Mel McGlensey

Mel McGlensey is NORMAL

Winner Best Comedy Award 2024 Adelaide Fringe 

WinnerHollywood Fringe Tour Ready Award 2024 Adelaide Fringe 

Winner Best Comedy Weekly Award 2025 Perth FRINGE WORLD

Nominee Best Comedy Melbourne Fringe 2025

Nominee Best Tech ISH Comedy Awards Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Nominee Golden Gibbo Award 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival 

This is Mel. Mel is normal. But for some reason her comedy shows always end up weird? This time will be different though. This time, she's letting her audience choose what happens. Come along for a one-of-a-kind collaborative clown experience plumbing the depths of normaldom, as decided by you. Let's have a normal one folks!

Mel McGlensey is NORMAL is co-created by game designer and academic Douglas Wilson, who has worked on award-winning videogames like Sportsfriends and Mutazione. To manage the audio and visual elements of the show, we're using a custom application programmed by Douglas, who will also be operating it live during each show. We needed something more custom than a standard solution like QLab in order to manage the dynamically branching structure of the show. Using the game engine Unity, Douglas has programmed a system that measures the loudness of real time audience applause in order to dictate what the audience chooses for each category. The software queues up all the show visuals and audio cues, and dynamically populates later choices based on what Melissa has already performed, what previous choices were popular and so on. At the end of the show, we also display some overall trends about audience choices over the course of the run. It’s very impressive stuff! Also, Douglas just happens to be Mel’s husband. 

Combining both Mel and Douglas’ expertise, the show injects ideas from videogame narrative design into clown and live performance and begs the question, “What is normal?”. The show is a choose-your-own-adventure style experience that uses custom built gaming software to assist the audience in navigating their adventure, creating a different show every night. 

'A glorious feat of clowning.' ★★★★ The Age (Motorboat)

'Delightfully bizarre... a fresh and fearless brand of physical comedy.' ★★★★ The List (UK) (Motorboat)

Performed by Mel McGlensey

Co-created by Douglas Wilson

Directed by Sharnema Nougar

• Sketch
• $26.00 - $34.00
• 26 March 2026-19 April 2026
• 60 minutes
• Chinese Museum
• Suggested for 18+
• 
  Audience participation, Language – mild language, Nudity, References to or simulation of violence, Strong sexual references