On Purpose: Review by Sebastian Taylor

Basement Theatre, August 4-8 | 2026

Three Comedians Walk Into Purgatory…

Off the back of their 2025 show F.ART!, Time Shivers productions presents On Purpose, performed by Aidan O'Malley, Lachie Oliver-Kerby, and Oscar Fitzgerald. A meta sketch comedy about comedy, spanning from the dawn of time to the distant post-resurrected-Stalin future of 2526. Three comedians must escape their own show by breaking the fifth wall with the perfect joke, but do they really want to? Why? Why what? Why why what? I have to piss.

On Purpose is an unorthodox sketch comedy show. Where other shows are content to have a simple theme tying their sketches together, the transitions in On Purpose are the show. The result is a show about being trapped in a show, whose performer’s only escape is to finish making the show. Can they pull it off in time? I won’t tell. Combining sketches with a meta plot is ambitious, but I felt safe as I was led on this convoluted ride, and I was never concerned that the performance would fall entirely off the rails.

Design-wise the show does a lot with lighting and sound while keeping a sparse stage. I’ve never seen Basement’s main stage in the round before, and I enjoyed it here, with a long, white stage in the center of the room, completely bare save for a raised turntable in the centre. Yes, a revolving stage turntable. That thing was awesome, I’ll come back to it. Setting it in the round did feel appropriate for the theming of the show. After all, On Purpose is framed as being a work in progress, in progress, and the staging felt like an intimate rehearsal space. However, there were some points it did feel like not every audience member had an equal experience, as some great comedic moments involved facial expressions and nonverbal exchanges between actors, especially from performer Aidan O’Malley, which the seats at either end of the room weren’t always privy to. But it was worth it for that turntable.

I’m not sure why but watching actors spin around is delightful. More than that, the different levels of height added a lot of dynamism to an otherwise empty space, and the effect was enhanced when combined with the show’s lighting. My favourite application of this was a moment in near darkness as the actor’s faces rotated in and out of the light. Unfortunately one spotlight was pointed at me in the audience. This wasn’t an issue when the actor’s bodies blocked it, but there was at least one occasion when I had to lean in my chair to put a performer between me and the light. I’m also not a huge fan of flashing lights and could have done with at least one fewer instance of it, but ultimately the lighting was satisfying and contributed to a sleek production. The sound also had great moments, producing one of my favourite gags in the entire show involving mimed slapstick.

So how does this all coalesce into a meta sketch comedy? Well, as a sketch show it comes together neatly. The performers are witty, the design is impressive, and as a whole it’s tight, polished fun. Unfortunately, for something that’s given so much stage time, the plot still felt like a vehicle to transport us between sketches. The actors were charming enough that I didn’t mind going on a tiki tour with them, but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the destination. In service of the plot, each actor plays themselves as a character with a distinct goal. Lachie Oliver-Kerby is our protagonist, trying desperately to escape the show, and full of hope for the future outside. Aidan O'Malley plays the inverse; a contented comedian, happy to spend eternity playing with his mates (he has a point, consistent acting work is impossible to find in this economy). Finally, Oscar O'Brien Fitzgerald is our slightly depressed nihilist who just wants nothing. I like these characters, and I want to like the destination they bring me to. If anything, I actually wanted to see more of the tension between Lachie and Oscar, as their conflicting life goals felt like the real heart of the piece. However an equal amount of time was dedicated to broad philosophical musing. This muddied the direction of the show, and I found these moments to be the most forgettable. Rather than finding their purpose in the universe, I wanted these actors to find their purpose in one another.

Despite that, On Purpose is a unique and clever trip with sharp production and great performers to back it up. It absolutely succeeds at being memorable, and my only problem comes out of it having too many interesting ideas. It feels like there are multiple shows in this show, and while their marriage isn’t entirely stable, they manage to make it work. All in service of three friends playing with each other and finally discovering the ultimate answer to the ultimate question, why did the chicken cross the road?