Zak Vasiliou has recorded a good portion of his gay childhood, and what a goldmine he’s created! Twinky Twinky Little Star is his debut stand-up comedy hour, mining content from his childhood and marvelling at how obvious it must have been—to everyone except his parents. It’s a stroke of luck that he has such a wealth of videos and content from his younger years, and he uses it brilliantly. The performance I saw had the added bonus of his parents nodding and shaking their heads vigorously in the front row, confirming that they, indeed, had no idea he was gay. This becomes increasingly hilarious as the videos and images pile up, showing little Zak looking positively flamboyant from the word go.

Stand-up with a bit of variety is always a treat, as the format can sometimes feel one-note. But with the slideshow and video support, as well as an informative lecture on subcategories within the gay community, Zak gives off strong gay James Veitch vibes with his multimedia approach. My favourite use of the video footage was watching adult Zak lip-sync to his own childhood remix of Mamma Mia performed in Rundle Mall, complete with added commentary and finally receiving the seven seconds of applause he missed as a child. It’s almost healing. The show is a love letter to that little kid, seemingly still waiting for applause in Rundle Mall, and to that tween trying to fit in as a “twink” who’s really an otter (whose idea was it, anyway, to make gay culture a menagerie of animals?).

For a debut stand-up hour, this is really, really strong. It’s a celebration of queerness, and it’s so wonderful to laugh and revel in the fact that, yes, we’re all gay and enjoying gay humour because we love it. It’s fun, light-hearted, and a victory lap for that weird little child most of us gays have inside ourselves. His bullies are in jail, he’s on stage, and we’re loving it.

The show does have moments where it feels a little unfocused, as is often the case with a debut stand-up hour, but the highlights more than make up for it. The Rundle Mall singing moment is a standout, as is a brilliant email exchange about Zak not wanting to join the Greek army—a segment that had the audience in stitches. Zak is funny, endearing, effortlessly flamboyant, and unapologetically himself.

Recommended drink: Fill up the fanciest glass you can find with colourful liquor and fruit—you want a drink that just screams gay. Your parents will still be surprised when they find you stepping out of that glass closet.

Catch Twinky Twinky Little Star at the Prompt Creative Centre on Fri 21st Mar at 21:15 and Sat 22nd Mar at 21:00. Tickets available on the Adelaide Fringe website.