Daniel Townes : The Other Side

By Noel Kelso

This year the best stand-up shows appear to be those which are structured around a core narrative, usually a personal incident from the performer’s own life. So it is with Daniel Townes’ show at the Melbourne Town Hall, The Other Side.

Beginning with Townes’ describing some truly awful shows he has had to perform during his career as a comic, this is a very honest show with a lot of heart.

The audience are first introduced to Townes’ family – his more successful brother and his loving parents – and how Daniel himself felt drawn to try to be as great as his older sibling. To this end he became swimming champion at his high school and won medals.

This all changed, however, when he discovered marijuana, of which he became a habitual user for thirteen years.

He explores through his comedy the nature of addiction and how it can negatively impact on one’s own life and the lives of those around you. His musings on the nature of his own addiction and the lies he told to friends and family in order to keep it hidden are both shocking and funny.

He also reveals his obsessive compulsive tendencies, which he believes did not really help with his attempts to kick his drug habit and just meant he spent much of his earnings on dope, games consoles and games. He also discusses the respect he has for journalists, with whom he draws parallels as they have their own addictions. One of the most affecting sections of the show concerns his various relationship problems culminating in his time with a fellow drug user with whom he eventually broke up after they were witnessed stealing from someone close to him.

Townes is a very funny comedian with a gentle, relaxed delivery style which draws laughs from his audience in a naturalistic fashion without the need for big punchlines or snappy comebacks. This is a funny, touching and frank show with plenty of laughs which had everyone present engrossed in the unfolding tales which alternately amused, saddened and intrigued. The structure is well thought through and Townes proves a highly sympathetic character throughout never once prompting the audience to sit in judgement, but to just listen and perhaps empathise.

Townes has made it through to the other side and is a different person to that which he describes throughout his show. Disarmingly frank and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a show I would recommend highly.

The Other Side is on at the Melb Town Hall – Backstage Room until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/the-other-side-daniel-townes

Set List

By Ellyse O’Halloran

Set List is a rollercoaster ride of randomness, hilarity and fun where comedians are given a never before seen set list and are forced to improvise a set in front of your eyes. After seeing the show last year and loving it, I was so eager to go back again and it definitely did not disappoint. Troy Conrad is the mastermind behind Set List with the help of Paul Provenza who MCs the show and does a fantastic job of warming the crowd up and creating a supportive atmosphere and great vibe.

On Saturday the lineup included Celia Pacquola, Gordon Southern, Dave Bloustein, Sam Simmons, Sara Pascoe and Sean Cullen and the topics ranged from ‘Loans for Dogs’ to ‘Non-Sexual Hand Job’. We see the topics at the same time as the comedians and it’s so entertaining watching them squirm and sometimes even be surprised by their own wit and intelligence.

The room is packed with supportive punters, who are asked by Provenza to be the ‘wind beneath the comics’ wings’. No one is there to see the comics fail, they are there to witness in real-time how comics develop content.

One of the greatest things about the show is that you don’t know what to expect and neither do the people on stage. Every performance will be completely different from the last with new comedians and new topics each night. It’s a show I’d encourage you to see multiple times, as different comedians tackle the beast in different ways.

There’s something special about knowing that the entertainment is unique to the night and is for this audience and this audience only. You can try to explain how hilarious and sidesplitting certain gags were, but more often that not you’ll find all the moments during Set List were had-to-be-there moments. It has to be seen to be believed so be prepared to convert the non-believers by taking them with you to enjoy another night of improvised hilarity.

Set List is on at the Victoria Hotel until April 19
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/set-list

Steen Raskopoulos : I’m Wearing Two Suits Because I Mean Business

By Elyse Philips

Steen Raskopolous has got a lot of people up his sleeve – a Greek Orthodox minister, an unstoppable businessman and a champion athlete among them. I’m Wearing Two Suits Because I Mean Business might be billed as a solo sketch show, but you soon learn these sketches are a lot more collaborative than that implies.

Raskopolous won Best Newcomer at last year’s Sydney Comedy Festival and you can see here that it was well-earned. The characters in I’m Wearing Two Suits… are deftly created and feel fully developed, even when we don’t see them for long. Raskopolous’ business man, Toby Zegamo, is brimming with confidence and 1970s chic. A sketch about Zegamo’s son at a basketball game was so well-realised that the audience audibly felt sorry for him. The sketches are quick-witted, silly and often absurd.

I’m Wearing Two Suits… is an audience participation-heavy show. Regardless of where you are sitting, the odds are good that you will be up on stage at some point in proceedings. This really isn’t something to fear, though. Unlike acts such as Jason Byrne, the embarrassment of the participant is never the punchline of the joke. Audience members are being invited to join in the fun by interacting with Raskopolous’ characters, whether it’s helping to tell a ghost story or sitting down for a job interview. If you’ve never been a fan of audience participation, this is a show that could change your mind.

I’m Wearing Two Suits… is a sketch show unlike any other. Raskopolous brings an infectious energy to the stage that makes it impossible to leave without a massive grin on your face. Business never stops and neither do the laughs.

I’m Wearing Two Suits Because I Mean Business is on at the Portland Hotel – Gold Room until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/i-m-wearing-two-suits-because-i-mean-business-steen-raskopoulos

The 13–Storey Treehouse

By Caitlin Crowley

The 13-Storey Treehouse is the first in a hugely successful series for long-time collaborators writer Andy Griffiths and illustrator Terry Denton.  The treehouse is the stuff of dreams; there’s a see-through swimming pool, self-making beds and secret underground laboratory. The books (there’s already a 26-Storey, 39 Storey and the 52-Story is due out in August) are much-loved amongst primary school-aged kids across the country; it makes perfect sense to bring the book to life onstage but how exactly?

The books are an exercise in post-modernism; the story is all about the two main characters, Andy and Terry, who are being pressured by their publisher Mr Big Nose to finish their book the 13-Storey Treehouse. So it’s a book all about the book you are currently reading. Get it?

It’s no surprise then that the stage show takes the same approach except this time Andy (Andrew Johnston) and Terry (Matthew Lilley) have turned up for what they think is a rehearsal only to find themselves on stage without a script, props or costumes. Fortunately they have their stage manager Val (Eliza Logan) to guide them through the process and to step in and play various characters as required.

So the question is will our heroes actually manage to write and perform this play that we are currently watching? Mr Big Nose is worried and makes an appearance via giant video phone to pressure Andy and Terry along. It’s an hour of crazy nonsense, there’s a giant gorilla, flying monkeys, a sea monster and loads of other suitably off-the-wall distractions.

The cast are super fun and kept the packed audience fully entertained. The addition of a few musical numbers added little to the show though, either the songs needed to be punchier or could have been omitted completely. There are lots of interactive opportunities in the foyer such as drawing your own banana and depositing it in the banana factory and a beautifully illustrated wall featuring screens that allow you to view slide shows of man-made monsters that kids have submitted.

As a fully-grown adult I’m not the target audience so I took along a couple of mini reviewers to give their opinion.

It’s very similar to the book. It’s about two people that live in a giant treehouse and they have to write a play and they haven’t written a script or anything for it. They improvise and pretend and it turns out well. The really mean publisher even likes it. The best bit in it was Barky the barking dog and I liked the sea monster except the singing. I think people aged 3-11 will like it. – Iris, 10

The books are really good. The play is similar to the book because it’s like making a play even though they didn’t know about it. Mostly the stories are the same but in the play they have Val playing characters from the book. She was really good. The giant gorilla was the best bit; it looked so cool like King Kong. I really liked Mr Big Nose. I wasn’t a fan of the songs, they weren’t too great. My friend Arion would like this show and also people who are sort of whacky and have a fun personality would too. – Jasper, 10

The 13–Storey Treehouse is on at the Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse until April 13

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/the-13-storey-treehouse

Tom Ballard : UnAustralian(ish)

By Lisa Clark

There’s been an avalanche lately of comedians leaving mainstream media jobs to get back into their standup careers; starting with Wil Anderson, and more recently Dave Hughes, Charlie Pickering and Tom Ballard. This is particularly weird when you consider that conventionally standup is usually considered a path to mainstream media and that the living made from standup in Australia can be adequate to appalling. They had what most budding comedians dream of, why give that up? A clue may be found in this show where Tom Ballard has the freedom to talk about what it means to him to be Australian and the time to develop a considered and accomplished show about it.

In the main Tom is giving us a loving portrait of his childhood trip around Australia in 1995 with his rather fussy family. His family have regular meetings, with an Agenda and during the trip his parents set up a space for he and his brother to do homework that had been set for them. Part of this homework was for he and his brother to keep a diary of the trip. These diaries have proved to be comedy gold for this show. Not only does he read from them but also shows us slides of the writing and of the adorable pictures they drew of their trip. These most often involved the celebration of getting to eat or drink junk food. The highlight for me was running gag of the dramatic tension of the kids going through the rough pilgrimage of the trip with the sole aim to reach their own holy grail. Will the boys get to experience the delights of the theme parks on the Gold Coast?

The real meat of the piece though was Tom ruminating on how he feels to live in a country that denies him and new immigrants basic human rights. About how it treats it’s indigenous population. These routines pop up throughout the story, for example a diary excerpt that explains how they climb Uluru despite being told that the local aboriginal community aren’t happy about it and Tom shows us that in spite of it being banned now, people are still doing it to get themselves notoriety on youtube. The family visits Woomera and Tom gives us it’s eye opening and alarming history involving; nuclear bomb testing, a shut-down immigration detention centre and uranium mining. A lot of the political stuff sit’s beautifully within the tale though there is the odd point that feels a little didactic as the laughs die down. Still these are pretty minor really and can’t diminish and excellent show.

I’m loving the way that comedians are putting so much care into their shows that they even think carefully about their house music to warm up their audiences for what’s to come. I’ve really been noticing it this year. For UnAustralian(ish) it was Paul Kelly’s From St Kilda to Kings Cross. No doubt extra significant for Tom himself who’s moved from Melbourne to live in Sydney. I saw a very rough preview show of UnAustralian(ish) in Sydney in January and it’s lovely to see all the bells and whistles and tweaks that have turned it into an impressive polished performance. These included; a map of his family’s campervan trip, a pile of eskies to hold his water bottle and the diaries by he and his brother, and an old fashioned slide projector with slides of his family trip. He tells us the slides cost him $5.50 a pop and they do add to the retro feel of the stage set, but it’s a pity the position of the projector blocks the screen for a large percentage of the audience.

It was also fantastic to see UnAustralian(ish) outside of a media night with an audience come specifically to see Tom and have a laugh and a great time. Tom’s radio experience came to the fore as he seemed pretty relaxed and had a lot of fun with a group of boisterous Americans in the audience who were in the middle of their own Australian odyssey.

I highly recommend Tom Ballard’s comedy of nostalgia and modern issues. This was also a beautiful portrait about what it means to grow up and go from looking at the small pleasures to the bigger picture of life.

UnAustralian(ish) is on at Melb Town Hall – Council Chambers until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/unaustralian-ish-tom-ballard

Simon Bosco : Sargasm

By Alanta Colley

We’re really not sure what we’ve signed up for as we sit down to Bosco’s show; the performer ensconced in a makeshift robot costume enacting Rosie the Shit Eating Robot. Gradually Simon the performer emerged and things got a little more, though not entirely, conventional.

It felt very much like we were witnessing a manic breakdown; Bosco’s themes swerving violently about the place in expressions of anger to depression to child-like playfulness to something akin to but not quite joy. Bosco’s life is awash with fear; a clammy hypochondria, fear of death, and fear of other people. These stark fears are enveloped in hatred, disappointment, and a harsh eye surveying the shortcomings of society and his environs. This is not light-hearted or whimsical entertainment
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There are some straight up punch in the face hilarious lines in this show. You absolutely cannot see them coming. There are some darkly poetic endings to his narratives. Occasionally squawks of recognition as we see reflections of ourselves in some of Bosco’s unflattering revelations about his life and its many limitations. The overall theme of the show can be summarised in a single one of his sentences: ‘I hate me. A lot’. Bosco isn’t afraid to bare all. We are greeted with his chest hair and subjected to costume changes as well as receiving graphic explanations of his bed wetting days as a child. Humiliating revelations of guilt and regret are aplenty. The show also contains degrees of experimentation – for example, how could you enact comedy if you weren’t allowed to use words? There’s more than a smattering of non-sequiters and a dramatic amount of audience participation required, some of which are thoroughly enjoyable.

The sound was painfully loud; and coupled with the high energy and occasionally yelly performance the effect was a bit easy to resent. But despite my reservations there was plenty of rich and original material here. This is comedy for the more adventurous lovers of raw and raucous stand up.

Sargasm is on at the Caz Reitops Dirty Secrets until April 13
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/sargasm-simon-bosco