Shaun Micallef returns to Melbourne’s literary scene in 2026 with his latest release, De’Ath Takes A Holiday. To mark the occasion, Micallef die-hards gathered at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre for an event that blended book launch, comedy performance, and a sharp, Parkinson–style interview into one engaging evening, expertly hosted by ABC’s Jacinta Parsons.
Satirist, absurdist, and, let’s face it, Australian icon Micallef originally became commercially renowned for sketch comedy show Full Frontal in the mid-nineties. Since then, he graced our screens on programs such as Newstopia, Micallef Tonight, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell, and Shaun Micallef’s Eve Of Destruction.
Micallef is also well known as the comedian who left a career in the law to pursue something he loved…writing. It was clear from the palpable, sell-out energy in the room that Micallef’s career means so much to so many people.
As the evening commenced, Micallef proclaimed that, as a sketch comedian, he has never felt the need to enter a show into the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He’s happy to leave this to the Hughesy’s of the world.
The evening wasn’t intended as the typical rib-tickling, laugh-out-loud stand-up show you might expect. It was more of an insightful, intelligent, and humbly humorous exploration into the world of Micallef’s inner wonderings and his new book, De’Ath Takes A Holiday.
Enter Comte De’Ath. The newest vampire in town! Or perhaps the oldest one, depending on your perspective (let’s not “come to blows” about it).
Ostensibly, Micallef describes his book as a narrative that explores the events of Dracula’s life if he took a sabbatical from the mundanity of immortality (journeying to meet Freud, the Queen, and Henry Ford).
But, in true Micallef style, if you dig six feet under the surface, there is much more insight to be found.
Throughout the interview, effortlessly led by Parsons, Micallef spoke passionately of his need, in the current global climate, to explore the key purposes of life. His choice to do this via the comic vehicle of an immortal vampire lightens the heavy themes of the text.
Micallef spoke passionately and philosophically about the importance of “investing in the life after your own life” and the earth-shattering realisation that you aren’t the centre of the universe.
It was an authentically inspiring evening. It concluded in true Micallef style – with a reading from the book in the voice of Alec Guinness.
The release of De’Ath Takes A Holiday proves that Shaun Micallef remains one of Australia’s sharpest and most singular minds. Witty, thoughtful and unmistakably his own, the evening was a reminder that in Micallef’s hands, even immortality can feel deeply human.
Shaun Micallef: De’Ath Takes A Holiday Book Launch ran for one night only at the Wheeler Centre on Tuesday 31 March as part of the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
The session has now ended.
Website: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/shaun-micallef-book-launch/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/wheelercentre and https://www.instagram.com/melbcomedyfestival/
Images supplied.
