Comedy, knitting and concerts set the tone of HELEN MUSA’s latest Arts in the City column.

James Schloeffel from The Shovel and Charles Firth from The Chaser are bringing their satirical show, Wankernomics 2.0, to the Canberra Comedy Festival. It’s about navigating workplace hell and includes a re-imagining of Shakespeare using corporate jargon. Canberra Theatre, March 21.

Dr Jason Leong, a medical doctor now turned Malaysia’s funniest comedian (he says), is returning to Australia with prescriptions for laughter and will be at The Street Theatre, March 24, in his new show, Why Is He Like This? 

The first Australian Yarn Show will be held at Rydges Canberra over the weekend of March 23-24. The show will explore the intersection of yarn with various art forms, from traditional knitting and crocheting to weaving, spinning and felting.

The National Gallery of Australia offers visitors a chance to view its most requested work, The Rajah Quilt. Made from around 3000 pieces in 400 different fabrics, the quilt was hand stitched by women prisoners on The Rajah, a British convict ship bound for Australia in 1841. It’s on show until August 25 as part of A Century of Quilts, which looks at the artistic expression of women from 1840 to 1940. 

March is the time for concert season openers: 

• Phoenix Collective kicks off with a program featuring The Lark quartet by Haydn, followed by the work of Giovanni Sollima, Bartók’s intricate String Quartet no 3 and the music of Radiohead. All Saints Ainslie, March 22.
• Selby & Friends open with Kathryn Selby on piano joining Alexandra Osborne and Clancy Newman to perform a favourite by Arvo Pärt, Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces, an early Beethoven piano trio, a Dvořák piano trio, and a new composition by Newman. Fairfax Theatre, NGA, March 22
• Canberra Choral Society’s first concert is The Faithful Shepherd – Music for Easter, choral music by Elgar, Parry, Finzi, Tavener and Vaughan Williams. St Paul’s Anglican Church, Manuka, March 23.
• Luminescence Chamber Singers start 2024 with Glass Heart, 500 years of love songs and break-up anthems, from Monteverdi’s Sestina to music by David Lang, Sting and Eric Whitacre. Wesley Uniting Church, March 24. 
• Young Cairns-born pianist Reuben Tsang will perform masterpieces by Scarlatti, Fauré, Brahms and Mozart at Wesley Music Centre on March 25. Last year he competed in the Sydney International Piano Competition and was awarded four prizes including the Nancy Weir Best Australian Pianist Prize and the Medal for the Most Promising Competitor.