Danny Sewell’s first solo show Good To Be Here begins at the Cavern Club with clips from a scenic tourist video from Sewell’s therapist’s office. This strangely simultaneously puts the audience at ease while also raising anticipation for what’s to come.

When Sewell emerges, he runs the audience through his plan for the evening, beginning with crowd work and separating each part of this three act story with quick jokes to ease any tension. The prior knowledge of how the show will progress adds a sense of comfort that relaxes an audience and helps us to focus on Sewell’s humour.

Nobody is pressured to participate in ground work and the atmosphere created during show aids in audience engagement very well.

The narrative of the three main acts, detailing Sewell’s move to Melbourne, struggling to earn a living and finally regaining hope, works well because, while telling his story, he finds humour in unexpected places. When serious moments do arise, Sewell is able to naturally bring the room back to a comedic atmosphere.

This mix of comedic and more serious personal elements adds to Sewell relatability, helps maintain audience focus while maintaining variety of material. The slideshow presentation showing how far along Sewell is in the show adds a nice simplicity and the added sound effects are fun.

Danny Sewell is definitely good at what he does. For a first solo show, Good To Be Here is something he should be very proud of. His ability to create a positive atmosphere and his storytelling ability are wonderful.  Hopefully more solo shows will follow.

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