Anthony Locascio ‘Heart of Darkness’ Comedy Tour

Anointed as Australia’s pioneer in post-racial comedy, Anthony Locascio returns with the announcement of his latest endeavor; Heart of Darkness. Returning from the success of Don’t Call Me A Wog the Sydney based comedian brings a completely new show, exploring guilt, morality, love & depravity. Bringing together a collection of stories of all of the worst things he’s ever done in his life (and boy, are they bad), Locascio will provide reason as to why, despite the morally questionable behaviors, he is deserving of love, life & laughter; and why you are too! Read on about Anthony’s three trips to Adelaide.

The Wine, The Fringe and The Wedding; Three Trips To Adelaide
Being born and raised in Sydney, it’s a crying shame it took me 26 odd years to visit one of Australia’s great cities; as the locals call it – ADlaide.

Incidentally, my Greek grandparents actually first settled there in the 1950s; my aunt is born there and we still have family there. Thankfully, I have made up for lost time by going thrice since 2019, including twice last year. It’s been a rollercoaster.

Trip 1 – The Wine
I was almost two years into comedy by 2019, and somehow got booked to do half an hour at the Adelaide Olympic FC season launch dinner. It was a disaster.

I have since learned that events which feature comedy, but are not comedy shows, are not good. Corporate functions, Christmas parties, and especially soccer events, are full of people who don’t know who you are or why you’re talking to them. Sports people and people who like comedy is not generally a huge Venn diagram regardless…but then again, I am a comedian with a soccer podcast.

As such, I get asked to perform at the odd season opening/closing dinner, and my response is usually “I’ll do it, but it’s a bad idea”. The players have been on the piss all day and don’t want a bar of you, the under 16s have the attention span of fruit flies, and the event promoters expect you, the comic, to perform miracles.

In Adelaide, I had them for twenty minutes, but for the last ten, they were done with me. Basically the whole room was talking over my set by the time I finished, a mean feat considering South Australians are about the politest people in the country.
My mum and sister had accompanied me on the trip, and I hoped the following day’s Barossa tour would help me lick my wounds. Unfortunately, a day’s worth of wine precipitated one of the most cataclysmic fights in my mum and my anthology (and there have been some all-timers).

So not a great first trip to Adelaide, but the food and wine were great.

Trip 2 – The Fringe
Two years of pandemic cancellations and false dawns meant it wasn’t until 2022 that I would return for my first ever run at the famous Adelaide Fringe Festival, and indeed, my first time performing a full hour of stand-up outside of Sydney. The first stop of my national tour of ‘Don’t Call Me A Wog!’ wasn’t without its hiccups.

Firstly, I don’t recommend DRIVING from Sydney to Adelaide under any circumstances, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend arriving a mere two hours before the start of your first show.

Being unfamiliar with the city, I selected a venue in Hilton, which isn’t far from the CBD by Sydney standards, but as far as the thick of the Fringe action goes, I may as well have been in Perth. Despite this, I managed to sell out two of my six shows, thanks to the goodwill of the Greek/Italian community of Adelaide, who I managed to market to through various Facebook groups.

They, unfortunately, were not ready for my (initially) poetry laden one man show, and were thus very confused as to why the start of a “comedy” show was in iambic pentameter.

I fretted about the show and pretty much changed it every night, so the lovely people of Adelaide were subjected to let’s just call it, some experimentation.

Fringe audiences are thankfully very patient, and indeed, kind. I was treated to free meals by many of the people who came to my show at their restaurants, people sent me messages about the show, and hopefully they come back in 2023.
A mixed bag on my second trip to Adelaide, but the food and wine were great.

Trip 3 – The Wedding
I returned in June with my partner for my cousin’s wedding. I hadn’t met Adelaide native Gerry until he moved to Sydney around 2015, and we hit it off immediately. Little did I know, he was only hanging around town long enough to poach himself a Sydney wife. Gerry and Emily recently moved back to Adelaide, and their wedding was amazing.

A Greek/Polish affair at the magnificent Sunnybrae Estate meant a night full of drinking, eating, drinking, dancing, sweating, and bit more drinking. This time around, alcohol plus me plus mum didn’t equal explosion. I met all of my Adelaide family, and all my cousin’s friends. We hung out the next day for the customary Greek barbeque the day after the wedding, and I felt completely at home. I can’t wait to see them all when I’m back in March.

A wonderful trip to Adelaide, and yes, the food and wine were great.

As reviews of trips go, this has been a bit unconventional. I could’ve told you that Rundle Mall is cool, that hanging out at Gluttony, basically the Easter Show but for grownups, during the Fringe is so fun, or that Peter Rabbit, Flinders Street Project, and Exchange are all incredible breakfast spots (cafes are very important to me).

But none of that feels personal. Every time I visit Adelaide, regardless of the experience, it feels personal. I’m certain my upcoming visit, again for the Fringe, will be no different. Especially considering my new show, ‘Heart Of Darkness’, is about as personal as it gets. No poems this time though, I promise.

Tickets and show information for Anthony Locascio Heart of Darkness head to FringeTix