An Introverts Guide to Extroverts | MICF 2026

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https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/an-introvert-s-guide-to-extroverts/

Date Reviewed: 19/04/2026

PSY24IGE opens with an engaging premise: a university lecture examining the role of introverts in society—past, present, and future. Set within the familiar confines of a lecture theatre, the audience is cast as students awaiting an academic exploration. 

When the scheduled lecturer is abruptly sidelined by the conveniently chaotic matter of escaped lab monkeys, the session falls to tutor Matt Boring (Luke Morris), an introvert who swiftly reshapes the academic material into something seemingly his own.

It is a strong concept, that resonates with the audience immediately. The lecture framework allows for sharp observational humour, laced with historic and psychological insights that blur the line between satire and sincerity. There is a pleasing scattering of nostalgia, capturing the peculiar rhythms of university life—the awkward pauses, the overly specific tangents, and the ever-present possibility that anything may shift slightly off-script.

The performance is at its most effective in these moments of full commitment to the act. Matt Boring’s awkwardness, his tentative delivery, and his gradual shift towards a pro-introvert manifesto feel both humorous and grounded. Beneath the comedy runs a clear thematic thread: a consideration of the value of quieter voices in an increasingly extroverted world. When the performance leans into this, it lands with precision.

However, the illusion is not consistently sustained. Morris has a tendency to step out of character more frequently than the material requires. These departures offer little in the way of comedic or thematic reward. Instead, they disrupt the carefully constructed dynamic of the lecture setting, add weight to the frequent boring pun and diminish what is otherwise an immersive and thoughtfully constructed show.

This was puzzling given that the character is more than capable of sustaining the piece without these interruptions. I found this disappointing, I believe so too did audience members who unfortunately nodded off midway through the show.

"An Introverts Guide to Extroverts" began as an engaging and inventive work. Its central idea is intelligent, and cleverly researched, its setting convincingly realised, the humour warm and observant. With a more disciplined commitment to character, it has the potential to be genuinely memorable. As it stands, it remains as a partly enjoyable, somewhat uneven, return to the lecture hall.

Reviewed by Vivien Lynch