Comfest '08 Show Reviews

[Alisso]

I figured we needed a review thread, and since I went to the Gala last night, I thought I'd kick it off with a quick run-down.

It was pretty good. Vodafone Arena is not the worst of the arena style venues in which to perform comedy.

Paul hosted, and that was a little fucked up. Cam was in the band at the start, and Mick appeared later with Phil Nicol *G* Oh, and see if you can pick which tv show theme gets reprised a little in the opening song.

In alphabetical order:

Arj Barker - I'm not a huge fan, but I think there was one joke of his that really made me laugh.
Charlie Pickering - "Ditch the manboobs" routine, and some anti-women's-mags material. Good stuff. Looking forward to the show.
Corinne Grant - She's growing on me again. She always looks MUCH happier when she's not being required to wear a dress and bleach her hair to straw.
Dave Hughes - A little new stuff at last. But I don't care if he is cranky, dammit.
David O'Doherty - Text messages and a song about banging *G* Keyboard comedy of the adorkably cheesy variety *G*
Dave Thornton - I didn't know him, but I liked what I saw.
Des Bishop - Mildly concerning. American-Irish-Catholic-ex-drinker. But funny.
Fiona O'Loughlin - She's going through "The Change". I MUST take my mother to see her in Sydney. Always a strong performer.
Frank Woodley - Pappy's guitar mixed with some random comedy songs. Col was in the audience *G*
Glenn Wool - Went to AA *larfs* Drunken Glenn has done many things, but it's all Sober Glenn's fault *g* Filthy, filthy man, and very fun.
Jason Byrne - I don't know if the guy from the crowd was a plant or not, but Jason's props and guests meant that I didn't care. Hilarious.
Jeff Green - A few hints of possibly new material, but it might have just been old material re-worked. Funny, but familiar.
Julia Morris - Wants to be Jeannie Little, by the sounds of things.
Kristen Schaal - Just, don't even ask. She's a horse.
Mark Watson - Discussion of Australian terms that can confuse an innocent European *G*
Nina Conti - Filthy, filthy monkey puppet and ventriloquism. With a very, very clever twist. I might actually go see her now.
Phil Nichol - A song about stalkers *G* and how he might be gay and just not know it.
Reginald D Hunter - American guy from the south. A little odd at times, but agreeably filthy *G*
Rove McManus - Rove being Rove *shrugs*
Spamalot - the closer. A very familiar song with choreography *G*
Sean Choolburra - It doesn't matter if you're American or Aboriginal, "blacks do this but whites do this" is hack unless it's done very, very well.
Stephen K Amos - I like Stephen and his confused face, and his Coon jokes are always good *g*
Tom Gleeson - Getting gradually ever more bald. And quite prepared to acknowledge it. Still funny, though. Camping in Tassie? Not a wise move *G*
Tripod - Thursday night! So not-rock *G*
Umbilical Brothers - "Can I have 20c?" window washer. These guys are just awesome at what they do.
Shane Warne the Musical - "What an SMS (ess-em-ess) I'm in" is one of the worst musical puns ever. I love it *G*
Wil Anderson - He's growing on me again, now that I've taken a good long break from his humour, but I'm still a little dubious.

Ted appeared to have managed to get his silver shit into the air conditioning. It SNOWED little bits of glitter *g* It was hilarious and cool *g* Where does he GET that shit?? *G*

[Alisso]

Further reviews:

The Delusionists - First night, sold out. People standing in the corners. Very impressive. The show's good too *g* It's called "Everything that Ever Happened, Ever", and it's a quick and dirty, random run-down through history. A lot of fun, very funny, and some extremely dedicated performers. I could easily see these guys turning into another D-Generation down the line. It's sketch comedy, and it's GOOD sketch comedy. The only bad thing is that the room is FAR too small for these guys. Last year they were at RMIT, and they may not have packed it out every night, but I'm sure they were drawing good crowds. This year, they scored a room in the town hall, which is good, and they're better known, which is good...but the room is tiny. A group like this should have more stage space, and room for a bigger audience, because I'm sure they'd manage to fill a larger room.

Daniel Townes - Sadly, on opening night, there were only nine people in this audience, which is a shame, because he deserves more. Daniel has expanded his usual performance style this year. Typically, he tells short jokes, that hint at longer stories that led to their creation. Now, he's telling the stories. It made for a more meandering, casual show, but it was just as funny, and it was good to hear the details of the stories that were only suggested at before. He didn't cover all the stories he had last night, because he hasn't actually written the show down, in case it'd make him leave bits out - and it's a mark of his skill as a performer that this didn't handicap the show. He can stand there and tell these stories as ably as if he'd scripted them, and seems to be getting as much of a kick out of the punchlines as the audience. The show will doubtless change a little over the first two weeks as he works out which stories work and which parts are just rambling *g* but by the middle of the festival, I'd expect this to be a very tight example of a good story-based stand-up show.

[junglegirl_1976]

The Comedy Gala sounds good. It's been a bit disappointing the last few years (it's had it's moments though). I remember (now I'm showing my age!!) back in the 90's, I used to love pretty much every act that was on. Is it that they can't seem to get the big names anymore?? I remember when Lenny Bruce did the show back in '93/'94 (can't remember exact year??). Can anyone as old as me remember that? A few bars of chocolate anyone?? They were good years!! It's probabaly just me!

Anyway, looking forward to this year. As someone who lives in Sydney (and can't afford to take 3 weeks off to head down for the Festival - I will one year though, (I'll start saving now) the Comedy Gala is my chance to see the acts. Unless they come to Sydney of course.

I'm rambling, I'm gonna stop now....

Well, I'll just go and ramble somewhere else.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by Alisso

Further reviews:

The Delusionists - First night, sold out. People standing in the corners. Very impressive. The show's good too *g* It's called "Everything that Ever Happened, Ever", and it's a quick and dirty, random run-down through history. A lot of fun, very funny, and some extremely dedicated performers. I could easily see these guys turning into another D-Generation down the line. It's sketch comedy, and it's GOOD sketch comedy. The only bad thing is that the room is FAR too small for these guys. Last year they were at RMIT, and they may not have packed it out every night, but I'm sure they were drawing good crowds. This year, they scored a room in the town hall, which is good, and they're better known, which is good...but the room is tiny. A group like this should have more stage space, and room for a bigger audience, because I'm sure they'd manage to fill a larger room.

I'll make sure to pass that on to the guys.

[Spoofy]

I was talking to one of those guys yesterday, and he seemed very proud that he had sold out.

He was trying to give me a free ticket for tonight, but I already have a show too see. Pity

[Alisso]

Looks like I'm the only person posting reviews...I hope at least some people are finding them useful *G*

Shane Warne the Musical (A Work in Progress) - Following in the footsteps of Keating! The Musical, Eddie Perfect and a team of young (and not so young) singers have put together a reasonably low-budget, modern-day musical. There's no dance sequences that need to be viewed from above for best effect, or played out under fake rain, but Warnie the Musical is destined to be just as much a classic as any of the MGM musicals of the past.

The show we went to was the first time they'd done an entire run-through in front of an audience. And the girl playing Simone Warne had a cold. But these things just made the performance even more impressive. The songs were clever and funny, and the performances were fantastic - especially Eddie (who has bleached his hair for the occasion), Simone (the fact that she can hit those notes WITHOUT a cold is impressive, getting through that performance while sick deserves some kind of medal), and the guy who played, among other things, John the Indian bookie.

The audience was a really strange mix of Eddie fans and Warnie fans, but everyone seemed to be having a great time, regardless of why they'd come. I saw guys who did NOT look like comedy festival types laughing their arses off at "The Away Game" (about what happens on tour that stays on tour ) and "What an SMS I'm In".

Like Keating, this is a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of an Australian folk hero of sorts, who has been given a lot of bad press over the years, but still remains an icon to a lot of people. It would have been extremely easy to make Shane a moronic or annoying figure, or to have poked fun at his misfortunes, but they were very gentle with his weaknesses, and portrayed him as a guy just being himself and living his life, and having to deal with the consequences of it all.

There's only four more performances, so you should book ASAP, cause this show is definitely worth catching. Go now, so you can say "I saw it before they were famous" *G*

Justin Hamilton: The Killing Joke - Justin has always been a bit more than your standard comedian. Last year with Three Colours Hammo he proved himself capable of remarkable alternative humour in a storytelling style, producing a three part show that ranks alongside things like Fleety's classic story shows (Thai Died and Ten Years in a Long Sleeved Shirt) for both humour and sentiment.

This year, he's trying something different again. A comedian stands on a railway bridge, staring down at the tracks. But he's not sure why. Except that there's someone standing next to him, telling him to jump.

I'd tell you more about the show, but I wouldn't want to ruin it for you. It's not traditional stand-up, and it's harsher and darker than last year's offering, but it's an experience well worth having.

If you haven't seen Fight Club, I recommend you catch it first, and I'd suggest you go check out his MySpace page which contained hints regarding the content of the show, but he appears to have deleted it. So if you saw it already, well done. If you didn't, tough. But you'll get a program at the start with a bit of information in it.

It's definitely worth seeing, just go in with an open mind about what you're going to see.

Greg Fleet: Secret American - Not exactly what I was expecting from Fleety. The title made me expect another storytelling show from him, but that's not what we got. Which is a shame, in a way, but it certainly doesn't detract from what we did get. Which was a solid hour of Fleety gold *g*

American idiocy, psychotic love, and his daughter (who is going to be giving him shit till the day he dies *g*) all featured as subject matter. And the final five minutes of film noir puns are simply unforgettable. Fleety at his classic best.

[junglegirl_1976]

Thanks Alisso - I'm living through you!! Can you go see Tripod, Fiona O'Loughlin, Stephen K Amos and Wil Anderson for me please???

Does Adam Hills have a show this year? I didn't see his name in the list.

[Alisso]

Originally Posted by junglegirl_1976

Thanks Alisso - I'm living through you!! Can you go see Tripod, Fiona O'Loughlin, Stephen K Amos and Wil Anderson for me please???

Does Adam Hills have a show this year? I didn't see his name in the list.

I'm seeing Tripod and Fiona. Wouldn't mind seeing Stephen, but I probably won't be seeing Wil *g*

Hillsy doesn't have a full show this year. He's hosting Friday nights at the HiFi with Jason Byrne, though *G*

[Cherryish]

Hillsy is also MC'ing Unspeakable 2008, which is a show featuring deaf friendly acts, with all proceeds going to VicDeaf.

I enjoy reading the reviews seeing as I can't make it this year

[awaywithfairies]

Originally Posted by Alisso

Looks like I'm the only person posting reviews...I hope at least some people are finding them useful *G*

I sure am! I'm arriving in a-week-and-a-bit and it's encouraging that some of the shows I've booked seem to be worth seeing!

I booked a pile of shows on Thursday at my local Ticketmaster outlet in Sydney. It's an independent record store owned by a husband-and-wife team and I always book my Comfest tickets with the wife. Whenever I turn up, it's a case of "It's March so you must be here for the Comedy Festival". She's very cluey and always gets my complicated order exactly right. This year I even got to sit behind the counter with her with a cup of tea while she drove the computer!

[Alisso]

Originally Posted by awaywithfairies

I booked a pile of shows on Thursday at my local Ticketmaster outlet in Sydney. It's an independent record store owned by a husband-and-wife team and I always book my Comfest tickets with the wife. Whenever I turn up, it's a case of "It's March so you must be here for the Comedy Festival". She's very cluey and always gets my complicated order exactly right. This year I even got to sit behind the counter with her with a cup of tea while she drove the computer!

Last year, Spawn of Satan and I turned up at the box office with a list that covered half the festival, and scared the poo out of a poor woman who'd only just started working there *g* We ran into her again this year for our first ticket run, and she remembered us from last year! She said she really appreciated that we were patient with her, cause she was so new at it, and we did have a really complex list, and that we helped her win the "smartarse comment of the festival award" *g* Because someone in the line bitched about how long we were taking, so her supervisor came to see what was happening, and she told her "oh, they're just buying the whole festival" *G*

She was very excited to show us how much she'd learnt when we turned up this year *g* I have to say, it's lovely to run into familiar faces at festival.

I'm glad people are enjoying my reviews, and I have another one to add *g*

Every Film Ever Made - Well, SoS is rating this as her favourite show of the festival so far. But we've only been here a few days, so that isn't technically as impressive as it might be *g*

Still, I think this might stay near the top, if not at the top, of our list of favourite shows. Last year, we saw this same group perform The Hound of the Baskervilles, and it was a fantastic, frantic little production, and this year's show has managed to exceed last year's performance. And that's in spite of the fact that we saw last year's show at the end of the run, when they'd had lots of practice, and this year's show at the start.

The dynamic between these three performers is great. They take audience contributions and sudden inspirations in their stride, leading to some wonderful moments of unexpected fun. They seem to feed off each others' performances, with random developments from one leading to new jokes from the others. We watched Adam threaten to pash Robby - I'm still not completely certain that it wasn't planned, and doesn't happen every night - and the idea then was threaded throughout the remainder of the show, reappearing at opportune moments, and resulted in some wonderfully terrifed faces from Robby. It probably helps that Tegan and Robby both have experience as improvisors, and that Adam has had enough stand-up experience to know how to react fast and well.

The more films you've seen, the more you'll get out of this show. and if you've seen "Say Anything..." you'll get a bonus laugh that many people in the audience won't get *g* But even if you've only seen half the films they compress into the hour they have on stage, you'll enjoy this show.

Just don't go if you don't want to have the endings of Sixth Sense, Fight Club, The Others or The Crying Game revealed to you *G* But then, if you're still unspoilt for ALL of those, you probably don't watch movies and wouldn't get any of it anyway *G*

[class idiot]

I don't do reviews cos mine suck and don't have anything inputty to say. But I will give my opinions

Frank Woodley - Possessed (Fri 21 March). I liked it, found Frank very amusing and surprised at his commitment to the show. I liked it more when he went off on tangents and his usual goofy self. Good show but then, I'm easy going and will generally like all shows.

Mark Watson - solo show (Sat 22 March). I want him to be the next Ross Noble in that I want him to get that sort of success and acknowledgment. Very funny, only wish he had the chance to go over time as would just love to hear him go on. He totally should have been able to eat the curry that was given to him. Mark had a unique way of starting his show and putting people at ease.

Hooray For Everything - Aid Concert Aid (Sat 22 March). Decided to see these guys again as I do like witty musicky songs. Small, tiny room but that just means you get to see them better. Trades really needs some fans or airconditioning though. Worth the trek to Trades though and beware of tambourne playing "pre-show" if you're the last to enter but Hails kicked arsed!

In general, I'm a fan of all these acts and they are recommended in my view. I'm just happy to be in Melb for comfest

[epod]

I will admit upfront that I am his manager, but here's my review of Brendan's show...

I saw comedian/cartoonist, Brendan Lovechild's show, "I Wish I'd Never Been A Chicken" and was left totally blown away.

Rather than just straight stand-up comedy, his show was a very clever mix of cartoons, stand-up, and interaction with a small, but very enthusiastic audience.

It was much like it was a group of people getting together in their lounge room to have a laugh (and there were plenty!).

For more information, check out http://www.brendanlovechild.com

Club F4
730pm every night of the festival (including Mondays)
All TIX : $10

[TimChuma]

Went to the Chartbusting 80's first night, worth going if you are a fan of the show. If you are shy or want to give Queen Josie lip I suggest you not go as she will come out into the audience and get you as she stays in character for the whole show.

Photos here:
Chartbusting 80's at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2008

Am looking forward to the Trade Aid show next Saturday (29th March) as I am going to be attempting the three gigs in three days thing again. Will be going to Trades Hall on Tuesday to see a couple of shows and probably pick up another one to fill in time.

Remember to be nice to Janet in the booth out the front of the Town Hall and take her presents and sweet things to eat ocassionally.

[Sydneyguy]

CAn someone see

DAve Callan

and

REginald d hunter

and

Deanne smith

And tell me what you think?

I know last year reviewers was saying it was more like a theatre play than stand up jokes and i hope this year he's back to stand up because i think he's great!!

REginald d hunter, reading the net he seems to have won a few awards

Deanne smith seems interesting but havent heard any of her material


AS for MARK WATSOn is like ROSS NOBLE, i agree!! IT's almost like Mark has no material and just rambles on about something!!


ALISSO keep up the good work!!
I agree DAniel townes is better than a 9 people room, he has improved so much over the years

FRom my adelaide fringe festival experience, EVERY FILM EVER MADE was good but i had more laughs with tom gleeson and Stephen k amos