Fringe 2026 | Alice Fraser: Oh Man!

Image of Alice Fraser

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The best way to describe Alice Fraser’s stand-up set is erratic, entertaining, hilarious, and politically tinged word vomit. What makes a man? Fraser attempts to answer this question in a belly-laugh inducing hour that’ll leave you feeling both hopeful and despairing for our society.

Aided by a PowerPoint and a sexist Roomba, Fraser delves into the very pillars of manhood, bringing together elements from biology, philosophy, and pop culture. Though I felt the PowerPoint acted more as a hindrance than as support at times, it certainly provided something original to the set, and truly made the audience feel as if we were watching a crazed lecture.

Though I expected funny insights into masculinity in the 21st century, Fraser also made commentary on capitalism that was both comedic and thought-provoking. In an almost meta structure, the show is complete with hilarious but almost depressing ad breaks and attempts at selling the audience a higher subscription tier to the performance. This felt like the perfect blend between ridiculous enough to be funny and realistic enough to be relatable. Despite some of the sections centred around this theme feeling slightly drawn out, that felt almost fitting.

Fraser talks at a nearly alarming speed, which suits the set’s slightly frazzled, desperate nature. This also allowed her to fit in more jokes and slide them in so seamlessly into her stream of consciousness rambling that you barely realised the joke was made until you were overcome with laughter.

Though there were many Australian references in the set that may have gone over the heads of many (mine included), Fraser explains these in an aptly comedic way, so you never feel left out of. I was also impressed by the fact that, even when the audience didn’t seem to like a joke much, Fraser’s explanation for why the audience didn’t like it served as a renewed punchline that was sure to get you laughing.

With some nuances of philosophy, the show also included some unexpected poetry; I found Fraser saying she wanted to see “life experiences on my face” when referring to abstaining from Botox particularly special.

This show will make both man lovers and haters alike revel in the hilarity of Fraser’s exploration of modern masculinity; if you’re looking for a solid, original stand up set, this is it.

Alice Fraser: Oh Man! is running until 30 August at O’Neill’s (The Tron) at Monkey Barrel Comedy (O’Neill’s, The Tron). Buy tickets here.

Image by Monica Pronk, provided for press use.