Brendon Ludlow
20 Aug 2026
BIRDS: Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford ★★★★
Australiana at its absolute best or worst, depending on which coastal town you grew up in.
Birds is a duo comedy extravaganza that delivers laughs at an almost relentless pace. Beverley and Shayna are two gloriously trashy gals who feel frighteningly familiar. If you’re Australian, you’ve met at least one of these women before. Unfortunately, they exist.
There is something incredibly specific about the world Birds creates. It captures growing up around Australian coastal communities and presents an almost painfully accurate caricature of the mums of the 1970s and ‘80s. Watching Beverly and Shayna interact reminded me immediately of my childhood and listening to my mum talking with her best friend, only here it’s been shoved through the parody machine and dialled up to maximum ridiculousness.
Think upper North Shore entitlement colliding headfirst with cashed-up bogan energy.
At times, it’s so good it’ll make your lady bits tingle. It may even be comparable to and potentially as satisfying as, your father’s hooded clitoris. Yes, that’s roughly the level we’re operating at here.
The show can move from laugh-out-loud funny to completely cringe-inducing before suddenly having you recoiling and screaming ew. It’s risqué, unapologetically stupid and occasionally sails so close to the edge that there are moments where you wonder whether Beverly and Shayna are about to get themselves borderline cancelled. They’ll probably be fine.
Probably.
Underneath all the chaos, however, is some genuinely clever and well-crafted comedy. The trickery works and the performers understand exactly how far they can stretch these grotesque Australian caricatures before snapping them back into place.
Is it possibly too Australian for some international Fringe audiences? Maybe. There are cultural references, behaviours and character traits here that Australians will recognise instantly and international audiences may simply stare at in bewilderment. But that specificity is also one of the show’s greatest strengths.
Birds is stupid, clever, trashy, ridiculous and unmistakably Australian. If you want to start your night at the Fringe with a bloody good laugh, Beverley and Shayna are ready for you.
Just don’t say you haven’t met women exactly like them before.
★★★★