Category: Festivals

Jason Chatfield – Stand Up Comic Strip Live

By Colin Flaherty

This is an autobiographical account of Jason Chatfield’s life from chubby misfit kid in Karratha, W.A. to successful cartoonist. He takes us through hilarious tales of misfortune, luck and learning that see him enduring shitty jobs and encountering many inspiring people (and just as many annoying ones) on his way to becoming the heir apparent to James Kemsley, last in the line of the illustrators for Ginger Meggs and leading figure of Australian cartooning.

The staging of this show is ingenious with an easel taking prominence under a spot-light. Not only does Jason use this easel to draw people from his tales on the sheets of paper but projected animations (complete with audio) bring these characters to life. This is an efficient way to work with Jason only required to draw the an outline (a rather detailed one at that!) with the projections taking over the moving parts. Not just an impressive and clever device, this adds further avenues for humour with the characters criticising the quality of the drawings to Jason’s mock horror.

Jason interacts with his animations brilliantly by using broad gestures and comically exaggerated facial expressions to react to the comments uttered by this cavalcade of eccentric characters. From his tactless uncles to the weird old man on his paper route to his boss from hell, these people take centre stage in some hilarious anecdotes.

Quite a few self portraits pop up during the show, all are self deprecating and chart his emotional growth. There is also an artistic party trick linked to a childhood story that adds an element of danger as he attempts to pull it off successfully.

Even without all the visual tricks Jason is an engaging storyteller. His comic timing is spot on and he has a highly animated (no pun intended) delivery. Despite telling us in the story that he always tended to blend into the background he is a natural charmer on stage.

A show that sets out to motivate and inspire as much as to entertain, Jason uses his considerable artistic talents to present a rollicking yarn about following your dreams through all adversity. This is storytelling at its best.

Stand Up Comic Strip Live is on at the Locker Room at The Portland Hotel
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/stand-up-comic-strip-live-jason-chatfield

Rich Fulcher – Tiny Acts of Rebellion

By Elyce Phillips

Rich Fulcher is a man known for bizarre and anarchic comedy. We have seen him confound and amuse in ‘The Mighty Boosh’ and ‘Snuffbox,’ and this new stage offering does not disappoint. Based on his 2009 book of the same name, ‘Tiny Acts of Rebellion’ is a crash course in sticking it to the man via a myriad of minutiae. Over the course of the night, the audience progresses through various levels of rebellion, hopefully graduating by the end of the show.

Fans of the book will be familiar with some of the material in this show, like the fish finger handshake, but there is plenty of new stuff for you to enjoy. There are some nice visual gags dotted through the evening on a PowerPoint display, aimed at an Australian audience.  There’s also a great bit of audience participation involving taking the tiny rebellion out on the street – volunteering is certainly not for the faint of heart.

The jokes can be a little crude and overdone at times, especially early in the show.  If you’ve seen Fulcher before, you know what to expect. But for the most part, ‘Tiny Acts of Rebellion’ is hilarious and a significant improvement on his last show, ‘An Evening with Eleanor, the Tour Whore’.

What really makes the difference this time around is Fulcher’s co-star. Joining him on stage for ‘Tiny Acts’ is local comedian Xavier Michelides, playing the role of Fulcher’s assistant. They make a really great combo. Michelides acts as the innocent, well-meaning foil to Fulcher’s slightly evil course instructor. It’s fantastic to see Michelides being brought on board by a big international act. He’s been showing how talented he is around the stand-up circuit for some time now and this is a great opportunity for him to be introduced to the wider audience that he deserves.

‘Tiny Acts of Rebellion’ is an enjoyable show and fans of Rich Fulcher will love it. It’s mischievous and clever, and you might just leave with some handy tips on how to deal with the little frustrations in your life.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/tiny-acts-of-rebellion-rich-fulcher

Rich Fulcher – Tiny Acts of Rebellion is showing at Lower Town Hall until April 21.

Mark Trenwith After Dark

By Cathy Culliver

Mark Trenwith may be trying to leave his usual kids comedy persona behind with this adult show, but there’s no denying he is and always will be a big kid at heart.

Better known to the younger generation as the fart-loving, armpit hair-collecting children’s entertainer Mr Snot Bottom, Trenwith clearly enjoys the sillier things in life.

But his new adult show After Dark is an attempt to distance himself from that world and present the darker and much more mature side to his comedy. Well, that’s his initial intention, but lo and behold the show quickly descends into just as much silliness as you’d see at any of his kids’ shows.

There’s something delightfully engaging about Trenwith; he’s not afraid to be goofy or make a fool of himself, and he does it all with a generous helping of good old-fashioned charm.

The show is a fun mish-mash of silly songs, nonsense games with the audience, bizarre facts and hilarious anecdotes from Trenwith’s run-ins with children at his Snot Bottom shows.

After Dark is an enjoyable hour of comedy that will remind you it’s OK to not take yourself too seriously. As Trenwith says, he’d much rather talk about Grug books and make silly faces at a dinner party than talk about serious adult stuff. And I have to say, I’m kind of with him on that.

This is lovely, funny little show from a delightful and charismatic performer.

After Dark is showing at Tuxedo Cat until April 21. For more information, visit:
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/after-dark-mark-trenwith

Horses That Shoot Lasers From Their Eyes : Subject To Change

By Colin Flaherty

The pre-festival publicity for this show was intriguing, an elaborate and vague title, and the only description being “Content and themes may vary”. They even went to the effort of flyering wearing a horse’s mask to add further mystery. The anonymity was lifted as it was revealed that this is a stand up show featuring three comics who had made the trek down from Brisbane (Hannes Monaghan, Jacob Lingard and David Scullion).

This is solid pub stand up by three comics whose delivery is different enough to provide variety to its no-frills staging. It’s interesting to note that some themes carry through the entire show. All shared the experience of flying down together so all feel the need to cover it. Most of the observations about the process are on the generic side but each give it their own spin to prevent it from being too samey. The other topic that gets a flogging is their inability to understand women which is par for the course for young, straight guys. Thankfully there are enough creative and amusing lines through these routines to add freshness.

Hannes is first to hit the stage and has some entertaining routines about his German mother, relationship break ups and poker machines. A very measured, almost lackadaisical delivery gives us a gentle start to the show but he has plenty of witty lines to keep us laughing.

Jacob is next and gets some humorous mileage out of various medical conditions that he has been afflicted with. Including these ailments gives his treatment of the hackneyed topics in his set some greater depth and a point of difference from others. Self-deprecation fills the bulk of his set which is nicely paired with a touch of jokey dismissiveness.

Rounding out the show was David who has billed himself as “The Irish Stallion”. His is a high energy performance and a logical progression from the other two to end things on a bang rather than a whimper. It is nice that he uses the common topics as segues into related material, often leading us into unexpected areas. His use of off-colour remarks as punch lines provides plenty of guilty giggles.

This being their debut MICF show, it is a good calling card for a trio of emerging stand ups from up north whose future endeavours are worth keeping an eye open for.

Subject To Change is on at Highlander Bar.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/subject-to-change-horses-that-shoot-lasers-from-their-eyes

Fabian Lapham & The Actual Musicians : God Fights the Dinosaurs & 9 Other Stories That Will Awesome You in the Face

By Colin Flaherty


Part rock gig, part performance art piece, this elaborately titled show sees Fabian Lapham and band (Asha on guitar, Andy on bass, Cynthia on uke and vocals, and Shane on drums) deliver almost what it says on the tin (Fabian explains that the degree of awesoming to the face may vary). Through a set of clever, amusing songs they tell a series of stories about love, heartbreak, philosophy and the trials of life. As a sort of between song banter, Fabian offers up some very silly pieces of stand up, hilariously lame impersonations and Russell Crowe poetry.

Most of the songs have spoken monologues for verses which, even with Fabian’s speedy delivery, helps with clarity compared to if these lines were sung. It certainly removes the need for every line to scan properly and is a perfect fit for these narrative heavy tunes. Before you call laziness on this ploy, he can hold a tune when singing the choruses that need a male voice while Cynthia provides sweet vocals elsewhere.

The majority of the humour is in the form of the absurdist lines that pepper the monologues. It does so in a way that gets laughs at their silliness while propelling the story forward. The songs don’t have to build to a punchline as you would normally expect from musical comedy, these tunes instead wrap up the narrative neatly and musically which isn’t a bad thing when the content is so entertaining.

It’s interesting to see how they have made the music an integral part of the show, even when we appear to be between songs. All segments get some appropriate musical backing to create mood and often add humour in the process. The celebration of the third wanking joke of the show gets its own theme tune while a collection of left over one liners races a musical clock.

There is some very clever songwriting going on here. We get call-backs to earlier stories or offhand comments either through the storytelling or musical motifs. One song even outlines the life of another song with the chorus comprising the angelic performance of this anthem during the story. Not all of this musical magic is funny and themes of the some songs are downright serious, but it sure does create wonderful atmosphere for Fabian’s witty lines to shine like beacons.

The interaction between Fabian and the band is brilliant. All are mute (save for singing) and straight faced as Fabian spouts his often self-deprecating lines, regularly rolling their eyes at him as if they’d rather be elsewhere. The only display of emotion we get from the band is at the finale with some hilarious, carefully controlled mayhem while rocking out.

A brilliant fusion of comedy, music and theatre it’s a wonderful experience. Featuring beautiful song-writing and expert musicianship you will be tapping your toes as well as laughing heartily.

God Fights the Dinosaurs… is on at Northcote Town Hall

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/god-fights-the-dinosaurs-9-other-stories-that-will-awesome-you-in-the-face-fabian-lapham-the-actual-musicians

Barry Morgan – Organ is not a dirty word

By Elyce Phillips

‘Organ is not a dirty word’ takes us to Barry Morgan’s World of Organs – a kitschy music shop located in Sunnyside Mall. Here we learn of Morgan’s rivalry with a childhood acquaintance who has opened up a store next door selling electronic pianos.

Barry Morgan is a great character and watching him at the organ is a joy. The constant grinning, the safari suit, the fabulous hair – for all his over-the-topness, Morgan feels like a fully realized character. Getting to hear about his relationship with his deceased Mum Nancy was a nice addition. Her words of wisdom dotted throughout the evening were always funny and at times, oddly touching.

The show did feel a little long in parts, though this is perhaps because the humor got a bit ‘Are You Being Served?’ for my tastes. Despite the title, ‘organ’ can indeed by a dirty word, and this was a concept that was made very clear repeatedly. ‘Organ is not a dirty word’ has a pantomime feel to it. There are quite a few sections of audience participation, both as group yelling out of things and singling out individuals. However, while I found it a little overdone at times, the audience really seemed to get a kick out of it.

Morgan’s comedic style certainly fits with the nostalgic vibe of the show. References to dial phones, Bex and ‘Pot of Gold’ would probably be lost on a younger audience, but they are still very present in Barry Morgan’s world. Entering his shop is a step back in time.

The one place where the present day occasionally creeps through is the music. In amongst the classics, Morgan chucks in a little ‘Black Eyed Peas’ and other more contemporary acts for the kids. The clash between the melodies of these tracks that you’d usually hear blasting over the PA in a store and the gorgeous sound of Morgan’s Aurora organ was fantastic. The camera Morgan set up to look over the keyboard was a wonderful touch.  It’s amazing to watch Morgan at work on the keys and see just how complicated the organ operation is. Not particularly funny, sure, but fascinating.

‘Organ is not a dirty word’ is a great peek into the world of Barry Morgan and a delightful snapshot into the past. It’s worth checking out if you’d like a healthy dose of nostalgia.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/organ-is-not-a-dirty-word-barry-morgan
Barry Morgan – Organ is not a dirty word is showing at the New Ballroom at Trades Hall until April 21.