Comedy, Festivals, Whats On

MICF 2016: Rose Callaghan’s ROSE BEFORE HOES

Immensely likable and definitely laughable comedy

By Caitlin McGrane

After sell-out shows at the Perth Fringe Festival, Rose Callaghan brings her frenetically energetic show Rose Before Hoes to her home city of Melbourne. Previously called Attention Deficit… Ooh a Pony!, the show is about Callaghan being diagnosed with ADHD last year, and her dating experiences as a single women in her 30s.

Rose Before Hoes

Callaghan is wonderfully likeable and her visible nervousness only made her more so. I found the show refreshingly discursive, which was aided by the impossibly small venue meaning Callaghan could authentically react and interact with the audience. A couple of lines landed poorly and Callaghan skilfully admitted they were ‘bad jokes’ and moved on. I just really hope Callaghan’s mum and her friends come every night so other audiences get to see her interacting with them, because it was a true highlight.

The only moments when Callaghan looked uncomfortable or unsure were when she was talking about her ADHD diagnosis. As with Hannah Gadsby last year, it was fist-punching-the-air brilliant to hear a woman talking about disability and mental illness with a poignant sense of humour. However, Callaghan’s material didn’t seem to be as sharp as her dating material, of which I could have easily watched another hour. It seemed as though Callaghan was reluctant to rely too heavily on stereotypes and stock jokes about ADHD, which was certainly appreciated, but the jokes just weren’t as tight or witty as they could perhaps have been.

As a single young woman, I am no stranger to the horrors of online dating, so the second half of the show really resonated. Callaghan seemed more comfortable in this territory, and she really started to shine when she spoke about the wildly inappropriate yet also downright lazy efforts men go to to lure you into bed. Any woman who’s been on Tinder for more than ten minutes is liable to get whiplash from nodding her head so much.

Comedy is a real boys’ club, and seeing Callaghan on stage demonstrated that the tide is turning towards real, honest female comedy that isn’t either aiming to please everyone or willing to be silent about issues that really affect women, which can only be a good thing.

Rose Before Hoes is showing at 6pm at the Forum Theatre’s Carpet Room until 17 April 2016. Tickets here: http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/rose-before-hoes-rose-callaghan

Festivals, Kids Theatre, Whats On

MICF 2016: SUNNY RAY AND THE MAGNIFICENT MOON

Family festival fun with the sun

By Joana Simmons

Our favourite friends who warm our days and add wonder to our nights bring songs, stars and sparkle to the Spiegeltent and the 2016 Melbourne Comedy Festival for ages four and up. Fresh from a critically acclaimed world premiere at Sydney Festival, Sunny Ray and the Magnificent Moon, invented by Clare Bartholomew and Daniel Tobias (creators of Comedy Festival favourite, Die Roten Punkte) is a polished, humorous take on what happens when the sun stays up all night to party with the moon.

Sunny Ray

Every day Sunny Ray (Clare Bartholomew) wakes up before everyone else (even the birds!) She brings life to the plants and the sky with her cherry songs and sparkly demeanour before sending them to sleep and handing the sky over to the Magnificent Moon (Daniel Tobias). In an Elvis-meets-Abba white jumpsuit and silver cape, he hangs out with the stars and parties through the night: playing his electric guitar, crooning about his face and his phases, and I can’t help but take a shine to him. Sunny Ray wants to stay up late like and party with the Magnificent Moon so hides behind a cloud and they do all sorts of fun and naughty things all night!

This show has colour and heart. It promotes the ideas that ‘you are the best at being you’ and ‘sunshine never goes out of style’ and teaches us all sorts of things, like where daylight savings comes from. The puns and funny bits for the big kids sprinkled throughout are clever to the point where I wanted more, and the original songs of various genres- folk, funk, disco and pop give the show pace and a chance for the audience to get involved.

Bartholomew’s portrayal of Sunny Ray is bright and likeable and whilst her delivery of her songs was animated, the vocal quality was rather lacking and pitchy in contrast to the more accomplished Tobias. That being said, the harmonies and movement in the duo numbers are bang on. A highlight for me is the physical comedy and clowning between the two- you can tell they are seasoned artists, and the audience is onboard the whole way.

A magical starry curtain and well-designed props provide the perfect backdrop for this Arena Theatre Company gem directed by Christian Leavesley, with dramaturgy from Casey Bennetto (Keating! The Musical).  If there’s only one show you take your kids big and small to this festival, make it this one- it’ll brighten your day.

Venue:        The Famous Spiegeltent at Arts Centre Melbourne

Dates:          Tuesday 5 until Sunday 10 April

Time:          11am

Tickets:       $25

Bookings:   www.comedyfestival.com.au

Comedy, Festivals, Whats On

MICF 2016: Zoe Coombs Marr in TRIGGER WARNING

Strangely appealing and spectacularly funny

By Margaret Wieringa

Meet Dave. Dave is a veteran comedian, blokey as can be, who is dealing with the fallout on social media from his first comedy festival show. The Feminazis and haters have torn him down, and so he has given up stand-up for the world of mime after some serious clown training at the highly respected French  clown school, Gaulier.

Trigger Warning.jpg

From the moment Zoe Coombs Marr comes onstage as Dave, with his gross neckbeard and monobrow, she connects with the audience. And straight away, the audience is on board with the misogynist with a sensitive side. We want to hear more of his horrible jokes, we hope that he will figure out where he is taking his mime, and we quite like meeting his inner clown. Even if he thinks she is not at all funny.

The Comedy Festival runs over so many different spaces across Melbourne, some which are huge and spacious, but many are cosy (read cramped!) and oddly shaped. The Acacia Room is one of the odd ones  – long, with a relatively small stage at one end. It can be a bit tricky for the audience if you are seeing anything other than standard stand-up comedy, because if you are not in the first few rows, it’s hard to see what is happening. Zoe seemed very aware of this however, and made sure that visual gags were seen by all. Mind you, so much of the comedy came from her fabulous facial expressions – oh, that stare!

I feel like it’s going to be a long time before I recover from this show. I cannot remember a show that made me laugh so exhaustively. If you are after something absolutely hilarious that takes you on an extremely surreal journey and leaves you and everyone around you somewhat wasted, get to Victoria Hotel and check out Trigger Warning.

Where: Victoria Hotel, 215 Little Collins St Melbourne

When: Tues-Sat 9:45, Sun 8:45

Tickets: $18-25  www.comedyfestival.com.au or Ticketmaster 1300 660 013

(Suitable for audiences 18+)

Comedy, Festivals, Whats On

MICF 2016: Dave Hughes is SWEET

Our favourite local comedy icon never fails to please

By Jessica Cornish

Southsider-dwelling St Kilda man Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes seems inescapable in Melbourne. Whether you’re flicking through drive-time radio, talent competitions or sport shows you can stumble across Hughesy’s particular brand of charm, and luckily for us he can also be found right now in the 2016 Melbourne International Comedy Festival with his latest show Sweet.

Sweet.jpg

His highly enjoyable stand-up show presents friendly and witty verbal clippings from his life, from exploring the never-ending body shaming and comic critiquing from his young children, to his intimate and ever-evolving relationship with his beautiful wife of 14 years. He touches on failed Footy Show antics, reflects on his time as an Australia’s Got Talent host with a contestant who had ambitious dreams of feline fame (however the cat sadly had different life goals…), and tells a myriad of tales of  everyday encounters with local folk found meandering across the city.

Sweet is currently showing at the Athenaeum, that beautiful historic Melbournian theatre, although its foyer is not exactly made for the quick hustle and bustle of MICF. So if possible, make sure you collect your tickets earlier in the evening or print them out to avoid battling your way over to the box office. And always remember this is Melbourne, therefore footy traffic will always bring the city roads to a stand-still- so leave plenty of time to get into the city.

The Collins Street theatre was otherwise a perfect venue for Hughesy and his well-entertained audience: my only niggle was the lighting had been poorly focused and as he made his way across the stage back and forth his face would often fall into pockets of darkness and shadows.

As always, the irrepressible Hughesy is down-to-earth, immensely relatable and just really funny (and all without getting too un-PC or trying to be too ‘deep and meaningful’!) Sweet will be playing at the MICF Tues- Sat: 8:15pm, Sun7:15pm until April 17 at the Athenaeum Theatre. Book early to avoid disappointment: http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/sweet-dave-hughes

Review, Theatre, Whats On

CDP Production’s THE 52-STOREY TREEHOUSE

Three intrepid young fans share their thoughts on the latest Treehouse play

By Ben, Riley and Harry Costello

Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton‘s book The 52 Story Treehouse has been turned by Richard Tulloch into a breathtaking and humorous theatrical performance staring Alex Duncan, Zoran Jevtic, Jane Mahady and Jack Starkey-Gill, as Terry, Andy and Jill (the characters) set out on a quest to find the missing book producer Mr Big Nose. I was surprised that there was even time to complete this quest within the one-hour show. They had to find a way of overcoming the “evil vegetables”. Will they find Mr. Big Nose?

52 Storey Treehouse.jpg

I enjoyed the way that the one set could be a part of every scene in the show. The actors knew all of their lines and delivered them very professionally but with enthusiasm, keeping all of the audience engaged at all times. Often the kids in the audience would start dancing in their chairs when Terry and Andy started singing. The cast were word perfect in every scene. Perfectly cast, my favourite character was Jill (Jane Mahady). Her personality that Andy Griffith had portrayed in his book really shone through and had me hanging off my seat with every word she spoke. The actual story-writing and the scenario is so close that the two storylines meld into one another easily, allowing the viewer to get lost in the production.

The production crew was fantastic with the lighting, sound and the stagehands running a seamless show. The costumes were appropriate and greatly contributed to the look of the show, in general they looked nice, neat and were not over-the-top.

This experience was entertaining and an enjoyable afternoon for the whole family. The age group was appropriate from ages 6- 106yrs.

The show runs from April 1st until April 17th at the Melbourne Arts Centre CBD.

Tickets selling now ranging from $29.00 to $43.00 at https://artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/families/the-52-storey-treehouse

But remember you have got to get in fast as tickets are selling quick and you don’t want to miss out on this fantastic holiday experience.

(By Ben, Age 12)

Well if you ever had the urge to climb a 52-storey treehouse then today would have been the day to do that. Sucked in by the storyline, our characters took us exactly where we wanted to go, as  Terry, Andy, Jill and Edward set off on a task to save Mr Big Nose the publisher, from evil vegetable Potato Prince (needless to say nothing went to plan!).  Now reading this you might find that the plotline is a child’s play, however my father who came along also enjoyed the jokes. From the very beginning the characters, in particular Terry, had me laughing. He reminds me so much of myself that I couldn’t help laughing at the silly things that he did such as running around with underpants on his head and walking steep hills to find that were in fact a tram travels in the same direction. Above all this show is worth seeing for nothing less than a good afternoon of family fun. A laid back enjoyable performance for myself as a 9 year old and my 6 and 12 year old brothers and my parents. I’d definitely like to see it again.

The 52 Story Treehouse is sure to be a big hit with children and adults alike who have become recent fans of the director Liesel Badorrek and the famous children’s literary legend Andy Griffiths.

Watch out for the Potato Prince and be sure to be completely prepared for a wow of a time.

(By Riley, Age 9)

I would love to have a backyard as magical as this one!

I loved the way that it took place in the treehouse, I never would have thought of that! It reminded me a little bit of Peter Pan, except I was a little confused that it was set in a treehouse and of course there was no fairy dust! The songs made me feel excited and like I wanted to be to on stage helping solve the mysteries.

It was particularly entertaining when they climbed up the hill to the castle and Jill woke up. She let them know that after they had been struggling up the hill that there was a tram going the same way. The Potato Prince was also very funny and made me laugh, especially when he was trying to kiss Jill, he couldn’t get down to the ground because he was a potato and she was disguised as a carrot, a bit like Mr Bean).

It was set in a treehouse that the cast were able to climb in and sit on. It was not set on a flat stage on the ground like a normal theatre, which made it very exciting to look at. I think the ages for the audience could be anything from 1 to 100 as it was fantastic to watch and not at all inappropriate for any age groups. I am looking forwards to seeing Andy Griffiths next theatre production.

(By Harry, Age 6)

Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

Vic Theatre Company Presents THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

A superb production of this very funny musical

By Sally McKenzie

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee sounds, on paper, like a very interesting concept for a musical. However, with an original and at times beautiful score by William Finn, hilarious dialogue (some written by Rachael Sheinkin and some improvised by each new cast), and the inclusion of four audience participants as extra spellers, Spelling Bee is one of the funniest, most creative musicals to come out in the 2000s. This production, performed by Vic Theatre Company, is no exception.

Spelling Bee.jpg

The story centres on a group of six children (played by adults), the man and woman running the bee, and the comfort counsellor, all of who are dramatically affected by one day at the ‘Bee’.

In this production, the sound designed by Marcello Lo Ricco is excellent, with the band well-balanced and never overpowering the singers. Once or twice a solo line was unable to be heard over the ensemble, however; never at a critical point. Lighting by Jason Bovaird was well-designed, with the dialogue happening under stark lights reminiscent of the gymnasium setting, and the lighting during the songs more ‘stagey’, with spots and bright colours, often to great emotional and dramatic effect.

Rebecca Moore as Rona Lisa Perretti is placed and poised with a beautiful ‘legit’ soprano voice that suits the role perfectly, although is perhaps a little young for the role.  David Spencer plays a less exaggerated Panch.  Mahoney (Matt Heyward) was vocally well-suited for the role, although his character came across as perhaps a little too ‘mellow’ and understated.

The Spellers are where the show really shines. It was refreshing to see now well-worn characters played in different ways than the usual. Chip (James Coley) executed his ‘jock’ role perfectly. Olive’s character (Caitlin Mathieson) was played as ‘realistic’ and mature. Although a convincing and heartfelt performance, it left a couple of her usually ‘funny’ lines falling flat.  Sage Douglas as Logaine and Henry Brett as Leaf both managed to find subtleties and levels in characters that are often played ‘over-the-top’. They were both adorable, and Teresa Duddy (Marcy) also executed her role well. Special mention to Riley Nottingham as the Janitor, who managed to be hilarious without a single line of dialogue.

Direction, by Ben Giraud, is clever. He makes innovative use of the space, and it was nice to see the more movable chairs instead of the static bleachers commonly used.

Musical direction, by Trevor Jones, is excellent. It was very fitting to see the talented musicians in the band aptly dressed in school uniform and reacting to the action on stage.  Vocal harmonies were perfectly balanced and executed. Choreography by Bernie Bernard is also extremely creative and unique, matching the moment perfectly.

Costumes, by Zoe Felice, are well-suited and strike just the right balance between outlandish and everyday. Meanwhile the set by William Bobbie Stewart is highly creative, with yellow tarps lining the walls, paper cut-out bees and banners hanging down, and the floor painted as a gymnasium floor.

Overall, Vic Theatre Company’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is excellent, both side-splittingly funny and heart-wrenchingly beautiful, and well worth checking out whether you’ve never heard of it, or you’re a well-worn veteran, like myself. You won’t be disappointed.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is playing at The Lawler from 30th of March to the 10th of April.  Bookings www.mtc.com.au  | 03 8688 0800

Image by James Terry

Festivals, Musical Theatre, Whats On

MICF 2016: ABBOTT! The Musical

Budgie smugglers and belly laughs!

By Heather Forbes

Fresh from the Adelaide Fringe comes Abbott the Musical for the 2016 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, a somewhat raw, and at times raucous, ‘retro’ musical parody and political satire. The show is very entertaining, at times hilarious, and otherwise mostly funny with its parody and satire of well-known characters, quotes and events from our recent painful political past.

Abbott! The Musical

The show’s original music and script are the product of the Adelaide–based comedy troupe George Glass which consists of three of the production’s actors: Dan Murnane, Alister McMichael and Nic Conway. Real musical and comedic talent energize the production, with songs such as “F*#k ‘Em” sung by a egomaniacal Joe Hockey (McMichael), and a highly sexually-charged “Won’t You Spill With Me” by Malcolm Turnbull (Murnane) and Julie Bishop (Lisa Harper). Conway as Abbott and Murnane as Turnbull steal the limelight as they take their well-impersonated characters into the realms of the absurd (moreso than the other actors). providing many belly laughs. However, the absence of Abbott’s foil or shadow character, Peta Credlin, is a disappointment, as her part in his downfall would have provided great fodder for these satirists.

The use of a ‘Quote’ light to highlight original quotations adds weight to the sharpness and punchiness of the show’s wit, and the magic of suspense. Unfortunately the show’s content is hindered by the limitations of the staging, the poor mixing of the music versus the lyrics at times, and the slackness of the scene changes. 3 & a half out of 5 stars– but still this reviewer had a good time!

Date: 23th March – 3th April

Venue: The Tuxedo Cat 293-299 La Trobe St, Melbourne.

Times:  Tues – Sat 7:15pm. Sun 6:15pm

Ages suitable:  18+

Price: $10 – $27.50

Bookings : www.tixnofee.com or at the door

Comedy, Festivals, Whats On

MICF 2016: Tom Ballard’s BOUNDLESS PLAINS TO SHARE

Brave, brutal and frankly brilliant comedy

By Bradley Storer

Using the contentious and polarizing issue of refugees and immigration as the subject of a comedy show is not immediately the most appealing idea. Luckily Tom Ballard, an award-winning and accomplished young comedian, has proven adept in previous shows at finding the intersections between the personal and the political, and the humour contained within. Here he uses his comedic skill to examine Australia’s approach to refugees, the oft-maligned ‘boat people’ who have informed political policy for decades.

Boundless Plains to Share.jpg

This ‘comedy-lecture’, as Ballard terms it, leans more towards comedy at the beginning, as Ballard eases his audience in with some self-deprecating jabs and some well-executed audience participation. The ‘lecture’ comes in a self-contained section where Ballard manages at hilariously break-neck (and minutely timed, courtesy of an audience member’s stopwatch app) speed to summarise Australia’s immigration policies throughout the entire 20th century with some brutally funny jabs at those in power during these eras.

The danger of a show such as this is the possibility of only preaching to the converted (since those attending a young gay comedian’s show are not necessarily likely to be politically conservatives) or indulging in self-righteous anger and finger-pointing that does little to engage the audience. While Ballard is clear and precise about where the origins of our deplorable policies towards refugees come from, he, under the direction of Scott Edgar, uses various devices and clever writing to draw the audience into an open discussion and to understand the people behind the de-humanizing names: ‘boat people’, ‘illegals’ and ‘cue-jumpers’.

The sentiment that comes across is not ‘we are terrible people’, but rather ‘we are good people, so how are we letting this happen?’ After keeping the audience laughing uproariously through the rest of the show, Ballard concludes with an incredibly emotional finale that emphasizes the common humanity shared by all of us that connects us regardless of race, religion or country of origin. There are no laughs, but this moment of seriousness feels rightly earned by Ballard, and if the tears and riotous applause following are anything to go by, the audience agrees. Arguably the best show Ballard has ever presented, and quite possibly one of the strongest shows for the entire festival.

Date: 26th March – 17th April, 11 shows

Venue: Mon – Melbourne Town Hall, Saturday and Sunday – Trades Hall

Times: Monday 8:15pm, Saturday 26th March/2nd April/ 16th April 5:15pm, Sat 9th April 5:45, Sun 4:15pm

Price: Full $27.50, Concession $22, Preview $22

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

Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

MICF 2016: Seemingly Evil Productions Presents WILLY WANKA

Never a Dahl moment

By Narelle Wood

The title of both the production company, Seemingly Evil Productions, and the show, Willy Wanka, was incredibly enticing; it seemed like an easy comedy combination of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and spoof comedy.

Willy Wanka.jpg

The storyline of Willy Wanka follows closely that of the original. Poor boy wins tour of mystical chocolate factory with several other bratty children, meanwhile Wanka is being undermined by one of his employees, Slugsworth. The show only really deviates in the breviety of each scene and Wanka is a child-hating imbecile. For the most part the comedy comes from over-exaggerating the creepiness that was much more subtle in the original. The Oompa Loompas are an oppressed race, working in slave-like conditions and are easily dispensable, Charlie’s mother is void of personality, Charlie himself is largely ignored due to his poverty and the four grandparents have an unusual relationship having spent more than 20 years together in bed.

The show is well cast. Amongst the standouts are the overly-enthusaistic Charlie (Sam Garlepp), eerie Grandpa Joe (Lachie McKenzie) and Willy Wanka (Will Reinehr).  Several actors play multiple characters and these are exceptionally well done, especially those created by Clare Rankine and John Liacopoulos, who not only change between several characters super quickly, but also momentarily change costumes and accents as well. Vocal performances during the musical moments, such as those from Melissa Tracina and Alice Tovey, were also very strong and I would have been keen to hear more musical numbers throughout the show.

It was opening night so there were a few small glitches, however the flying Oompa Loompa received one of the biggest laughs of the night. But that’s not to say the planned comedy wasn’t funny because it mostly was. There were a few times that they went for shock-factor humour, which I’m personally not a fan of. The best bits were the scenes with the Oompa Loompas, the use of flashbacks and the reworking of some of the original songs. That said, I couldn’t help but think there was more that could have been made of all these scenes and the promising Wanka character, had the pace been a smidge snappier.

Willy Wanka is an entertaining parody of the original, but as its title indicates, is certainly not a reworking that would be suitable for children. It is definitely worth a look if you like irrevent humour and children’s stories that flirt with and sometimes succumb to the darker side of comedy.

Venue: Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon and Victoria Sts, Carlton

Season: Until April 3rd, Tue-Sat 7pm, Sun 6pm

Tickets: Full $23 Conc $17

Bookings: www.willywanka.com.au or at the door

Comedy, Festivals, Whats On

MICF 2016: Adam Hills Presents JAKE JOHANNSEN IS TALKING SHOW

Smooth intelligent stand-up from an international star

By Narelle Wood

The 2016 Melbourne Comedy Festival show starts with a voice-over recording of a conversation between Hills and Johannsen. It seems a little trite, but it does make the point that Johannsen is a stand-up comic, without the use of gimmicks, toys, music or any other prop you can think of: the type of comedian that is becoming increasingly hard to find.

Jake Johannsen is Talking Show

While Johannsen has had tonnes of success and received some high accolades overseas, this is his first visit to Australia, courtesy of his friendship with Hills. Like Hills, Johannsen’s humour does not rely on nastiness or crude jokes: rather, it is old-school stand-up based on a mixture of observations, timing and story-telling that is laugh-out-loud funny. One of the biggest testaments to Johannsen’s talent was the gracious and humorous way he dealt with the very annoying heckler sitting in the back; the comments were absorbed into the show and then he just got on with it.

The main premise of the show is age, mostly growing older, yet it was not just the more mature of the audience that could relate to the anecdotes; there were some truisms for young and old alike. But the show also covered everything from Ugg Boots and their prolific status on Melbourne streets, to male aggression, children, Twilight and social media. I got the sense that most of the material was pre-prepared yet Johannsen’s style is so natural and conversational that he could be making it up on the spot. Either way it worked and he even managed to weave in a few jokes at Trump’s expense, which although perhaps at an easy target, were still meet with an appreciative snicker.

While the Comedy Festival has lots of home-grown humour, I highly recommend a visit to this international act. It’s clever and clean, and there’s something Kramer-esque about Johannsen that makes it a show well worth seeing.

Venue: Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Season: 7.15pm Tues to Sat, 6.15pm Sun until 17th April

Tickets: Full $27.50 | Conc $23.50 | Tuesdays $19

Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or comedyfestival.com.au