Tag: Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Greg Fleet The Boy who Cried Sober

By Jayden Edwards

So is Fleety still on drugs? It’s the question Greg Fleet cleverly embeds in his audiences’ head from the get go of ‘The boy who cried sober’.

In this new show, Greg revisits his highly esteemed ‘Ten Years in a long sleeve shirt’ during which he addressed his long held addiction to Heroin and how he overcame it. The only problem with that show, as he explains in this one, is that he was mostly high as a kite while performing it.

This year, we see the real Fleety, he bares his sole, telling amazing tales of the hairy situations his addiction lead him to, the shame of letting down anyone he ever had a decent relationship with and the ridiculous lengths he went to, to score; like borrowing $100 from an audience member and never paying them back!

Mixed in with the life changing stuff are some of the down right stupid/hilarious things he did while using, the best of which involves his stint in breakfast radio. Greg’s lived a colorful life that’s for sure, and as sad as it is, users really do have the best stories.

The stories themselves are incredible to hear, but mix that with Greg’s masterful, relaxed yet passionate storytelling style and you’ll find yourself enthralled, entertained and laughing all at once; 30 years in the biz is truly evident.

Thrown in the mix is some general topical stand up told in true Fleety style plus some theatrical pieces that are maybe a little pretentious, but take nothing away.

Greg noted that he felt his earlier audience went away feeling like they’d been to an anti-drug seminar, but there were no signs of that here. This is just deep, entertaining storytelling told by a national comic treasure who deserves to be held in much higher esteem.

But is he still on drugs?

Greg Fleet’s The Boy who Cried Sober is on at The Melbourne Town Hall
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/the-boy-that-cried-sober-greg-fleet

Fan Fiction Comedy

By Lisa Clark

Wil Anderson was smart enough last year to spot a bunch of funny young comedians with the fabulous concept of performing fan fiction live and organised to get them over to Melbourne to share their passions with us. After a very successful run they are back this year and if you know what it’s like to be really into something so much you want to share that love with other people you’ll love this show. Each show is different, with different stories and different special guests, so there are no spoilers here.

Fanfiction comedy has some special one-topic nights such as their Harry Potter night which is great for Harry Potter fans, but generally it’s a bit of a Pot Luck with every performer bringing their own taste to the table. Luckily, even if you are not familiar with one performer’s passion, the stories are usually entertaining for everyone. There are two guest comedians in each show of five stories and we were lucky enough to have Justin Hamilton and Claire Hooper.

Justin, with absolutely no surprise to anyone who knows anything about him, brought us some Dark Knight fan fiction and dark it was too. The joy was barely contained as he made himself the hero in his tale of The Silent Knight. He had the music from the film playing gently underneath his reading at the perfect sound level, He seemed to rush a little, out of excitement perhaps or in that way a nerd rushes to tell you about what they love because they are a little worried they might be boring you and you’ll turn away. Perhaps he was worried that he was playing it straight rather than for laughs. But thankfully there are no rules at FanFiction. As long as it’s entertaining and that it certainly was.

Claire Hooper was a revelation with her sexy Lord of the Rings fan fiction playfully milking a lot of the double entendres with wide-eyed feigned innocence and perfect timing. Claire put a character in the action that sounded remarkably like herself and when it got hot and heavy, it was cute to see Hammo blushing in the background. The story was a hilarious romp from start to finish and Claire had everyone, especially the Lord of the Rings fans, in fits.
The other three storytellers were from the New Zealand team and they were all bloody fabulous too. Joseph Moore did a Rom-com satire using Transformers. Optimus Prime as the hero in a love triangle with Megan Fox and Megatron. The story was littered with funny and clever asides about transformer behaviour and their social etiquette.

Heidi O’Loughlin took us by surprise with some cleverly crafted chronicles about the Nokia mobile phone game of Snake 2. Snake was given a winding backstory that led beautifully to his inevitable ending.
The final fiction was about Harry Potter as told by Tom Furniss who was not a fan of the Potter world. Although it failed in fawning to the dyed in the wool Potter fans, it succeeded as an anti-homophobia fable. It also proved that Fanfiction might often be about children’s fiction, but you probably shouldn’t bring children along.

The host of the hour was the charming Eli Matthewson and there were two judges Joseph Harper, and Steven Boyce on the sidelines giving their thoughts to proceedings, though they seemed fairly unnecessary because the audience were the ultimate judges and they pretty much enjoyed everything.

This has been a popular addition to The Melbourne Comedy Festival scene and the regulars have been making a lot of new fans. It’s also another way to see some of your favourite comedians having fun away from their own shows. Everybody puts their heart and best effort into it and it pays off for performers and audience alike. Best of all Hammo will be returning each Sunday with parts two and three of his Dark Knight Trilogy.

Fan Fiction Comedy is on at the Victoria Hotel
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/fanfiction-comedy

Mel Buttle – HOW EMBARRASSMENT

By Jayden Edwards

If nothing else, Brisbane Gen Y’er Mel Buttle is, unique. She’s young, kooky, energetic and so comfortable with her own embarrassment, that she’s taken it out for lunch, tamed it and made it her bitch in her new show ‘How embarrassment’.

Since being nominated for Best newcomer at the 2010 festival, Mel has gone from strength to strength with critically acclaimed shows, her popular podcast ‘The Miniutes’, awards, gigs on triple j and other stations plus a bunch of comedy writing. It’s clear the people dig her style, and there’s a bunch more of it in this show.

Donning a sensible nana cardigan, frizzy hair and vintage woolen skirt, Mel is hardly your typical young woman. But don’t let the get-up fool you, she’s as feisty and sarcastic as the best of them. This brilliant mash up of conservatism and brashness makes for a barrel of laughs, and just propels her material further. Style comparisons with a young Judith Lucy are pretty spot on.

In ‘How Embarrassment’, we learn just what made Mel the way she is. She dissects her only-child childhood, the far from perfect parenting skills of the separated Mr and Mrs Buttle and a brigade of misfit elders and school yard chums, all factors that helped and hindered her upbringing.

Scattered throughout this journey are self-deprecating tales of embarrassment with just the right amount of vulnerability that’ll have you laughing at her and with her. Her tales are mostly from childhood so their apparent insignificance bundled with the gravitas she puts behind them, and use of omg totz lame buzzwords, makes for big laughs!

Her tales are coated in her own trademark bizarreness, yet are still relatable. It can boarder on alienation a little bit when she gets on a tangent, but things are back on track soon enough. The best and final part of the show is her Golden Girls inspired sex fantasy script reading. Yep, it’s something.

‘How Embarrassment’ is golden, girl!

Mel is on at The Victoria Hotel – Acacia Room
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/how-embarrassment-mel-buttle

Luke McGregor – My Soulmate is Out of My League

By Lisa Clark

Luke McGregor has been around the Melbourne comedy scene for a while and has been smart enough to wait until he had enough excellent material to make his Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut. The material has been honed and trimmed of all excess fat with no filler. There is no grand story arch and Luke has given himself a couple of comedy props for the pre-intro jokes which are fabulous but generally he doesn’t need fancy sets, musical instruments or special effects, just the small black stage and himself.

The theme as you can gather from the title is his lack of self-esteem when it comes to the opposite sex and possible reasons why he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Luckily being a bit weird and different has paid off by making him an excellent comedian with many hilariously sad sack stories to tell.

What’s special about seeing him do his own show is that he opens up further to share a few more personal stories. As if we are his best friends for coming to see him and so he shares intimate details that he wouldn’t talk about up the pub. This includes some extra notes about his OCD which had the audience in fits, but had me being a bit too empathetic to laugh.

The comedy of awkwardness has been Luke’s speciality from the start and if you’ve seen him shine in Scumbus or Please Like Me, you’ll understand why he is being sought for these scene stealing roles. Since coming over from Tasmania I’ve seen him lose some of his genuine shyness and awkwardness to grow in confidence to the point where he easily owns the rooms he plays. Despite all the nervous tics & giggles, which he emphasises for comic effect, he is clearly comfortable in his own skin and confident in his material.

This is a superb debut from a comedian clearly on his way to making the big time. And if he doesn’t have a girlfriend by the end of this festival, then the lovely women of Melbourne just aren’t trying hard enough! Catch him before he’s a star.

My Soulmate is Out of My League is on at The Portland Hotel
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/my-soulmate-is-out-of-my-league-luke-mcgregor

Dr. Professor Neal Portenza’s Choose Your Own Portenza

By Cathy Culliver

It’s Dr. Professor Neal Portenza’s birthday and you’re invited to the party.

Joined by his food-loving friend Mr. Patapotomoose (Pat Burtscher), it’s no surprise that the lovable but idiotic Dr. Portenza (Joshua Ladgrove) is a big hit with kids. He’s silly, he wears strange clothes and he’s really easily made fun of.

The show itself is haphazard and chaotic, but luckily that’s just the way kids like it. The title of the show comes from the fact that the audience can vote on certain outcomes in the show, like “who is knocking on the door?” and “what should Dr. Portenza do to Mr. Patapotomoose?” (unsurprisingly, the audience voted overwhelmingly in the latter category for Mr Patapotomoose to be kicked in the bum).

Occasionaly Dr Portenza leaves his own birthday party to make room for other characters like his evil twin half-brother Gary Portenza, Fishboy and Steven Seagull who teaches the kids how to deal with bullies (although his advice isn’t completely practical as it includes a fireball to the head).

Ladgrove is a natural at playing all of these delightfully silly characters; he knows exactly what kids like and he gives it in spades.

Burtscher is also wonderful as the mischievous and naughty Mr Patapotomoose, who torments Dr. Portenza by hiding from him, pulling faces behind his back and eating all the cookies.

There’s lots of audience participation that will keep the kids engaged and entertained, and plenty of good old-fashioned silliness to keep children and adults alike giggling the whole way through.

A highly recommended show for the school holidays.

Choose Your Own Portenza is on at the Melbourne Town Hall until Sunday 14th March. For information and tickets, go here:
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/choose-your-own-portenza-dr-professor-neal-portenza

The Little Dum Dum Club

By Elyce Phillips

One of the great things about the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is that you get the chance to see shows like ‘The Little Dum Dum Club’, where comedians from around the globe are brought together in a more informal way and you get to see them mucking around and enjoying each other’s comedic stylings.

‘The Little Dum Dum Club’ is a live recording of the popular podcast. The setup is much like a talk show. Tommy Dassalo and Karl Chandler do their thing as hosts and then three guests are brought out one at a time – by no means do you have to be a regular listener to the podcast to enjoy the live show.

The boys have had some great guests on in the past and opening night of this year’s live show was no exception. Dave O’Neil was first out. As always, he appeared to be effortlessly funny, telling a story about how he dropped Rove home from a gig when he was just starting out.

US guests Pete Holmes and Eddie Pepitone were great additions. Holmes near took over the proceedings, but it was certainly fine by the audience – the man is hilarious. Indeed, Holmes and O’Neil made for a great pairing – O’Neil’s laidback style was the perfect foil to Holmes’ manic energy.  Pepitone was a little more restrained, having just flown into the country. He did impress, however, with his non-existent improvisation skills, letting the entire audience in on what floor he and Holmes were staying on at the Medina.

Dassalo and Chandler work together brilliantly as hosts, Dassalo asking the questions and Chandler chiming in with perfectly-timed barbs. Of course, the show will be different every week, but if the quality of guests continues to be as good as opening night, ‘The Little Dum Dum Club’ is well worth checking out.

‘The Little Dum Dum Club’ is on in The Powder Room at Melbourne Town Hall, Mondays until April 15. The recording of the April 1 show will be available on Libsyn

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/live-podcasts-the-little-dum-dum-club