Another year, another Wharf Revue – and this time there’s a newly elected federal government at the helm, with a Prime Minister “who can hold a hose”.

It’s the 22nd Wharf Revue and the seventh PM that the satirical team has been able to get to grips with. You might think that Albanese and his ministers would offer less meat for the Revue to sink its teeth into, but in fact, this iteration is one of its sharpest and smartest. Even sections that don’t have you laughing out loud, have you relishing the pithy wit of the dialogue and song lyrics, as well as admiring the wonderfully observed performances.

The Greens, The Wharf Revue: Looking for Albanese. Photo © Vishal Pandey

The show is co-created by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott, with Biggins and Forsythe as co-directors and Scott as Musical Director. Performing alongside Amanda Bishop, it opens with the four of them as open-mouthed funfair clowns singing Happy Days are Here Again.

Whatever you feel about Albo et al., the change of government certainly offers a new panoply of characters to draw on, with Katy Gallagher, Tony...