Josh Warrior: Aboriginal Gigolo

When The Simpsons chose to lampoon observational comics, the show portrayed a comedian riffing on the difference between black and white drivers. During the beginning of his show Josh Warrior uses the exact same gag to illustrate the difference between calm and angry drivers.

He follows it up by asking us what it would be like if Michael Jackson had been on welfare payments and had to go to the Centrelink offices, and these are among the few gags that don't explicitly use race as a punchline.

The title of the show is odd as only one joke touches on the subject of sex, and has Warrior visiting a prostitute. The punchline is that "Aboriginal-style" sex involves him running out afterwards and promising to pay when his Centrelink payment comes through.

Race is far from taboo in the comedy world and some of the segments are far more light-hearted, but too often the material strays into this territory. It's unfortunate, because Warrior is a charismatic performer who makes you want to laugh alongside him when he reflects on his own experiences.

Clearly other parts of the audience felt differently and many were guffawing throughout the sold-out performance but for this reviewer, sitting through an hour of jokes that often revert to reinforcing negative racial stereotypes is uncomfortable at best.