He steps out into the spotlight, golden sequined jacket shimmering like apple juice in the sun. Nick Abrahams’ The Accidental Lawyer routine is a little like that jacket: flashy, close-fitting, quirky, but fit only for very select occasions.

The Accidental Lawyer is a well-put-together routine. Certainly, one gets what they paid for: an outline of Abrahams’ bizarre career trajectory from ginger kid to lawyer to aspiring Hollywood executive to lawyer again. The routine is framed as a graduation speech, with plenty of AI-generated visuals and internet screengrabs as aids. Transitions from one set to the next are seamless, and Abrahams speaks with a confidence that could only come from intense familiarity with his material.

However, I left a little disappointed. I couldn’t help but feel I had received the entire routine by reading the description on the comedy festival’s website. It is a bizarre feeling of being short-changed despite getting exactly what was promised. Part of this I attribute to the rigidity of the routine. There were occasional moments of crowd participation, but there was a distinct lack of opportunity for Abrahams to flex his comedic muscles.

Abrahams delivers his punchlines with the dryness I have come to expect from Australian comedy, but the lines in question are less “punch” and more “slap”. The effect of the joke isn’t as powerful as Abrahams might have liked. 

Abrahams’ is a routine very much targeted to older folk. The audience consisted mostly of lawyers and people older than thirty-five, with significant intersection. Occasionally, Abrahams lingers over aspects like letters, a spin on “boomer humour” well suited to the older demographics in attendance. In response, the audience was polite enough, laughing at the right places, but massive uproars were rare. A performer feeds off the crowd’s energy, but it seemed good vibes were amiss for this sold-out show. 

All in all, it was not bad. It came off as a presentation of mildly amusing comments (not helped by an audience that wasn’t giving off the best energy) instead of a laugh-out-loud fun time. In the words of a demographic far outside Abraham’s intended audience, this performance is a solid six-seven out of ten.