★★★★☆
Fresh from a breakout, award-winning run at the Edinburgh Fringe, expectations for Sam Nicoresti’s Melbourne Comedy Festival debut Baby Doomer are high. And they more than meet them.
Baby Doomer took out the 2025 Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show, a prestigious prize that’s previously gone to Hannah Gadbsy, Sam Campbell, and Rose Matafeo.
It’s no wonder. This is an impressive set that combines quick gags with slow-build storytelling. I’d say it’s a laugh a minute, but – as they point out early on – that would be a pretty terrible strike rate for a comedy set, all things considered.
There’s a warmth and generosity to Nicoresti’s presence that belies their relative youth – the assurance of someone who doesn’t have much to prove. They welcome the audience into their stories, and their gags. There’s a gentle poking of fun at the blind spots of comedians, the queer community, and self-described “dorks.”
Being in the audience almost feels like being in a choir. Different sections tinkle with laughter at different jokes, whether it’s polycule or Pokemon references that hit closest to home for them.
Nicoresti is, above all, an accomplished storyteller. The set centres on their experiences as a trans woman – navigating the TK Maxx changing room, an NHS waiting list, and hen dos. Each story is exquisitely paced, with throwaway gags as they build the stakes up, stretching the story, before the final punchline.
Nicoresti uses these stories to deftly call out the challenges and indignities trans people face going about their life. In one memorable instance, Nicoresti recounts a well-meaning brother-in-law suggesting their nephew might call them “Aunc Sam.”
If the set has weaker points, it’s in its opening and closing, which both felt a little less assured than the rest of the set. Nicoresti seems to take a little time to arrive on stage and settle into the storytelling that makes up the rest of the hour.
And, while the show’s very last lines are a beautiful tie-in to earlier threads, they come after a period of conclusion throat-clearing that diluted the set’s energy a little.
These are minor quibbles. For a young comic, this is a remarkably assured performance. Nicoresti’s Baby Doomer delivers an hour of comedy that is consistently, intelligently, and joyfully funny. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see them on stage in Melbourne.
Sam Nicoresti: Baby Doomer runs to 19 April at The Westin as part of the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. 205 Collins Street Melbourne Vic 3000.
Tickets: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/sam-nicoresti/
Website: https://www.samnicoresti.com/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/samnicoresti/
Images supplied.
