Adam Rozenbachs – High Functioning Idiot

By Peter Newling

It feels like Adam Rozenbachs has been making us laugh for our entire lives – and for anyone born this century, that may well be true. From being a finalist in the 1999 Raw Comedy awards, and doing his first solo MICF show back in 2007, he has gone on to be a constant and evergreen presence in the Australian and international comedy scenes.

His offering for the 2023 MICF shows that he has lost nothing of his legendary on-stage energy, or his trademark rapid fire delivery. His crowd work has remained genial and assured (“We’re just having a chat here, mate”), made easier by his ability to create instant rapport with the punters. High Functioning Idiot is a terrific hour of old-school stand-up.

It seems appropriate that a guy who’s been around for a while would choose material that mostly touches on modernisation and societal change. He riffs freely about automation, self service check-outs, dating apps and the like. He’s an astute observer of shifts in taste and boundaries. His reflections on his own capacities to function (or not) in this changing environment provide a great basis for a highly relatable and really enjoyable show.

High Functioning Idiot is a mix of old and new material. Those who have followed his work over the past couple of years will find some of the material quite familiar – but there’s enough new stuff in there to satisfy his loyal fan base.

Rozenbachs is the pin-up child of comedy journeymen. He has become a confident TV and radio performer, and an in-demand writer. It’s great to see that his stand-up has not lost any of its edge.

Adam Rozenbachs – High Functioning Idiot is playing April 11 to 23 at Coopers Inn 1, at 8:10pm https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/adam-rozenbachs

Christina Schmidt & Miso Bell – Fear Us (Please)

By Colin Flaherty

After being Victorian State Finalists in last year’s RAW Comedy, Christina Schmidt and Miso Bell teamed up for their debut Festival two hander. This show of short sets of “edgy” stand up was an ambitious venture but their combined inexperience loomed large.

First the positives – there were plenty of interesting ideas in here. There were wacky twists given to seemingly straightforward topics to produce fun surreal results. The conceit of the pair desperately trying to come across as Bad Arses but failing in every metric was a solid one that they were able to sell.

The major problem was in the rambling, rushed and often mumbled delivery of each performer. Schmidt was somewhat timid in her stage persona which only weighed her down further. Bell had some scripted items read from pages that were well written but suffered from the same messy presentation. She briefly showed that she was capable of a clear, measured performance during a rare contemplative section of the script but immediately went back to blurting out the rest of the tale. When they shared the stage for some banter, their interactions were stilted, awkward and showed very little on stage chemistry.

The gimmick of polluting an ocean diorama when the punters didn’t respond appropriately was a promising idea but ultimately didn’t really go anywhere. They had a clever postscript video to end the show but not many people will see it. The duo had already announced that the show was over and most punters had already left the room or begun loudly chatting to each other.

The audience clearly enjoyed the wackiness of this duo but their execution cause them to miss most of the clever lines buried within. Here’s hoping that they can build up their experience and develop their stagecraft without losing too much of their interesting voices.

Fear Us (Please) is on at Bard’s Apothecary until April 22
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/fear-us-please

Josie Long – Re-Enchantment

By Bren Carruthers

A lot has changed in the six years since Josie Long appeared at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Aside from the obvious, Long has had two kids and recently moved from her native London to Glasgow. Yet the break from the fest has not diminished her abilities – or her withering world view.

Long started out as part of the Whimsical Comedy movement of homemade badges and so forth. She certainly continues her signature, of a warm and endearing stage persona, that’s always been wrapped around a passionate and fierce advocate for her left-wing ideology. It’s a perfect fit for the current world climate, as Long leaps from Brexit and immigration law to the Royals, landlords, and the trials of parenting, somehow maintaining optimism despite everything, especially in her home country.

In many ways, Long cuts the figure of the elder millennial, somewhat stuck between two worlds, moving into middle age and parenthood but still unwilling to relinquish deeply-held political ideals and a youthful joy for life. For audience members of that age in particular, Long offers a much-needed salve for the struggles of daily life… for sixty minutes, at least.

Josie Long is performing in Melbourne Town Hall’s Cloak Room until April 23.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/josie-long

Larry Dean – FUDNUT

By Jess Welch

Have you ever been on a rollercoaster, or just a particularly bumpy bit of road, and it feels like your stomach has dropped out? That’s the feeling that FUDNUT, Larry Dean’s latest show, left me with. But that’s the end. To understand how we got there, we need to go back to the beginning.

The show starts off with some intense moments of getting to know Dean. If you’ve never seen him before, this might be slightly confronting. But it does a wonderful job of setting us up for what he does best – telling wild, crazy and hilarious stories from his life. If you have seen him before, you’ll know these tales can really run the gamut from everyday observations to the incredibly personal. Vulnerable even. FUDNUT tend heavily towards the latter, to an almost uncomfortable degree at times.

Be warned, this show touches on some sexual themes. At a few particular moments, the older members of the audience were shifting uncomfortably. I would say this is probably not a show to see with a parent, unless you have an extremely honest relationship, or you don’t mind some awkward silences on the way home. But those moments aren’t gratuitous and they fit in well with the overall tone of vulnerability. They don’t dominate the show by any means.

The stories weave around and through each other, seemingly at random. There are asides off the asides. Don’t worry though, Dean knows what he’s doing. This is far from his first rodeo. Having seen him before, I was willing to sit back, relax and trust we were in good hands. And we were. There is a reveal in the last few minutes of the show that will leave you reeling, rethinking everything you have thought for the last hour. Of course, I won’t spoil it here, nor do I think you should try to find any answers online before you go. Because the moment of realisation and reflection is breathtaking.

I wish I could see the show again, but knowing casts everything into a different light. All his stories, the strange titbits, the vulnerability, suddenly all perfect sense and slot together to form a truly incredible puzzle you didn’t even know he was building. It’s beautiful. It’s mind-blowingly well written and leaves you thinking, long after the show is finished. The more you think, the more you’ll realise and it’ll impress you all over again.

This isn’t a show for everyone. But if you’re intrigued or on the fence, I highly recommend you give it a chance. I highly doubt you’ll regret it.

LARRY DEAN – FUDNUT is on at THE SWISS CLUB and THE MELBOURNE TOWN HALL. 

 https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/larry-dean

Lara Ricote – GRL/LATNX/DEF

By Bren Carruthers

As one might expect from the title, Lara Ricote, the winner of last year’s Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Fringe, is female, Latinx (from Mexico via the Netherlands), and deaf. “Minorities are in,” Ricote tells us, acknowledging that her show title is a little shrewd. But if you had drawn the conclusion that this would be a show that leans heavily on identity politics, you’d be sadly mistaken.

Ricote is brilliantly deft in her approach, drawing from her own experiences as an intersectional minority to deliver insights and laughs with a very broad appeal – from stupid siblings and anti-vax dads to pubescent woes and sexual awkwardness. It makes for a gently guiding hand that subtly ushers her audience into her world and gracefully grants them her perspective – a voice well worth hearing.

With her impishness, complete comfort on stage and willingness to jump into quirky interjections, Ricote is an instantly likeable presence, and her ability to weave a metaphor – sometimes explicitly so – demonstrates she has much more to offer an audience. Assuming she returns to our shores, Lara Ricote has the ability to make herself a cult MICF favourite.

Lara Ricote is performing GRL/LATNX/DEF in The Westin Three until April 23.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/lara-ricote

GUY MONTGOMERY – MY MIND IS BLOWING ME CRAZY

By Jess Welch

If you like laid-back, laconic comedy, with honest to God jokes, you need to see Guy Montgomery. A Melbourne International Comedy Festival regular, Montgomery is back with another hour of out of the box hilarity.

The first three quarters of the show is wall to wall laughs. They’re the sort of jokes most people can enjoy. They’re a mix of absurd and observational. Some are the kind you want to memorise and tell everyone you meet for the next week. There’s just something about Montgomery’s delivery that elevates puns and word-play into something more, something impossible to imitate. Maybe it’s just that famous dry and sarcastic New Zealand sense of humour.

Even beyond that, he has a certain mischievous sparkle in his eyes and a lazy grin that makes him seem almost like a mischievous school boy, excited to make the assembly laugh, but playing it cool. And yet, some of the jokes are decidedly uncool – to the point that the crowd is laughing, while fighting the urge to groan, shaking their heads at the cheesiness, but having to give full credit to just how incredibly well written they are. They’re the type of jokes that can only be described as “Dad jokes”, but with a bit of a more adult tone. And to call them dad jokes is especially fitting, as the remainder of the show is dedicated to him talking about being a step- parent.

While still wildly funny, it’s far more real and, at parts, incredibly sweet. For how common step -parenting is, comedy about it seems incredibly rare. Thankfully Montgomery is willing to step up to the plate. But if you’re looking for advice on how to step-parent, I think you’ve come to the wrong place. Despite having step-parented for 5 years, he is more than willing to admit he hasn’t quite mastered it yet. In fact, he seems to approach it with the same fun and boyishness with which he seems to approach everything.

The show examines this Peter Pan-ishness, as he struggles to reconcile being in his mid-30’s, in charge of helping raise a child, while still feeling too young himself. It’s a feeling I think a lot of people in their 20’s and 30’s can empathise with. But he, like everyone else, is doing his best and having a laugh while he’s doing it. Best of all, he’s sharing the laughs with us.

GUY MONTGOMERY – MY MIND IS BLOWING ME CRAZY is on at THE VICTORIA HOTEL.

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/guy-montgomery