Murphy McLachlan is an up & coming Melbourne-based comedian who delivered a pretty good show to a pretty empty room.
I don't envy up & comers. I mean, stand-up comedy would be incredibly hard at the best of times, let alone in a room with only a dozen or so people in the audience. It's like when you see a comedy film and you laugh more when you're in a cinema packed with lots of other people laughing than you would at home by yourself. Murphy didn't get the benefit of a big group boosting each other's reactions, which were generally positive in his show.
He had 10-15 minutes (a large proportion of a 40 minute show) of material on Looney Tunes which was a risk that didn't really pay off. I chuckled at a few things based on vague childhood memories but I just didn't know the source material well enough to get on board. There was a mixed reaction amongst the small crowd which did seem to contain a few LT fans but not enough for it to ever really take off.
Murphy's delivery was confident and polished and he does have some genuinely funny gags in his show drawing on topics such as his daggy dad, free chocolate at work (he has a 9-5 job) and Australianisms. It's early in the festival so he might take the opportunity to sharpen it across the next three weeks or so. That and bigger crowds who egg each other on to laugh more heartily will help boost his shows, I think.
On a practical note, he has the misfortune of performing in a room which seems to have paper thin walls which bleed terribly. Hearing people roar laughing from adjoining rooms wasn't a great backdrop for his performance. Investing in an easel to hold up some illustrations dotted throughout the show would be wise, too.
I reckon Murphy has good foundations to build something really great, even if that's not quite what we get from this show. If you're up for a cheap and cheerful chancer, give Murphy a go!
Details here https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2018/shows/mclachlan-oclocklan