Set List : Stand-Up Without A Net

By Lisa Clark

In a short time (only a couple of years) Set List is becoming an exciting must see for comedy fans and a must do for Stand up artists. Created by Americans Troy Conrad and host Paul Provenza (famous for the Aristocrats film and TV show The Green Room with Paul Provenza), itā€™s a sort of Theatresports for stand up performers and has become a fixture at both the Edinburgh Fringe and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Last year it was on very late at night, this year itā€™s been brought forward a little, so it doesnā€™t clash with Festival Club and itā€™s easier to get to for those whoā€™d prefer an early night.

A set list is more commonly known as a list of songs performed by a band, for a comedian itā€™s a list of words or phrases referring to practiced comedy routines that they plan to do for their set, something never usually seen by an audience (unless you glimpse the backs of their hands). At Set List the list is generated for them by the Set List Team and a random phrase pops up on a big screen where the comedians see it for the first time and has to make up a routine around it on the spot.

Like Theatresports or the circus watching it can be as thrilling and terrifying for the audience as it is for the performer. Audiences are encouraged to take part by adding ideas on small slips of paper to the suggestion box which the comedian can reach for during their routine if stuck for an idea. Paul also encourages the audience to join in by not being a Dick. In other words, weā€™re there to support the comedians and enjoy the fun, rather than heckle and jeer and make it more difficult for them. It encourages a great vibe and a good time can be had by all.

Itā€™s pretty unfair almost pointless to review the performers themselves as there are going to be vast differences depending on the comedianā€™s experience at improvisation, experience at Set List and the topics they are given. For example a comedian had to cope with a word they clearly didnā€™t know the meaning of. Generally though, all the performers coped really well and the laughs were pretty much non-stop even if they were occasionally for the wrong reason. Some started strongly on an adrenaline high then gradually lost momentum, possibly from thinking too hard and others started slowly and warmed into it. The latter included Set List virgin Matt Okine who enjoyed explaining why Ski-ing = Racism and veritable veteran Wil Anderson who was gifted the topic Gay Time of the month and could barely be restrained from cracking out line after line about homosexuality and ice-creams.

To give you a taste of the ride we enjoyed that night, we were treated to Felicity Ward with her Heroin vs Crack Insights, Simon Munnery who effortlessly explained the ā€˜3 Types of Serial Killers I supportā€™, a nervous Celia Pacquola tackled ā€˜Genocide Sensitivityā€™ in a surprising and clever way, and Ronny Chieng, as cool and smooth as ever, tried to get ā€˜8 people to join Scientology.ā€™

This is a fantastic experience for comedy nerds as well as a broadly entertaining show for casual punters to take a group of friends to. Thereā€™s bound to be a laugh in this for anyone out to have a good time, only remember donā€™t be dicks!

Set List is on at The Victoria Hotel
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/set-list-stand-up-without-a-net

Sam Simmons – Shitty Trivia

By Lisa Clark

Considering that Sam Simmons created a brilliant television show for the ABC (Problems) at short notice last year it is astonishing that Sam has had the time to get together a full length comedy festival show at all. It isnā€™t up to last yearā€™s glorious and romantic About The WeatherĀ but itā€™s Samā€™s loopy equivalent of an hour of standup and thatā€™s pretty damn entertaining.

If youā€™ve seen Problems youā€™ll have an idea of his Pub Trivia Guy character, or you might have heard his Shitty Trivia on Triple J radio. This is more fast paced and his rapid one liners are framed as questions with answers that the audience canā€™t possibly guess and his disappointment in the audienceā€™s inability to guess gets more so as it goes along,Ā escalatingĀ towards anger as his questions progress from traditional comedy, to weirder absurdity and then rather tasteless and off putting filth. Heā€™s aware of occasionally alienating the audience but comedically blames us for not being on his wave length. My favourite shout to the audience was ā€˜Weā€™re in a fuckinā€™ RSL, Relax!ā€™

Sam breaks up the questions with RSL announcements, a pigeon impression, some cute and not so cute pictures and a running conversation with an amiable meat tray called Russell who becomes a side kick of sorts. The obligatory dragging up of someone on stage for cuddles & ritual humiliation was a tad unnecessary and the kid, who enjoyed it at first, was left on stage for way too long, to the point that he got a bit bored. I felt a good ten minutes could have been trimmed from this show (though I feel like that about a lot of festival shows I see), though Sam conveyed grumpily that there had been a stuff up with the otherwise impressive sound cues that may have interfered with the flow or something. It was hard to tell in the audience, because although he did have a running thread about a mysterious shoe, a lot of it is pretty surreal and silly.

The amazing thing about Sam is that his style has never changed, itā€™s developed and improved, but heā€™s still the same eccentric comedian I saw over 10 years ago, with his recorded music, supporting cards, strangely amusing cartoons, love of animals, non-sequiturs and jazzy style. The comedy connoisseurs at The Local loved him, but we couldnā€™t imagine at the time that he would fill huge mainstream local and overseas theatres, the way he does now. Proving that audiences enjoy taking risks more than you might assume and they know a born comedian when they see one.

Sam Simmons is at The Hifi Bar
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/shitty-trivia-sam-simmons

Alexis Simmonds : Tales of a Straight, Single Cat Lady

By Colin Flaherty

Alexis ā€œLexiā€ Simmonds is 41, single, heavily into craft and the proud owner of two cats and a dog. After bounding onto the stage as a wannabe leather Cat Woman, this self-professed Cat Lady tells us colourful stories from her life; from dates with dodgy characters to being a crafty superhero. Some would argue that there is too little obsessive adoration of her feline friends but the stories are interesting enough to hold your interest.

There are quite a few interesting ideas and amusing lines in this show but Lexiā€™s poor delivery works against it. Her lack of ease on stage could possibly be dismissed as the timid and socially awkward stage persona she is attempting to portray but her bold introduction suggests otherwise. Her timing isnā€™t the greatest and words often fail to flow easily. The result is punch-lines that lack the required punch and too many flat spots. It is more like a friend telling stories in her lounge-room and regularly getting herself into a verbal twist as she tries to get all the details correct.

Many props emerge during this performance, mostly her highly creative crocheted covers for mundane objects to transform them into items of power. These possessions are passed around the audience for all to witness their beauty and ingenuity.

Lexi has clearly put in the hard yards to include plenty of colour and movement in this performance. She sings a number of parody songs based upon various popular indie tracks that relate to the story at hand. Her singing voice is pleasant enough to listen to, but most of the backing tracks still have their original lyrics intact revealing that she has only changed some of words. This makes clarity an issue and things regularly become glorified karaoke.

A lack of experience and a lot of rough edges results in this show being a bit too patchy to be a barrel of laughs. Spending time with this kooky lady could give you a few chuckles.

Tales of a Straight, Single Cat Lady is on at Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets.
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/tales-of-a-straight-single-cat-lady-alexis-simmonds

Sweet Child of Mine

By Colin Flaherty

Like most practitioners in the arts, Bron Battonā€™s parents donā€™t quite get what she actually does. Through a series of filmed interviews, performances and monologues by Bron and even live stand up spots by her Dad, James, Sweet Child of Mine explores the cultural and generational divide between Mr and Mrs Batten and one of their offspring.

A lot of the humour comes from the parentā€™s blunt but honest responses to the questions Bron poses to them about the art world. This raises the question of whether the comedic premise of this performance is focused on the artistic naĆÆvety of the older generation or the pretentiousness of the performing arts. It could depend on the audience watching it; an arty Fringe Festival crowd could lean towards the former while a general Comedy Festival audience could see the latter. It walks this fine line constantly but all can agree that having a loving and supportive family is the point of this show.

The dance pieces that Bron performs for us are executed seriously. Humorous costuming (she performs most of the show dressed in her underwear and dons some elaborately amusing outfits) keep it from being too much like a dour modern dance show. She does a good job of giving us a taste of the dance pieces that are referred to in the interviews but curiously, they donā€™t always match the conversations chronologically.

Bron does a serviceable job in making her monologues amusing. Her anecdotes about her familyā€™s history and her artistic endeavours contain enough funny details to elicit some laughs of recognition.

A roleplaying exercise involving an audience volunteer speaking with Bronā€™s mother via telephone is an attempt to tug at the heartstrings. Only hearing one side of the conversation is disappointing and robs this scene of its power.

James threatens to steal the show whenever he is on stage or screen. Flirting with his demure wife of 40+ years is so charmingly cheeky. He tells adorable Dad Jokes, pokes fun at Bronā€™s lifestyle and bravely goes off script to his daughterā€™s horror. He seems to be really enjoying touring this show with his daughter.

A bold and ambitious endeavour, Sweet Child of Mine has been garnering acclaim at various Fringe Festivals but it is still geared towards dramatic performance rather than a comedic one. Nonetheless it has enough warmth to keep you smiling.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/sweet-child-of-mine-bron-batten-her-parents

Luke Heggie Mega Dry

By Caitlin Crowley

Heggie first came to notice in 2010 when he won the Raw Comedy Final with a tight set of one-liners delivered in an unemotional, deadpan style. Since then heā€™s gone on to develop full length shows and win more awards including Time Outā€™s best comedian award in 2012.

This year heā€™s drawn on his time spent as a bottle shop attendant for his comedy festival show Mega Dry. His tales are about alcoholics in denial, last hope losers and middle class dad jokers. His riff on bourbon drinkers, their leisure habits and their pronunciation, is a clear highlight. Thereā€™s no affection for his previous customers, nor anyone for that matter, but this isnā€™t cruel comedy either, Heggie serves up his observations from the perspective of one who has been worn down by an endless assault of the brainless. Thereā€™s a slight diversion into material about how mollycoddled kids are these days. Itā€™s solid stuff but pretty well-worn territory these days.

Heggie has a laconic stage presence, an air of the knockabout Aussie bloke, but donā€™t be mistaken, his material is sharp, he has a neat turn of phrase and he knows how to craft good jokes. He finished the show with a song, which he admits is not particularly funny, but does demonstrate a not-too-shabby set of vocal chords. He would have been better served by using some musical accompaniment for his daggier jokes or making the lyrics tighter. Either way itā€™s a clever way to break up the rhythm of the show and shift the energy levels around.

Thereā€™s a sense that Heggie is a lot smarter than his stage personae, that if he wanted to he could challenge himself and push through to another level of deeper material. In the meantime heā€™s doing a fine job; heā€™s relaxed, easy to watch and writes some fine material.

Luke is performing at Tony Starr’s Kitten Club &Ā the Melbourne Town Hall

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/mega-dry-luke-heggie

Daniel Connell – MR PERSONALITY 1988

By Lisa Clark

Daniel Connell is a laid back country boy with a delivery that reminded me of Dave Quirk minus any hint of darkness. Heā€™s a personable personality to spend an hour with but as perplexed as anyone why he won a personality contest when he was five.

The first ten minutes of Daniel Connellā€™s show about travelling on public transport is completely dispensable and had me a bit worried. The one consolation was that those who arrived late didnā€™t miss anything important. When he did finally don his winning sash, he admitted that he didnā€™t remember anything about the win, which had me worrying again. This wasnā€™t going to be one of these festival shows that lures you in with an interesting premise that it then fails to address was it?

Thankfully Daniel was setting himself a quest and gradually, he pieces together the mysteries of that day and how he ended up in possession of a sash and white ceramic owl. Daniel paints a warm and amusing picture of his family in Batemans Bay with its Bowling Club, Rotary Club and Neptune Festival which hosted the Mr Personality contest in 1988, that he somehow won. He has tales of his mean older sisters, two wacky mates and parents with senses of humour as dry as his own. This is the backbone of the show and the most successful part.

He goes off on some tangents which are cleverly woven in. It doesnā€™t really matter that theyā€™ve been shoved in, because his material about the ‘animals fighting in the wild’ website is clearly gold. Unfortunately the disappointing ending feels false and forced and despite some laughs doesnā€™t fit with the show weā€™ve just enjoyed and leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth.

Danielā€™s style is often deadpan with a quick twinkle in the eye that stops it becoming too monotone. He has just the right amount of props and family photos to support his stand up and it’s not a bad way to spend an hour. With only a few cuts and tweaks there are the makings of a top notch festival show here.

Daniel Connell is performing at The Forum Theatre in the Carpet Room.
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/mr-personality-1988-daniel-connell