Get your radios tuned and your bowler hats pressed because we’re heading back to 1925.

The Burton Brothers, Tom and Josh, are kitted out in dashing outfits straight from the (other) 20s, presenting a mind-blowingly tight sketch show (directed by Tiana Hogben) that had me laughing in amazement from start to finish.

From the moment the two come on stage, it’s clear that they’ve been rehearsing. They burst out with a belter of an opening song in ‘1925’, a song that sets the stage, expectations for the show and a gleeful dramatic irony in which they believe the worst of the world is over, and surely none of the troubles they’ve just emerged from could ever be repeated again. It’s a wonderful way to warm up the audience, get them clapping and rooting for these two performers.

The theming of the show is remarkably consistent and they are unafraid of digging just that little bit deeper than most comedians worth their salt would dare to. A sketch about the army entertainment descends into a commentary on PTSD and shellshock. A house of mirrors morphs into a distorted introspection about how new technology can warp your reality. The rollercoaster obsessed pastor’s wife laments the life she left behind in this new age of post-war evolution. The sketches are never unfunny but they each have a crucial piece of gravitas that keeps every scene grounded enough that it never becomes farcical.

The chemistry between the leads is fantastic, as one would expect from a pair of brothers. They both dip in and out of differing statuses, all the while remaining charming and welcoming. Tom is excellent at using the entire stage as his canvas, looming large in one scene, then squirelling himself away in another. He masters the stage as if he’s actually been doing this since the 1920s, and is never out of step. Josh runs a character gamut from a centuries-old Dracula to a meek-hearted man who just wants somebody to attend his birthday party and not kiss him. He is barely without a smile on his face and provides a beautiful and comforting safety that forces us to root for him in every scene. They bounce off each other’s sentences with pinpoint accuracy and there isn’t a single moment of dead air over the course of the hour.

This, of course, is largely in part to the phenomenal efforts from the tech, Max Paton, who is quick on cue and even improvises on the fly when the two on-stage perfomers call for it. The lighting is perfect at every stage of the show, and presents itself as a slick, professional production that relies on Max’s brilliant timing.

Shows like this blow my mind because of their commitment to professionalism. Everything is consistently clean and there are absolutely no cracks in the entire system. Director Tiana Hogben has lined up the show with an incredible pace that rises and falls at the exact time it needs to, and before I know it, the entire hour has zoomed by without me ever feeling like things were dragging.

1925 is a fantastic spectacle almost a hundred years in the making, and will leave you thoroughly sore with laughter. It is a rollercoaster ride of a show that was worth every footstep of the Melbourne rain I had to trudge through to get there.

And yes, Josh, I’ll have your bird suit ready by morning. -Elliott

1925 is running from 28th of March to the 7th of April, 9pm at Trades Hall. Tickets available from Melbourne International Comedy Festival website.