Tag: Melbourne Fringe Festival

5 Good Reasons to see Aleisha McCormack in One of a Kind

1. With over 1 million ‘Only Children’ in Australia, One of Kind busts the myth of this new minority and gives you tips on how to play board games alone.

2. Teaches you how to not make THAT face when you hear your friend is an only child.

3. It’s directed by Julia Zemiro

4. It’s funny

5. If you don’t see it, Aleisha will throw a tantrum.

Aleisha McCormack is performing One of a Kind at 7.45pm  from 20th Sept in the Rehearsal Room at the North Melbourne Town Hall
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/one-of-a-kind/

5 Good Reasons to see a Melbourne Fringe Festival show at The Imperial

Five Reasons to visit The Imperial during Melbourne Fringe

ONE) The Imperial will be hosting 19 fringe shows this year! All comedy!

3 LITTLE GIGS
OUR LITTLE STORIES
XANDER ALLAN – GLAM
SIMON TAYLOR – FUNNY
LOVE, FACTUALLY WITH TOM LANG
NELLIE WHITE IS THE SHITTY CARER
NEIL SINCLAIR ‘CHARMINGLY USELESS’
VICTORIA HEALY PRESENTS WE ♄ COMEDY
MURPHY MCLACHLAN HAS TWO LAST NAMES
SONIA DI IORIO – DON’T KISS THE WEIRD GIRL
THE LATE NIGHT BOARD GAME SLUMBER PARTY WITH MIKE BROWN AND FRIENDS
SOME NUTTER’S DONE A RUNNER WITH CRAIG MCLEOD AND DOUG GORDON
THE HAPPIEST BOWERBIRD AND OTHER STORIES BY JONATHAN SCHUSTER
SITCOM THEME SONG SINGALONG (AND TRIVIA) WITH BERT GOLDSMITH
PEOPLE CRYING ‘ADAM KNOX’ AS THEY LEAP FROM PLANES
ROLAND HOFFMANN – EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT
BEING A WHEEL FAMILY. MEET THE MCGERES
BEAU STEGMANN: HERE’S LOOKING AT ME…
COME HECKLE JESUS

TWO) We have a lot of shows on every night. You can show up, and know something will be on. In fact, we only have two nights off for the whole festival (the first two Saturdays). We have shows starting on the hour, and we’ll have some discount drinks cards around for anyone who wants to come and hang out in between shows. We’re a comedy hub!

THREE) Whether you want to sing along to sit com themesongs, or shout abuse at Jesus Christ, we have a show for every taste! We also have a lot with zero audience participation, if the singing and heckling isn’t your style. The Imperial is a great place to take a punt on a new show. Our volunteers on the door can tell you all about the shows, and make recommendations based on your tastes. Sketch, poetry, standup, impro, storytelling, and whatever else you can think of.

FOUR) We are very generous. Head to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/impycomedy) where we will be giving away tix and keeping everyone up to date on deals, whether tickets will be available on the door and of course, instagramming the hell out of the whole thing.

FIVE) The Imperial is a great place to observe comics in their natural habitat. Stick around after the show, have a beer with these kids, and you’ll be fast friends. Buy the beer, and you’ll have a friend for life.

The Imperial is one of the main Fringe Festival venues in Melbourne’s CBD at the corner of Bourke and Spring streets right near Parliament Station.

Find out more at The Imperial Website

http://comedyattheimperial.com/

5 Good Reasons to see Lessons with Luis – Famoucity

Hello I am Luis from Lessons with Luis thank you for including us. We would love to be a part of ‘5 Good Reasons’ as well

Here are Luis’s 5 Good Reasons:

1 – The show is a 2-for-1 deal! It’s educational AND a comedy show. That means you get to learn information on all kinds of topics AND you get to laugh at the funny jokes. What a bargain!

2 – It’s a family and friend-friendly stage play. There are no rude swear words in it, so you can bring your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, cousins or young people with you. We have amazing dance numbers that my dad choreographed to keep them entertained.

3 – You will get to see famous faces like Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise and Britney Spears. (My dad said I should also say the faces are printed from the internet and stuck onto cardboard in case you come and get upset for not seeing Michael Jackson)

4 – Mr Bianchi, my Spanish neighbour, is acting in it too because he wants to become a professionable actor. He says he is like Antonio Banderas crossed with Don Burke. Please email me if you would like to put him in a movie.

5 – There are cats in it.

Have an excellent week.

The award winning Lessons With Luis are performing Famoucity for 5 nights only at The Butterfly Club

Show times are as follows:
Thurs – Sat 7PM
Wed & Sun 6PM

MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL 2013

By Lisa Clark

Spring has sprung, Melbourne is sparkling, our eyes are itchy and that means it’s time to get ready for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Melbourne Fringe is an open-access, multi-arts Festival, that actively encourages diversity and is thus a great space for performers to experiment with new and unconventional ideas. The Festival encompasses theatre, music, circus, magic, furniture design, art and craft and more, but here at Squirrel Comedy we are nuts about comedy and thus we will be covering the comedy side of things which is pretty big. Some comedians use Fringe to reprise a successful Melbourne International Comedy Festival show (often new and improved versions) and others to give a new show a run leading up to next year’s MICF. There are wacky one off shows that can only be seen at Fringe and you never know when you’ll make a delightful surprising new discovery, as we did with Slutmonster and Friends last year. So it’s always worth going out of your comfort zone to try something new. Hey that is why Fringe exists!

There is so much comedy to choose from and it is our job to give you a hand as you make your way through the Fringe programme. Below are links to all the shows we’ve previously reviewed, many of which will have been tweaked and improved since their last outing and that’s followed by some recommendations for shows we’ve seen and/or are excited by. As usual we’ll be publishing ‘5 Good Reasons to see…’ leading up to the the festival and reviewing shows throughout.

Shows at Melbourne Fringe that Have Been Previously Reviewed by Squirrel Comedy.

Barry Morgan: Organ Is Not a Dirty Word
Squirrel Review: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3986
Barry Morgan is playing his magnificent organ at the Lithuanian Club at 7:30pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/barry-morgan-organ-is-not-a-dirty-word/

Lessons With Luis Famoucity!
Squirrel Review :  https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3372
Famoucity is playing at The Butterfly Club at 7pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/lessons-with-luis-famoucity/

Luke McGregor – My Soulmate is Out of My League  [Winner of The Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival]
Squirrel Review :  https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3389
It’s playing at The Loft, Lithuanian Club at 9.15pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/luke-mc-gregor-my-soul-mate-is-out-of-my-league/

Khalad Khalafalla – Devious
Squirrel Review :  https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3810
Devious is Playing Upstairs at Errol’s at 10.30pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/khaled-kalafalla-encore/

Michael Burke in Cubehead
Squirrel Review : https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=4134
Cubehead is playing at The Tuxedo Cat – The Jackle at 7.00pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/michael-burke-in-cubehead/

Nob Happy Sock – Simon Keck [Winner of The Golden Gibbo at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival]
Squirrel Review: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3550
It’s on at Son of Loft, Lithuanian Club at 6.30pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/nob-happy-sock/

Political Asylum
Squirrel Review: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3785
Political Asylum is on at the Festival Club (North Melbourne Town Hall) on 1/10 at 9:30pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/political-asylum/

Satan’s Finest – Mitch Alexander & Jackson Voorhaar
Squirrel Review: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3889
Satan’s Finest is on at the Tuxedo Cat at 9:30pm
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/satan-s-finest/

Other recommended shows at the 2013 Melbourne Fringe.

Lisa-Skye – Songs my Parents told me

was a delightfully warm biographical story show that somehow missed out on a review during MICF. Lisa-Skye lovingly explores her parent’s generation and how it compares to and influences her own creative and interesting life. Lisa-Skye is just back from her first trip as a performer in Edinburgh, she should be on top form. It will be on at The Tuxedo Cat – The Jackle

Lisa-Skye will also be hosting a late night chat show at The Tuxedo Cat called Art Sex and Snacks, she will be interviewing performers about their craft.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/songs-my-parents-taught-me/

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/art-sex-and-snacks/

Sammy J’s 50 Year Show 

which is a deliriously silly idea of Sammy’s to perform one big long show in parts, once every five years, for 50 years. I attended the 1st part five years ago and it was a whole bunch of crazy fun in the packed North Melbourne Town Hall. Many projects were begun by guest comedians that will be repeated or added to and the time capsule will be opened. One Night Only! Don’t miss it or you’ll have to wait another five years.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/sammy-j-presents-the-50-year-show/

Comedy Pick and Mix 

is a one off Festival Club night curated by Melbourne comedy goddess Janet A McLeod and hosted by Andy McClelland and Oliver Clark in their personas of El Grande and Mr Nightlights. A creative mix of performers creating all sorts of mayhem and hopefully at some point El Grande will be tipping pot pouri down Mr Nightlights underpants. You won’t want to miss that.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/comedy-pick-n-mix/

The Experiment curated by Asher Treleaven. 

A late night show at The Lithuanian Club during Fringe showcasing a great line up
of alternative comedy acts encouraged to take risks. There will be an air of competition to the show and the comedians will be competing with small dogs. I will leave it to Asher to explain:

“Each show I’m inviting members of the public to bring their small dogs to compete with the acts so we can finally discover whether Melbourne’s best Alternative comedians are more entertaining than a small dog. There will be a $15 prize for best small dog and at the end of the show the audience will judge who has been more entertaining. There will be excellent comedy, sketches and music but its mainly about ze dog”

Hopefully there will be a pooper scooper on hand in case of nerves.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/the-experiment/

Tony Martin – The Yeti 

Probably the most highly anticipated show at this year’s (maybe any years!) Melbourne Fringe Festival. I don’t know if Tony has ever performed a solo festival show before and although he has recently tread the boards as a guest at The Shelf. it’s been a long time since he’s performed in his own festival show. This will be a narrative drawn from his autobiographical novel  Lollyscramble. A book that had me laughing out loud on public transport. Tony is what’s known as a ‘comedian’s comedian’ with a huge following so tickets are bound to sell out. He’s at The Butterfly Club.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/tony-martin-the-yeti/

Pride Hard

By Lisa Clark

Robert Lloyd is a veteran of the festival circuit with shows such as Who, Me. and  A Study in Scarlet (A Study of…) . as well as his many shows with The Hounds crew and a chat/sketch show on Channel 31 called Live on Bowen. His comedy cred is pretty established and here, yet again proves that he knows how to entertain an audience. The second half of the show is performed by impressive newcomer Kelsey Gade. With his previous protĂ©gĂ© Tegan Higginbotham of The Hounds out of the nest in her own successful festival show, Robert has found another talented young lady to work with.

Doing a violent action film in the style of the formal historical comedy Pride and Prejudice is the sort of wonderful silly idea usually thrown at performers in an impro show. Here Robert and Kelsey have taken the idea, run with it and developed it into a full blown romp of a show that plays around with other ideas but impressively never strays too far from its primary premise.

Some of the more fun ideas include the conceit that Kelsey is a last minute fill-in performer (who’s surprisingly good), using the Pride and Prejudice bimbos Kitty and Liddy to provide plot exposition, an appearance by a character from Harry Potter, a big fight scene performed in a Regency dance style and a big fun finale that I won’t give away.

I must stress that although this is very entertaining in a general way it is highly recommended that you have seen Die Hard first. A little knowledge of Pride and Prejudice would not go astray in enhancing your enjoyment either. As a Jane Austen fan who has never seen Die Hard I became a bit confused about the plot and characters and keenly felt the fact that I was missing out on a lot of the jokes the others in the audience were laughing at. Some were explained later, but it was too late for me. The Die Hard fans definitely had a whale of a time and ignorance of Pride and Prejudice wasn’t a huge problem for them. As a history buff I was also annoyed by the modern technology used by characters early on, but this was later rectified somewhat as the show morphed from a Die Hard spoof into more of a Pride and Prejudice hybrid.

This was a deceptively simple looking production with no costumes or props. The energy was obviously poured into the intelligent script, delightful mime and other performance skills, as well as the excellent sound and lighting. It did become a bit confusing with only two performers having to create so many characters, often with different names and styles for the same character, but as I pointed out that may have had something to with my ignorance of Die Hard, which is my own fault. Robert and Kelsey have created a pretty impressive achievement none the less and it’s certainly a lot of fun.

The last performance of Pride Hard is tonight (Oct 13)

For booking details see the Fringe Festival Website
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/pride-hard/

Hang The DJ

By Colin Flaherty

Andrew McClelland (a comedian who DJs) and Ian Bell (a DJ who dabbles in comedy) have joined forces to give a comedic glimpse as to what happens behind the DJ decks. The show got off to a flying start with a high energy dance medley covering many genres (a impressive effort from two portly gentlemen) and went on to explore many facets of their experiences in the industry utilising stand up, banter, song and dance. A lucky punter was even transformed into a DJ complete with witty moniker!

The boys bounced off each other in spite of this being the first time they had worked together on the comedy stage. The banter between the two was jovial and amusing. Trading witty lines, they often surprised each other with some of their comments and actions and this enjoyment on stage was infectious. They mined their differences in musical tastes for some laughs but for the most part the pair were on the same page to impart their passion to the audience. There was the odd fluffed line and missed musical cue but this added a nice sense of anarchy and spontaneity.

Andrew was a charming performer as always; full of puppy dog excitement for the material. He presented wonderful stand up spots covering his details of his background that may explain some things to long time fans concerning his eccentricities, demeanour and outlook on life. Most interesting was his staunch determination not to lapse into potty mouth territory (despite Ian letting slip) by employing euphemisms that were cleverly inserted into a call-back.

Ian spent the majority of the show behind the decks (where he was most at ease) but he was no mere button pusher responding to Andrew’s jokes. There were many opportunities for him to take centre stage to present amusing monologues (such as thanking Dr Hook for his introduction to Djing). He ably assisted Andrew in the re-enactment of a number of amusing scenarios including the wonderful “Song Requester from Hell” segment where he did a hilariously foppish impression of Andrew while Mr McClelland played the other parts. Also impressive was the demonstration of his almost serviceable singing ability during a montage of celebrity snaps (complete with a hilarious James Brown moment).

This show was not wrapped up in the traditional sense, instead we were treated to an invitation to witness the guys (and the newly christened DJ apprentice) plying their DJ trade and dance the night away. Armed with a Boombox, Andrew led us pied Piper style down the hall to the Bella Union bar where the fun times continued for several more hours. This fusion of comedy, music and dancing was a brilliant way to end an evening.

The last performance of Hang The DJ is on tonight (Oct 13)
For booking details see the Fringe Festival Website http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/andrew-mc-clelland-feat-dj-ian-bell-hang-the-dj/