Caustic comedian John Vlismas may be reaching the end of his stand-up comedy career. That wasn’t the plan when he began writing his next solo show opening in April, but calling it The End could prove prophetic. It will hit audiences with his usual blend of deeply dark and highly intelligent humour, with science and medicine wrapped into jokes and observations prompted by the death of his father. Humour is what keeps some of us going through life, and even at his father’s deathbed in 2018 , Vlismas couldn’t help letting a joke slip out. “I realised at the moment when one of my most loved people on earth was dying in front of me that I genuinely do find things amusing. It was affirmation that to me comedy isn’t about cheap laughs, it’s about triumph of the spirit. It’s very important to eat darkness and spit out light,” Vlismas says. The new show will be very funny, he promises, but he would be doing his father a disservice if he didn’t have an honest, profound look at the sheer awful...

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