I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to call me a “hopeless romantic”. In my time as a staff writer at LILITHIA REVIEWS, I’ve covered a somewhat insane number of romance and romance-adjacent films. So, when Alice Fraser’s A Passion for Passion floated across my digital desk, I could hardly say ‘no’.
Fraser, a multi-award-winning comedian and podcaster, is also a lover of romance. Largely inspired by, and named for, her 2025 debut book A Passion for Passion: A Delirious Love Letter to Romance, Fraser’s 2026 comedy show explores the process of falling in love with, and then writing a book about, romance novels and the larger impact they’ve had on life in general.
I once wrote about my own love of romance novels for my Substack and how they’re almost entirely responsible for reigniting my love of reading. They’re all largely the same; predictable, sweet, full of relatable neurotic characters and low-stakes crises, now with the added perk of graphically described sex.
They’re engaging, even when they’re ridiculous, and somehow seem to involve fairies now instead of sparkling vampires. Perhaps above all, they’re looked at with a crooked brow by the masses (read as: non-romance readers). There’s a weird and annoying stigma around romance novels that is slowly being eroded, but greater than the stigma is the internalised shame that romance readers often feel about enjoying these frilly, fun novels. Alice Fraser observed this too.
Dressed in a ruby red gown on the stage of Melbourne’s House of Maximon, Fraser’s set feels like sitting in an F1 car for the first time and being assaulted by the sheer force of its speed. Fraser speaks at an amazingly quick and sharp tempo, which is truly perfect for someone like me whose attention span can be negligible at best. There was not a second that I wasn’t fully engaged in Fraser’s dialogue, from her run-down of her time in podcasting and her entirely made-up novelist D’Ancey Laguarde, to the inherently awkward vibe of being stuck in the middle seat of an international flight while the couple on either side of you are breaking up.
The biggest takeaway from A Passion for Passion was Fraser’s enthusiastic belief that men have no real idea what turns women on – and she is extremely correct. It was great seeing men in the audience, and it’s my sincere hope that after her show, they pick up one of their wife’s/girlfriend’s/sister’s/mum’s corny Mills & Boone-esque novels and do their research. Dive into the depths of hockey romances (they are the flavour of the month, after all), dip toes into magical realms ruled by dragons, or explore the trials and tribulations of women in STEM whose mortal-enemy-turned-lover is also in STEM, and oh no, they’re competing for the same grant! I’ll personally be following her advice to the men in the room and slipping a Tessa Bailey into my boyfriend’s book rotation.
While I’ll admit that I thought A Passion for Passion would actually involve more storytelling about Fraser writing her debut book, I certainly wasn’t left disappointed with what I did see and hear. Punctuating her set with chapter titles, Fraser elicited some enthusiastic laughs from my seat when she mimed having a fog machine and other unavailable mechanics that would have otherwise accessorised her show.
I think, ultimately, the one thing I wish I had seen was Fraser performing this show in a different space. The unfortunate reality of House of Maximon being a bar, meant that her show was often interrupted by the sounds of the staff moving around behind the bar, opening Tupperware and jangling the bead curtain leading to their back of house.
Despite the unfortunate background noise, Fraser delivered a show that had me giggling and gaffawing almost non-stop. If you see Alice Fraser’s name on the bill of next year’s festival, don’t hesitate to buy your ticket because just like the romance novels lining my own bookshelf, she’s a guaranteed good time.
Alice Fraser‘s A Passion For Passion is currently playing as part of the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival at House of Maximon until April 19.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/alice-fraser
https://www.alicecomedyfraser.com
https://www.instagram.com/aliterative
Photography supplied.