Gordon Southern’s mad dash through history
All of history. One hour. With jokes. And no omissions. Award-nominated comedian Gordon Southern is reviving his cult hit A Brief History of History, returning with a sharpened, PG-friendly version packed with even more facts, laughs and frantic ambition, hitting The Laugh Resort from Wednesday, January 28, until Saturday, January 31, with tickets on sale now. ABBY GREER caught up with Gordon Southern to find out just how he manages to cram the entirety of human history into a single hour.
It’s nice to have you back for another year at Fringe. How does it feel having toured A Brief History of History extensively more than ten years ago and touring it again now?
I was offered the chance to do it inside the South Australian Museum in 2023. It was a magical, site-specific, sold-out night with some fantastic academic heckling. That sparked my passion to keep touring it. I’ve taken it to Melbourne and Brisbane a couple of times since and even the comedy epicentres of Christchurch, NZ, and Geelong in Victoria!
We understand that the show has gone through some updates since 2014. Is it right to say that ten years of history has been added?
The real fun had been making jokes about current events through the lens of historical events. As a species humans are incredible but often slow learners.
What was the driving force behind bringing the show back after all this time?
I always loved doing the show. I did it once for a school group in Adelaide, and they loved it despite wanting to hate it! More recently when teenage kids “snuck in” they got so much out of it and were full of wonder—and often difficult questions—so I’ve made a cleaner version and given it a PG certificate for the first time. There’s still a massive body count, but I won’t be swearing about it.
For audiences that weren’t familiar with A Brief History of History’s original run, can you give them an idea about what to expect?
A mad supply teacher turns up with a slide show and an iPad full of sounds and sets himself an impossible task. He tries to cover all of history in 58 minutes and make it funny. It’s a lecture, it’s a play, it’s a stand-up show, and there is a lovely twist or two at the end.
The show has been described as “edu-tainment.” Is that a label you subscribe to?
I never tire of sharing that I was lucky enough to work on the first seven seasons of the ABC show QI, and on day #1 the producer John Lloyd—also the mastermind behind Blackadder—said, “This is not just a panel show. This is the future of education.” We sneak learning into comedy just like dog medicine hidden in treats. That mission statement inspired the whole project. I’m also good mates with a lot of the Horrible Histories team, and they inspire me with their cupboards full of BAFTAs.
Is there an audience-favourite part of the show, and how does that differ from your favourite parts?
Audiences love when they realise I’m actually really going to try and do it… Usually when I hurtle through 700 years of European medieval history in a 90-second song! The pace can be terrifyingly fast in places. My favourite parts are when I get to slow it down and go on little meanders and work out what I have to cut later on to run to time. I love the new jokes too; much like real history, the show keeps updating.
A Brief History of History hits The Laugh Resort at The Shoe, Yagan Square, from Wednesday, January 28, until Saturday, January 31, 2026. For more info and to buy tickets, head to fringeworld.com.au