Tag: The Butterfly Club

Cabaret, Performances, Review

Vince Milesi in LET DINKY DIE

Battlefield cabaret is farcical fun

By Myron My

Friends, cobbers and diggers, Dinky Di is here to tell you a story: a story about war and patriotism and conviction. From his flamboyant foxhole, Dinky opens up to the audience through comedy, cabaret and some interesting dance moves.

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Vince Milesi, co-founder of award-winning comedy duo Backwards Anorak, wrote and performs in Let Dinky Die and he clearly has a knack for the absurd and the farcical. While this type of humour can be hit or miss, Milesi hits all the right marks with his audience, including me. His ease and comfort in playing Dinky is evident, and with that confidence comes the pleasing element of surprise for the audience, as we never quite know what Dinky is going to say or do next. 

While there are plenty of laughs, the story being told seems to waver at times, with things happening or being mentioned that often don’t lead anywhere, such as when Dinky starts rifling through an audience member’s handbag: why, I wondered, are we as an audience being shown this? Furthermore, I feel there is not enough reflection from Dinky and his thoughts on the purpose of this war. If his dilemma is to decide if he should wait for reinforcements or fight a battle he is bound to lose, then that needs to be explored in more detail.

However, there are times when Let Dinky Die does move beyond the ‘just-for-laughs’ moment and brings to the surface the more serious effects of war. The letter he pens to his mother is not only funny, but also raises the issue of innocent civilians being killed and how they are manipulated or regarded as collateral damage in a war in which they have no say.

As a first-season run, Let Dinky Die is a great comedy show, but if it wants to challenge preconceived ideas of patriotism, duty and war as Milesi states, then it needs to dig a little deeper into this digger’s psyche.

Let Dinky Die was performed at The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne from June 29 until July 3, 2016

Cabaret, Review, Whats On

Rachel Rai is MANXIOUS

Engaging comedy cabaret wins hearts

By Myron My

Manxious: the nerves and anxiety one exhibits while waiting for a man to text back. It’s a serious affliction and something that Rachel Rai want to share with us in her cabaret show Manxious. Despite its worrisome theme, it’s a fun show that not only showcases Rai’s impressive ability to sing and perform, but also gives the audience plenty of laughs.

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Rai intersperses a diverse number of songs throughout the evening as she goes through the excruciating process of waiting for a response to her perfectly created text. These numbers have been reimagined in ways that give them new life and celebrate Rai’s versatility as a singer. Her inclusion of some iconic Australian songs would have to be the musical highlight of Manxious, including her audience-rousing cover of John Farnham’s “Pressure Down”. Another surprise was the theme from Home And Away, which was the last musical number I would ever expect to hear in a cabaret show, but Rai manages to make it feel like a genuine, heartfelt song.

The entire audience is able to relate to the emotional gamut being portrayed and Rai’s subtle and not-so subtle facial expressions are particularly fun to watch. Manxious is full of witty one-liners and surprises, including the star’s loving ode to what many would consider a standard late-night item for a truly great weekend. Rai’s delivery of punch-lines feels satisfyingly natural and receives many laughs, especially when she states, matter-of-factly, that she’d prefer her date to be dead than find herself being rejected. Being in the world of dating myself, it would be fair to say that never a truer or more rational thought was spoken

While the space is not huge, Rai manages to not only squeeze a bed, a three-piece band (including a piano and drum kit) and a singer on stage, but she also finds the room to smash out some pretty funky dance moves throughout the show. The idea of this band performing in her “bedroom” adds to the hyper-reality of Manxious, allowing Rai to draw on the smallest of moments and creatively explode them into a massive drama or cause for concern.

Throughout Manxious there were many times when audience members exclaimed “That is me!” and “ I do that!” While admittedly most of those exclamations came from my friends, this really is a strongly appealing show where everyone should be able to see themselves in Rai, and walk away laughing at how foolish we can be when it comes to our search for love.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: Until 25 June | 10pm
Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2016: MOTHER’S RUIN

Sublimely intoxicating

By Myron My

It’s no accident that a cabaret show about the history of that sordid spirit, gin, would instantly have attracted my interest. After all, who wouldn’t be interested in a cabaret show that deals with sexism, misogyny, colonialism and propaganda? That’s right, the history of gin covers all these issues and with Mother’s Ruin: A Cabaret about Gin, not only are we educated on these but also remain constantly highly entertained.

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Performers and co-creators Maeve Marsden and Libby Wood have joined forces with Sydney-based gin aficionado Elly Baxter from The Ginstress, who has been writing about gin since 2012. This collaboration allows the audience to hear more of the lesser-known facts of this beloved beverage, ensuring we are always interested and intrigued by what is being revealed.

Marsden and Wood have a commanding presence on stage, and being part of feminist cabaret group Lady Sings It Better, they are no strangers to the performance space. They share a strong rapport with each other and their banter is highly engaging and natural. The audience is easily brought on-side and after a cheeky performance of Lionel Bart’s “Oom Pah Pah”, we have no option but to succumb to the sweet elixir of gin – and these ladies.

The variety of songs the two cover, which have been re-written to link to historic moments in gin consumption, are creative, daring and full of flair. Wood’s rendition of “Fever” in reference to the use of the alcohol to help combat malaria is not only vocally sublime but a stroke of comedy genius. Marsden’s performance of Martha Wainwright’s “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole” is possibly the best song I have seen performed in a cabaret.

Joining Marsden and Wood on stage is musical director and skillful pianist and vocalist, Jeremy Brennan, whose cover of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” had the entire venue erupt in a sing-a-long where it was very easy to picture everyone raising their glasses to the air with copious amounts of gin spilling everywhere. It’s not often that an entire audience can forget they are watching a performance and feel like they are just a communal group of people out together having some fun, but that moment was one of those unique theatre experiences.

Mother’s Ruin may be a loving ode to a favourite spirit, but you do not need to be a gin drinker to appreciate its brilliance. With the show closing this weekend at the well-matched Butterfly Club, I highly recommend dropping any other weekend plans you might have and booking tickets for this. Go for the excellent show and stay for the delicious drinks; it will be one of the most enjoyable experiences you can currently have in Melbourne.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: Until 19 June | 8.30pm
Tickets: $36 Full | $30 Conc
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Cabaret Festival: #FIRSTWORLDWHITEGIRLS

Ignorance is cabaret bliss

By Myron My

It’s been two years since Melbourne was graced with the presence of Tiffany and Kendall, two affluent white girls who have some major problems to deal with. Problems like 2-in-1 shampoo, and being invited out but having to decline because their phones are still charging. Inspired by the hashtag #FirstWorldProblems, Judy Hainsworth and Kaitlin Oliver Parker are back with their comedy cabaret #FirstWorldWhiteGirls.

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This trust fund princess and day-drinking trophy wife express the difficulties they regularly encounter through a number of entertaining original songs, each one showing not only their ignorance of the world but also the extremities of their privilege. Frighteningly enough, there are times when the things they say easily remind us of someone we know, or even ourselves. When they announce to the audience that “we are you”, they could in fact be correct, regardless of sex, race or gender.

The musical numbers bring forth some brilliant performances with clever lyrics that deservedly receive many laughs. The highlights of the evening though belong to a song about the most recent trend in cosmetic surgery (to tell you would ruin half the fun) and Tiffany’s “love song” to a suitor begging him to please not ask her out. The heart-rending ballad on FOMO is also a great moment that shows just how important these seemingly trivial problems can be for some people.

It’s between the songs however where some jokes falter and punchlines are either predictable or not as strong as what they could be. At one point, we are told that you can never go too far for the perfect body, but if this maxim applies in terms of their humour, the envelope is severely pushed with Hainsworth and Parker making some ordinarily questionable jokes around World War 2 and the adoption of children of colour. However, as these type of offensively ignorant thoughts and observations are in line with how Tiffany and Kendall live their lives, they actually succeed in pointing out exactly how out of touch with reality these girls are.

Hainsworth and Parker have been performing as Tiffany and Kendall for a number of years now, and often there is a sense of familiarity evident, that comes with getting to know a character you have created over time. Unfortunately on the evening I attended, I could not see this on stage and was personally left wanting a stronger fusion between performer and character. Despite this, there is still a good dose of laughs and enjoyment in #FirstWorldWhiteGirls that reminds us just how lucky we actually are.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne 
Season: Until 19 June | 7pm 
Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc 
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

Cabaret, Performances, Review

Fifi La Boom! in SONGS AND SEXCAPADES

Left wanting more

By Myron My

Based on her online sex blog, Fifi La Boom! has come to Melbourne to beguile audiences with her show, Songs and Sexcapades. The cabaret/burlesque performer recalls various sexual (mis)adventures she has had while singing some of her favourite songs.

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Despite the initial allure of this premise, sadly, that’s all that Songs and Sexcapades seems to be though; Fifi telling us stories and singing, with not much else. The songs felt lacking in originality and zest with Fifi simply singing over the track and throwing in a quick line here or there to link back to her story. There is no engagement with the song itself and apart from the final number, it never feels like Fifi carries the tune, nor does she project her voice out to the audience.

The stories covered are, like the songs, entertaining but again nothing new. They feel like familiar tales that have been told time and time again. Fifi’s storytelling style is fun but when the narrative has nothing but content that has been heard before, it is difficult to retain the attention of your audience, particularly when you are performing on a bare stage without a single prop or set piece.

Having some simple items or visual cues would have been highly favourable for this show, especially as for almost the entire hour, Fifi remains standing behind the microphone. Some stage direction could potentially also have aided the show in providing something by which the audience can be engaged or stimulated. The single burlesque routine felt rushed and didn’t seem to consist of much of the pleasing teasing or flamboyant performance that is generally required for a successful act.

With the amount of sex-themed shows of all varieties being performed, it would seem there needs to be more to this show than just Fifi La Boom! behind a microphone. While on paper Songs and Sexcapades appears to be a fun show, I feel more creative input was required to make it fulfill its potential as a unique and entertaining experience.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: Until 29 May| Sun 8.30pm
Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

Comedy, Review, Whats On

John Dore in REVOLVING DORE

Take a spin with this disarming and charming comic

By Joana Simmons

John Dore’s conversational observational comedy show, Revolving Dore, is a-dore-able. This seasoned comic (who headlined in the Perth and Melbourne Fringe Festivals and was a finalist in RAW Comedy and Green Faces and written for and starred in Channel 31’s Live On Bowen) observes the mundane humdrum of daily life and spins it into side-splitting stories and sentiments.

Revolving Dore

For an hour, John takes the audience out of the brisk Melbourne evening and under his arm – he is so relaxed and relatable you want to be friends with him, and since his endearing honesty and hilarious charm make you laugh your pants off you think a bit about being a “more than friends” with him too. Covering content from work stories to sick days, dinner parties to mouse traps, and David Attenbrough to red backs, Dore’s well thought-out segues make the show seamless.

His comedic dexterity is multi-dimensional. There’s moments of physical comedy, where his facial expression and long limbs paint pictures words can’t. A simple use of the microphone for a very specific sound effect you just have to be there to appreciate, and comedic timing and callbacks that just hit the nail on the head. He doesn’t take the easy route to laughs by covering run-of-the-mill content or picking on an audience member or using swearing as a punch line – rather, he shines his own unique light on things we can all relate to, and makes them hilarious and effortless.

Do yourselves a favour and get down to The Butterfly Club, get yourself a mulled wine, and get ready for this comedy treat. See John Dore now so you can say you saw him before he was big, because he’s going to be. I mean, with talent like his he’s more than halfway there, so support the industry, tell your friends, and make sure he gets his foot in the dore.

Show Details: Revolving Dore

Dates: 18th – 22nd of May

Time: 7pm

Cost: $25-32

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne

Tickets: thebutterflyclub.com

Circus, Performances, Review

Aerial Manx in TEMPEST IN A TEACUP

Cheerfully grotesque

By Myron My

Aerial Manx is one of those performers who has probably never said no to a challenge: someone who is always up for anything and testing new things and the limits of how far he can push himself and his body. Along with his wife Little Miss Bones, Manx and this new and intimate show showcases just that, and with acts such as his signature sword-swallowing backflip, Tempest in a Teacup makes it clear why he is a cut above the rest. Yes, this is not a show for the easily queasy.

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It seems the older I get the more faint-hearted I become, and the tricks performed in Tempest in a Teacup reinforced this fact for me. The sword-swallowing I could actually watch, but when Manx lifted three bowling balls chained to his ears, seeing that lobe get stretched was incredibly intense. The only comfort to me was knowing that Manx and Little Miss Bones were obviously experienced professionals who had most likely performed these tricks countless times and nothing should go wrong, and thankfully nothing did, except for the technical mishaps.

Throughout the show Manx attempted to control the music from his watch and iPad on stage. Unfortunately, technology being technology, songs did not start when they should have, started playing on their own, or began to play and then skipped to the next track. While he attempted to fix this, Manx would let us know how embarrassed he was and to talk among ourselves while he tended to it. My question is, why, when there is a dedicated sound and tech booth in the back of the venue, would you not utilise this to then focus your attention on the performance? Because while the tricks were amazing, I feel there was definitely a need for a tighter structure and direction for the show.

At the beginning, the two performers are showing us oddities they have collected over the years, including a replica cast of the Elephant Man’s skull and antique tools used for lobotomies. However, these props are never brought back again or utilised in any way, so I wondered why they showed us, apart from filling in time. On occasion, this loose awkward structure made me feel like I was watching a street show rather than a piece being performed at a venue. Manx has no doubt plenty of random and unique experiences throughout his career, and it would have been great to have heard some of those stories and how they got him to where he is now. One time when he does this well is with regards to recounting his recent Guinness World Record achievement for the Fastest Human Backbend Walk over 20 metres, which he then proceeds to perform. And if you need a visual aid on what that looks like, think of the spider walk in The Exorcist.

Aerial Manx is a great performer who is very skillful in what he does and who clearly likes to push the boundaries of what the body is capable. In order to make Tempest in a Teacup a strong production as a whole, I feel it’s imperative that he offers some more powerful purpose or reason or narrative behind what we are seeing. With the wonderful creative possibilities of circus becoming more prominent in performances at Melbourne venues and festivals, it would seem there needs to be something more happening than watching someone swallow two neon tubes simultaneously, as impressive as that may be!

Tempest in a Teacup was performed at The Butterfly Club between 29 April and 8 May, 2016.

Cabaret, Comedy, Festivals

MICF 2016: Shirley Gnome is REAL MATURE

Frankly adult fun!

By Joana Simmons

After ripping up Adelaide and Perth Fringes, Shirley Gnome: Real Mature, was specially invited by this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival to charm our pants off with her songs and stories about things you do with your pants off. Her show is mostly about sex – but honest and hilarious rather than obscene. Combining her sheer musical talent on the vocals and acoustic guitar with her relatable rappore, make Gnome mistake, it’s one hot package.

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“Real Mature” is an appropriate title for a realistic modern-gal’s view on some relatively adult topics. Beneath the bedsheets her clever songs stroke themes of empowerment, political satire, and pop parody. This cheeky Canadian thinks the things, feels the feely feels, and puts them out there in the show sprinkled with glitter, charisma and some bootscootin’ country singing. Let me say Adele’s “Someone Like You” will never sound the same to me again.

It’s restoring seeing a woman stand up for the pure pleasure that the horizontal hokey-tokie can be, with all its’ body hair, un-photoshopped noises and nuances, and Shirley’s chatter between songs was amusing and natural. She’s banging good at doin’ it. Performing I mean. And probably “it” too. Spice up your weekend with some afternoon delight and get to The Butterfly Club with a show at 5.30 for two more nights.

Shirley Gnome: Real Mature

Dates: April 15 – 17

Time: 5:30pm

Cost: $25-32

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne

Tickets: thebutterflyclub.com

Cabaret, Comedy, Festivals

MICF 2016: Reuben Kaye in PLUGGED

Brilliantly lavish and chaotic cabaret comedy

By Bradley Storer

From the moment he raced into the showroom of The Butterfly Club, Reuben Kaye – Australian-born international cabaret star – was ablaze with demonic energy, clothed in a dazzling sequin dinner jacket and working the crowd from the get-go. After drawing the crowd in with several self-deprecating jabs, Kaye invited us to become ‘plugged’, as per the title of the show, into his world view – and what a wonderful (madcap) world it is.

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Kaye is a whirlwind of magnetic charisma, unsubtle self-loathing and show-biz pizzazz with a devilish undertone, all bundled together with a gigantic stage presence and an equally gargantuan voice. Guiding us through an abbreviated version of his origins with songs ranging from Kate Bush and Celine Dion to Charles Aznavour, his stories of a German ballerina mother and her frank advice growing up drew boisterous laughter. His tale of burgeoning sexual awakening at a Balwyn high school is so beautifully written and masterfully delivered that the audience was completely spell bound.

This is cabaret in what is arguably its purest form – controlled anarchy. Kaye expertly handles the crowd and everything that happens within the performance space so well, folding audience members’ dropped drinks and ringing phones into gut-splittingly funny running jokes, that it almost threatens to derail the main thrust of the show. In all honesty though, it is rare and quite electrifying to watch such a professional command a crowd so thoroughly!

My only criticism would be that the focus on the moment-to-moment interaction and play with the audience sometimes is detrimental to the structure of the show, with links between sections becoming blurred and a finale that arrives surprisingly abruptly after what feels like only a short time, but Kaye’s charisma seems more than adequate recompense for these small complaints.

This is an evening of cabaret at its most elemental and anarchic, commanded by a star blazing so bright you will kick and scream for more! Utterly unforgettable and not to be missed!

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 1 Carson Place, Melbourne.

Time: 10pm

Dates: 5th – 17th April

Price: Full $38 Concession $34 Members $31 Group 6+ $30 Tightarse Tuesday $28

Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com, (03) 9663 8107, at the door.

Festivals, Impro, Whats On

MICF 2016: The Big Hoo-Haa’s CLIFFHANGER

Perfect com fest fun

By Narelle Wood

For 10pm on a Thursday night the downstairs theatre of The Butterfly Club was fairly busy having gathered to see The Big Hoo-Haa’s Melbourne Comedy Festival show Cliffhanger. I quickly discovered that I was a Big Hoo-Haa novice amongst a sea of regular attendees. The audience was super-enthusiastic and so were the selection of the night’s players.

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The premise for the 60-minute show is 5 improvised stories, each stopped at a cliffhanger moment. Each round a story is eliminated until there is only one story left and the audience are treated to the story’s finale. There is one problem though: there are 6 players on stage, so the elimination begins with a rap battle between the two teams, Hearts and Bones, to see which team will begin with the improvisation advantage.

Silliness and laughter prevail as we were treated to stories of murder with The Tuna Fish Killer, the epic battle between cat and helicopter, a romance found and lost on a scooter, a famous five quest to find a sock and a high-seas adventure with scurvy. While each of the stories was highly entertaining, it was the tale of cat versus helicopter that took out the prize of ultimate cliffhanger. And there was a moral to the story too; cats were never supposed to be friends with anything that flies.

With different stories every performance and the possibility of a number of comedic combinations from the Big Hoo-Haa cast the only guarantee is that the show will be funny. The wit and timing of cast members such as Mark Gambino, Candice D’Arcy, Sarah Reuben and Sophie Kneebone were perfectly complimented by the remarkable musical skill of JJ on the keyboard.

The 60 minutes flew by with clever harmless comedy resulting in lots of guffaws and chuckles of delight. But be warned, exposure to this sort of humour may cause repeat attendance.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Melbourne

Season: 10pm Tues, Thurs, Sat until April 16th

Tickets: Full $29

Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com