Akmal: Lost

Sometimes crude and often obscene, you can’t help but like Akmal, who feels like the inappropriately funny uncle for the night.

He quickly builds crowd rapport through an incredible gift for improvisation, with those few in the front row doomed targets for the rest of the show. At times he seems to flounder between improvisation and his other material, but the ad-lib jokes actually turn out to be most hilarious.

Akmal tackles an array of subjects, from the nature of comedy to buying real estate, being on television and even politics: “Australia has gone a long way in recent times. We have elected our first female prime minister, and also Tony Abbott, our first special needs prime minister.”

Although mainly self-directed, there’s a lot of racial material – and some of the jokes about ISIS do feel a little insensitive. Plus that one about the Lebanese and their “subwoooofers” has already gotten pretty old. Despite the stereotypes, there’s a genuine warmth to the comedian that makes him very easy to forgive.

Akmal jokes that nothing he’s said really matters because after the show you’ll just be thinking about where your car is parked. True, but at least we’re smiling while we try to find our keys.