunk, facing defeat at the pressure cleaning power of a Thai bum gun, and facing off a bear during a cycle along an Alaskan trail.

A clever anti-patriarchal performance of drug affected dreams and Steve Jobs inspired quips.

Becky Lucas brought a clever anti-patriarchal performance of drug affected dreams and Steve Jobs inspired quips to the night.

The Triple J RAW grand finalist spoke of her Russian heritage, the strained relationship with her father and her contempt for male validation.

Lucas has performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, but has gone onto bigger achievements. She shared about her new life living in Kings Cross and the opportunity to follow a dream of being a drug dealer for 30 seconds.

Sitting around, smoking illicit substances and thinking of Steve Jobs will get you nowhere, Lucas concluded.

Couldn’t have been anymore loveably stupid.

Ray Badran couldn’t have been anymore loveably stupid.

It was hard to tell what left this impression. It could have been his pronunciation of résumé as ‘resume’ or the incident of copy and paste plagiarism that got him kicked out of uni.

Badran admitted that he “watches too much TV”, a failing which greatly assisted him in delivering a detailed critical analysis of television advertisements. Both funeral insurance and healthcare fund Bupa’s ‘Better You’ campaigns got a slamming.

The former real estate Facebook stalker has written for the satirical game show Good News Week and has performed across the country, including on Channel Nine’s The Footy Show.

Like your weird 12-year-old neighbour or that Year 10 kid dressed in a wizard cape.

Sam Campbell’s animated and outrageous act of smutty school boy humour kept the audience locked in uncomfortable hysterics.

Like your weird 12-year-old neighbour or that Year 10 kid dressed in a wizard cape, Campbell’s animated personality drew you in when all you wanted was to sit at least two desks away.

With jokes of paedophilia that ran throughout and a story about a housemate’s pet cat’s lump, Campbell’s snappy randomness garnered your attention for the act and did not leave your mind wandering to thoughts of drinks and pizza.

Frank, matter of fact comedy conveyed with a perfect deadpan delivery.

Tour stand-out was John Cruckshank, filling in for poster act Aaron Chen.

His frank, matter of fact comedy conveyed with a perfect deadpan delivery induced waves of consistent laughter from the crowd.

In his self-described “mellow” style, he managed to alight the banal and every day without the need for the crude, rude or vulgar.

He told a story about a friend’s employment outlook in the current economic climate, where he created work for his job as a council graffiti cleaner. The audience roared in the aftermath of Cruckshank’s statement, and he brought them back to the origin of comedy – life. “Why are you laughing? This is this guy’s life,” he said.

On the outside, they appeared as a group of seemingly ill-matched misfits, thrown into afterschool detention together.  But Break Out got it right, delivering a night of diverse, fresh Australian comedy.

Check out Yak TV’s interviews with the comedians here.