Review: Fin McLachlan at The Improv Conspiracy

Review by Greg Gorton

Fin McLachlan has been garnering a name for himself both here and at home as a sketch comic, and his first iteration of “Fin, Like the End of a French Film” won a Judges pick at the Melbourne Fringe in 2023. Moving into stand up can be a difficult task, but he come at it with gusto. Unfortunately, despite his confidence, there is still a lot this comic needs to develop before meeting the very high standards of MICF. I found this show to be vulnerable and passionate, but ultimately unfunny.

It’s not to say I didn’t laugh at all. There were one or two silly little puns that got a small chuckle, the same way one or two lines in a “bumper book of dad jokes” will still get you. Even if I had laughed at every joke, though, they would be just that - a laugh at a single line in otherwise ordinary narratives.

The set stage was intriguing and I always enjoy it when there is something slightly more than a microphone on a stand.. A small table and chair, as if for a cafe, with a proper hot tea waiting. A TV screen (because all comics need them now) with the word “fin” waiting for us. I honestly was excited to see a young comic, new (to me) and performing to a packed house. It did not take long, however, for things to unravel.

Finn also had one or two unique stories that you hoped would turn into something special. The discovery of the bisexual goose and the experience of being a lead dancer to an empty house both made for great conceits to build a stand up performance on. McLachlan was alo quite passionate about these topics - they spoke to him and he wanted them to speak to us.

Still, it surprised me to learn Fin had been around so long in comedy, and that this work had been performed many times before. It especially surprised me that it received a Judges pick at Fringe. For me, I was watching a show in its early stages of workshopping. It had a strong framework but had not found its final form. Early in the show, laughter was free flowing. Most of it was of the anticipatory sort - audiences are canny, and will happily start laughing at obvious set ups, ready to be hit with something great. But after, time and again, these set ups did not pay off, and the supportive audience struggled to continue with enthusiasm.

Without trying to get into the nuts and bolts, there were two big things, relatively simple things, that this show was missing.

The first was a better understanding of the audience-expected tropes/tools of comedy. For example, the rule of threes only works if either the third is greater than the first two, the third subverts the first two, or if there is a secret fourth. Otherwise it is simply a comic using the same joke three times in exactly the same way, the way the audience could finish the line themselves.

The second is that I believed every element of Finn McLachlan’s stories, but there was no humour added. The modern comic that chooses to go down the path of “telling stories from my life” knows that fictionalisation is encouraged, especially in using hyperbole or tightening the narrative. They can tie the story to specific jokes, and call back to both when needed. The story that happened to a comic is not a joke, but the basis of one - not the cake, but the flour.

Finn McLachlan is a man brimming with youthful enthusiasm and passion for the arts. Considering his past success, he is a name I wouldn’t dismiss off hand. But for this particular show, considering the literal hundreds of others we can choose from, I’d give it a miss.