Category: Reviews

Damian Callinan : The Lost WW1 Diary of Private Paddy Callinan

By Colin Flaherty

You can always count on Damian Callinan to deliver a brilliant theatrical performance. In The Lost WW1 Diaries of Private Paddy Callinan we saw a humorous account of World War 1 that treated its subject with respect while keeping the laughs coming.

Beginning with an awesome scene of irreverential gallows humour, Damian stepped out of character for a segment of stand-up to give some background. Covering Damian’s obsession with all things military and the story of what brought him to find Paddy Calinan’s diary in a Warrnambool Op Shop, he created some wonderful mythology for the tale that followed.

Then into the diary proper with Paddy’s descriptive monologues setting the scenes to be brought to life via Damian’s acting and character work. Seen through Paddy’s naïve eyes, we met a range of eccentric characters with whom he shared the experience. These included Bluey the Scot always seeing things from his Trade Unionists’ point of view, Stanza budding poet with his raunchy prose and the scrounger who could find the most bizzare items.

This was a beautifully detailed story that managed to keep a foot in the reality of war but give plenty of offbeat humour to keep it jovial. The servicemen were portrayed as lovable scallywags who embodied the iconic Aussie attitude of laughing in extreme circumstances (The Light Horsemen really copped a serve!). We were kept on our toes with many modern references that not only added some welcome silliness but made humorous points about current issues.

It was not purely a boy’s own adventure story. Callinan (Damian through Paddy) provided some poignant moments that brought home the horrors of war. These moments describing the tragic loss of young men brought tears to the eyes of many. Some apt tragedy to balance the comedy.

As with any show from Callinan, it is brilliantly performed with wonderful vocal mimicry, fluid motion and even some dancing. His mime work was spot on and he handled exchanges between multiple characters with ease. He often cheekily broke the fourth wall to poke fun at minor staging shortfalls and his own performance. Another tour de force from Damian Callinan.

The Lost WW1 Diary of Private Paddy Callinan is on at ACMI – Cube until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/the-lost-ww1-diary-of-private-paddy-callinan-damian-callinan

Lewis Hobba : Backs To The Wall

By Lisa Clark

Lewis Hobba is known for his work with Hungry Beast and his radio show with Mad As Hell’s Veronica Milsom; Weekend Breakfast with Veronica and Lewis on Triple J. A self-described hipster, it’s not surprising that his show, Backs to the Wall, is in a contemporary art gallery. The concept of the show seems to have changed a little since he filled out his Festival application form and is now less about heroes and more about complaints and complaining, which is fine by me.

For the most part Lewis is a congenial observational standup comedian who starts out on unpromisingly topics, riffing about wearing glasses and the proliferation of themed marathons. He’s definitely funny though and has some nice zingers peppering his amusing stories. When he hits his stride though is when he starts telling tales about his Hippy family living without dairy or any pressures to conform to society and some very naughty older sisters. I wanted more of that.

Other topics he covered that I enjoyed included coming out as a hipster, racism and the new cool Pope (who is a bit of a headache for another comedian at the Festival doing negative stuff about the ex-pope). His pope material, as well as jokes about something called Upworthy, shows his Hungry Beast pedigree in being able to present topical material accessibly with smarts, charm and humour and bring to the audience a fresh view of both new and familiar concepts.

Lewis surprises the audience towards the end; building to a crescendo, shouting passionately about Russell Crowe and reminded me a little of Michael Chamberlain at his best. There were times at the beginning (possibly through nerves) where he sounded a bit like he was reading a script but things really loosened up as Lewis warmed into the show. Considering that this is his first ever solo comedy festival show, he presents a pretty slick performance and Lewis is definitely one to watch.

Backs To The Wall is on at Fort Delta until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/backs-to-the-wall-lewis-hobba

Rick Astley: Male Stripper

By Alanta Colley

This is not a tale you’ve heard before. Suffolk born Cow-Boy-Zone (not his birth name) grew up in the tougher end of town, wrestling with the harsher realities of eking an existence behind the checkout, when the world of dance beckoned, and he answered. What followed was a window of opportunity into adventure as Cowboy trialled life in a Boy Band, various stripping duos (including the subtly titled ‘Cock and Balls’) and went on to the outfit of ‘Astley Nicely’; riding off the back of the success of Rick Astley’s career; rose to fame alongside him and then fell with Astley’s decline as well.

Cowboy displays a certain vulnerability; imploring us to hear his tale; not just baying for him to take his clothes off. He talks about the prejudices people in his home town held against him as a dancer, and the rough realities of touring and dealing with the clubs, managers and the public. A glamorous life, maybe? Maybe not.

A fair bit of Cowboy’s tale was a bit unclear, as he wavered from telling his origin story to making jokes about his clothes just falling off; it becomes unclear how much was set up and how much we were supposed to follow as narrative. It was unsatisfyingly vague. The story is a little rambling and lacking in confidence of direction.

Cowboy reveals some of the secrets of the trade. We learn the tricks male strippers use to ‘look big’, we learn of the art of tea-bagging and twerking (did Miley learn from Cowboy?) and how a male stripper might defend himself on the more precarious Hen’s evenings. Cowboy demonstrates objectification isn’t just something men do to women.

Be warned, this show is interactive, and mainly in the way you would expect of a strip show. If you’re an Astley fan, you’ll appreciate the nuances. If the world of stripping intrigues you, here’s a good place to learn more. An odd evening of entertainment for a comedy festival.

Rick Astley: Male Stripper is on at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow – Melbourne until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/rick-astley-male-stripper-cow-boy-zone

Rod Quantock : Peak-A-Boo

By Noel Kelso

Rod Quantock is an angry old man. Before that he was an angry middle-aged man. Before that he was an angry young man. Before that he was an angry – well, you get the idea.

His new show at the Comedy Festival, Peak-A-Boo, is the usual seemingly rambling, disorganised hilarity which skewers every last one of its targets with a practised eye.

Quantock recently celebrated forty-five years in comedy, but has realised that this may have been a lie and that it is probably closer to sixty years. He tells a tale of a young, innocent Quantock playing the guiding star in the school nativity and of his reaction upon spotting his parents in the audience, precipitating much laughter.

There follows an hour of mad stories from this comics’ life along with commentary on hated professions, public figures and the press. The audience are told of how his art teacher used to deal with unruly kids using a massive brush and bottle of Clag children’s glue.

As he reels through his performance Quantock makes notes and draws helpful diagrams in coloured chalk on a blackboard at the rear of the stage. By the end of the evening it resembles the fevered notes taken by a mad scientist with no concept of neatness.

His tales of mischief with his trademark rubber chicken on a pole are often hilarious and would be unbelievable were it not for the fact that this is Rod Quantock and it is all too easy to believe him gate crashing a Police dinner in Groucho Marx glasses or invading the home of an unsuspecting couple to encourage them to have a dance, which somehow leads to their son having his engagement party in a very unlikely venue.

The show ends with a complete history of the Universe up to the present day and by the end the blackboard is a mess of rainbow colours and the audience is sore from laughing.

Peak-A-Boo is on at Melb Town Hall – Powder Room until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/peak-a-boo-rod-quantock

Kate Dehnert : Noise Adventure

By Alanta Colley

Noise Adventure is a hallucinogenic cocktail of wicked beats, neon face paint, surreal streams of consciousness and tiny little pom poms.

Melbourne- based comic and composer Kate Dehnert channels Bowie, the Mighty Boosh, and a little bit of Bow Peep as she rocks out with her frock out to a cacophony of electro dance wiggety wiggety noises – if that is what the kids are calling it these days.

The audience holds on for dear life as we barrel down the rabbit hole into the strange world of Dehnert’s inner associations. Dehnert occupies a niche market of songs about salmon and trampolines, Rube Goldberg-esque house-hold accidents, obscure DJs and emotional breakdowns in the work place. Dehnert slips seamlessly between mundanity and fantasy, and innocence and mayhem. Anything is possible. There’s no time for conventional punch lines here. This is a true work of unique brilliance.

The songs are great and only surpassed by the soliloquies. Dehnert plays out the diary of an Arts student sent on a one way ticket to Mars, and all the unforeseen consequences that this affords. A lot more happened but I was too busy laughing to take proper notes.

Dehnert is a messiah of musical mania. A purveyor of unpredictability. Her energy throughout this performance is explosive. Flustered and frantic Dehnert gives the impression she’s almost a passenger to the craziness along with us. There’s nothing else that approaches this show at the Festival. Weird and thoroughly wonderful are just the starting point. This show is cheaper than acid and has fewer of the long term side effects. This review doesn’t do it justice. You’ll just have to go and experience the aural psychedelic adventure on your own.

Noise Adventure is on at The Duke of Wellington Hotel until April 7
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/noise-adventure-kate-dehnert

Damien Power : Keit

By Alanta Colley

Damien Power tells his tale of a tangled liaison with an Estonian woman named ‘Keit’, who shortly after their break up reveals that she’s pregnant. What follows is a journey of frenetic indecision about what Damien should do, what he wants to do, and whether or not that is the same thing.

A lot of the narrative is built around how ‘crazy’ Keit is, though Power’s illustration of exactly what about her was so crazy was unconvincing. As the tale stumbles along more and more Estonian family members are inculcated in the plot, including Keit’s angry brother, and her warrior-esque father. Power seems to take a back seat to his own life decisions; uncertain, overwhelmed, flighty and impressionable.

Power never quite articulates the thoughts behind each of his decisions as the plot swerves to and fro as he tries to figure out what to do. Power’s go-to response to each new turn of events was articulated with the phrase ‘And I thought: Holy Shit!’; which must have made an appearance about nine times throughout the show. We don’t really learn what Estonia is like (though we are repeatedly assured it is ex-Soviet), what Keit thought through all this, how they reconciled their differences, or what his life is really like now. From a story telling perspective this show needs some serious mending of the plot holes.

Power also described his sexual relationship with his partner as like ‘sticking [his] dick in a hurricane’. For the audience members Power got onside with that sort of comedy, he lost just as many. When comedians hate on their partners it tends to reveal more about them and their life choices than their silent, forbearing partner.

Occasionally Power pauses his story to make observations about the Australian character and the evils of social trends like consumerism. These were dull and unimaginative. Dotted throughout there were a few very clever analogies and twists, though these weren’t enough to save the night.

There are sparks here and there, which with some work could be a fire. Sadly Power lacked punch on this evening.

Keit is on at Melb Town Hall – Lunch Room until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/keit-damien-power