Comfest news and reviews

[awaywithfairies]

Got a ComFest email today. Seems the Hamilton trilogy in one sitting is going ahead - this Saturday at Trades Hall.

JUSTIN HAMILTON - THREE COLOURS HAMMO
THREE BIG SHOWS - ONE BIG AFTERNOON!
Justin Hamilton is doing a very special afternoon session of his Comedy Festival Trilogy

This Saturday, at Trades Hall you can see THREE COLOURS HAMMO: MELBOURNE (2pm), LIFE & DEATH (3.15pm) and HAMILTON & HIS SISTERS (4.30pm) all in one sitting!

you can book now at https://www.comedyattrades.com.au/pr...guide/show_113

[Cherryish]

I cannot recommend it highly enough, I saw the final in the trilogy tonight, it's a great show.

[Alisso]

I have to second that recommendation. Justin's trilogy is a stunning and inventive series of performances, and a very brave thing to try. Each show stands alone, but you're better off seeing all three if you can. So far, the first two have made me cry as well as laugh, so I can't wait to see the third

[op shop girl]

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*

[TimChuma]

Tarnished
http://timchuma.com/micf2007/tarnished.htm

I seem to have fallen for one of the performers in the show, whoops!

[Gutter Monkey]

I guess this counts as news and therefore belongs here ....

My good friend and fellow comic friend Duff isn't doing a show this year but he likes to help out so he agreed to put some posters up on bollards for some other shows, and he was happily sticking some posters up when some cops approached him. Oh whoops, that's no bollard, that's a news vendor's stall that just looks like a bollard when it's all closed up. The fact that it was covered with about a hundred other posters didn't help. Honest mistake. I'm not sure what he said to them exactly but they decide to drag him off to the nearest police station in handcuffs, where they throw him into a holding cell for quite some time with his hands still cuffed behind his back. He decides that the best course of action is to sing every single show tune he can think of at the top of his voice. They slap him with a $200 fine and eventually let him go.

Dragged off in handcuffs and thrown into a cell for half the night for just putting up a few posters? Hmmm. D'you think he mouthed off at the wrong cops?

[Spawn of Satan]

Debate
Loved the debate, well scripted and funny as f**k. watch it on tv when it airs.

Tom Gleeson
Brilliant material, a barrel of laughs, and a sticker, I swear Tom has more hair than last year.

Tim Minchin
a collection of material from previous years, and yet still quite innovative, tim will always be a must see in any festival

Dave Callan
This has to be my only bad pick for this festival. Normally I love dave's work, but sadly he has confused comedy with morality. Youre a comedian Dave not a life speaker, if you want to be one thats fine, but don't call it a comedy show cause the public aint laughin'

Russel Howard
A brilliant proformer, having seen not only his show but his spots at the hifi as well, I can honestly say that Russel makes every stage his own and every audience member a fan, it's obvious why he is up for the barry award. I hope Russel finds his evil monkey museum one day.

Peter Berner
A good show, the only disapointment here is the lack of audience members, this is a great show, with hilarious and intelegent banter and deserves a biger crowd

Mickey D
Shame is right in Mickey's case, he seems to have covered every aspect of it, but at least he is laughing. Go along for a lot of laughs and a few ewws. sit up the back if you dno't want to participate.

The Dillusionists
These people are fantastic, the sketches are brilliant and the piano proformance memorable for weeks after. The dillusionists have had a terrible run of bad luck with costumes stolen, passes and purses lost and yet they've still managed to produce an absolutly brilliant show, this has to be my pick of the festival. GO SEE IT.

Jeff Green
A great comedian, always a pleasure to see him proform, the show is great. the only trouble with Jeff is that he climbed up the comic ladder so well that he can't go any higher, he's brilliant and people expect him to stay that way. This year he he did great. Sit in the front row, it's a great show.

Midnight Lullabies
this is apparently the second time this show has been tried, I now regret having missed last years one. This showcases musical comedians singing their favorite lullabies, a brilliant performance on all counts, and the money raised goes to charity. See next years one.

Charlie Pickering
This show is brilliant, I laughed till I cried. If you have a bit of the prankster nature in you, you HAVE TO SEE this show. Hillarious at all times and you get a abdge at the end.

Mark Watsons 24 hour show
I caught most of it, it had it's high points and it's low points, could have been better if more comdians had participated in it, contained frequent nudity of mickey D towards the end, rumours of mickey highjacking the show are exagerated, and the evil side of Adam Hills which we all knew was there, was revealed to us. If its done again next year it will be even more sucessful.

Rod Quantok
All was a highly intelectually brillaint show, if you follow politics, see it while you can, but what ever you do, don't be late arriving.

Micheal Chamberlin
If you can find the venue its a bloody good show, I went along to see why his posters were being vandalised with racist comments, they clearly have nothing to do with the show, its just some idiot with a texter defacing good posters. A very amusing show

Keating
Words can't give justice to this show SEE IT!!!

Hound of the Baskervilles
I had to see this show, being a conan-doyle addict and an old dodge fan i couldn't resist and I'm glad i didnt. The plot varies at times and the improvisation is great, see it many times.

Elbowskin
I'll always remember these boys as the guys who cancelled their show a feww years back, the first week in because one of them injured himself. This musical duo are quite good and have the potential to be great one day if they stick with it. It's a good show and comes with free stuff.

Rich Hall
I wouldn't be suprised if he was already sold out till the end of the fest, a good show, catch it if you can.

Stephen K Amos
A little of the old material comes out, but it's still brilliant, see this show if you caN.

Anthony Morgan
Some of the angriness is returning to morgs, it takes a while to get going, but sit it out and you'll see a bit of the old morgs return.

Tripod
I was disapointed by Tripod this year, I just don't feel they are puting the effort in. Having seen their old shows like lady robots I know they can do much better if they wanted to, but they are still selling out so I guess they just don't bother anymore. Some amusing songs.

[Spawn of Satan]

Now Back to the reviews.

Jastin Hamiltons last show was fantastic, no wonder he got an award.

Sammy J's show was elaborate but still very funny

Tommy Dean cracks me up, his show rocked