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, Music, Performances, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: Matt Dyktynski and Bang Mango Cools in EDIBLE PETS

Guaranteed good festival fun

By Tania Herbert

As an audience member, you are one of “The Keno Dancers” waiting for your performance at the Mordialloc Welcome Club. Sharing your backstage green room are Matt and Mango – the wannabe rock duo Edible Pets. Disgruntled musician Matt “Dyk-something-ski” and his sidekick Bang Mango Cools (name changed after a mind-altering trip to Thailand… despite being a middle-class bloke from Diamond Valley) are about to perform their final show, and it’s not exactly in style in the back room of an outer-suburbs pokies venue.

Edible Pets

We travel with Matt and Mango on their journey back through 25 years of musical mediocrity: from 80s’ teens to 90s’ try-hard rappers, to naughties’ new-agers and finally the low point of X-Factor wannabees.

Edible Pets: The Farewell Tour for MICF is nicely constructed, has good flow, great pace and comedy, and lovely audience interaction. Mango played the “Silent Bob” of the duo beautifully, with superb coming timing and understated humor in nice contrast to Matt’s tirade against the world.

The little snippets of song throughout added to the sense of pace and were well-executed, though there seemed to be a few missed comic opportunities in some of the music. However, the “pay off” song at the conclusion of the show was well worth the wait, and Mango’s description of his masterpiece- “It’s f’ing anthetic”- is well deserved.

If you’re in town for the comedy run, this is a good one to chuck on the list. Sweet, light, and personable, it’s like watching a couple of your funniest mates messing around with guitars and awesomely bad mullet wigs. And it’s probably the only time you’ll get the opportunity to see someone rap “the Little Drummer Boy”.

Edible Pets: The Farewell Tour can be seen at The Victoria Hotel 28 March – 21 April, Tues-Sat 8:30pm, Sun 7:30pm.Ticketmaster 1300 660 013, www.comedyfestival.com.au

Events, Music, Performances, Review

Review: ERIC WHITACRE In Concert

Utterly beguiling

By Jessica Cornish

Eric Whitacre, complete with a cheeky smile and armed with a ridiculous amount of charm enchanted his audience on Saturday night.

Eric Whitacre

The young American composer conducted numerous original works and more traditional orchestral and choral pieces, performed by the Choir of Trinity College and the Monash Sinfonia.

Before every piece commenced Eric explained with passion and humour the story and significance behind each song, giving his grateful audience a deeper insight into the music.

Stand-outs and crowd-favourites composed and conducted by this golden-haired boy were “Five Hebrew Love Songs” and “Animal Crackers“, as well as Bach’s beautiful “Come Sweet Death“, which saw Whitacre stand aside, letting the choir members sing at their own pace and creating an eerie and oddly intriguing piece.

“Five Hebrew Songs” was created fifteen years ago, inspired by his ‘hot Israeli girlfriend’ at the time. Whitacre explained he had asked her to create five short Hebrew poems on the backs of different post cards, and then set these beautiful lyrics to music. Fifteen years later the couple are still together, and very much in love. Clearly besotted by his wife he consistently blew kisses to her, and passionately dedicated numerous numbers to her.

“Animal Crackers” was a quirky musical anthology which had the audiences in stitches. It was a series of short original compositions based on various animal poems by Ogden Nash. Stories included the cow, the firefly, panda and appropriately the kangaroo- ‘that should be grateful it was not transmuted by a boomerang, otherwise it would be turned in to a morang.’ As Whitacre created these intriguing little bits of comedy, he related how he would consult with his five year-old son to check whether they were in fact funny or not.

Overall his show was a delight. The choir sang beautifully, and the orchestra were seamless. Watching Eric Whitacre conduct was mesmerizing: it was like watching some strange bird dance in the wild, with flowing hand gestures and occasional little stamps and backside twists. The beauty of Whitacre is that he was so engaging and passionate about his music that he was able to make the audience feel that same love and amazement that he does when experiencing it.

Eric Whitacre In Concert was performed on Saturday 13 April at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: Graaahm’s DON’T LOOK AT ME

Poetry to ponder…

By Myron My

Don’t Look At Me for MICF stars performance artist Graaahm (Amy Bodossian) – yes, that’s Graaahm with three a’s. Throughout the course of the show Graaahm performs a number of poems and songs for her audience and gives us an insight into her life.

Graaahm’s word play was actually quite intelligent and well thought-out. Hearing her witty rhyming and clever combination of very different ideas into single words was interesting but it didn’t stop this show from becoming very difficult to follow and understand where Graaahm was going with it.

Don't Look At Me

This was in fact the most frustrating thing about Don’t Look At Me – I simply did not know what I was watching. There seemed to be no point to it. As a reviewer, I always ask myself, what is the artist attempting to do? – and I was at a loss here. I walked out of the show – once Graaahm informed the audience that it was over and we could leave – with no more clue as to its purpose as when I walked in.

Visually, the show is rather good. The stage is adorned with a myriad of objects and decorations which are incorporated into the show – even if it is for a few seconds, including that very interesting portrait of Graaahm’s grandmother. Graaahm’s outfit is also something to behold – with many thanks to what I assume is very strong body tape.

There were moments of improvisation in Graaahm’s Don’t Look At Me which worked well, and would rate as the more memorable parts of her show. Her acknowledgement of what was going on outside of the space and bringing it into the show was well executed.

Bodossian definitely possesses talent, skill and wit, but it didn’t come across as well as it could have in this Melbourne International Comedy Festival show.

Venue: The Tuxedo Cat, 17-23 Wills Street

Season: Until 21 April | Mon-Tues, Thurs-Sat 10:45pm, Sun 9:45pm

Tickets: $20 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: www.ticketmaster.com.au, www.tuxedocat.com.au, or at the door

Events, Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

Review: ASSASSINS at fortyfivedownstairs

Musicals can be deadly…

By Bradley Storer

‘Everybody’s got the right to their dreams!’ With these deceivingly sunny words we are drawn into the grim world of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, a dark twisted carnival in which the murderers of history exist in a fantastical purgatory.

Assassins

The sinister message of the show is that these are the natural by-product of the American Dream – the malevolent reflections of the frustrated search for happiness, looking for fulfilment in the only way left.

Mark Dickinson as John Wilkes Booth brings a sonorous baritone and combination of Southern and Satanic charm to the role, quietly commanding every scene he enters.  Nadine Garner is pitch perfect as Sarah Jane Moore, one of the two ladies who attempted to kill Gerald Ford, and her scenes with Sonya Suares as Lynette Fromme are a comic delight. The rest of the cast deliver solid, if not outstanding, performances. Nick Simpson-Deeks as the strolling Balladeer unleashes a strong mellifluous tenor in his songs, but lacks the charisma that a character embodying the American Dream, in my opinion, should have – whether this is accidental or a directorial decision to demonstrate the hollowness of this concept is open to debate.  Simpson-Deeks does a far better job as the dual role of Lee Harvey Oswald, which makes it disappointing this character only has the chance to appear in one scene.

Director Tyran Parke is to be commended for his direction of the show, and his vision shines through strongly in the assassins’ individual songs and scenes – but in the big group scenes which bookend the show I felt the staging was static and a little awkward, in particular the scene in which the assassins en masse turn against the Balladeer lacked the menace and danger of mob mentality that I was looking for. I felt this was a problem with the production overall – although Parke and the cast do a fantastic job of humanising the characters and mining the comedic potential of the material, it feels as though ultimately it lacks the edge necessary to make the show truly exciting.

DATES: 10 – 21 April 2013

VENUE: Fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

TIMES:    Tuesday to Saturday 7.30pm, Sunday 5pm, Wednesday matinee 1.30pm

ADMISSION: Gala opening night $49, Full $39, Concession $29, Group 8+ $35, Preview $25

BOOKING: 03 9662 9966, www.fortyfivedownstairs.com

Events, Performances, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: Ranters Theatre Presents SONG

Contemplating nature – indoors…

By Christine Moffat

Song seems to be about mimicking the natural, bringing the outdoors indoors, and by doing so, prompting us as an audience to examine our response to these elements.  This production is the creative collaborative result of Brazilian conceptual artist Laura Lima and UK musician James Tyson along with other Melbourne artists, and involves sitting or lying on pieces of synthetic grass, taking in perfumes designed to mimic natural scents, and admiring a lighting scheme inspired by the last hour before sunset. 

Photo by Sarah Walker

During this time, via various speakers placed around the space, songs by Tyson and ambient outdoor sounds designed by David Franzke are played.  This is all designed to immerse an audience, engage their senses and perhaps even to lull them.

Unfortunately, the combination of small synthetic grass mats and a very hard floor was not relaxing (for either lying or sitting); and made it difficult to give oneself over to the experience.  A scan of the room showed, in the majority, a physically uncomfortable audience shifting every two to three minutes in an attempt to find a better position.  This is the one key flaw in the production, as all the other elements offer a promising suggestion of relaxation and self-reflection.

It is a disappointment to this reviewer that this lack of physical comfort in the space does little to facilitate the intentions of Ranters Theatre in partnership with Monash University.  Artistically, every component of this show has clearly been constructed with much thought and creativity.  The lighting design by Stephen Hennessy in particular is exquisitely beautiful, and the perfumed air created by George Kara is lovely.  Sadly, the sum experience does not match the promising nature of each of its parts.

It is worth mentioning for logistical purposes alone, that the show is billed as a 7.30pm start, with a running time of 60 minutes.  Possibly due to it being opening night, the audience waited in the space for 20 minutes before the show started, and it had been running for 90 minutes when this reviewer left (along with about 2/3 of the audience).  At that point it seemed practically over, and staff had opened the exit doors, but there was no other indication that the show had in fact finished, and the soundscape of rain was still playing.

Venue: Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall,  521 Queensberry St

Season: Sat 13 April – Sun 21 April 2013

Time: 7.30pm Tue – Fri, 2pm and 7.30pm Sat and 5pm Sun

Green Tix for Nix: 2pm Sat 13 April 2013

Tickets: $25 Full / $20 Conc / discount for 6+ groups

Bookings: artshouse.com.au or 03 9322 3713

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Events, Festivals, Late Night Shows, Whats On

Review: YON AND HIS PRISM OF SEXY THOUGHTS

As good as its title

By Jessica Cornish

Yon

Yon and His Prism of Sexy Thoughts had a familiar format to the shows of his famous group act – however it was so smothered with sexual references that comparatively it made Tripod look like a family-friendly entertainment band. Don’t worry though, Yon – a.k.a Simon Hall, hasn’t actually left the comedic trio – he’s just expanding his comic horizons at this year’s Comedy Festival.

Yon, or more accurately known as the Man-daddy, was a quirky and amusing front man, backed by talented musicians, SJ (vocals, guitar, tambourine and piano) and Naomune Anzai (synthesiser and backing vocals), and with the trusty drum-machine tucked into a corner.

Wrapped in his red silk dressing gown and slippers, Yon requested his audience watch the proceedings through a veil of sexy thoughts, which was necessary considering the whole show centred around sexual relations, fantasies and troubles with his wife. His audience participation requirements even included throwing a couple torches into the crowd to ensure two free follow-spot operators for the night.

Yon reminisced in the sadness of losing his virginity at the ripe age of 23 to an ex-girlfriend at the time who pitied him. He also talked of more awkward nights where he morphed into a glorified dildo stand for a stripper, which caused tiny tears to fall on to his wife’s pregnant belly. Yes – I know. Want to know what happened next with Mrs Yon though?  You’ll just have to go to the show because I’m not going to tell you!

His songs were slightly and deliberately uncomfortable at times, but continually hilarious. Memorable tunes still looping in my head included such gems as “0.05% Chance Of F&*#ing Her”, and “I’ll Go Back On The Anti-Depressants If You Do Too“.

If you’re a modest and demure being who feels uncomfortable at the thought of sex, this show probably isn’t for you, but for everyone else it will be 60 minutes of high fun and ridiculousness.

Venue: The Butterfly Club (Carson Place off Little Collins St) CBD

Dates: April 11-13 / 18-20

Time: 10.30pm

Price: Full $23, Conc $20, Group (8+) $18

Bookings:

www.ticketmaster.com.au

Ticketmaster 1300 660 013

At the venue 9690 2000

thebutterflyclub.com

At the door

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

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Whats On

Review: KARIN DANGER’s Hot Box

Making up as she goes – with make up!

By Jessica Cornish

Last night I journeyed to The Butterfly Club at its new inner city location to – er – enter into Karin Danger’s Hot Box… The award-winning musical comedian presented a mix of cleverly written songs and banter throughout the 50 minute cabaret performance for MICF.

Hot Box

Karin has a terrific voice, and belted out some impressive notes with great force and control. Her original songs were animated and well-presented, and some of the lyrics were both clever and intriguing.

However, her dialogue between the musical numbers unfortunately seemed to fall flat most of the time. To be honest, I’m not really sure what the show was about. Her banter was rather confusing and jumped from idea to idea, whilst she sporadically smeared on another layer of makeup, or completed one of many costume changes.

That said, there was definitely a strange audience dynamic for her performance last night. The audience on one side of the room sat almost in silence throughout the entire show, whilst three or four people howled with laughter throughout the evening on the other side of the divide. Unfortunately I was on the quieter side of the room that didn’t quite seem to get the night.

Karin Danger was accompanied throughout by excellent pianist Cameron Thomas. Initially he appeared to be more like the backing track rather than a part of the performance; however he turned out to be quite a colourful character, providing the show with some extra energy.

Reflecting on this festival show, I appreciate that the cabaret comedy of Hot Box is a safe place where Karin can and others are invited to laugh at themselves. Like her show itself, it was clearly when performing her witty songs Karin was most comfortable with herself and us, and could be happy in her own skin – despite the odd imperfection here and there.

When:  April 09- 21, Tue-Wed 8pm, Thu-Sat 9pm, Sun 8pm

Where: The Butterfly Club, Carson Place (Off Little Collins St) CBD

Cost: Full $23 & Conc $20

Booking: Ticketmaster, at the venue 9690 2000, thebutterflyclub.com, at the door

Events, Festivals, Musical Theatre, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Slutmonster and Friends for MICF

You NEED to see this show

By Myron My

Wow.

That is all I can say after having seen Slutmonster and Friends. That, and “I need to wash my brain.” Returning to the stage for this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, this is definitely the craziest show you will see.

Slutmonster and Friends

The lights come on and the music starts playing in this land of cheerful and brightly coloured trees and bushes. Upon closer inspection you notice that some of the flora is not quite right. To say more would be to ruin the surprise. Once Slutmonster (Jessie Ngaio) appears in all her glory and singing a happy song, you know you’re in for quite an adventure. The premise of Slutmonster and Friends is that two brothers, Bovril (Wes Gardner) and Larch (Lucas Heil) are lost in this forest and what happens once they encounter Slutmonster.

From then on, things happen that you cannot believe you are seeing. Despite the high sexual content and outright wackiness, it all seems very fitting in this environment and doesn’t seem crass. The great thing about Slutmonster and Friends is despite all the explicit sexual references there is actually quite a convincing storyline which Heil and Gardner (as writers) should be congratulated on. It’s also great to see the three performers fully committed and taking on the demands of roles that other actors might not have been so comfortable doing.

There is a lot of crazy and racy stuff in this show but the cast are smart enough to realise this and break up the hectic pace with the same story being projected on a screen periodically as a traditional fairy-tale that would be much more child-friendly. It’s quite amusing to watch this version and see how it refers to and re-imagines things that have happened on stage.

The costumes and set design, all by Ngaio, are superb, especially the full Slutmonster costume. No amount of describing it will do it justice so you really need to go and see this show and witness all of its charms and laughs yourself.

I have never seen anything quite like Slutmonster and Friends before and I think it will be a long time before I do again. It’s a great show when the worst thing is that it has to end. I overheard one audience member say this at the end of the show and I wholeheartedly agree with their statement: “Genius. Just genius.”

Venue: Northcote Town Hall, 189 High St, Northcote

Season: Until 20 April | Thus-Sat 10:00pm

Tickets: $20 Full | $17 Concession

Bookings: 9481 9500, www.northcotetownhall.com.au & at the door.