Category Archives: Comedy

April Events, Comedy, March Events

Road trip

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With International travel becoming compromised by health and safety travesties, it’s time for a road trip. The last days of Summer, Adelaide Fringe, is an ideal destination. If you have time, take the scenic ocean route, otherwise head inland via the flat farmlands, it may be a rather dull journey but there are a couple of gems on the way, including the regional Art Galleries, a pink lake and a puppet shop. 

Ballarat

Ballarat’s Art  Gallery hosts 11,000 works exploring themes such as Country, Place, Home & Disruption.

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Top: ‘A Love Story’ by Emanuel Phillips Fox 1903 & ‘A Football Game’ Russell Drysdale 1945
Bendigo

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Established Australian Artist, a Gunditjmara /Yorta man, Josh Muir explores the inner navigation of being an original people within a post Colonial culture. He is an insider and a spectator from both perspectives that would create a quandary, unique to the artists role. It also allows him to quantify insightful concepts.

Salt Lake

The naturally pink lake is a stella stop on the way and a great place for a walk and picnic. The calm rose lake and it’s white shores create a  surreal environment and a nice place to unwind and contemplate.

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Puppet shop

Expect the unexpected. After a series of townships that offer the traveller mere basics; bad coffee, fried food and petrol we stumble across the Kaniva Puppet shop! Creative entrepreneurs, find niches and see beyond limitations. The shop and its mini theatre has enhanced the local schools creative agenda.

Fringe Festival

Arriving at ‘The Garden of Unearthly Delights’, in Adelaide for the final week of Fringe Festival.

Comedy in the gardens

The village of semi permanent structures creates a small comic world where audience and actor share the space. Reminiscent of pre-industrial fairs with contemporary flair the buildings are as fascinating as the shows. Cafe/Bars populate under the trees as we sit with a glass of wine and enjoy the last days of summer.

COVID-19’s sinister destruction awaits, like a show in the wings; ending such festivals for a time and half a time.

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Comedy, Theatre

Death=Comedy

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The Death of Daulman
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” Shakespeare

FRINGE FESTIVAL

Stuart will be remembered for his positive nature, impetuous sense of humour and TV performances on Hamish & Andy’s True Story, Edge of the Bush and Fancy Boy.

Those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us every day.

A quirky show with a theme usually reserved for discomforting, yet reverent times.

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Pastor John, greeted the audience or should I say ‘funeral guests’ at the door with a limp handshake and a quiet “welcome”. A tone he kept for the entire show and which created a sense of normalcy and calm amid the din of the often hectic and meandering monologues.

Stuart Daulman, the shows other actor and titular character, played many close friends and family members who had come to give speeches and send off their loved one. His Soccer Coach ‘Steve Butland’, his Comedy Pal ‘Justin “The Dust Bin” Murray’, his younger Brother ‘Capt Euan James Daulman’, his South African Grandmother ‘Granny James’ and finally the young altar boy ‘Bradley’. Each character had some moments of humour yet none really hit the mark consistently. Stuart has a calmness which is best delivered in his descriptive facial features.
‘Pastor John’ X filled the costume changes between these characters with calming words and gentle backhanded comments. A very enjoyable link from one vignette to the next. There was even some very clumsy sight gags and a beautiful ‘bit’ where a fish, ‘Mr Fish’ gave a speech which went in circles as one would with such a short memory.

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BEFORE

Over all….a fun event with some very promising features.

Directed by comedy legend Bob Franklin, the show highlights the comic faces of an up and coming comedian, while paying respect to his own life and untimely death.

“I wrote the show when I was dealing with some pretty serious issues. It was cathartic in a way – writing a show so specifically about grief,” says Daulman.

Review by S. Pincombe
Comedy, Melbourne Events, MICF Comedy

Comic Maverick and Ideas Man

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This Charming Man, the very affable Matt Stewart draws in a full house as he gives a ‘Dry’ dose of ‘Very Dry’ at The Chinese Museum in Chinatown. He has taken his routine out of The Fringe and into the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, for a fresh round of laughs.

Getting to the venue is half the adventure, up the street hustle of Chinatown and into the historic site that sets the tone for the nights event. Stewart is unassuming, able to ‘break your guard’ whist never pouncing..

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The key to his art is his unflinching delivery as he stares into the bright lights that veil the audience. He promises to give ‘A pretty Good Show ‘ It’s most likely one of the top ‘Pretty Good Shows’ on the circuit.

Even though Matt’s not your mate, he could be. With comic cool he creates a friendly rapport as he spins absurd Aussie tales and butters it with wacky wisdom. He is edgy with a blunt delivery. ,

As a Caped Crusader, Stewarts superpower is to engage, indulge and transfix.

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‘Pretty Dry’ at the CHINESE MUSEUM                             Review by A. Forward

 

Comedy, Melbourne Events, MICF Comedy

Shafar on fire in Jewish-ish

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MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL review

Michael Shafar held his own at the momentous Trades Hall, that scrubbed up nicely, awash in neon for the MICF 2017.

Shafar is an eclectic blend of cultural experiences that have shaped and unshaped him. He is sorta Jewish, sorta Aussie,sorta cool, sorta nerd, sorta serious but definitely funny. His shows are selling out because the word is out, Shafar ‘nailed it’ this year.

Shafar examines his Jew-ish-ness with perplexed wonder. His grandfather was a Holocaust survivor and its more the ‘religousness’ than the faith that is up for review. He has a wealth of material to draw from that keeps the audience in stiches through out the performance. The crowd loved him and there was a reluctance for the show to end

MICHAEL SHAFAR is Jewish-ish at TRADES HALL Mar 30-Apr 23 8.30pm (no Wed & 7.30 on Sun)

TRADES HALL
Whitlam adoration
Workers rights
Entry Stairs to Show

An interview with Michael Shafar

“I used to encounter a lot of anti-Semitism when I was playing football for my Jewish school. I played from the ages of 12-16 and it was interesting and sad to encounter kids making anti-Semitic comments. I’m interested in whether those kids actually understood what they were saying, or if they were just repeating taunts that they had heard from their surroundings.”

How do you feel about your performance this year?

So far I’ve been really happy with the shows. I’ve changed up a lot of the content since I last performed it in Perth and have also changed the overall structure to make the theme about being culturally Jewish a lot stronger. I think it’s definitely working better now.

What type of reaction have you experienced from Jewish-ish?

So far the reactions have been great. A lot of people have messaged me to let me know they enjoyed the show. It’s interesting to me how different people tweet different jokes to me from the show, so it’s nice that there are a lot of different jokes in there that people remember and relate to.

What has been your most profound experience? MP

“The Comedians I met in the US were young, emerging comics who taught me a lot about work ethic. In the US, comedians are often gigging 15 times per week, which is why their development is accelerated. I tried to absorb that work ethic as much as possible so I try to gig as much as possible around Melbourne.”

Do Comedians support each other?

“Whenever there is a controversy about something that a comedian has said or done, comedians tend to help each other through it.”

Is MICF different for you this year?

It’s different because it’s my first solo show, so it’s definitely a lot busier than any other year. I also need to manage my time a bit better than previous years, making sure I still get enough sleep, eat well and exercise (which I have failed to do for the first few nights, so hopefully I get more disciplined!)

Comedy, Melbourne Reviews

Captain Australia

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Melbourne Fringe 2016

Matt Stewart is ‘DRY’ at the Courthouse.

In the small ‘Attic’ of the Courthouse Hotel, Stewart warms up the crowd with off-beat humour and cultural observations.

He quickly builds a strong rapport with the audience. The jokes are uniquely Australian and as the room laughed loudly throughout the performance; a couple of overseas visitors looked on perplexed. His humour  is based on shared experiences that create a ‘party’ experience, as everybody ‘is in’ on the joke.

Stewart’s ‘lay-back’ demeanour and monotone delivery puts the crowd at ease, as his eyes search out his next sidekick. He opens the floor and allows a degree of improv, exacting sharp timing as he tosses a clever slip of irony back into the fold.

No Aussie performance can ignore the ‘heart of darkness’ of our vast continent and he does touch of some uncomfortable satire which is inserted between playful wit. He is a genuine comic, the type that other comedians would go to watch.

You will laugh so hard that your face will ache.

 

“I like him in general; his tone, the dryness, the way he comes across…his delivery” Mike Barnes Comedian*

 

Matt Stewart ; 2014 Raw Comedy Winner            

Review by A Forward

*Mike Barnes; Comedian and Manager of The Tickle Pit (Melbourne Fringe) @ Fancy Hank’s  

#theatre, Comedy, Melbourne Reviews, MICF Comedy

I (honestly) love you.

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I (honestly) Love You at The National 

REVIEW

Have you ever been on a date from Hell and loved it?

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There are three members in this relationship, him her and the ‘vicious truth’. The great accident of love has a few battles to get through, before the home run. The first awkward encounter is to meet the parents and then the friends. 

The show digs into the trenches, of love for the long-term, despite its personal cost. 

“She plays netball …I have to go to every F******* game”

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The play explores the sharp cut of truth in a dishonest world. How can we hold down a relationship or job, if the real shatters our delusions? It’s a clever script that breaks down the comfort zones, with large slaps of humour.

“It was very entertaining, the humour was quite witty and unpredictable….I laughed most of the way through it” John (audience)

“I loved the energy that the actors had, the sound effects, audience involvement and the six part bit.” Gilly (audience)  

“An interesting insight into relationships and how hard we try to make everyone around us happy when in doing so it actually makes everyone, including ourselves unhappy ……interesting.” Alannah (audience)


Interview with Damon Lockwood.

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“I wondered if being able to tell the truth to your partner at all times would be the answer to the perfect relationship, and this play is the result.”

What keeps you honest (honestly)? MP

‘The new app that allows my partner to know where I am at all times, by where my phone is at. Once again, thank you technology.’

Why did you choose this show? What’s the story behind it?

‘I didn’t go to the best of schools as a child, so when I ran into an old school friend and he reminded me of a truly filthy joke we used to tell each other in Grade 4, something about Pinocchio being honest in the toy box, the idea for the play sprang into my head and the script flowed out of me. Crappy education has given me so much…’

What is your main talent? MP

‘I keep striving to make my main talent writing …you can’t polish a turd’… delightful, but so apt when it comes to creating great theatre. So I am saying I would like writing to be my main talent but it really is a life-long path.

Also, I make a seriously good omelette.

What are the ingredients to a great show?

‘A good script helps a lot, like, a lot. For me, a show that deeply considers the audience’s enjoyment and not just their ‘luck’ at witnessing some supposed brilliance on stage I feel is also important. Great actors don’t hurt either, and did I say a great script I think is really important?’

What impressed you about the Edinburgh Festival?

‘The sheer scale of the thing was redonkulous, but the Perth Fringe Guide is beginning to have eerily similar weight and look to it as the Edinburgh one.

The energy on the back streets is electrifying. The main press event was hilarious, where you line up for an hour and a half to speak to a journalist for three minutes who already has tickets to La Soiree on the one night they might have been able to come to your show.

It’s true, Scottish people truly are waterproof – they can stand in the rain and simply not get wet! Survival mutation born from centuries of damp weather, I guess.

What do you imagine your future to be? MP

Man, that is a heck of a question! Seeing as there are no jobs in the theatre in Perth … then I’m pretty excited about a long career in bus driving. And I’ll always write, I think, I do love the endless bloody tangle with the blank page and those concrete words that sometimes glow.

What keeps you motivated? MP

‘I think the joy I receive creating work that allows audiences to witness other great actors ply their trade is very rewarding. There are so many talented actors out there who through bad timing or sheer dire fate don’t get the opportunities they deserve. At least this way I am able to give them an impressive 11% cut of the door takings’

What are the ingredients for a great relationship?

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‘… in all extreme  likelihood I will never be a relationships counsellor, I would say… who knows?

Maybe a couple that complement each other perhaps, so that between the two of you there’s a fighting chance you may have all the aspects of this life thing somewhat covered (like I do all the cooking and cleaning and gardening and my partner can answer the door when there’s some delivery guy there that I can’t handle making small talk with)?

And great sex. Oh, and honesty! Of course, yes, honesty, on all things… some things… on some most things… … … sometimes…’

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I (honestly) Love You has played at Edinburgh Fringe and New York Fringe achieving great reviews. The show has Melbourne actors, Jimmy James Eaton and George Gayler in the lead roles with Damon Lockwood is the playwright and director (his show HorseHead was on at La Mama in 2014).

Venue: The National Theatre

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13 – 16 April 2016
7.30pm
Tickets: $25
Bookings: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.au

 

 

 

 

 

Comedy, Melbourne Reviews

3 Course Comedy

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Three Comics, Michael Shafar,  Sam Taunton and Tim Hewitt fought it out for top laughs, from the high-spirited audience at the Butterfly Club. Their latest serving, 3 Course Comedy, was a solid bill of entertainment.

Sam

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Gave a stoic monologue of rich comic content that evoked waves of laughter. Like a conjurer with a steady glance, he drew soul out of his poor experiences. With an unshakable confidence, he held the crowd and watched the sets come in.

Michael

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Poked the audience with the long arm of justice, pointing out the absurd and ridiculous. The crowd shared the intimacy of humanity and laughed in unison. The night was  hotting up.

Tim

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Hewitt burst forth with frenzied energy, as he bore through the tatters of his desperate existence. He takes the full crowd on an emotional journey and binds tragedy with hysterical farce.

#theatre, Comedy, Melbourne Events, Melbourne Reviews, Melbourne Talent

A Snippet of the Fringe

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Three Artists, three stages, 3 fabulous hours

‘Existentialism the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one’s acts.’

THE PERFORMANCE

SAUCE

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Simon Godfrey’s Dadaistic comedy is a complex ,high energy, minimalist work, marked by the absurd.

“Let us take the rest of Ukraine”

There are over a dozen characters in Simon Godfrey’s ‘Sauce’, each distinctive and brilliantly performed, in his one-man show. He needs nothing more than his imagination to bewitch. Godfrey turns a condiment into a high stakes adventure. He is a force.

 GENDER SPANNER

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If you can fix a pipe are you an old man or a little girl? Jessica McKerlie ‘throws a spanner’ into gender prejudice. What defines our sexuality, is it our body or our mind? Can a woman who believes she is a man become a transsexual? McKerlie challenges the status quo of being, in a solo show. It’s an exploration into our humanity, told with tricks and slips.

“Don’t confuse my sex with my gender”

Her eyes flash into the souls of the audience as she keeps them tittering on the edge.

“Thank you for letting me label you.”

DEAR DIARY

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Andi Snelling got a standing applause for her solo performance, as a girl growing through the banal experiences that ‘rocked her world’. The witty script compounded a couple of decades with multi-media and song, whist exploring the philosophy of time and self. Snelling mocked the self-indulgence of the autobiography, that the audience related to, with bursts of laughter.

“Guess what? I found four dollars at Timezone!”

It was a beautifully crafted work, packed with clever charm and brilliant timing.

#theatre, Comedy, Melbourne Reviews

Insomnia, A play by Natasha Moszenin

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The Insomnia Project

The Insomnia Project by composer, writer and director, Natasha Moszenin, is a dramatic piece on the troublesome disorder of insomnia brought to life on the stage.

1 in 3 Australians suffer mild to extreme sleep deprivation and in our 24/7 lives we are increasingly becoming a ‘sleep-sick’ society. Insomnia and up to 70 other diagnosable sleep disorders underlie up to 70% of visits to GPs in Australia.

Natasha has been living with insomnia since she was a teenager. Having tried psychotherapy, herbs, restrictive diets, and meditation, she decided to create a music-theatre work about sleeplessness and the related conditions that surround it; anxiety and depression.

“ When a night can feel like a lifetime”

Review

The play can be best understood by night stalkers that wait for day with both anxiety and relief. Anxiety because sleep deprivation undermines ones ability to function and relief because the long lonely hours are over. 

“However vast the darkness we must supply our own light” Stanley Kubrick

Four actors shared the stage but remained in isolation. In a Kubrick style, the crowd were dragged through the condition and if they didn’t understand what insomniacs go through, they were not paying attention.

The Director and the Writer Natasha Moszenin provided the score, she played the piano as she watched the actors lumber, sleepless through the night. For insomniacs in the full audience it was a bonding into a community, when they thought they were alone.