Oliver Hetherington-Page
Santa Claus is Autistic
Augathella Spiegeltent (Wynnum, QLD)
Sunday, 5 July 2026 2:00 pm
WHY SHOULD SANTA COME ONLY ONCE A YEAR?
Dust off your ugly sweaters, wrap yourself in tinsel and head to the Wynnum Fringe Spiegeltent for the Christmas in July celebration which will sleigh them in the aisles.
Direct from appearances on ABC TV’s The Assembly, Brisbane cabaret performer Oliver Hetherington-Page will bring the gift of laughter in a festive celebration unlike any other. You don’t need to bring a Secret Santa … this show will unwrap Santa’s big secret. He’s autistic. Oliver believes he shares many of the characteristics of Santa but enjoys none of the hero worship that shines on Saint Nick.
Most of what we know about Santa is coded in autism characteristics. He is a social policeman, making lists dividing people into naughty and nice. Santa likes his own space, avoids social contact, is very rigid and black and white in his thinking, has a limited diet of milk and cookies, lines the reindeer up in the same order every time and wears the same comfortable clothes all the time. But Santa doesn’t get shunned. He gets carols and Oliver thinks it’s time other Autistic people got a bit of the same love instead of lumps of coal. In this bright and breezy cabaret Oliver will use the Santa tropes to explore life on the spectrum, and to help him spread his Christmas message he will be joined on stage by The Spectrum Singers autistic choir.
It’s more intoxicating and less calorie dense than mulled wine and the jokes are far less crap than the ones in your average Christmas Crackers.
Dust off your ugly sweaters, wrap yourself in tinsel and head to the Wynnum Fringe Spiegeltent for the Christmas in July celebration which will sleigh them in the aisles.
Direct from appearances on ABC TV’s The Assembly, Brisbane cabaret performer Oliver Hetherington-Page will bring the gift of laughter in a festive celebration unlike any other. You don’t need to bring a Secret Santa … this show will unwrap Santa’s big secret. He’s autistic. Oliver believes he shares many of the characteristics of Santa but enjoys none of the hero worship that shines on Saint Nick.
Most of what we know about Santa is coded in autism characteristics. He is a social policeman, making lists dividing people into naughty and nice. Santa likes his own space, avoids social contact, is very rigid and black and white in his thinking, has a limited diet of milk and cookies, lines the reindeer up in the same order every time and wears the same comfortable clothes all the time. But Santa doesn’t get shunned. He gets carols and Oliver thinks it’s time other Autistic people got a bit of the same love instead of lumps of coal. In this bright and breezy cabaret Oliver will use the Santa tropes to explore life on the spectrum, and to help him spread his Christmas message he will be joined on stage by The Spectrum Singers autistic choir.
It’s more intoxicating and less calorie dense than mulled wine and the jokes are far less crap than the ones in your average Christmas Crackers.