I managed to get down to Melbourne for a few days and saw the following shows:
Hot off the Press
This was a nice afternoon hosted by Jodie J Hill, featuring comic 'writers' discussing different aspects of creating comedy for various media.
Dominic Knight presented a brief history The Chaser, including the some of the headlines they decided against publishing following 9/11. Whilst he was as entertaining as always, I was more amused by him cringing every time Tony Watson "accidently" called him Chas. Poor Dom.
Andrew Weldon spoke about his career as a cartoonist. He was great fun, even if he refused to show us the one cartoon that even the Chaser refused to publish. I highly reccommend his book "If you weren't a hedgehog, if I weren't a haemophiliac."
Tony Watson recycled much of his presentation from the 2005 Sydney Writers Festival, but was entertaining none-the-less.
I felt sorry for Lin Dong Fu. He's described as a TV Superstar in China, but the language barriers made many of his jokes fall flat. The fact that he began by pointing out that he is neither a comedian nor a writer rather confused me. On the other hand, he claims to be the voice artist everyone in China calls on when they need to sub for evil characters. That makes him cool.
Mark Watson came across as rather dismissive about getting work published. He took a much darker view on the end product than the others, however he brightened up when he moved away from the topic. I think he was just stressed about his 24-hr gig that was to start shortly after.
Raw Comedy 2007
I was ultimately disappointed by the show. Not because the acts were bad, but because I know there were other acts that were much better. I had such high expectations after watching many of the Sydney heats, I was disappointed to find only one Sydney representative. I'm struggling to make any other comments without unintentionally insulting the finalists. I just can't help but feel the competition is biased towards Victorians.
Christina Davis in Sex
Proof that former Big Brother contestants can move on to success...with the help of partial nudity. This show was actually one of my highlights, if only because it opens with live pole dancing. Sure, some of the jokes may be predictable, but Christina has greatly improved since I last saw her a little over a eyar ago. Plus you get a free drink after the show.
Geraldine Quinn SEXDEATHBOWIE
Amazing voice, witty songs, I can't understand how Geraldine isn't selling out. The audience I was in consisted of just 6 people. Shame on you people. Her only weakness was with mid-show banter, but I'm sure she'd be better with a larger audience. As with Sex, you get a free drink after the show. And a badge. Spread the word.
Legal Comedy Debate - Rude & Crude: Do Lawyers Need to go There
A fun night, even if half the legal references went over my head. The judges and lawyers making up the two teams were ultimately funnier than the one professional comedian. One minute of stuttering is funny. Five is not.
Aaron Keefe in It's Not You, It's Me
I love the premise behind this show: Aaron conducted market research on all of his ex's to find out why he was bad at relationships. The downside to this premise is that the show is dependent on him getting many responses. He received two. Aaron does manage to drag it out and the show really is very fun. Particularly if you enjoy telling a comedian all of his faults so they can be listed on a board on stage.
Nik Coppin RedBlak
I had no idea what to expect from this show, so I was very impressed to discover one of the best stand-up comedians I've seen in ages. No gimmicks, no characters, just well-researched humour.
Mark Watson's 24 hour thingy
I forgot about this entirely and only managed to catch the last 40 minutes. Damn fun though. My highlight was someone running in shouting “The naked goth is pissing on [man tied up and kidnapped by Adam Hills]!”
Beasts of Burlesque
I should have known better than to try and squeeze a theatre restaurant show in during festival. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but that was mostly because I’d been feeling sick for a few hours and squeezing into a cramped room that smells like cheese really doesn’t help a queasy stomach. I’d like to give it a chance when I’m not sick. And not during comfest.
Wellington WHO
Anyone with a mild Doctor Who obsession, or at least an interest in geek cultures, will absolutely love this show. Craig Wellington tells his tale of growing up as a geek, and uses impersonations to show the difference between Australian, American and UK geeks. Oh, and the show is performed inside a reverse TARDIS – it’s smaller on the inside.
The Dead Baron
…Odd. The show is essentially the not-quite-dead Baron Ferdinand Van Prso telling his life story. There are a few amusing one liners and assorted comedians appear in photographs as characters the Baron has met. Other than that, the laughs are few and far between.
Keating!
A good musical, even if you’re not politically minded. I still can’t get banana republic out of my head.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
This was the final show I managed to squeeze in before my flight. I’m glad I did. It’s a little slow to start, but once you get in the mood it’s great fun. It can be described as improvisation with a script. It will make sense when you see it. Maybe.
Oh, and I think I also spotted a few MOShers in some of the audiences.
*waves to Alisso* |