Review: A Full English Breakfast with Clive Palmer

Clive Palmer (Nic Conway) is in the ABC studios for a softball interview with Leigh Sales (Lisa Harper Campbell) over a hearty breakfast, à la Annabelle Crabb’s Kitchen Cabinet. But shortly after cutting the interview short, Palmer receives an unexpected call from the Governor General – there was a mishap with the vote count and it’s going to change everything. 

Full English Breakfast is a generous offering. There’s a healthy serve of eyebrow-raising facts about Palmer himself and his political career – it’s clear the cast did a great deal of research when writing this show. There’s a side-order of worthy musical numbers to round out the palate and grant the show some broader comedic appeal. And there are plenty of wink-and-nod references to political scandals that add spice to the dish.

However, parts of the show are a little under baked. Conway’s Palmer is studied but a little too bombastic to betray the magnate’s impish self-awareness. Harper Campbell’s impersonation of Jacquie Lambie is outrageously funny and dead on the mark, but her Sales is a little too flappable. And while the fat jokes aren’t mean-spirited, the show is overly dependent on them for its punchlines. Yet this doesn't take away the entertainment value overall or that it'll have political pundits in stiches.