Real life brothers, Tom and Josh Burton have emerged from the Melbourne comedy scene, quickly attracting attention with their unique brand of sketch comedy, which saw them nominated for best comedy at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
But it was the success of their brilliantly written and performed shows at the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe that really made audiences sit up and take notice.
For their first appearance at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre, they performed their latest show, Tinseltown, a ferociously funny, high-energy romp through the glitz, grit and absurdity of the Hollywood you thought you knew.
With the aid of little more than two small boxes for props, and a couple of willing volunteers drafted from the audience, the brothers somehow managed to capture the glamorous spirit of Hollywood’s golden era with their series of quick-fire sketches featuring a gaggle of absurd, instantly recognisable characters in convincing demonstrations of their mastery of the art of sketch comedy.
Particularly memorable among those characters was the ambitious young director trying to convince the 89-year-old ingénue to star in his forthcoming film. She keeps harking back to her heyday. Her only starring film was King Kong. Their recreation of the entire King Kong film is a miracle of ingenuity and hilariously funny.
But then there’s the guy in the neon-green suit hustling tourists for photos on Hollywood Boulevard, the award acceptance speeches, the potted movie parodies and of course, even the Colombia Pictures logo.
On the surface it feels chaotic, wild characters, quick fire banter, and moments when you think they’re making it up on the spot, but beneath the playful veneer lies razor-sharp timing, a meticulously crafted structure and a knack of knowing exactly when to push the joke and when to pull back.
The show whisks the audience from red carpet glamour to behind-the-scenes meltdowns, skewering celebrity culture with affectionate satire rather than mean-spirited jabs. Their characters feel both hilariously exaggerated and oddly familiar, like you’ve met them at a party you wish you’d left earlier.
What makes Tinseltown shine is the brothers’ ability to make the audience feel like co-conspirators in the madness. This slick, smart, joyfully unhinged love letter to showbiz is as much about the joy of performance as it is about lampooning Hollywood excess.
The Burton Brothers: TINSELTOWN
Tuggeranong Arts Centre, 137 Reed Street North, Tuggeranong
Performance: Friday 15 May 2026
Information: www.facebook.com
Images: The Burton Brothers – photos by Simon McCulloch
Review: Bill Stephens OAM