John Kearns : Sight Gags For Perverts

By Colin Flaherty

John Kearns would be the first to admit that his show is not everyone’s cup of tea. Describing a solo trip to Berlin amongst other exercises in frustration endured over his twenty six years, he presented a exploration into loneliness, disappointment and expectation that was all over the shop in terms of mood, pacing and humourous content.

Kicking things off with a bang, Kearns donned his trademark wig and false teeth, mounted a deflated horse called Trigger and presented several high energy segments of absurd lunacy. It was these moments of silliness, pointed out as his most “accessible”, that had most of the crowd rolling on the floor.

The mood quickly turned as the sad clown aspect of the show kicked in. Melancholic monologues musing on frequent disillusionment with his world and a very long mime set in a hotel room slowed the pace to a crawl. The occasional amusing line or exaggerated gesture broke up the dour atmosphere but the audience was silent through these sequences, either in shock or enthralled wonder, save for the odd bit of nervous laughter. It was in these moments that he could either lose the audience through boredom or have them hailing him as a genius. Extremely pregnant pauses were effective in building tension and loud outbursts of anger and frustration were great releases for both us and him.

His material was very clever and insightful but the packaging of it was the barrier. Rarely breaking from character, Kearns has the appearance of a ranting madman but, despite his defeatist attitude and rough appearance, this was a damaged guy with witty insights into the human condition who is worth listening to. He even covers the zen of comedy, making it fascinating for comedy geeks like me, but this narrows his already small demographic even further.

Audience interaction played a significant role in his performance. Some of it was a little invasive but it was never malicious (he is playing lower status after all) and it felt like a group bonding experience with us all being kindred souls in life, especially in the finale.

I personally thought this was a brilliant show but it’s easy to see why others will not agree. This is comedy for the patient not those wanting the recommended 4-6 laughs per minute.

Sight Gags For Perverts is on at Melb Town Hall – Old Met Shop until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/sight-gags-for-perverts-john-kearns

Ben McKenzie is Uncool

By Noel Kelso

Co-runner and creator of D&D-style comedy show Dungeon Crawl, Ben McKenzie has a new show at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival. Titled Ben McKenzie Is Uncool it explores Ben’s life on the outside of the mainstream of culture and the ways in which this manifests itself.

Ben appears on stage clad in a green hooded robe like some ancient ritualist come to recite eldritch incantations from the books he carries that will summon forth demons from the very pit of Hell itself to torment our souls. When those books are then shown to be an old Target novelisation of Doctor Who, a Dungeons and Dragons rule book, and a Dalek Technical Manual, the audience’s fears are assuaged.

In order for us to find out precisely why it is that Ben is uncool, he first has to define that which is cool and this proves a mite tricky. So the audience is taken on a journey through adventures in school being chased by bullies and pretending they are evil aliens to his Doctor; defining himself as a feminist much to the confusion and consternation of many men he knows and a few women; watching crap British sci-fi before it got cool again, and just being ginger.

Along the way he elicits laughs by turning the show into a Choose Your Own Adventure and has audience members select cards from a stack with prepared segments printed on them. This ensures that no two shows are ever likely to be exactly the same. This is an inspired idea and fits perfectly with his overall theme.

So it is that the room hears Ben extol the virtues of drinking tea, playing board games (except Monopoly), warn of the dangers of time travel and give them his impression of a mad scientist – which, as a Scientist myself, was pretty spot-on.

McKenzie is a confident and affable performer who radiates warmth and inclusiveness to the room and the audience were held rapt by his every word. There was an appreciably large crowd present which lent the show a lot of good energy for Ben to draw on.

This is a very funny show from a very professional performer and ideal for those who know their Bat’leth from their Lightsabre.

Uncool is on at The Provincial Hotel until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/uncool-ben-mckenzie-is

Henson Alternative’s Puppet Up!: Uncensored

By Elyse Phillips

‘Puppet Up’ provides two shows in one – if you focus on the big screens, you’ll see the puppets performing improv, but if you look down on the stage, you can see the very talented puppeteers at work. Whichever you choose, you will be treated to a fast-paced, quick-witted show that inspires child-like delight, regardless of the themes.

Although ‘Puppet Up’ is billed as being ‘definitely-not-PG’, the show is only as dirty as the audience suggestions make it. The bulk of the show is made up of a series of improv games, some of which will be familiar to improv fans, like ‘New Choice’. Performers grab puppets from a wall of brightly-coloured faces. There’s fish, birds, muppet-like humanoids, hot dogs – all of which can be pulled into a scene based on what you shout out. The evening I attended, for instance, we saw a short play titled ‘Toorak Wankers’ involving a bear and crab as husband and wife.

In between the sketches, the audience is treated to some recreations of classic sketches created by Jim Henson and Frank Oz when they were in their 20s. It’s a wonderful addition to the show. The simple physical humor of the skits stands up well in 2014. There are also a couple of opportunities for more intensive audience participation, with audience members being brought up on stage. For their work, they received puppet prizes that provoked a collective “Aww” of jealously from the rest of us.

The MC for the evening, Patrick Bristow, kept things quick and light and established a great rapport with the audience. The cast of puppeteers proved to be clever, hilarious, and in some cases, fabulous singers. Their skills really shone through in their creation of a James Bond-esque film opening, complete with theme song – despite the audience suggestion ‘Salami in Wonderland’. There’s a lot of nostalgia value for anyone who grew up with Henson’s work and it’s truly fascinating to see the puppeteers at work, breathing such life into their creations.

‘Puppet Up’ is teriffic fun and an example of an improv crew that works together really well. If you’re a Henson fan or simply enjoy great improv, this show is one to check out.

Puppet Up! is on at the Princess Theatre until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/puppet-up-uncensored-henson-alternative-s

Adrienne Truscott’s Asking for It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy and Little Else

By Lisa Clark

You’ve might have heard about this award winning show; that it is controversial, provocative, brave, powerfully political and, yes, Adrienne does spend a lot of the show naked from the waist down, but you might not have heard that it is also warm, welcoming, silly and adorable. Adrienne’s southern disarming charm reminded me of Dolly Parton and she makes you feel at home from the get-go.

Adrienne is better known as one half of burlesque cabaret act The Wau Wau sisters who have been touring Australia with their show about finding themselves in mortal danger in Queensland but are sadly not doing that show for the Melbourne International comedy Festival. It is not surprising that there is a cabaret / burlesque aspect to this show; some clever strip tease, music videos being projected onto her naked torso and the odd bit of slapstick, but all have a deeper political context about peeling off layers, revealing agendas and laying bare the blind, appalling ridiculousness of misogyny.

At the heart of the show is a comedic deconstruction of the incident in 2012 where Daniel Tosh, in response to a woman’s heckle about a rape joke not being funny said about her “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by, like, five guys right now? Like right now?” and then many comedians (mostly male & some even highly respected ones) came out in Tosh’s defence, (mostly missing the point about what was offensive about it). You get the impression that this hour is a direct response to that incident and a clever, comedic form of revenge. Revenge for every woman who has been raped, threatened, intimidated, disempowered, shut down or put down. Proof for this is the fact that the stage is strewn with framed photos of many of the comedians involved, so she can point them out and hold them up to ridicule. Well, by getting involved they were asking for it – weren’t they?

The key to it all for me is at the very beginning of the show when Adrienne points out that only Jewish people can tell Jewish jokes and only African Americans can tell jokes about African Americans. The unspoken implication is that only rape victims can tell rape jokes and I think Adrienne might be subtly telling us something about herself and about the show.

Most of the music throughout, including the house music before and after are songs by men being misogynistic or intimidating sexually towards women. They are pretty toe-tapping, popular tunes. I was lucky to have my younger friend with me point out before the show that we were listening to the notorious song ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke. It’s a way of reminding us how endemic and accepted misogyny is in society without needing to say it herself.

Adrienne covers a lot of pretty serious ground but it’s so well written and performed that it is hilarious and a heap of fun throughout. Needless to say Asking for It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy and Little Else! Is not a show for everyone. But it should be.

Asking for It is on at the Portland Hotel – Portland Room until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/asking-for-it-a-one-lady-rape-about-comedy-starring-her-pussy-and-little-else-adrienne-truscott-s

Wil Anderson : Wiluminati

By Jayden Edwards

Wil Anderson’s been around comedy for a while. Almost 20 years in fact. He’s won countless awards, constantly sells out runs and he’s been beamed into millions of homes on the telly every week. “My shoes are older than you” he tells one of his younger fans just after taking to the stage. With so much experience and success, one wonders if he really needs this review to be written. I mean, if positive reviews get bums in seats, this may just help contribute to another sell out run, creating far too many bums for seats.

Never the less, he gave me reviewer tickets, so i’d best review it.

After a rockstar welcome and some quick audience banter, Wil starts the show with a brilliantly told tale of his first ever New York gig, a lifelong ambition. “I love telling this story” he proclaims, and leaves no doubt, telling it with truckloads of his trademark enthusiasm and confidence. He notes how he loves to show off at dinner parties with the story, adding a lot of “sugar”, and i’m sure we got more than a few spoonful as well; it’s just makes Wil’s comedy so much sweeter. The story has a great twist that i won’t give away, but it’s a genius stroke, and a testament to Wil’s finely tuned comic timing and the effort he puts into his structuring. With this tale, he has the audience transfixed and eating out of his hands.

His first yarn sets up themes of chance taking, life experience and growing older. They’re loose themes that leave room to move, and they tie up the show nicely towards the end with some help from some Eminem lyrics. He goes on to talk about moving to America, including a great rant about their racist “Outback” restaurants, some embarrassing issues with his “dodgy hips” and another great yarn about a gig in Alaska. There’s a little bit of political stuff too, which in the past is where Wil thrives with his hilarious point driven, angry rants, but in Wiluminati it takes a bit of a back seat, his storytelling the beneficiary.

I’m not sure if it’s the countless hours of experience on stage, or just his life experience and ‘adventure seeking’ that makes Wil’s storytelling so fixating. I suspect it’s a combination of the two. Whatever it is, it’s only getting better with age. Entertaining tales and big punchlines with a point, you can’t ask for anything else really. Wil As good as Aussie stand-up gets.

Wiluminati is on at The Comedy Theatre until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/wiluminati-wil-anderson

Lana Schwarcz : Love Monster

By Colin Flaherty

Reading excerpts from her Big Book of Exes, Lana Schwarcz tells a number of disastrous stories from her love life. She is anxious about still being single at 40 and wonders what the main problem is. Could it be the Love Monster?

Each former lover was referred to by occupation only which gave anonymity and also provided fuel for some witty lines about why their relationship ended. Some non-starter beaus were covered in two extended tales; one about a Vietnamese trip, the other about signing up for a reality show. This allowed her to explore some amusing peripheral material that didn’t focus solely on her love life and give more variety to the script.

This was a very theatrical show – essentially a humorous monologue that stuck firmly to a script. Lighting fade outs to divide the “chapters” rounded the formal staging. She delivered her tales with a hint of nervous energy that fitted well with the theme of being a little needy for affection. The audience couldn’t help but warm to her, even after she gave us a sickeningly cutesy collective name.

It wasn’t just an hour of Lana bemoaning her lack of a partner, there was something special thrown into the mix. A renowned puppeteer, Schwarcz has created a stunning creature in the titular monster who made a number of appearances throughout. A physical manifestation of her relationship issues, the Monster distributes love blindly much to Lana’s annoyance. The scene with the monster using Lana’s phone and her woeful attempts at poetry were great fun to watch as she created anarchy. It was a wonderful respite from the theatrical stiffness with some audience interaction which was gentle but liable to intrude on your personal space.

With its poignant ending, Love Monster is a show that unabashedly tugs at your heartstrings. With such a warm and engaging performer it is certainly a fun way to wallow in loneliness.

Love Monster is on at the Imperial Hotel until April 19
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/love-monster-lana-schwarcz