Josh Szeps in #youtoo

By Will Erskine 

Josh Szeps #youtoo was a fascinating insight into the dark world of social media. He focused on how social media aims to addict us and turns us all against each other. Some of his content is controversial, as it seems is his social media presence, setting down a challenge to not dismiss anyone who disagrees with you as “wrong” or an “idiot”. He is quite compelling in his reasoning. In the past we were forced to confront our differences with other people and discuss our disagreements, in the world of social media there is a tendency to ignore anyone who’s opinion is even slightly different from yours and then block them so they don’t have to see the opinion again.

Josh paints a very bleak picture of the modern world, and the current habit of social media “archaeologists” to unearth dirt on anyone in the public life and shame anyone who disagrees with the current accepted status quo. He points out how ridiculous this is with a glance to the future and the potential views on how we live today.

While the show was genuinely interesting, it felt like it took maybe one too many steps into the seminar rather than comedy show direction. I appreciate that stand-up comedy doesn’t have to be constant laughs, particularly when dealing with dark subjects, but one or two additional moments of levity amid the bleakness wouldn’t go amiss. There were some technical glitches when I saw it which may have contributed to this challenge, and Josh handled this admirably. I suspect the show will become more slick through its run and this will likely increase the laughs and the smiles in a bleak view on the world.

It’s a show that without doubt everyone would benefit from seeing, as addictive technology and the toxicity of social media are topics that need to be discussed more, but see it with an open  enough mind to learn something along with the laughs.

Josh Szeps in #youtoo is on at the Victoria Hotel until April 21st

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/youtoo

Tom Walker – Very Very

By Will Erskine 

If it’s possible for a performer to “return to their roots” after only 4 years at MICF then that is what Tom Walker has done. The slightly intimidating, aggressive prop based hilarity of the last couple of years has been toned down and this show is a more sedate, calm and accessible show closer in spirit to his excellent debut clown show Beep Boop 3 years ago. That isn’t to say that Tom Walker’s current show is one to take your grandmother to, but if you did she wouldn’t be quite as terrified as if she’d watched 2017’s Barry nominated Bee Boo.

This is ostensibly a mime show, loosely structured aside from one routine that develops over the course of three or four scenes spread throughout the show. Tom describes mime as the dirtiest 4 letter word in comedy, and if there are still people put off by mime then please don’t be, Tom is a master of physical comedy and he does breaks the silence in between sketches to engage with the audience in a deeply playful and endearing way. Indeed at least one of the sketches is fully vocalised, so those terrified of sitting quietly for an hour needn’t panic, for a mime show this is very loud.

For those scared of the front row, there is a little audience participation, but it isn’t the terrifying engagement of prior years and it exceptionally friendly and fun. It is always amazing to see someone from the audience try and mime along with a pro.

The show is incredibly accomplished and well delivered, it delivers the right balance of laughs, gross-out and heart warming moments while avoiding the genuinely uncomfortable. If you’ve seen Tom Walker’s shows in the last two years expect a calmer, more polished performance this time round. If you’ve never seen Tom perform then do yourself a favour and go and check it out. 

Tom Walker – Very Very is on at ACMI until April 21st

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/very-very

New Order

By Peter Newling 

Squirrel legend Lisa Clark, in reviewing a previous year’s iteration of New Order wrote: “There are many group shows at MICF, they are a great way of getting to know a group of comedians in a short amount of time and deciding who you might like to see more of in the future. You might even become a fan.” This is certainly still the case in 2019.

According to the blurb on the MICF website: “They’ve forged kick-ass careers across the UK and Ireland” and, aside from having adopted US terminology, “now these bright and brilliant stars have their sights set on Melbourne! From the Fringe to the BBC and everywhere in between, here comes the best in original, trendsetting comedy”.

The organisers have done a terrific job of putting together an eclectic, vibrant and very funny assortment of performers.

Wigan comic Chris Washington kicked the show off. A 2017 nominee for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe, much of his set was framed around his experiences of growing up and being beaten up in the north of England, and the colourful characters that impacted his upbringing. His style is relaxed and engaging, coming across as the sort of likeable lad that would be great company in a bar or party setting. Such is his story telling ability that he is able to clearly paint pictures of the people and places that feature in his very funny recollections. From stories about his friend Spud to his long suffering family, Chris delivers a beautifully paced, relaxed routine.

Rosie Jones was born to work in comedy. She has all the necessary skills – a keen eye for material, a great sense for the ironic, an ability to make an audience think, an ability to know how far to go in making an audience feel uncomfortable, and an underlying brattiness that revels in that discomfort. Her constantly smiling, sweet demeanour magnify the regular moments when the audience is thinking “Did she really just say that?”. Her cerebral palsy doesn’t make her a great comic. Nor does it impede it. Watching Jones at work with her audience is like watching a kitten toying with a ball on a string. She knows exactly how far she can bat it around, when to stop – and obviously enjoys every minute of it.

Catherine Bohart is a relative newcomer to the comedy stage – not that you would know it, from this very confident and polished performer. This is a very authentic performance – there’s nothing plastic or over-rehearsed about Bohart’s style. She’s very straight-to-the-point, and utterly fearless in her subject matter. Much of the content is drawn from her bisexuality, and the issues in coming out in her religious and conservative family and community. Her audience interaction work is outstanding – and of a confidence that you would expect from a much more experienced campaigner. She has the capacity to startle and confront, but establishes enough charm and likeability to get away with it. Her observations on the similarities between Melbourne and Ireland provided some of the most cracking lines in MICF for 2019.

The show rounded off with Mawaan Rizwan. From humble beginnings – a Pakistani immigrant family and growing up in London – Rizwan quickly establishes that humility no longer plays a great role in his psyche. Adorned in the sparkliest purple tracksuit I’ve ever seen, his set revolves around his constant need for attention and adoration – often thwarted by circumstance and his mother. His line delivery is confident, although he does occasionally look like he’s delivered those lines a few too many times in the past – some of the spontaneity of this routine seems to have disappeared. Having said that, it’s great material – and his massive on-line following is testimony to his influence. He’s a gifted physical performer, and his musical talents at the end of the set are worth waiting for.

New Order is playing 28 Mar – 21 Apr at the Melbourne Town Hall

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/new-order

The Breast of the Fest

By Jess Welch 

Breast of the Fest is an all-female, all the time show featuring the youngest and best emerging female comedians. With 6 rotating regulars and each show hosting a guest “breast”, you never quite know what you’re going to get. It’s a refreshing show, with each of the comics bringing something different to the evening, but all bringing more than a few laughs.

The performers I saw were MC Rose Bishop,  Aurelia St Clair, Avery Hutley, and Claire Hagan. While all the performers predictably touched on the material only a woman could perform, they make sure the night is inclusive. I was surprised at the number of men in the audience, and all seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much as the ladies. It’s fully inclusive and the cast is diverse, apart, of course, from gender. They all come from different backgrounds, and each stand up style is wildly different from the last. Perhaps not every performer will appeal to each viewer, but as with every shared show, the next performer is a fresh start. But I can’t say that any performer performed any better than any other and the audience seemed to enjoy them all equally.

The guest performers are women from around the festival, who will give you a little taste of their show or style. On this night it was Eve Ellenbogen who’s show is called Too Much. The show has played host to many of the biggest names in female comedy and the regulars are sure to one day be counted amongst their numbers. The raw talent is astounding, and I will be looking forward to seeing them all in their next shows. I hope one day to see them on our TV’s and playing the biggest stages in the country.

Whether you’re a woman, or just know women, this is a show well worth seeing.

The Breast of the Fest is on at Trades Hall

 https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/the-breast-of-the-fest  

Fringe Wives Club Glittergrass

By Lisa Clark 

The last time we saw The Fringe Wives Club they were a cheeky trio of Victoria Falconer, Tessa Waters and Rowena Hutson. Everyone who saw them was blown away, they seemed to be bourne out of the zeitgeist of the feminist movement who had had enough, but also fun, sexy, and very consensual. They won best Cabaret show at Adelaide Fringe and the Spirit of the Fringe Award at Edinburgh Fringe in 2018. This year they have been joined by Laura Frew (of Double Denim – she’s rushing between shows at different venues on her bicycle!) and Sharnema Nougar, as well as a couple of back up musicians and they’ve gone Bluegrass.

The Fringe Wives Club have been around the block or two and know their stuff. They are all very accomplished in the cabaret and comedy world and each are revered in their own right, coming together, they have created a powerhouse of a show. The harmonies are gorgeous, banter is a hoot and they all get their moment to shine.

Glittergrass is a sassy celebration of talented women with an underlying  rage.  The Grrrls are fierce but then not afraid to have a laugh and sympathise with the audience about how difficult it can be to own your privilege and deal with the changing language and the complex politics. In between the songs, some original, some gorgeous covers, they exchange stories and banter that often, ironically, reveal subtle social behaviors that repress women.

Last year’s show Glittery Clittery felt like a secret, naughty, subversive, raucous, feminist club where it was safe to gather and share our joy and anger with original songs that spoke of the modern woman’s experience in a bold, fresh way and had us in tears of laughter and sadness. Glittergrass is still furious feminist cabaret but feels a little more mainstream. Not that there’s anything wrong with an accessible show. Bring your family they’ll laugh their buts off with you while learning about lady bush rangers and 3rd Wave Intersectional Feminism.

Fringe Wives Club perform Glittergrass at The Coopers Malthouse

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/fringe-wives-club-glitter-glass

 

Ed Night – An Aesthetic

By Will Erskine

On arrival, I thought I’d gone to the wrong show, I was in the right place and the right time and the tickets matched the name on the door, but I wasn’t convinced that the 20-something year old with an asymmetric haircut was going to hit the right notes for me. Ed Night recognises that millennials are his target audience, but as quickly points out that the stereotypical millennial is a figment of our collective imagination and doesn’t actually exist.

Ed’s delivery felt very off the cuff and relaxed, clearly well written but given room to adapt and change with the audience and go to places where Night felt it needed on this occasion. It could even be perceived that the performer was nervous, and while nerves are inevitable it seemed to me that this was part of the technique and a way to challenge the audience. This challenge carried through to the content of the show, which rapidly switched between the standard fare of online dating stories one might expect from a young comedian, juxtaposed with remarkably poised and confronting realities of social media, the lack of empathy in the world and a brutal attack on a major British comedian. The more obviously funny elements paving the way for Night to show his supreme intellect in his attack on the apathy and hypocrisy of modern life.

Ed manages the room superbly; shattering supreme comedic moments with jarring statements to reintroduce tension and remind the audience he isn’t there just for dick jokes. There were elements of Stewart Lee in his occasional fixation with minute detail and his desire to introduce silence to a laughing room.

It’d be easy for a fan to dismiss this show and the comedian based on appearance or youth, as I almost did when I first arrived. It would be even easier for the performer to use his great wit to play for the cheap laughs, but Ed Night clearly wants to establish his platform to make people think, to challenge the norms and to try to make a change. While already an accomplished comedian with an ability well beyond his years Ed is a performer to watch in the future as I sense this show is the tip of the iceberg of his ability. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who is ok with their comedy dark and is comfortable seeing someone far too young achieve something far too impressive.

Ed Night performs at ACMI – Studio until April 21

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/ed-night