Category: Stand-Up Comedy

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

REVIEW: Ivan Aristeguieta is LOST IN PRONUNCIATION

Come for comedy, and be charmed!

By Jessica Cornish

‘Tis the season for comedy: the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival has begun. Last night I was lucky enough to have tickets for Ivan Aristeguieta’s sold-out preview of Lost in Pronunciation.

Lost in Pronunciation

Performing in the Portland Hotel’s cosy Pool Room, we were treated to an hour of steamy bikram comedy. However, I’m assured the bikram experience was a one-off event due to a broken air conditioner, but to be honest it didn’t make the performance any less enjoyable. He likened our dilemma to a Spanish adage which roughly equated to being trapped inside a soup lid: it defiantly conjured up some strange images in my head, but seemed accurate.

This light-hearted hour of comedy was essentially the highlights of Australian life through the eyes of an exotic Venezuelan. Luckily for Ivan, Australia has been kind to him – until people learn he’s from Adelaide, and then it’s another story entirely…

Making fun of Aussies’ adoration of yeasty vegemite and tomato sauce is a running joke that he subtly weaves into each segment as he segues between family-friendly witty stories and meringue-style covers of beloved Aussie folk songs.

Ivan has great facial expressions and was very charming and charismatic on stage. His comedy style wasn’t aggressive and didn’t rely on belittling people in the crowd. It was happy and harmless fun, and included a dig at our homophobic PM which is always entertaining.

However, at times I did feel as though I had snuck in to an exclusive Latino club. Three-quarters of the crowd were South American, which even included a Venezuelan contingent who adored the show. They definitely embraced the chance to reminisce about life back home and how different life in Australia is, and to laugh at themselves as well. However, the material wasn’t so refined as to be alienating, and I certainly enjoyed the show overall.

Chosen as one of five up-and-coming comedians to participate in Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s The Comedy Zone, Ivan definitely put on a good night’s entertainment and a polished preview performance. He will be performing at the Pool Room until April 20.

Tue-Sat 8.15pm
Sun 7.15pm
Cost: $15 – $22

Bookings: http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/lost-in-pronunciation-ivan-aristeguieta

Comedy, Events, Opportunities, Review, Stand-Up Comedy, Whats On

REVIEW: The Stand-Up Experience Present EXIT LAUGHING

Stand up and make us laugh!

By Deborah Langley

What can you learn in a week? Well, according to Stand Up Comedy coach Robert Grayson, you can learn how to be more confident, make people laugh and potentially launch a national comedy career.

On Sunday night, I went along to The Last Laugh Comedy Club to see what all the fuss is about.

You Stand Up

For the week prior to this performance, nine aspiring comedians took the plunge into Robert Grayson’s one-week intensive stand-up comedy workshop. This step-by-step introduction, for beginners or intermediates, promises to take participants to a whole new comic level and give an anxiously awaiting audience of supporting friends and family a night of belly laughs at the end of the week.

Firstly, my congratulations go out to all the performers. Truly one of the scariest things you can ever do is present your own words in front of a group of people in the hopes that they will find you funny. I’ve done it myself and can honestly say that all the performers I saw on Sunday night did an amazing job.

Some highlights for me were fresh-faced 27-year-old Ben who brilliantly told of getting carded and not being about to pick up because he looks like a 12-year-old; NT tough man, Wing who had some of the most ‘un-tasteful’ jokes I’ve heard in a long time – but made the audience laugh nonetheless; and bed salesman Sam who looked so natural on stage that he’s sure to have a future in the stand-up game.

As this was a workshop demonstration I will leave my performance review there – hit and miss jokes, but a fun night to support your friends.

Unfortunately, if we are going to review the experience as a whole, the sentiment starts to fall down. As someone who had never made it up the stairs to The Last Laugh, it was extremely hard to find, and I actually ended up in a HillSong Church Service (weird) because there was no signage and no information to help people find their way. Once in the right place we, the audience, had to wait almost half an hour after the scheduled start time to see anyone up on stage: a frustration made much worst by having to be subjected to blaring heavy metal music for almost all of that time. After 30mins of the successful and not-so-successful gags and far too much stage time by the Comedy Coach himself, we were given an intermission, which was not needed and was basically taken as an invitation for people who had already seen their friends to leave.

Disappointing, because it had all the makings to be an easy-to-find, laid-back environment for a really great on- hour gig with some cringe moments and some genuine laughs – perfect for friends and family showing support, and the general public after a cheap night of entertainment which some unexpected big laughs – exactly what you would expect from a ‘open mic’-style show.

For more information about the comedy workshop check out the website www.youstandup.com and give yourself the chance to make people laugh at all the silly things that go through your head.

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

Review: THOMAS GREEN’s Sign of the Times

Openness, intimacy, and comic ease

By Myron My

You’d be forgiven if you thought all comedy during the last few weeks was part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, but you would also be wrong. When Thomas Green – fresh from his Adelaide Fringe Show – slinked into Melbourne to perform a few intimate gigs of his show Sign of the Times at The Owl and the Pussycat I decided to take a punt and I was not disappointed.

The thing I enjoyed most about Green’s show was the engaging use of the everyday normalities of life to create his stories and insights, including his job as a casual relief teacher, his marriage and an unfortunate encounter involving his parents – although perhaps this one isn’t an everyday occurrence for most people! It all comes to a hilarious end with Green confessing to us his biggest phobia in life and how he overcame it.

Thomas Green

I never usually take into consideration the number of audience members in a show – it is about quality and not quantity – but with only five people present this particular evening, I was interested to see how Green would handle this. Green asked us for our names and had a chat with us and really created the vibe of us all just being a group of friends catching up for beers and pizza.

At times during Green’s conversations with us, it felt like we were diverting from his material, but he always successfully managed to use these moments not only to create humour, but to eventually bring the show back on track. It is a testament to Green’s confidence and easy ability to make us laugh when he opens himself up so freely to spontaneity and open dialogue with his audience.

Billed as a 50-minute show, we were in the theatre for almost an hour and a half. At times I wasn’t sure if we were watching Green’s original act or if we were chatting. Either way, Sign of the Times was 90 minutes of enjoyment and laughter. Green is definitely one to look out for at next year’s
festivals.

Venue: The Owl and the Pussycat, 34 Swan St, Richmond

Season: Until 20 April | 8:00pm

Tickets: $20

Bookings: http://www.owlandcat.com.au/adelaidefringereview.html or at the door

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

REVIEW: Jared Jekyll’s LOONEY BIN

Crazy in all the right ways

By Jennifer Coles

If you’re looking for a broader range of entertainment and excitement crammed into your comedy show, Jared Jekyll’s Looney Bin is definitely the way to go.

One of the most promising (and certainly the most energetic) comedians to come out of Sydney, Jared Jekyll has created an unstoppable hour of beatboxing, magic, comedy and showmanship.  Jekyll’s self-deprecating and honest style of comedy is refreshing, and throughout the show he maintains a fantastic presence and relationship with the audience.

Jared Jekyll

Jekyll divides the show into several sections (or “bits” as he calls them), which focus around a certain topic or section. An absolute delight was his beatboxing section utilising a loop pedal, where he explains the basic functions of the equipment he was using, and proceeded to record his own voice and quite often afterwards, argue with it. He interspersed this with discussions with a parrot, magic tricks, and of course, puns.  His sections occasionally discussed the show’s broader themes, and he occasionally touched on a plot designed to keep the show running through.

Despite the energy and professionalism Jekyll displayed during the show, he was let down slightly by the script. The divisions between the sections of the show required stronger links to each other, however entertaining the individual portions were.

It appeared to be a show that could have utilised either a story and plot for its entirety, or just the standard storytelling usual in stand-up comedy shows. Because Looney Bin covered several different types of performance, and several different stories, better links were needed to keep the flow going.

In spite of that, I laughed myself silly. Jekyll displays amazing promise and dedication to his craft, and he is quite clearly going to have a long career. Looney Bin is hilarious, witty, and filled with surprises.  A wonderful and manic night out.

Dates: 18 – 21 April at 9.30 pm

Venue: Word Warehouse, 14 Goldie Place, Melbourne

Prices: $10-$15

Bookings: MICF online

Events, Festivals, Review, Stand-Up Comedy

REVIEW: Felicity Ward in THE HEDGEHOG DILEMMA

Smooth Response to Prickly Comedy

By Darcy Whitsed

“When I first heard it, I thought it was about how hedgehogs had sex”, was how the audience was greeted by the extremely enthusiastic and hilarious Felicity Ward in her one-night-only Melbourne International Comedy Festival show The Hedgehog Dilemma.

In a show that went against almost all expectations of a live stand-up comedy performance, Ward had the audience engrossed in her outrageous personal anecdotes centered on the Freudian theory of hedgehog-related human intimacy.

Felicity Ward

After appearing as her own pre-show entertainment in a pair of bright pink high heels, tight black singlet and bike shorts and introducing the special DVD filming of the show, the audience was treated Ward’s story that ranged from her watching television alone in sadly unused wedding attire to discovering her potential as a comedian.

This journey was charismatically told with the help of surprisingly ocker sexual innuendos, a cute photo montage (with the shocking punchline of male genitalia), incredible physicality and moments of characterisation. Ward utilized every aspect of her gangly comic arsenal to have the responsive audience in stitches at each twist and turn.

The real charm of the show came from Ward’s unashamed connection to the material. Born from her personal experiences and despite being sad, embarrassing or hilarious, it was all put on display for the audience’s entertainment. The great story-telling within the show gave it an excellent sense of progression and drew the audience into Felicity’s wacky and wonderful world.

The show briefly lulled as the material fell into the clichéd realm of self-deprecating, alcoholic comedian whose life was so dysfunctional it couldn’t possibly be used for anything besides comedy. But this was not enough to taint the performance overall and when the hope-filled and unexpectedly serious conclusion arrived, it actually helped create a great sense of contrast and again surprised the audience by going against their expectations.

The Hedgehog Dilemma came to a teary close for both Ward and audience alike as it was performed for the last time in Australia, which in my opinion is a huge shame. I highly recommend picking up the DVD of this show when it arrives on shelves to anyone that loves comedy, drama, amazing story-telling, hedgehogs or penis-jokes.

The Hedgehog Dilemma was performed at Athenaum Theatre, Monday 15th April 2013.

Festivals, Late Night Shows, Review, Stand-Up Comedy, Whats On

Review: NELLIE WHITE’S ONE-HANDED SHOW – An Introduction to Pornography..

Gird your loins and come for the comedy

By Vikki Doig

Sex, vagina, penis, pubes, ball slappage – doesn’t it just feel better to say these things out loud? And that’s exactly what Nellie White’s One-Handed Show: An Introduction to Pornography for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival seeks to do.

Nellie White

I haven’t always enjoyed porn. As a young innocent I felt particularly uncomfortable at the sights and sounds of people’s carnal bliss. However, as I grew older and wiser in my sexual journey, it became comforting to see people try new things (sometimes things that seemed logistically impossible!) but, more importantly, sex became less scary – even funny! So how could I pass up the opportunity to see a fellow pornophile throw social niceties out the window and talk about sex, baby?

Nellie’s One-Handed Show is certainly not for the faint-hearted. There was a clear feeling of trepidation amongst the crowd upon entering the cosy performance space. The first thing I noticed was the distinct lack of people sitting in the front row – as if that’s a surefire way to avoid being called upon in a 24-seat venue. The fear of audience-participation becomes heightened when sexy-talk is involved…

Nellie had an unassuming innocence on stage which immediately endeared her to us and it was refreshing to be slapped in the face with her unexpected explicit punchlines, casual description of threesomes, sexual exploits (or sexploits, if you will) and graphic imagery.

There were times, though, when I felt more like I was listening to a friend talk about what they’d been up to on the weekend than watching a comedy show, and what the show lacked was a cohesive flow, a bit of direction and strong delivery to pull it all together. It was unclear whether it was a show designed to shock us, encourage us to discuss our own sexploits, make us feel uncomfortable, educate us (Nellie really does know a lot about the history of porn!) or all or none of the above.

The concept was bold, confronting and interesting and all the elements of a good show were groped, caressed and touched upon, but it didn’t quite come together on the night.

Venue: The Tuxedo Cat

Dates: April 11-21

Time: 9.45pm (Sunday 8.45pm)

Price: $12-18

Bookings: MICF online

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

REVIEW: Madeleine Tucker has OLYMPIK PHEVER

Giving comedy a sporting chance

By Myron My

Presenting at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival is Madeleine Tucker’s Olympik Phever. In this, Madeleine is given her big chance of filling in as a late-night presenter for an Olympic Games TV special.

The show starts off well: Tucker’s “flags of the world” jeans were an amusing thought and her “jeans of the world” flag was then a nice touch.

Olympik Phever

Her initial song, “Race to the Race”, whilst a little repetitive was enjoyable enough but didn’t really get the laughs and therefore failed to hit the right mark. It is Tucker’s live sugar dispenser commercial that is the absolute highlight of this unfortunately otherwise lack-lustre show. Everyone was in stitches over this section and it’s a shame the rest of Olympik Phever didn’t deliver such strong reactions.

The set design was fairly impressive with Tucker performing her show from inside a giant television set. Clearly, much time and effort had gone into creating this. Her creative and detailed costumes, such as the sugar dispenser and her toast outfit, did not go unnoticed or unappreciated either.

To her credit, Tucker keeps the energy high and solders on even when some of the jokes fail to get the laughs – her Olympic flame in the mail segment being one of them. I’m not sure how much this show has changed since its debut at the Melbourne International Fringe Festival last year but it seems some refinement to the material is definitely needed. Tucker seems to whizz through a lot of material but perhaps focusing more on what obviously works with her attendees and using that would make Olympik Phever more audience-friendly.

I like to go in with an open mind and not have too many expectations when I go and see a new show. I’m not a fan of the Olympic Games and I have not watched them since 1992. I happily took a chance on Olympik Phever because I thought it would be an irreverent look at the event. It wasn’t, but this isn’t why I didn’t warm to it: it comes down to the material and unfortunately this show doesn’t go for comedy gold.

Venue: Forum Theatre, Cnr. Flinders and Russell Sts

Season: Until 21 April | Tues-Sat 6:00pm, Sun 5:00pm

Tickets: $20 Full | $15 Conc

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

Festivals, Late Night Shows, Music, Review, Stand-Up Comedy, Whats On

REVIEW: Paul Sings with PAUL MCDERMOTT

See him live

By Christine Moffat

Paul McDermott has built a successful TV career since Doug Anthony All Stars from occasionally singing a song, and fully exploiting his lovably evil personality.  Lots of people do this, but no one does it quite like ‘our Paul’.  When he is sharing funny anecdotes he gives you permission to have a guilt-free laugh at life’s darker points.  He brought this quality in spades last night: nothing was out of bounds, and every story he told was funny and very wrong.  As a comedian McDermott is a darker, edgier performer here than his television persona: perhaps a live show can give him licence to be ruder, even more irreverent and therefore even funnier.

Paul McDermott

Paul McDermott the singer is a something different and more emotionally involving.  His voice is a surprising blend of sweetness and maturity, and he sings with commitment – nothing is a throwaway line.  The songs that he performed ranged from touching ballads to high-energy soul numbers (all but one from his ‘back catalogue’), and also his own compositions.  The “band of real musicians” as it says in the show’s blurb, (led by the great Stu Hunter) is fantastic and musically re-made the songs into something fresh and new.

The crowd was a bit tame at first, perhaps quietened by the shade of his daunting TV personality.  He quickly built rapport, ironically by turning his acerbic wit on the audience, and soon had everyone stomping loudly in appreciation.  It goes without saying that he is a funny man, but what you may not realise is that he is also an incredibly generous performer.  When the show ran over time, he and the band led the crowd out of the band room, and performed a couple more songs on the stairs in the foyer!

Paul McDermott has a wickedly funny mind, a haunting voice, and an obvious love of performing and entertaining a crowd.  What more could you ask for on a night out?

Venue: The Forum – Downstairs

Dates: 10 – 14 April, 16 – 20 April

Times: Tues – Sat 9.45pm/Sun 8.45pm

Price: $34 (U18 must be accompanied by an adult)

Bookings:

www.ticketmaster.com.au

Ticketmaster 1300 660 013

At the door

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

REVIEW: Hello Kitty Flanagan for MICF

Hello Kitty Flanagan – nice to meet you

By Deborah Langley

Kitty Flanagan has been around the comedy traps for years but it has taken regular appearances on shows like The Project to elevate her to arguably the hottest Australia female comedian in the festival this year.

Kitty opens with reminders as to why we should be seeing more stand-up as opposed to other types of theatre, flying the flag for fellow comedians.

Kitty Flanagan

She takes a tongue-in-cheek swing at cabaret, and the follies of trying to get audience members involved when they clearly don’t want to, and examines the rise of burlesque (punt intended), highlighting that it is really just nudity with craft.

So even before she officially starts “her show”, Kitty managers to have the audience in the palm of her hand with effortless musings of these other forms of entertainment.

Although her show is definitely not cabaret, she does allow us into her world of single-dom, dating men, being a crazy cat lady and the degradation of female representation in rap music and on the streets, cheekily quipping that with the short-short skirts and crazy high heels, ‘you just don’t know who is charging for it and who is giving it away for free.’

But it’s not just women that will get a kick out of this show. Kitty managers to give observational humour a new lease on life with her lightning-fast delivery and even quicker wit.

For those of you that really can’t see a show that’s not cabaret, Kitty won’t disappoint closing with a medley of songs that will leave you in hysterics. Accompanied by sister Penny Flanagan (that’s Kitty’s sister – not a nun…) the two perform beautifully together providing harmonious melodies with stand-up mixed in.

So if you are after an hour (was it really only that long?) full of laughs, you really can’t go past this fresh, easy and hilarious show.

Dates: April 9-21 7pm (6pm Sundays)

Venue: The Athaneum Theatre

Tickets: $35 – $39, Online, Ticketek 132 849, at the venue 9650 1500 or at the door

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

Review: WORD CRIME with Alice Fraser

Trying to find the right words

By Myron My

Alice Fraser’s Word Crime is part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and in it she looks at language and how we use them to shape the world yet despite this rich resource for comedy there was ultimately very little present in this act. Fraser spent most of the time offering social commentary on how women are seen in society and about the violence that is sweeping America.

Word Crime

There were awkward moments in this show and I would like to put it down to preview night nerves but some of the material that was covered seemed inappropriate in such a setting. Death can be funny but trying to bring humour into topics such as suicide and her mother’s terminal suffering of MS is a very difficult thing to do especially when there is a room full of people who haven’t been warmed into your brand of comedy. There were jokes that were bordering on racist, and references to World War 2 that just didn’t work and made it difficult to connect with the performer.

There were many times that Fraser said how important words were for her as a child and how her mother would speak many languages and read poetry but unfortunately she never went further with this. The flow of delivery was a bit abrupt and we kept re-visiting topics that seemed out of place after what we had just been discussing.

Fraser seemed quite nervous on stage which is understandable for a preview, but perhaps more rehearsing was needed as she often began talking about something that was very personal, but paused, apparently remembering lines or thinking about what she was going to say next. A few times, Fraser even dismissed the attempt and went on to talk about something else.

Fraser was at her strongest when singing and playing the banjo so it’s a shame there wasn’t more of this. Her lyrics were charming and her song about being the best stalker in the land was actually quite sweet…in a stalker kind of way.

Overall, Word Crime is a concept of great potential doesn’t quite come together this time.

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

Season: Until 17 April | Tues-Wed, 6:00pm

Tickets: $18 Full | $14 Concession

Bookings: www.butterflyclub.com, 1300 660 013 or at the door