So Funny it Hurts
ABOUT THE SHOW
A bodice-busting romance homage, a wickedly funny modern rom-com, a riotous and big-hearted memoir, and a dazzling short-fiction collection about meandering millennials … these four brilliantly imaginative books lay bare the human condition with a wink, a nod and the occasional tear.
PART OF BRISBANE WRITERS FESTIVAL
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Patrick Lenton is an author and culture journalist currently living in Melbourne Australia, who has regular bylines at The Guardian, SMH and The Age, the ABC and more. He is the author of the book of short stories A Man Made Entirely of Bats (2015), the book of comedic essays Uncle Hercules and Other Lies (2019), and the full length short story collection Sexy Tales of Paleontology (2021). His debut novel, a queer rom-com called In Spite of You came out in August 2025 through Pantera Press. He is also the editor of the queer-led independent publication Nonsense, a newsletter which covers comedy, queer news and culture. In 2024 Nonsense received a public interest journalism grant from The Walkley Foundation and Meta, to expand coverage of queer culture and news as depicted in the media.
Daniel Nour is an Egyptian-Australian journalist and a member of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. His writing has featured in the New York Times, SBS Voices, Meanjin Quarterly and Eureka Street. In 2020, he won the New South Wales Premier’s Young Journalist of the Year Award. He dabbles in improv comedy. Daniel’s debut memoir How to Dodge Flying Sandals and Other Advice for Life: An unreliable ethnic memoir was released in May 2025.
Alice Fraser grew up halfway between suburban Sydney and her own imagination, raised as a Burmese Buddhist by an ex-Catholic and a Jew. She has been named one of the Telegraph (UK)‘s 50 Funniest Comedians of the 21st Century and her stand-up comedy specials are on Amazon Prime, NextUp and the ABC. She has a number of bestselling audio documentaries on Audible and has produced two critically acclaimed babies. Alice shuttles her family between London, smalltown Queensland and alternate dimensions in an attempt to get the best and worst of all worlds.
Jack Hutchinson is a Brisbane based writer. His short fiction has been published in Hobart, Quadrant, and Hunter Writers Centre Anthologies, among other publications. He was a finalist for the Kenyon Review 2024 Short Fiction Contest and has published two short story collections under the pen name Elmore Collins. A quantity surveyor by trade, he also holds an MBA from the London Business School.
Siang Lu is the Miles Franklin-winning author of Ghost Cities and The Whitewash, the co-creator of The Beige Index and the creator of @sillybookstagram. Ghost Cities has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the ALS Gold Medal, the Russell Prize for Humour Writing, the VPLA John Clarke Humour Award, the Readings New Australian Fiction Prize and the University of Queensland Fiction Book Award and The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year at the Queensland Literary Awards. The Whitewash won the ABIA Audiobook of the Year in 2023. In 2023 Siang was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 Asian-Australians at the Asian Australian Leadership Awards. He is based in Brisbane, Australia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Suitable for 15+
18 months and under free on the knee; all other ages must hold a vaild ticket
Contains adult themes
Contains coarse language
ACCESSIBILITY
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Patrick Lenton is an author and culture journalist currently living in Melbourne Australia, who has regular bylines at The Guardian, SMH and The Age, the ABC and more. He is the author of the book of short stories A Man Made Entirely of Bats (2015), the book of comedic essays Uncle Hercules and Other Lies (2019), and the full length short story collection Sexy Tales of Paleontology (2021). His debut novel, a queer rom-com called In Spite of You came out in August 2025 through Pantera Press. He is also the editor of the queer-led independent publication Nonsense, a newsletter which covers comedy, queer news and culture. In 2024 Nonsense received a public interest journalism grant from The Walkley Foundation and Meta, to expand coverage of queer culture and news as depicted in the media.
Daniel Nour is an Egyptian-Australian journalist and a member of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. His writing has featured in the New York Times, SBS Voices, Meanjin Quarterly and Eureka Street. In 2020, he won the New South Wales Premier’s Young Journalist of the Year Award. He dabbles in improv comedy. Daniel’s debut memoir How to Dodge Flying Sandals and Other Advice for Life: An unreliable ethnic memoir was released in May 2025.
Alice Fraser grew up halfway between suburban Sydney and her own imagination, raised as a Burmese Buddhist by an ex-Catholic and a Jew. She has been named one of the Telegraph (UK)‘s 50 Funniest Comedians of the 21st Century and her stand-up comedy specials are on Amazon Prime, NextUp and the ABC. She has a number of bestselling audio documentaries on Audible and has produced two critically acclaimed babies. Alice shuttles her family between London, smalltown Queensland and alternate dimensions in an attempt to get the best and worst of all worlds.
Jack Hutchinson is a Brisbane based writer. His short fiction has been published in Hobart, Quadrant, and Hunter Writers Centre Anthologies, among other publications. He was a finalist for the Kenyon Review 2024 Short Fiction Contest and has published two short story collections under the pen name Elmore Collins. A quantity surveyor by trade, he also holds an MBA from the London Business School.
Siang Lu is the Miles Franklin-winning author of Ghost Cities and The Whitewash, the co-creator of The Beige Index and the creator of @sillybookstagram. Ghost Cities has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the ALS Gold Medal, the Russell Prize for Humour Writing, the VPLA John Clarke Humour Award, the Readings New Australian Fiction Prize and the University of Queensland Fiction Book Award and The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year at the Queensland Literary Awards. The Whitewash won the ABIA Audiobook of the Year in 2023. In 2023 Siang was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 Asian-Australians at the Asian Australian Leadership Awards. He is based in Brisbane, Australia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
