Tag: Laura Davis

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Awards 2015

Well what an amazing Festival it’s been this year. So many shows were on offer (over 500) that it took longer for the Award Committee to get their Nominations ready for announcement. So many we could only touch the surface in our reviews. We try to cover a broad range with a focus on smaller local acts. We’ve all seen a lot of shows and every one of us has put in a lot of voluntary work. We do it for love. Because we are fans of comedy and we want to share our love.

Thanks to the Squirrel Team, to the Melbourne International Festival team for giving Melbourne one of the best Festivals in the world and to the performers who give their hearts and souls to entertain people and bring us joy in many varied and amazing ways.

Awards are difficult. If the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has taught us anything it’s that there are Many different ways to make us laugh; from improvised silent clowning to Musical Comedy supported by a symphony orchestra at Hamer Hall to a solo wordsmith in a spotlight with nothing but their words. How can you say one performer is better than another? Yet it feels good to celebrate excellence and give performers something to aim for.

Honestly any comedian who performed all of their shows and feels good about them and the majority of their audiences is a success. Bravo!

Just a note to let you know that The People’s Choice Award this year was not a vote, as such. It went to the comedian who sold the most tickets.

Our Warmest Congratulations to:

Barry Award (Best Comedy Performer) Winner: Sam Simmons – Spaghetti For BreakfastLaura Davis Ghost

Golden Gibbo Award (Independant & Creative show) Winner: Laura Davis – Ghost machine

Piece of Wood (Peer Voted – Comedian’s Choice): Anne Edmonds – You Know What I’m Like!

Director’s Choice Award winner: Matt Okine  – The Other Guy

Peoples choice: Wil Anderson – Free Wil

Funny Tonne (Audience Member seeing the most [over 100] shows): Sarah Trevarthen

And previously announced:

Class Clowns (Teen competition) Winner:  Will Mckenna (14) from Eltham College (VIC)

RAW Comedy (Newcomer competition) Winner: Angus Gordon (QLD), Runner Up: Rohan Ganju (Vic) Special Mentions: Sam Taunton (Vic) & Jess Perkins (Vic)

Deadly Funny National Final Winner: Nina Kirby  (VIC)

The Deadly Mentorship Award Winner: Karen Edwards (QLD)

Laura Davis – Ghost Machine

By Elyce PhillipsGhost MAchine

After the success of last year’s ‘Pillow of Strength’, Laura Davis is back at MICF with her new show ‘Ghost Machine’. Appearing before the audience as a ghost, Davis tackles the big questions surrounding our existence – What are we made of? How real are our feelings? What is the point of it all anyway? It’s the funniest existential crisis you’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.

In a way, it’s tough material to make comedy from. Questioning your own existence doesn’t tend to be a barrel of laughs. And yet, it’s such a quiet, secretive thing that most of us do, to discuss it in the loud, blunt way that Davis does highlights the absurdity of so much that is deep and scary in this world. We are all ridiculous creatures, dealing with the unknowable in our own imperfect, stupid ways.

Davis isn’t afraid to get personal with the audience. She shares stories about her childhood, her menial day job and her regrets, and invites the audience to do the same, applying her sharp wit to make comedy of our own sadnesses and terrible decisions. The show is raw, but this makes it feel more intimate and honest. It’s that honesty that makes Davis’ work so hilarious. She holds nothing back in her performance and it makes you want to reciprocate that openness by sending back laughter and joy into the terrifying void she speaks of.

‘Ghost Machine’ is introspective, but not self-pitying. Sad, but not despairing. It’s loose enough to draw your own conclusions from, or leave you questioning whether there are even any conclusions to be drawn. You’ll certainly be thinking about Davis’ words long after the show has ended. When I left, I felt like I needed a support group to help process all the thoughts and feelings it brought up, but in the absence of that, I feel like the next best thing would be to go and see the show a second time.

Laura Davis – Ghost Machine is on at Fort Delta until April 19
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/ghost-machine-laura-davis

Laura Davis – Pillow of Strength

By Hannah Frazer

A refreshingly honest storytelling of love, loving and kick in the guts heartbreak. Laura Davis is unashamedly bold and unique in her show Pillow of Strength.

From the moment you enter the room you begin to gain a greater understanding of the personality that is Davis. Music playing, she dances around her stage without a care in the world as the audience take their seats. Her inhibitions are non-existent while she loses herself in the music.

Davis bravely tells her brutally personal tale of woe which are so present it is almost like she is reliving those moments in front of you. From the heart skipping nervous excitement of its beginning, to the soul destroying pain of its demise, Davis gives an energetic illustration of what she was thinking and feeling as her relationship was coming to what would seem to be its enviable end.

So deeply in love from the moment of their first meeting, Davis depicts the agony of trying to deny her initial feelings and how that was a painstakingly useless task. The trouble being that these strong emotions would only make the loss that much more painful to bare. This relationship would also set a precedent for any future relationships here on after.

So easily Davis can turn this raw, heartbreaking and private story into an hour of entrancing light entertainment. A rare talent, Davis takes this sensitive topic and makes it ok to laugh at it. With some moments being so uncomfortably familiar to most, you will be left cringing on the edge of your seat, while others leaving you doubled over gasping for air as you try not to laugh and snort your appreciation for her carefully crafted material too obnoxiously.

A quirky, edgy and defiantly original performer, Davis doesn’t hold back. She bares all, and is completely and rightfully unapologetic. Captivating and entertaining never looked so easy or so simple. Davis depicts the confidence that most woman and men strive to achieve.

Laura Davis is on at The Lithuanian Club until Oct 4

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/laura-davis-pillow-of-strength/

 

Laura Davis – Look out it’s a trap!

By Lisa Clark

Watching Laura Davis is like spending time with a kid who’s had too much red cordial at a party and is blurting out everything on her mind. Her bubbly personality and high pitched voice give you expectations of a bright happy comedy festival show, however the subject matter is anything but.

She begins by endearingly introducing us to the medical kit laid out on the table beside her. Laura has some rather impeding health issues that make these items necessary and for the rest of the show every time she sips from her glass and her face winces in disgust, you can’t help but sympathise. Not long after this she introduces us to some large cardboard props that had no stands, and spent the show on the floor propped against the curtain. It might have been best to put them out of sight.

First was the ‘Look out it’s a’ graph of the show, with lines predicting audience reaction to her show, it was indeed amusing, but the danger here for a new comedian is that it is not a fresh idea and you have to be pretty talented and sure of yourself to pull it off. The second danger was that by staying in sight, it proved that the show didn’t quite live up to her expectations. The second big prop, was a life sized cardboard map of the human body set out with humorous labels, only she didn’t capitalise on all the work she put in by gaining maximum laughs and discarded it fairly quickly.

Most of Laura’s material is about her rather serious health issues, her, no doubt related, obsession with death, her loneliness and the dire jobs she’s escaped. She say’s she finds the saddest stories funny, but has a bit of trouble conveying the funny to us. She does manage some substantial laughs particularly when setting up the show and in some of her highly engaging if rather tragic stories, but the chuckles get fewer and more polite as she goes along.

Laura spends a lot of time setting up and deconstructing her jokes and show, which is again a bit of a trap for an inexperienced comedian and instead of clever can appear time wasting and over analytical. She seems to come out of bad situations with some insight which she hopes will inspire her audience, but it appears that what is more important is gaining validation from the audience, indeed she demands it. Setting up her lower status at the beginning and her perky personality help keep the audience on her side.

Laura’s a strange mix of cheerful self loathing, doubt and over confidence. She certainly has enough to talk about for an hour but it doesn’t flow very smoothly and tends to be a bit all over the place. She is obviously aware of the sort of tools required to create a comedy festival show, I’m just not sure if she is quite ready to put them to best use. As a relatively new comedian doing a solo festival show she fell into a few traps herself, though she’s on the right road and by putting in the hard yards will no doubt find her way in the future.

Laura Davis is performing at the Tuxedo Cat
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/look-out-it-s-a-trap-laura-davis

5 Good Reasons to see Dave Bloustien, Laura Davis and Shane Matheson.

5 reasons to see Dave Bloustien’s Grand Guignol 

1. Rip It Up Magazine said “murder will never make you laugh so hard”. And they’re from Adelaide, so they should know.

2. It’s equal parts comedy and horror. So if it’s hilarious, it’s comedy. And if it’s horrible, it’s on purpose.

3. It has creeptastic puppets designed and built by Henson-trained comedian Lana Schwarcz and original music written and performed by FourPlay String Quartet’s Peter Hollo (with Dave) (you can see / hear some of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWBBIjim0NU)

4. It has something for everyone: standup, storytelling, extreme silliness, a castrated pharoah, party political cult conspiracies, fractured fairy tales, barista confessions, beat poetry and a fez.

5. In 10 years of comedy, it’s the best thing Dave Bloustien (Good News Week, Glass house, Randling) has written. And he’s written a LOT.

6. It’s ‘arts’ so you can enjoy it, even if you are innumerate.

Dave Bloustien’s Grand Guignol is on at Trades Hall in the The Evatt Room

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/grand-guignol-dave-bloustien-s

FIVE REASONS TO SEE Laura Davis Look Out, It’s a Trap!

1: This is the worst joke Laura has ever written. Q: “What’s a ghosts favourite kind of beer? A: Ghosts don’t like beer. They prefer spirits. See? Even that’s pretty good.

2: If you would like to see what it would be like if Lisa Simpson did Stand-Up Comedy.

3: If you’d like to see something that you’ll never have expected unless you’re very good at expecting things.

4: The show is free. As in the adjective, not the adverb. “You walk out feeling warm, contented, practically hugged
Go and see Laura Davis if you like laughing and feeling nice.” –Watchoutfor.com

5:Laura has been compared to Comics Daniel Kitson, Josie Long and David O’Doherty. If you enjoy any of those people, then you’ll probably enjoy “Look Out, It’s a Trap!”

Laura Davis Look Out, It’s a Trap! is on at The Tuxedo Cat from the 11th of April

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/look-out-it-s-a-trap-laura-davis


Five good reasons to see Shane Matheson  And The Immortal Space Hopper of Doom

1.Last year I won the mysterious “Jhonsy Award” for most innovative local act.

2.The show has a great Broadway number.

3.The audience gets to join in the fun by throwing things at me.

4.It contains a topical joke about 16th Century religious persecution.

5.I literally die on stage (not literally).

Shane Matheson And The Immortal Space Hopper of Doom is on at The Tuxedo Cat from the 11th of April

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/and-the-immortal-space-hopper-of-doom-shane-matheson