Comedy Review - Con Coutis: Escape from Heck Island

Images courtesy of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Fans of sketch comedy rejoice, because the baddest boy around town, Con Coutis, is back for a series of shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Armed with a crack team of audience members, an all-star cast that includes Masterchef judge Matt Preston, and more imaginary props than you can shake a mime at, he's got an hour on the clock to stage a daring breakout from Heck Island, the most heavily guarded prison this side of Guantanamo.

Con’s signature style of sarcasm and heavy use of sound cues, delivered through an expertly utilised surround speaker system, ensure this is a show like no other. Every bit makes use of a pre-recorded gag of some sort, including one that sees an audience volunteer take on a John Wick-style role as the show briefly breaks out of the four walls of the Malthouse- sorry, uh, I mean, Heck Island.

Likewise, Escape from Heck Island challenges its daring inmate to show off his expertise in physical comedy - Jim Carrey may have earned the name Rubberface due to his extreme range of facial expressions, but Coutis appears to have the entirety of his lanky frame sculpted from silly putty. His performance is sold not just through timing with the many cues, but his commitment to jolting, shaking, and sneaking about, whether he's being shot at, tased, or performing a dance number, all of which resulted in big laughs from his “fellow escapees”.

I'd always wanted to check out one of Con's shows, and now, having narrowly made it out of prison alongside him, I can say I'm a changed man. Escape from Heck Island is a raucous time and shows just how assured Coutis is in his wheelhouse of deadpan absurdism, doped up with self-aware cheese and bizarro references to Aussie pop culture.

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Escape From Heck Island is showing as part of the 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. For tickets and more info, click here.