Recently I received a media release and invitation in regards to an upcoming show by Greek Australian comedian Anthony Locascio. In 2025 Locascio’s life was on a roll. He did a world tour which went well. He was scheduled to get married. All was good, and then his relationship broke down. To break his fall, Locascio choose to take time out. He went the meditation way, booking in to a Vipassana meditation retreat in Blackheath, Blue Mountains.
This drew my attention straight away, as I too, many years ago, had completed a Vipassana retreat. I just had to go and see this show. To kind of compare notes.
In brief, this is my story why I did the retreat, a long time ago. At the time I was working in the public service which I had been doing for many years, and the job gave me a lot of my security, especially financial security.
I saw an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald inviting applications for a degree course that the University f Wollongong was offering. The course was a Bachelor of Creative Arts which would give one a grounding in all of the arts whilst being able to major in one area. I choose writing. I decided to apply and was offered a place. Now I had to decide whether to accept it.
It was a tough call to make. The course was only offered as a full-time degree. I would have to give my job, I had a long time partner who wasn’t keen on me taking up the offer, and also the University was out of town, a good 90 minutes away, whether by train or car.
I was in a quandary. At a crossroads. What was I going to do?! My partner suggested that I do the Vipassana retreat. She thought that it would give me a lot of time to reflect on things without any distractions, at the end of which hopefully I would have come to a decision. I followed her suggestion, completed the retreat, and came to a decision which ended up being life changing.
I didn’t know what to expect when I took my seat in the packed, intimate theatre in the Comedy Club at the Entertainment Quarter.
A Greek Australian comedian, Locascio’s banter was whip-smart, and he was quick to engage and provoke the audience. There was a fair smattering of politically incorrect jokes that the audience enjoyed. It was only about midway through the hour long show that he started talking about his Vipassana experience.
Pretty much it was the same experience as mine. Ten days of solitude. No technology. Mediation, meditation and more meditation. Anthony said that there was a cross section of people in the group but you never got to talk to anyone. Total silence. Early to rise, early to bed. Strictly vegetarian. On the last day, the cone of the silence was lifted, and the participants were able to speak each other and even hug.
I was waiting to hear whether he had any big decisions that he wanted to make after the retreat?! Was he himself at a crossroad? Was he thinking of what he was going to do going forward? Spend time being single or look for another partner? Keep on the same path or branch out from the comedy circuit?
Anthony didn’t share anything with the audience. Fair enough. It’s private stuff. Not grist for the comedy circuit.
His show ended on a very appropriate note, proudly demonstrating his Greek heritage and culture.
Anthony put down the microphone stand down, Greek music started playing, he danced around the stage like Zorba, with the audience cheering, and then left the stage. A rousing way to end the performance.
Anthony Locascio’s THE DIVINE COMEDY played the Comedy Store at the Entertainment Quarter on Friday 15th May 2026.
