Two years ago, the majority of people, comedy fans included, would likely not have heard of James Donald Forbes McCann. Now, after touring with Shane Gillis, two appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience, and multiple guest spots on Kill Tony, including a brilliant set on this week’s Netflix airing of the show, the once unknown Australian comic is securing his place as one of the most beloved acts on the circuit.
For those of us with one foot in the comedy podcast world and the other in the Catholic world of online content, we may remember first coming across McCann in 2022, and later again in 2024, on Matt Fradd’s Pints with Aquinas, a channel on which he also had a temporary show of his own. This apparent juxtaposition in McCann’s person, being both a traditional Catholic and a stand up comic, is immediately intriguing and brings to bear some obvious questions around vulgarity and morality. Looking at his sets, there is certainly much that could be criticised from this perspective. Yet, arguably, this discordance between belief and profession has brought about much of what is unique and enjoyable about him as a comedian. As such, one is left pondering where synthesis might be found.
