Ari Eldjárn – Return of the Icelandic

By Bren Carruthers

In most eyes, Ari Eldjárn is the Icelandic comedian – no other act has had greater success between here and the North Sea. Surely then, it should come as no surprise that his primary source of mirth and mockery is his homeland, the quaintness and oftentimes ridiculousness of Icelandic life.

It’s a deep well of content, and as he caricatures his fellow countrymen, as well as Danes, Swedes and Germans, it’s surprising to find how well-received it is by an Australian audience that – one would have to assume – have no more than a passing familiarity with the region. It may well be that Eldjárn’s relatively innocuous skewering is a close match for the classic Australian pursuit of egalitarian pisstaking.

While effective, the choice in material does render Eldjárn pretty one-dimensionally. In fact, he is well into the second half of Return of the Icelandic before he begins to offer us any insight into himself as a person: his family, his home life, his one-time DJing career. It makes for an odd, even slightly unnerving shift, as though a few pages of content from elsewhere have been stapled to the back of the runsheet to fill time, or as though Eldjárn’s identity itself has been ruthlessly relegated to a fifteen minute afterthought.

Does Eldjárn nail the laughs? Absolutely. But it’s hard not to think about how a better approach to constructing a show would take his craft to the next level – a level he is quite obviously capable of reaching.

Ari Eldjárn’s Return of the Icelandic is on in Melbourne Town Hall’s Powder Room until April 16.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/ari-eldjarn

Maisie Adam – Buzzed

By Lisa Clark

Well I just saw my favourite show at the Festival so far, Maisie Adams – Buzzed. It’s early days I know and a big call, but it’s such a joy to experience a new stand-up comedian with confidence and enthusiasm who can wiz me off into their world and hit me right in the solar plexis.

Her energy is way up as she bounds onto the stage, ready to give the audience her all. Maisie does no nonsense standup with stories from her life that she has turned into brilliant comedy for us. This was her Australian debut of a show she’s been performing since Edinburgh in August last year, so it’s finely tuned and bedded in. There is a sense that she really knows what she’s about and won’t let us down. I loved the moment she got her first big laugh across the whole room and she said, quietly, almost to herself, “We’re off”, and we were. She kept that laughter rolling and the audience in the palm of her hand.

At her show’s heart there are two main stories. She mines her recent engagement and wedding plans for comedy gold expanding on the ridiculousness of wedding traditions through the eyes of a modern woman. Timeless comedy material but made fresh by an intelligent comedian experiencing them for the first time. The second and deeper story was about her lifelong passion for playing and watching football (ie soccer), who would’ve thought I’d be this excited about a comedy festival show that devotes such a large clump to sports and that it would make me cry? Her finale lifted the roof off the room.

Woven around these big stories were smaller warm tales about her life and family, such as her relationships with her mum and beloved granny and of course there was the inevitable Covid gear.  But my goodness it was great gear and Maisie had the BEST impression of post-covid chit chat. So.  Are you curious about her hair then? She knows you are and this show will reveal that story too. Her comedy instincts are effortlessly awesome.  The hour zips by and it’s over too quickly. By the end of her Melbourne debut, I feel like I know Maisie and that she’s a new mate I look forward to seeing again.

You may have seen Maisie Adams brightening up many a British TV panel show, like 8 Out of 10 Cats do Countdown, The Last Leg or QI. She is becoming well known over there and she is disarmingly delighted and surprised to have sold out her whole show run (in an admittedly small room and short run) on the other side of the world.

They’ve had to put her in a bigger room for a bonus show on April 22. Get tickets while you can.

Maisie Adam’s Extra show of Buzzed is at 6pm in the Lower Town Hall on Sat April 22

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/maisie-adam#

Maisie is also appearing in a group show The Best of The Edinburgh Fest at The Capitol, Every night for the rest of the Festival.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/best-of-the-edinburgh-fest

Nicolette Minster’s Net Worth

By Lisa Clark

Most people have been curious enough to Google themselves at some point. You may find out something interesting, a giggle or a story to tell at parties. But when you are a creative person, in lock down with post partem depression, you may take things just a little too far, like Nicolette Minster did. And again, when you are a creative person, you may write a festival show about it.

Nicolette has a fairly interesting story to tell and begins by explaining that she was a child actor who worked with Meryl Streep. Frankly, I wanted to hear more about that, and how she ended up marrying another former child actor and then decided at some point to do standup. But that fascinating titbit was merely to lay the foundation of why she was intrigued to discover another person online who shares her name and seems to be more successful and interesting.

The main tale is about her obsession with wealthier Nicolette, who may or may not be a real person living in America and the lengths she will go to, to find out about her, which mostly involves a bit of poking about online until she crosses the line somewhat. Nicolette admits, with a grin, to enjoying having a secret little world to disappear into away from her mundane suburban life, that her husband doesn’t know about.

I enjoyed spending an hour with Nicolette, she is bright, cheerful and personable, but Net Worth feels a little more like a lecture with laughs, rather than standup comedy. We learn a bit about her IVF experiences, a tiny bit about maths and possibly a bit too much about prolapses, but Nicolette doesn’t go into depths about a person’s worth, or explore the humour in the appropriateness of thinking of people in terms of monetary worth etc.

Nicolette is certainly an engaging story teller and these would be great stories after a few wines at a dinner party but she doesn’t exact any belly laughs from me. I did laugh sporadically and there were quite a few women in their 30s and 40s having a great time giggling loudly throughout this show.  There is a show for everyone at MICF and if you are a Gen Y, middle class, suburban straight woman looking for something cheeky and non confrontational at the Festival, grab your friends and head on over.

Nicolette Minster’s Net Worth is on at the Town Hall Portico Room.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/nicolette-minsters-net-worth

Laura Davis – Well Don’t Just Stand There Dancing

By Bren Carruthers

We’ve all been thrown about during this pandemic era, and perhaps few more than Laura Davis. The Perth export has been bobbing around the globe like a cork in the ocean these past few years, with the usual festival schedule graciously bringing her back to our shores for Well Don’t Just Stand There Dancing.

Much like in Davis’ hit show from last year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the pandemic influence is apparent, shaping some of the undercurrent of themes. But Davis’ signature strength is her ability to draw from seemingly innocuous topics – in this case, anything from Jurassic Park to revolution – and constellate a story far greater than the sum of its parts.

Davis mentions in an aside during the show that she never wanted to be a comedian; she wanted to be a poet. Her ability to weave dexterously from theme to theme, deftly using her sharp mind and anarchic energy to pull the threads of her work into position is a kind of poetry in itself, with its own meter and rhythm, something incomparably uniquely and distinctly Davis.

As a fiercely independent artist, Laura Davis is one of Australia’s most underappreciated (by those unfamiliar with her work) and fascinating comedians, and Dancing sees her at the top of her game. Word is already getting around and her shows will start to sell out. Book now, before the AFP shuts her down.

Laura Davis – Well Don’t Just Stand There Dancing is on at Campari House until April 23

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/laura-davis-well-don-t-just-stand-there-dancing

GUY WILLIAMS – COMEDY PLUS TIME EQUALS TRAGEDY

By Jess Welch

If you’ve ever had a lively, but light-hearted debate with a friend over drinks, then I think Guy Williams’s show Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy might be for you. He is passionately indignant at the state of the world and he’s not afraid to tell you about it. From racism, politics, comedy controversy and cancellation, Williams touches on everything that could be considered contentious. If you get easily offended, this show isn’t for you. There are jokes in this show that will offend. And they should. But that is exactly Williams’s intention. He has points to make and he makes them incredibly well.

Making his MICF debut, he is one of New Zealand’s latest cohorts of comedy exports. Williams is a prime example of how talented the kiwi contingent can be. Already well established across the Tasman Sea – coincidentally ensuring his crowd was at least 80% expats – he has appeared on a slew of major NZ television (Jono and Ben, The X Factor, Taskmaster NZ). In addition to all that, he hosts the satirical news show, New Zealand Today. It comes as no surprise then that his live show is full to the brim with all the latest catastrophes and controversies. But Williams does his best to laugh at the absurdity, rather than wallow in it. This show won’t distract the audience from the horrors of the world, but it is cathartic. Bring along your own indignation and laugh along as he unpacks and unpicks the most pressing issues of today. He’ll scream at the world for you.

Unfortunately, the show I attended had a rather unfortunate heckler, who despite wearing a New Zealand Today t-shirt and clearly being a fan, seemed determined to interrupt at least every ten minutes. The first few times it led to some good humoured banter. However, the last interruption entirely ruined the last punchline, which had been set up over half an hour beforehand. Though clearly not Williams’s fault, it soured the overall experience of the show. Regardless, the show was well written and had the last joke not been wrecked, it would’ve been a delightful payoff.

If you want to spend an hour laughing out your worries and frustrations, I can’t think of a much better way to do it.

GUY WILLIAMS – Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy is on at THE WESTIN TWO.
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/guy-williams

Chris Parker – Lots of Love

By Jess Welch

If you’ve never heard of Chris Parker, I implore you to fix this oversight as soon as you can. A multi-award winning comedy star in New Zealand/Aotearoa, he is a non-stop whirlwind with tales of both the bizarre and the relatable. ‘High energy’ doesn’t do him justice. It’s exhausting, but so much fun to watch. From the moment he leaps onto the stage, the audience is in for a wild ride and it is worth every single second
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Equal parts ‘every-millennial-at-a-crossroads’ and ‘this-could-only-happen-to-him’, the laughs come thick and fast and without feeling shoehorned into a theme. His hopes and worries are painfully familiar for the largely millennial audience, but are universal enough that every single person in the room is swept along, laughing to the point of smothering snorts and clutching their stomachs. With only the barest hint of existential dread to keep everything in perspective, it’s ultimately a feel-good hour of fun that will leave you giggling and maybe with a renewed sense of hope for the future.

Parker’s seemingly natural ability to tell stories is, at times, literally breathtaking. He effortlessly paints vivid images that can’t help but leave you gasping. His skydiving story is absurdly brilliant and the perfect way to end the show on a high note. It’s a story you wish you could tell your co-workers the next day, but could never do justice. I recommend bringing all your co-workers and friends along. Trust me, it’ll save time.

The night I went, the vast majority of the crowd were from New Zealand, where Parker has graced the screen on their versions of Taskmaster and Have You Been Paying Attention? amongst many other things. While it’s understandable, hopefully his reach grows far beyond his homeland as the festival continues. From the wild clapping and cheering at the end of the show, I’m surprised it didn’t shake the whole Westin hotel and cause noise complaints from the occupants.

There’s no doubt Parker has what it takes to be the next big name here in Australia too. And judging by the packed room on night two, if looks like if you don’t book soon, you might miss your chance.

CHRIS PARKER – LOTS OF LOVE is on at THE WESTIN ONE.  https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/lots-of-love