PETER HELLIAR – WHATEVS (…FOREVS)

By James Shackell

It’s always a risk to include in the name of your comedy show words that a potential reviewer could use as an apt description of that show, a risk Peter Helliar ran this year with Whatevs (…forevs). But far from generating apathy (or feeling interminable), Helliar’s crazy eyes, comedy nous and brash bravado combine for a satisfying, if not groundbreaking, night of laughs.

On the other hand, ‘whatevs’ is a pretty good word to sum up the scattershot nature of the gig. Helliar happily lurches from the awesomeness of Costco, to Catholicism, to the humdrum ironies of married life, to toilet-related anecdotes, clearing ungainly segues in a single leap while laughing at the disconnects along the way. His impression of the Dalai Lama (think Michael Jackson on Valium), was a particular – and unwittingly disturbing – surprise, growing as it somehow did from musings on the judgement we get for using plastic bags at the supermarket checkout.

It has to be said Helliar’s timing is superb, as you’d expect from someone who’s been around the traps since working with Rove (remember Rove?) back in 1998. He knows instinctively how far to push a joke, when to mould his rubber face into cherubic glee or appalled horror, when to let subtle mannerisms do the work for him. And while the material treads well worn paths of comedy (bewildered deconstruction of youth culture, observations on marriage and kids etc) the destination is always refreshing.

Helliar also works the crowd well, bouncing jokes off a couple of audience members (whom he thanked personally after the show – a nice touch). But for those in the front row, don’t worry, there’s not much crowd participation. As Helliar says, “It’s my show, I’ll do the work.”

The funny thing is I’d always been someone for whom ‘whatevs’ pretty much summed up my view of Peter Helliar. I could take him or leave him. How wrong, and happily wrong, I turned out to be.

Peter Helliar is performing at the Victoria Hotel – Banquet Room
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/whatevs-forevs-peter-helliar

Raw Comedy Winner

On Sunday 14th of April the RAW Grand final was filmed in Melbourne and hosted by Matt Okine. There were also special guest appearances by Celia Pacquola and the winner of the inaugural RAW Comedy India competition held late last year, Neeti Palta.

The winner of RAW comedy in 2013 was surreal performer Demi Lardner from Adelaide. She has won a trip to Edinburgh!

Runner up was Cameron Duggan from Brisbane

Third place was given to Victoria’s Andy Mathews.

Congratulations to everyone who took part.

ABC2 will be airing the RAW Grand Final on Thursday May 9.

Abel Seaman : Art! Art! Art!

By Colin Flaherty

After exploring Australian history last year (Australia! Australia! Australia!, MICF 2012) the duo of Abel Seaman (Martin Dunlop and Michael Teychenne) are back to tackle the art world. This is a silly hour of sketch mocking many artists and movements as well as taking clever swipes at the creative process, art marketing and art appreciation. If already you’ve seen the YouTube videos promoting the show you’ll be pleased to know that only some of this material makes an appearance, plenty more ideas are on offer.

There is a comfortable mix of one joke sketches and more involved pieces. Many scenes explore some clever concepts and contain witty lines while others are based on pure silliness to keep the audience chuckling. A couple of recurring sketches are problematic; one fails to repeat the brilliance of the first iteration while the other only exists to set up a rather limp finale.

At times they assume you know some background about the artist/movement to work things out on your own, but these jokes are general enough to get laughs on a superficial level. One particular sketch assumes knowledge about two kids TV shows about art and if you aren’t familiar with either program understanding the references is quite a challenge. They do preface it with a warning of age specificity and add plenty of visual gags but the considerable length of it puts it in danger of losing some punters.

Using costuming and props, they bring an array of wacky characters to life. It often seems that Michael is the one most eager to don a wig and put on a silly accent while Martin plays the straight man perfectly to keep the humorous lines flowing. They bounce off one another seamlessly and can easily cope when one goes momentarily off script or the audience throws up a surprise.

Art! Art! Art! Is a highly entertaining hour of sketch by two talented fellows. Their enthusiasm is infectious and their stagecraft is polished enough to make it look effortless. I look forward to seeing what thrice titled show they bring us next year.

Art! Art! Art! is on at Highlander Bar
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/art-art-art-abel-seaman

The Lords of Luxury

By Elyce Phillips

4-piece sketch group Lords of Luxury successfully made the transition from podcasts to live performance last year.  Now they have honed their stage skills and give us this silly, weird and very shouty offering.

The Lords (Paul Verhoeven, Luke Ryan, Dan Debuf and Matt Saracini) attack their hour with infectious manic enthusiasm.  Their constant excitement floods the venue and you can’t help but get swept up in it. The atmosphere they create is fantastic. From the moment a snaggletoothed robot introduced the gents, the audience was on board. Sections involving audience participation were handled deftly. There was not a dull moment to be found.

The sketches are diverse and often absurd.  The Lords whip from the Titanic, to a film production office, to a magic show. The pace does not let up. Though all the sketches hit the mark, by far the highlight of the evening was the dramatic recreation of a sci-fi/action/romance/adventure story, written by Ryan when he was 14. Verhoeven’s turn as a wavy-haired, angular-featured alien beauty is quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen this month.

The Lords, though all great performers in their own right, are at their best as a team. They look like they’re genuinely having a great time messing around up on stage and it really adds to energy of the sketches. There’s just something so wonderful about seeing grown men in tuxedos being utterly ridiculous. It’s an absolute joy to watch these guys do their thing.

I highly recommend Lords of Luxury. The show is downright bizarre and tear-enducingly funny.  In what is proving to be an excellent year for sketch comedy, the Lords of Luxury are right up there with the best of them. It’s worth the price of admission to see the alien nightclub scene alone. Consider the rest a hilarious bonus.

Lords of Luxury is showing in the Bookroom at Trades Hall until April 20.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/lords-of-luxury

MICF Award Nominees Announced

There are seven Nomineed shows for The Barry Award this year.

Hannah Gadsby who is doing two shows – her personal show about surviving her teen years and becoming an adult – Happiness is a Bedside Table and her art show which this year is called Nakedly Nudes and is becoming a bit of a tradition and sells out pretty quickly.

John Conway – The New John Conway Tonight Show. An anarchic crazy late night chat show.

Kitty Flanagan, for Hello Kitty Flanagan. A stunning performer who came back to Australia from the UK a couple of years ago for which are all immensely grateful.

Max & Ivan Are Con Artists –  British performers who’ve been getting some good reviews. (I’ve clearly not seen them)

Michael Workman with another magical lyrical story Ave Lorretta.

Rich Hall he’s so fabulous his show doesn’t need a name. He kicked ass at Political Asylum’s Late Night Riot too.

Trevor Noah The Racist. He’s South African and have heard fabulous things about him.

 

Now for this year’s Nominees for The Golden Gibbo! (Named in honour of the late Melbourne comedian Lynda Gibson it is awarded to “a local, independent show that bucks trends and pursues the artist’s idea more strongly than it pursues any commercial lure”.)

Kate McLennan & Wes Snelling for their Moosehead awarded, site specific work Standard Double. A character  based show set in a hotel room that can only hold a small audience.

Simon Keck – Nob Happy Sock – For his moving and amazing show about depression with the most heart stopping opening of the festival

Slutmonster and Friends (Jessie Ngaio, Lucas Heil & Wes Gardner) – a gorgeously designed, joyful celebration of sex, silliness and puppets.

Tommy Bradson – Sweet Sixteen or the Birthday Party Massacre. Rock Musical satire of suburbia.

The Writers (Bob Franklin, Stephen Curry and Stephen Stagg) – What goes on in the mind of Bob Franklin?

 

The Best Newcomer nominees were announced on Tuesday April 16th they are….

Damien Power – Monkey’s in Space

Dayne Rathbone – It’s Me Dayne and The New Conway Tonight Show.

Luke McGregor – My Soulmate is Out of My League

and Steen Raskopoulos – Bruce SpringSTEEN LIVE IN CONCERT!


Congrats to all the 2013 Nominees, Winners will be announced next Saturday April 20th (well… actually early Sunday morning)  at the Comedy Festival Club Hifi Bar

The Wizard Sandwiches

By Elyce Phillips

The Wizard Sandwiches (Jerryd Clifford, Stuart Daulman, Andrew Belsten, Dylan Cole and Jake Ludwyke) are a local sketch comedy group and while they might be relatively new to the festival scene, the boys have put together a really accomplished and confident show. It is sketch comedy in its purest form – aside from a couple of running jokes dotted throughout proceedings, there is no overarching narrative, no message tying it all together. It is simply silliness presented in many different forms, and The Wizard Sandwiches do silliness very well.

The show is fast-paced and consistently funny. All five performers are equally strong, but it’s a diverse group of talent. Each of the Wizard Sandwiches crew brings a different energy, from the manic Charlie Day-esque Daulman to the mischievous gruffness of Ludowyke. As a team, their dynamic is fantastic. There is some great character acting in there as well. Between the five of them, with the assistance of a few props, they bring a much larger cast to life.

The sketches are twisted and delightfully absurd. The Wizard Sandwiches take you to the world of children’s netball, the Wild West and a whole lot in between. A running gag about ‘crab-thermometers’, with seemingly improvised lines involving characters telling of increasingly bizarre places where they’ve seen one before, was wonderful. Music is used to great effect, particularly in their show-stopper of an opening sketch and in some very funny callbacks to a WorkSafe ad.

The Wizard Sandwiches is inventive, playful and a whole lot of fun. This is one of the best examples of sketch comedy I’ve seen at this festival. Get in and see them now, because they’re sure to get bigger in the near future.

The Wizard Sandwiches is showing at the Old Council Chambers at Trades Hall until April 21.
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/the-wizard-sandwiches