Just A Small Town Boy at Trades Hall

Just A Small Town Boy is a hilarious, yet bittersweet, coming-of-age story exploring the idiosyncrasies of growing up as an outsider in small-town country Australia. This is a show about masculinity, failure and Nelson Mandela. Its about slam poetry, the Year 12 formal, and patriarchal power structures. Its about teen love, internalized homophobia, and drunkenly kissing your best friend at a house party to the sound of Timbaland. Inspired by the likes of Hannah Gadsby, David Sedaris, and Daniel Kitson, its a show for anyone who has ever been rejected by society, questioned their sexuality, or felt that they needed to compromise their true self in order to fit in.Sydney-based comedian Jack Gow will showcase his unique coming-of-age story over eight nights at the Melbourne Fringe Festival this year, from Saturday 21 to Sunday 29 September.Jack, described as a growing force in Australian comedy (Broadsheet), enjoyed a sold-out debut season last year at the MFF and earned high praise from reviewers and audiences alike. The talented wordsmiths wry, gentle storytelling (Sydney Morning Herald) is characterised by hilarious personal anecdotes imbued with dark pathos.Exploring the idiosyncrasies of growing up as an outsider in small-town country Australia, Jacks show touches on identity politics, notions of traditional masculinity and the extreme lengths individuals go to try to belong.His style has been described as an anxious, apologetic eloquence that takes the everyday and makes it quietly marvellous ( The Music), and he has been lauded as one of the finest emerging comedians in the country (Sydney Comedy Festival).A multiple The Moth StorySLAM winner and two-time The Moth Sydney GrandSLAM runner-up, Jack writes regular comedic pieces for ABC News Digital and his stories have appeared on Radio National, the Story Club podcast, and he is a former contributing writer and performer on The Checkout (ABC TV).