Category: Performances

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Stand-Up Comedy, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Thomas Jaspers in NO PLACE LIKE HOMO

Sensational MICF debut

By Bradley Storer

The evening began with a visit from comedian Thomas Jaspers’ close friend ‘Rhonda Butchmore’, who sauntered onstage, all long legs and six-pack in one hand, to warm up the crowd with a few dropped names and withering witticisms about the likes of Chrissie Swan and Patti Newton. This delightful opening segued into a soap opera-styled look at Jaspers’ hometown of Aspendale, dubbed ‘Downtown Assy’, before Jaspers himself emerged (still half dressed as his drag alter-ego) to begin the show.

Thomas Jaspers

No Place Like Homo, Jaspers’ debut at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, documents the comedian’s journey from a flamboyant, Priscilla-loving child through adolescence and his break-up with a certain well-known Australian comedian and its aftermath.  The major theme of the show is family, with the members of Jaspers’ own family (all played by Jaspers himself) made present throughout the evening via a series of projections that, in a very inventive stroke of media, interject and interweave through all of the material. All of these characters provide hilarious and heart-warming moments, Jaspers’ delightfully dirty grandmother in particular, and in their portraiture you can sense great love and affection.

Despite this being his first appearance at the Comedy Festival, Jaspers already shows great comedic skill and ability in his story-telling. On this night the performer showed some signs of nerves (probably not helped by the presence of his actual family in the audience) but there was no need for worry – Jaspers has crafted a fantastic, hysterical yet touching debut, which we can only hope for more of in the future.

VENUE: The Horse Bazaar, 397 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

TIME: 8:00 (7:00 Sun)

TICKETS: Full $20, Conc $18, Tightarse Tuesday $16, Group (10+) $18, Laugh Park $18.

BOOKING: www.ticketmaster.com.au Ph: 1300 660 013, www.comedyfestival.com.au, at venue.

Events, Festivals, Performances, Theatre, Whats On

Review: TANSY BRADSHAW is Child Safe?

Bibliophilia is not a vice…

By Myron My

Tansy Bradshaw is a library technician (because of the sexiness of the job) and in this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival show Child Safe? (Not Suitable for Children), Tansy looks at some of the messages these so-called children’s books are sending.

Tansy Bradshaw

Things in the library start off smoothly enough until Paisley (Sean Collins) appears. Paisley is a fictitious character wanting Tansy to write his story but she declines because of the nature of children’s books. Her banter with Paisley is a high point and his mischievousness and excitability is the perfect contrast to Bradshaw’s sarcasm and cynicism. Furthermore, Bradshaw is very much at ease with the audience and for the most part, her delivery is smooth and at a great pace.

Bradshaw soon exposes Noddy’s relationship with donkeys and his secret obsession with guns, and Blinky Bill is not left unscathed when the whole town is revealed responsible for covering up a murder. Through exploring various other fictional favourites, Bradshaw looks at how stories for kids apparently promote body image issues, child labor, BDSM and even bestiality.

Towards the end the comedy seemed to be shifted to a back burner as Bradshaw’s material becomes social commentary about these stories and examines whether it is better to have a naïve childhood or a realistic adulthood. This leads into a discussion with Paisley about experiences of their own childhood and how it’s made them the person they are today.

Despite the seriousness of where we end up, it is still a happy ending all round and with help from Paisley, Bradshaw concedes that perhaps we should not be looking too much into children’s books and just enjoy them for what they are.

Bradshaw has done her homework but I felt like she could have gone a lot further with the stories to make her show that much more “unsuitable for children”. Ultimately Child Safe? is a unique idea that had a lot of potential but the development didn’t pack enough comedy punch.

Venue: The Bull and Bear Tavern, 347 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Season: Until 1 April | 6:15pm

Tickets: $14.50 Full | $10.50 Concession

Bookings: www.ticketmaster.com.au, www.comedyfestival.com.au, 1300 660 013 or at the door.

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Stand-Up Comedy, Whats On

REVIEW: Josh Thomas in DOUCHEBAG

Familiar formula still pleases

By Bradley Storer

Celebrated Australian comedian Josh Thomas returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a new show after writing and starring in ABC’s successful new series Please Like Me. The basis of Josh’s comedy (on-screen and off) has always been based around the dissonance between his cute, awkwardly adorable persona and the messy realities of his twenty-something Gen Y male existence. This formula has not altered significantly since Josh’s last show, although there are some refreshing new changes in his story-telling choices.

Josh Thomas

The theme of the show is about the moments of Josh’s life where he has not been the best person: the ‘douchebag’ of the title. There are tales of relationship troubles, involving the inability to say ‘I love you’ and the massive arguments sparked by homeopathic medicine, an account of accidentally scaring a young girl with leukaemia, and Josh’s casual insults towards fellow travellers while hiking in Tasmania. The story which sparked the idea for the show, an impromptu journey in Thailand to find an elusive massage parlour, however turns out to be an anti-climax which is hardly mitigated by Josh admitting that even he is aware the story is inadequate.

From the very moment he walked onstage, Josh had the audience on side (which is a rare gift). Although there was a continuous stream of laughter, as well as the occasional shocked gasp, there was never a moment which made me burst out laughing uncontrollably – the laughs stayed at one level for the entire evening. This could simply be due to issues in how the show is structured, or maybe because that by the end the audience was so used to Josh’s style that there were no surprises left.

VENUE: Melbourne Town Hall – Lower Town Hall

TIME: 8:15 (7:15 Sunday)

TICKETS: Preview $25, Full Wed-Fri & Sun $33, Full Sat $35, Concession (n/a Fri & Sat) $30, Tightarse Tuesday $25, Laugh Pack (n/a Fri & Sat) $30, Group (8+, n/a Fri & Sat) $30.

BOOKING: www.comedyfestival.com.au, www.ticketmaster.com.au or Phone 1300 660 013, Melbourne Town Hall Box Office.

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Whats On

Review: ANNE EDMONDS with The Quarter Cabbage

Comedy with a side of veggies

By Myron My

For three years now local comedy favourite Anne Edmonds has performed stand-up at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. This year, she has gone for a character-driven piece with The Quarter Cabbage where she presents a one-woman play about four strangers who are connected by a single cabbage.

We are in a fruit shop – not a room at the comedy festival – and Tony the unseen owner, is visited by four distinct characters; old and slightly senile John Watts, new-age organic-obsessed Justice, ‘Mental Health’ personified, and Rebecca, a young woman with dream of being on X-Factor. Each purchases a quarter cabbage and as they do, we are given an insight into their varied lives as they talk to Tony.

Anne Edmonds

Whilst Edmonds is backstage getting changed into the next character, we hear a variety of comic phone conversations John makes to various customer service companies with hilarious complaints and ludicrous demands, such as threatening to switch from Yarra Trams to their rival – trains. These calls had everyone in stitches and kept the energy of the show going without Edmonds’ physical presence.

There were some nerves the night I attended early in the season, and a few things not going to plan – like a banjo not tuned – but Edmonds allowed these things to come into the show, acknowledged them, fixed them and moved on quite calmly.

Edmonds has done a great job in creating strongly fleshed-out characters within a very short time frame. The nuances and mannerisms of these characters are well thought-out and the fifteen minutes per character go by so quickly that you are left wanting more. My only problem was the inclusion of Mental Health – even though it was still funny, I feel with this persona we lost the appealing normality and mundaneness of the stories from the other three characters.

Edmonds’ MICF show The Quarter Cabbage is full of laughs and fun that will leave you wondering where the other ¾ of your own cabbage is going. I warmly recommend it, and give it 4 and ¼ cabbages.

Venue: The Lunch Room, Melbourne Town Hall. Cnr Swanston & Collins Sts, Melbourne

Season: Until 21 April | Tues-Sat 8:30pm, Sun 7:30pm

Tickets: $26 Full | $24 Concession

Bookings: http://www.ticketmaster.com.au, http://www.comedyfestival.com.au, 1300 660 013 or at the door

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Stand-Up Comedy, Whats On

REVIEW: Jenny Eclair is ECLAIRIOUS

British TV star surprises on stage

By Christine Moffat

UK comedienne Jenny Éclair is not everyone’s cup of tea.  That’s mainly because everyone’s cup of tea isn’t an Earl Grey Jaeger-bomb!  Éclair epitomises that very English, delicious combination of nasty and nice, and possesses the kind of comedy pedigree that practically guarantees an audience a good laugh throughout, and a happy buzz when exiting – and that’s what happened last night.

Jenny Eclair

If you only know her from the television show Grumpy Old Women, you’re in for a surprise, as comediennes need to be a bit tamer on TV then they are on stage.  Most of the material in Eclairious for MICF is a bit too rude to repeat, and definitely too funny to spoil by revealing it in this review.  But as a teaser, Éclair does a little reminiscing (about fellatio and hand jobs), and some great bits about lost youth, menopause and teenage ‘children’.

Unfortunately at times Éclair’s material excluded men and women under 40, as it was phrased in the “am I right girls?” style.  That being said, the show still went from big laughs, to giggles, to big laughs regularly, as Éclair knows how to work an audience.

If you feel like a hilarious chat, albeit a (mainly) one-way and slightly confronting one, get there early and sit up the front.  Don’t be afraid to adjust yourself to get more comfortable, just get it out of the way before she gets going as she “hates fiddlers”.  So have a nice chardonnay or three, and then pop along for a good old laugh.

Dates: April 2-7

Times: Tue-Sat 8.15pm, Sun 7.15pm

Where:  Melb Town Hall – Supper Room, Cnr Swanston & Collins Sts

PRICES: $25 – $36

Bookings:

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/eclairious-jenny-eclair

Ticketmaster 1300 660 013

At the door

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Stand-Up Comedy, Whats On

Review: DEANNE SMITH’s Let’s Do This

From awkward beginnings to utter charm

By Bradley Storer

About eight seconds after psyching up herself and the audience with Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, comedian Deanne Smith cuts the music short and admits ‘I can’t maintain this level of energy for very long’.

Smith opens with a ukulele tune in which she recruits the audience to interject at her command with the title of her show – the song never really managed to gain momentum since Smith was constantly forced to stop and wait for the audience’s response, and this made for a slightly awkward opening. After this small bump in the road though, her show Let’s Do It for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival picks up and soars.

Deanne Smith

The main thrust of Smith’s show is an examination of her inability to be a self-confident and secure person, gleefully dissecting her various neuroses to side-splitting and, at times, jaw-dropping effect.

Smith’s strength is her innate sweetness and lovability, which allows her to delve into some unexpectedly filthy and dark places (at my particular performance, even Smith herself remarked at several points, surprised ‘You all got on board with that!’). Topics range from the unfortunate implications of the term ‘femi-nazis’ and her hatred of penguins to a remarkably optimistic view of humanity’s current effects on the environment.

Interspersed throughout are many moments of audience participation, people individually to be sung at, called up to assist onstage or to take photos during the show (for one particular section, I’d advise bringing along a friend to save potential embarrassment). The hour show flies by and it would be hard to imagine anyone who would not be doubled over in laughter by the end.

DATES: 30th MARCH – 21st APRIL

TIME: 9:45 (8:45 Sunday)

VENUE: MELBOURNE TOWN HALL – CLOAK ROOM

TICKETS: Full $25, Preview $20, Tightarse Tuesday $20, Laugh Pack (n/a Fri & Sat) $20, Concession $20 (n/a Fri & Sat), Group (8+) (N/A Fri & Sat) $20

BOOKINGS: www.ticketmaster.com.au, Phone – 1300 660 013, www.comedyfestival.com.au, Melbourne Town Hall Box Office

Circus, Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: Circus Horrificus for MICF

Running away to join the circus just got dangerous – and hilarious

By Myron My

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is upon us and it is preview night for Circus Horrificus – It’s A Western. There is a sense of excitement and nerves as I take my seat: extreme physical circus acts is what has been promised, and boy, do these guys deliver.

Circus Horrificus

Unfortunately, the beginning of the show where we are introduced to Samora Squid and Bridget Bridge overstayed its welcome. Too much slapstick and I found the screeching and growling at each other rather irritating. I wasn’t amazed by anything and my interest was not piqued. It seemed that just when you thought it was going to go somewhere – it didn’t. Even the music in the background was distracting.

Once these two performers got over this initial hurdle however, they not only took it to the next level but smashed through it. Their energy heightened, their interaction got stronger and even the music was more harmonious with the action. There were many moments where the audience was equally mesmerised, horrified, cringing and cheering. It’s been a while since I have felt all these emotions at the same time and it really wreaks havoc with the your body – but this was nothing compared to what Squid and Bridge were enduring physically.

There were numerous times I wanted to clap but all I could do was watch in disbelief in the various acts they performed. I would love to be specific about what these two artists do but I really think half the fun is watching without foreknowledge the crazy antics they get up to – although I will note that fireworks get up close and personal in places they should never be near…

The way Squid and Bridge present themselves, the costumes and the props they use all give off the authentic flavour of a real circus sideshow act. It’s no surprise that they would choose to perform at the newly relocated Butterfly Club, itself being eponymous with the kitsch and carnivale.

Despite its rocky opening, Circus Horrificus’ Squid and Bridge do win the audience over with their crazy cheekiness and it’s always great to see something that definitely isn’t your standard stand-up comedian in this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 256 Collins St(entry via Carson Place), Melbourne

Season: Until 21 March | Tues-Wed, Sun 9:30pm

Tickets: $23 Full | $20 Concession

Bookings: www.butterflyclub.com or 9690 2000

Events, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

Review: EDWARD ALBEE’s The Zoo Story

A rare chance to ponder a rarely seen play

By Myron My

In The Zoo Story, a man is sitting in the park, quietly reading his book. A younger man approaches him and a conversation is struck up. There is an aura of something not being quite right with this man and as the conversation heads into darker and more intense territory, this feeling becomes a strong foreboding…

From then we witness how both these lives will be unequivocally changed from this chance encounter as it plays out in real time. There is very little ‘action’ in The Zoo Story yet so much happens in this short amount of time you really do feel like you’re being raced along through emotional extremes.

The Zoo Story

The two leads – Chris Broadstock and Cameron McKenzie – were highly believable in their portrayals and added to the mounting tension with their confident characterisation and powerful interaction with each other. Peter (Broadstock) as the happily married man with two kids and a cat is a perfect contrast to Jerry (McKenzie), who is alone, unstable and angry. McKenzie was particularly menacing to the point where you really despised his character, even though you weren’t entirely sure why.

I couldn’t help but feel a little unfulfilled by the end of the play as a lot of questions remain unanswered – and this is not a bad thing. Albee’s plays ask more than they reveal and without giving too much away, there is one major question that everyone will want answered but unfortunately – or not, depending which way you look at it – that answer can only be sought in your own experience of the work and your thoughts and discussions afterwards, and here lies much of the sophistication and appeal of this script.

Edward Albee wrote The Zoo Story in 1958, and fifty-five years later, the themes of isolation, loneliness and class difference are still present in society today making this play highly relevant to modern times. For their first-ever production, Good Little Theatre have chosen a great play to perform and I look forward to seeing what else they produce in the future.

Venue: Revolt Productions, 12 Elizabeth Street Kensington

Season: Until 25 March | 7:30pm

Tickets: $20

Bookings: http://revoltproductions.com

Events, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Red Stitch Presents PENELOPE

Epic poetry and poolside murder

By Myron My

Penelope by Irish playwright Enda Walsh and directed by Alister Smith shows four men seeking to receive the love of Penelope in the absence of her warrior husband, Odysseus. Through hope, fear, anger and passion, will any of them win her love?

Penelope

Upon entering the theatre for this production, we watch a young man scrubbing blood from inside an empty swimming pool. Well, empty from water for it is teeming with deck chairs, books, alcohol and the disturbing red stains. In fact, the pool resembles a beach party for hoarders gone wrong. Taking center stage is a large barbeque with an ominous message for the four men of Penelope.

After this fascinating opening, the story unwinds at a perfect pace: fast enough to keep you interested but slow enough to not reveal everything at once. The mystery of the blood in the pool and the events that led up to that are ever so carefully unveiled through the taut script which works well in keeping the audience intrigued.

In contrast, costume design left little to the imagination, with all four men dressed in swimming trunks – yet each one seemed to convey a strong sense of who this character was. The brutish self-appointed leader, Quinn (Lyall Brooks) was dressed in red speedos – and you really can’t get any more alpha-male than that.

The last act however seemed to lose itself a bit. Despite the audience enjoying it, the “love in 6 acts” scene didn’t seem to have a place in the story. It relied on slapstick humour and not the sharply written dialogue and well thought-out character-driven scenes earlier, but this issue is to do with the play itself and its reworking of Homer’s classic tale rather than the direction or performances.

As this year’s Graduate Ensemble Actor for Red Stitch, Matthew Whitty as Burns certainly does show promise, however the more overtly experienced and skillful actors (Brooks, James Wardlaw and Dion Mills) in Penelope do manage to outshine him, and the impact of the final scene is therefore not as strong as it could be. It is a particularly exceptional performance by Mills as the flamboyant Dunne. His later monologue is compelling to watch as guards are let down and we see the real, vulnerable side to his character.

With strong intelligent direction by Smith, Penelope will have you pondering the moral and emotional questions it raises a good while after the show is over.

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda

Season: Until 13 April | 8:00pm, Sun 6:30pm

Tickets: $37 Full | $27 Conc

Bookings: 9534 3388 or http://www.theatreworks.org.au

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Events, Music, Performances, Whats On

Review: AMY ABLER is Pianodivalicious

Piano-playing punch and pizzazz

By Christine Moffat

Amy Abler – the woman who can play the piano with every part of her body!

While this statement is titillating (and true!), it does not do justice to Amy Abler’s talent or sense of fun.  The audience entered the theatre, and Abler was already on stage playing.  Explaining she’d hired herself as the pre-show performer, she began chatting with the crowd.  Once we were all in, and ready to go, Abler discovered we were unprepared – no feathers!  It’s true, not one of us had thought to bring along a big, fluffy feather.  Luckily the Piano-Diva had spares.

Pianodivalicious

This piano-confessional style show is old school, and ironically this makes for a refreshing change.  Abler is an accomplished pianist, and plays any style of music from classical to blues with passion and panache.  She reveals that for the better part of the last twelve years she has been a headline act on various cruise ships.  Happily, in the lovely intimate cabaret venue The Butterfly Club, not a hint of big-ship dinner theatre peeked through.

Abler’s stories are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always interesting.  Her piano playing is faultless, and more importantly, got the whole audience bobbing and swaying and subconsciously ‘emoting’ with their feathers.  This is a seasoned entertainer who has not forgotten how to entertain.

Abler is based in Chicago, but when this show (hopefully) returns to Melbourne, head along for a slice of truly universal fun.  Her audience rapport is wonderful, and the show’s retro style fits like a comfy (albeit heavily sequinned) shoe.  Lovely.

Show information:

Pianodivalicious

Wednesday 20th March 2013

The Butterfly Club

Carson Place (just off Little Collins Street in the Melbourne CBD)

www.thebutterflyclub.com

www.pianodivalicious.com