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Julian O’Shea’s Maps! is a lesson in geography and design you were not lucky enough to get while at school, but one that will stay with you for long after you experience it. In short, it’s pure nerdy delight.
In sixty minutes, O’Shea takes you through a cartographic tour of the world in a way you’ve never known. Why some places are named the way they are, why they look the way they do, and what the choice behind having one thing mapped – and another omitted – are just some of the questions you find answers to. A researcher at heart, O’Shea has built quite an online presence for himself around design, cities and interesting places, and it’s this inquisitive, curious lens he brings to this show.
Maps! is packed with a Powerpoint presentation, plenty of fun facts, inflatable tube-men, and Mickey Mouse costumes, because isn’t it so much better to learn geography this way? You come out of the show feeling a little bit more knowledgeable than when you walked in, and a whole lot more entertained.
Maps! is akin to a walking tour of the city — O’Shea shows you both the popular and the obscure, all of which is guaranteed to pique your interest and make you go “Oh wow, how did that happen?” He covers things such as: how did St. Kilda get its iconic name? Why is “Monty” always on the news? What are some large ‘small’ things that pass off as tourist spots? And what’s so special about Eucla, a town near the border of Western and South Australia?
He addresses these questions not with a dry academic rigour, but with the naughty, wide-eyed wonder of a child. Anyone who has spent an unnecessary amount of time reading Google maps reviews of places (like this writer) knows that it is a treasure trove for some of the funniest content online. Every now and then, you come across a ‘review’ that is so ridiculously and unintentionally funny that it can make your day. O’Shea digs deep into this trove and cherrypicks some truly chuckle-worthy comments that make you see the place that’s being reviewed in a whole new light.
O’Shea also doesn’t let borders and boundaries get in the way, either cartographic or personal, as is evident in the more global places he covers in his act, or in the way he demonstrates a projection of his own face to drive home the point that many such projections of our world do, in fact, exist. The show is littered with lots of learn-with-fun moments like this, and Julian O’Shea leaves you looking forward to more quirky, map-based humor from him in the future.
Also keep an eye on his hand-curated map of Melbourne that launches later in the year – it promises to be quite unlike any other map of the city, I can assure you.
See our other reviews from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in the link below
Tickets and Practical Info for Maps! at MICF 🎟️
Tickets: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/maps/
Ticket Prices: $25–$36 (Laugh Pack)
Time: 6:30pm | 5:30pm
Venue: Crowne Plaza Melbourne – Studio 2
Duration: 55 minutes
Suitable for audiences 10+
