Hannibal Buress performed the first show of his 2016 Australian stand-up tour last night at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre, and used the performance to badmouth the city’s controversial lockout laws.
During his show, Buress spoke about his experience of Sydney’s nightlife and lockouts since arriving here earlier in the week. “Lockout… That shit sucks. It’s really put a dampener on that Sydney vs Melbourne debate. You’ve been losing that one for a while,” he told the crowd.
He then broke down the supposed reasoning for the laws, suggesting that just because some people can’t handle their liquor and people died as a result, it doesn’t mean there should be a one-size-fits-all law.
“What is the reasoning for it? Let me guess, is it because some people can’t handle their liquor so everyone can’t get drunk til late? Was it because someone got punched too hard and they died?” he asked.
“Well, people die. Why can’t I hang out late just because somebody died? Sometimes people get AIDS, I’m supposed to stop fuckin? No.”
Buress then recounted an experience with a Sydney bouncer from earlier in the week. “There was a security guard, he was talking with a friend, then we walked up and I could see – it was like an actor getting into character – his whole vibe just switched into being a security guard,” Buress said. “I’ve been in nightlife for 14 years, he asked me some shit I’ve never heard a bouncer say.
“He said, ‘Where were you guys before this?’. I’m like, ‘What? Dad? What?’ What the fuck, who’s this guy? Did this guy just ask me where I was?” Buress added, clearly bewildered.
“The weirdest part – I was with an Australian person, he was like, ‘Yeah we were over at the other bar.’ Stop telling this narc where we were, dude! What place would we have been where he would have said, ‘No, you can’t come in, lockout rules’?”
Later in the show, Buress joked that US President elect Donald Trump would never bring in lockout laws, telling the crowd to “make Australia great again”.
Buress previously tweeted about the night in question, making his feelings perfectly clear.
Hey Sydney, who did this? This shit sucks.
— Hannibal Buress (@hannibalburess) November 30, 2016
The Hannibal Montanabal Experience continues tonight in Melbourne. Full ticketing details for the remainder of his tour available here.
