Squirrel Comedy – Page 120 – We're Nuts About Australian Comedy

Soap

By Angela East

Soap is a slick circus cabaret from Germany that has been touring the world for the past ten years. It is being presented in Melbourne for the first time this year as part of the Comedy Festival after previous visits to Australia for Brisbane and Sydney festivals, and the Adelaide fringe to wide acclaim.

Six large bathtubs set the stage. These are utilised as props by the performers in many different ways over the 80 minutes of the show. It starts with legs and arms popping out and the cast dancing up from the tubs to pop music accompanied with live operatic singing. The bathtubs replace the traditional circus staging devices, such as balance beams and juggling platforms, and also serve as stages for comedic feet puppetry and exaggerated body illusions. And of course the bath is filled with water for a climatic feature of the program.

A clownish character provides comic relief throughout the show, and though her early encounter with an audience member feels a bit gauche, it thankfully proves to be a lead in for a later act. The cast are all given their moment in the spotlight to show off their skills, and there is a lot more of the cheeky humour, including a juggling striptease, an amusing rendition of Swan Lake in nothing but bath towels, and some water-soaked acrobatics that means there is always a risk that the audience in the front rows might end up a little damp.

Some of the sections felt slightly too long and repetitive, including a section dedicated to ‘splashy splashy’ bath themed song gags, and a few of the circus feats did not quite deliver a big “ah!” moment to satisfactory conclude a set. There were however many highlights, and the cast provided plenty of chances for the audience to be wowed with their skills and strength.

Highlights included: an amazing foot juggler spinning towels on her toes, a sensual acrobatic dance between two of the male cast members which provides some gravitas in contrast to earlier frivolities, an impressive performance on straps showing off the strength and muscle of the performer, and a beautiful performance on the trapeze, the latter two performed under falling rain.

I would have loved to have seen the show pushed a little more, both thematically and physically, but Soap is sensual and refined and it has balanced this with humour and physical theatre to be a highly entertaining show suitable for all ages.

Soap is on at The Coopers Malthouse until April 22nd
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/soap

Michael Workman: Nothing You Do Means Anything

By James Shackell

Michael Workman has lost the will to be funny. Or, more accurately, the will to be the niche brand of funny that leads to critical acclaim, personal fulfilment and abject poverty. Since he stormed onto the scene way back in 2011 with Humans Are Beautiful, he gained a rep for thought provoking fables: well-sculpted parables on the human condition that left 30% of the audience confused, and brought the other 70% to tears. The awards flowed in. His 2012 show Mercy got its own DVD. He picked up his first Barry Award nomination in 2013 for Ave Loretta. Compared to the average Australian comedian’s trajectory, which begins with an Arts degree and ends somewhere in Human Resources, things couldn’t have been going better. There was only one catch: he wasn’t conventionally popular.

His latest show, Nothing You Do Means Anything, is about what happened next.

Fast-forward to 2016. Michael Workman has been hired on The Voyage of the Damned: a cruise ship comedian, serving up his personal brand of whimsy to a silent and aggressive room of geriatrics with their arms folded. They hated him. He finished the cruise and seriously thought of giving up comedy for good – old people can be mean when they want to be.

This is the kind of soul-tearing, existential crisis from which grew Nothing You Do Means Anything. The title, we realise, refers to Workman himself. His own doubts about the merits of artistic integrity when measured up against stuff like money and popular success. “I can be a hack. I can be,” Workman rants at himself, while deliberately trying to channel a ticket-selling persona, or the naff pull-back-and-reveals which probably would’ve have killed on the cruise ship. It’s tongue-in-cheek meta comedy at its blackest nadir. Like watching Keith Richards get up on stage and smash his guitar with tears in his eyes.

Having said that, I laughed a lot. I thought a lot. And the show’s stayed with me for days since, living in some back pocket of my mind, resurfacing at odd moments. In other words, even when Workman is trying not to be Workman, he can’t do it. He can’t not be clever and articulate and niche and cynical and challenging. He’s too much himself for that.

There’s a point in the show where Workman references Bill Hicks, the great 90s comedian, whose last words on stage were “I don’t want to do this anymore.” But there’s another Hicks quote that’s relevant here: “When did mediocrity and banality become a good image for your children? I want my children listening to people who f***ing rocked! I want someone who plays from his f***ing heart.” Amen to that.

Michael Workman performs Nothing You Do Means Anything at The Chinese Museum

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/michael-workman-nothing-you-do-means-anything

Timothy Clark – badboycomedy69@hotmail.com

By Elyce Phillips

We all had slightly embarrassing email addresses when we were younger. Email addresses that spoke to just how cool we were in high school. My first email included a reference to a Tetley tea commercial I thought was pretty great, so we all know I was very cool and definitely had a lot of friends. Timothy Clark’s old email address makes for a brilliant opening sketch in badboycomedy69@hotmail.com, and follows through the hour as an example of misguided youth. It’s a terrific show filled with stand-up and storytelling that looks back on Clark’s earlier, awkward days.

Clark’s act is confident, polished and always a step or two ahead of the audience. Even when you think you’ve adjusted to his comedic style, he still manages to catch you off-guard. The stories in badboycomedy69@hotmail.com are funny and honest – the usual tales of gigs gone wrong and romantic misadventures – but are pushed a step or two further than expected. There’s a Tinder story, but it diverts somewhere weird. There’s a tale of a nightmare corporate job, but then a killer jazz joke. For every stand-up trope this show hits, there is a delightfully surprising counterpart to keep you on your toes. Clark’s delivery strikes a fine balance between relatable vulnerability and attention-holding bravado. He’s quick to get the audience onside and the energy stayed up right through the show.

badboycomedy69@hotmail.com is stand-up done well, filled with anecdotes that feel familiar but are still unique enough to keep you laughing. It’s a fine example of the fact that any topic can feel fresh if it’s tackled with enough talent. Timothy Clark has crafted a belter of a show, and it’s got a killer finale that’s sure to impress any fan of late ‘90s pop culture.

badboycomedy69@hotmail.com is on at Number 12 La Barre Electronique until April 9
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/badboycomedy69athotmail-com

Laura Davis – Cake in the Rain

By Lisa Clark

It seems that the ravages of 2016 have affected the comedians of this years MICF deeply. So far the majority of shows I’ve seen have been about fear and anxiety. Laura Davis’s show is about the world disintegrating around us like a cake in the rain.

Laura has developed in leaps and bounds as a comedian since moving to Melbourne from Perth. Her first show was based on her life and health issues which explain why there is a sense of fragility to her standup style, but what has emerged over the years is that not unlike Wolverine she has a backbone of Adamantium and a mind like a steel trap. Laura’s best work has a political edge that can produce an audible jaw drop from the audience with cutting lines that can suddenly and unexpectedly stab you in the solar plexus.

Laura’s show rages against the hallmarks of the approaching apocalypse and not always at the usual suspects. She hates the dumb supercilious doomsday preppers who haven’t really thought it all through and our own smugness in thinking that we as Australians are better than America or the UK when in fact, we have our own issues we should be dealing with. Laura has learned firsthand how wealthy companies won’t pay their staff properly through hilariously horrific sounding gigs she has had to turn down. The impressive part is how Laura has such a unique and hilarious take on all of these things.

I don’t like comparing comedians but at the moment I would compare Laura to Wil Anderson. Laura is that good. She can wrangle an audience into submission and have them eating out of her hand. She has her own refreshingly unique take on the world that is hilarious and at times devastating in its honesty. The underground bunker vibe of Fort Delta is perfect for the post-apocalyptic admonitions of Cake in the Rain, but it is clear that the astonishingly talented Laura should be in massive rooms playing to Wil Anderson level audiences.

Laura Davis’ Cake In The Rain is on at Fort Delta until April 22
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/laura-davis

Justin Hamilton – Bunta Boy

By Colin Flaherty

Most know Justin Hamilton as a brilliant story telling solo stand up performer but before that he was part of a musical comedy duo The Bunta Boys, Jezza & Dougie (Damien Kilsby), who from 1994 to 1999 were an unstoppable force on the Adelaide comedy scene. Bunta Boy documents that time in his life with wonderful stories of wacky hijinks that allow him to reflect on the comedy learning curve he undertook, how he has developed as a person and his early body of work (both good and bad). Think of it as an excerpt from Inside The Actors Studio without James Lipton.

For Hamilton completists, this show is essential. It’s full of uproarious anecdotes that most outside of Adelaide didn’t get a chance to witness in the flesh. He has covered a number of them before both on stage and on podcast but it is great to have them presented as one in somewhat chronological order. Some visual aids would have been nice but he does such a wonderful job of describing events in great detail that we feel like we are there. I guess we will have to make do with the smattering of images posted on social media to see how the boys looked.

A surprising treat is the inclusion of some songs from the duo’s repertoire, performed by Justin to a backing track of guitar accompaniment. While he doesn’t have an angelic voice, he can hold a tune to an agreeable degree and it gives us Bunta virgins a taste of their silly songs.

Bowie obsessives will be able to decipher the meaning behind the carefully chosen tunes played before the show but along with music from another recently deceased musical icon, mortality looms large over this performance. Beginning with tales from recent times involving health issues, Justin is looking at how time has ravaged him and uses the Bunta anecdotes to look back at his naïve and seemingly indestructible younger self. It’s never dour as he reliably provides a constant stream of jokes to keep us laughing while we contemplate.

Justin has stated that he is again stepping back from stand up to concentrate on other pursuits. This piece of hilarious nostalgia is the perfect thing to tide us over until he next returns to the stage.

Buntu Boy is on at The Melbourne Town Hall (Cloak Room) until April 15
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/justin-hamilton-bunta-boy

Luke McGregor – Almost Fixed it

By Lisa Clark

Luke McGregor was always a bit of a fixer upper. His standup comedy, since he landed on the mainland from his home in Tasmania has always been about his insecurities. He’s been so stressed about his looks, his OCD and his prowess with the ladies that there are times when his audience genuinely worries about him. This all came to a head last year when Luke decided to do something about these things and his show is about all of this and it’s repercussions.

The first half of the show is for all those Luke Warm Sex fans and may make any shy audience members who’ve come for the OCD stuff squirm a little. Yes for all those curious folks, Luke has got a girlfriend and he is learning how to cohabitate with her. This comes as a relief for fans who followed him on Luke Warm Sex who give him a round of applause. Luke has a lot of observances to share about getting used to his new living arrangement, but they are not your usual ones. The show has made Luke even more open about issues that most people would prefer to keep quiet. The stage is a safe place for Luke.

Luke has been the King of Self Depreciative comedy for some time, it’s great to see that despite him gaining in confidence as a performer, it is not impacting negatively on his comedy. The second half of the show deals more directly with how he’s been working on his ‘issues’ and garners another encouraging round of applause. He’s worried that if he fixes all his problems and tics that he might lose what has made him a successful comedian.

This is a warm, funny and fascinating show by Luke. The highlight though was about 2/3rds in when about six people arrived late to sit in the front row. Luke handled it so brilliantly that it showed his stagecraft, comic timing and ability to judge his audience. It proved that his comedy is not just a product of his personal issues, he is a born comedian who will be as great without them as he has been with them.

Almost Fixed It is on at Thhe Comedy Theatre until April 9
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/luke-mcgregor