What’s Next?
Performer: Ciaran Lyons, MICF
Where: FAD Gallery and Melbourne Town Hall, until April 21
Rating: ★★★1/2

BY IZZY VOTSIS

From sex with your grandma to happy endings, Ciaran Lyons’ new stand-up show What’s Next leaves little to the imagination.

Where some comedians would falter under the pressure of performing to a smaller audience, Lyons takes advantage by relying on crowd interaction to bounce off improvised jokes.

The 50-minute show owes a lot of its success to Lyons’ relatability, with much of the content centring on his personal relationships with family and his ex-girlfriend.

"I love doing the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It's great to be able to perform for an hour every night for 22 nights in a row, plus all the other shows you do. It really makes you a stronger comedian by the end of the festival,” Lyons said.

While a lot of his humour caters to young adults, with references to music festivals and social media, Lyons tells stories in a universal way that even an older crowd can enjoy.

“Crowds have been fun so far, so here's hoping for the rest of the festival,” he said.

Lyons is no stranger to captivating an audience as a regular voice on ABC’s Triple J and a guest presenter on Channel 10’s The Project.

His only shortcoming seemed to be a joke that revolved around Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This joke didn’t land too well, as without the relatability of real-life experience of OCD, the humour didn’t seem genuine. Similarly, some abortion jokes weren’t crowd favourites, but still seemed to land.