5 Good Reasons to See Dazza and Keif Go Viral.

1. If you lost a part of your soul the day Nollsie was robbed of Idol ’03, you’ll get it back at our show.

2. A twist on traditional drag, this duo forego glam lipstick and lashes for wrap-around sunnies and reflective tracksuits.

3. If you like to smash the patriarchy while smashing a tinnie

4. If you want to laugh so hard you develop a six pack and V-Lines and we aren’t talking about drinking VB on the train to Bendigo

5. If your bedroom breakdance moves are ready to be unleashed

Dazza and Keif Go Viral starring Danni Ray and Keely Windred is on at The Coopers Malthouse Mar 28 – Apr 7 (Not Mondays)

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/dazza-and-keif-go-viral

Festive Season Comedy in Melbourne

Comedy for Christmas! Or Festivus! Or celebrating surviving 2018!

What a great idea for a festive get together with your comedy loving buddies.

Every year the comedy venues of Melbourne put on their Christmas shows and there are also quite a few one-off Christmas themed special shows happening. If you are not in Melbourne, check out the gig guides, some of these performers are touring and there should be similar nights happening in comedy clubs near you.

Here is the Squirrel Comedy annual End of Year – Christmas Gig list in roughly date order – of the local ones we could find out about
 

MON 26 Nov – SUN 2 Dec
A Very Kransky Christmas 

At Alex Theatre –  135 Fitzroy St, St Kilda at 7.30 pm

The Kransky Sisters are on a Christmas Tour of Australia and will grace Melbourne with their hilarious Gothic musical-comedy delights for three nights. (They are also touring Sydney and Perth)

Prices – Adult: $49.90 Conc: $44.90

Bookings: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=KRANSKY18

Sat 1 Dec
The Wheeler Centre Presents: Show of the Year

At The Athenaeum Theatre at 7pm

Host Casey ‘Tasty’ Bennetto And A Cast Of Writers, Comedians And Musicians, Including Mama Alto, Steph Tisdell, Shaun Micallef, Jan Fran, Michele Lee, Candy Bowers, WāNi Le Frère, Rebecca Shaw, Laura Jean Mckay And Alan Duffy.

https://www.wheelercentre.com/events/the-show-of-the-year-2018

Sat Dec 1 – 9.30pm
Jackie Lime’s Year End Rear End  

At The Improv Conspiracy Theatre

L1 / 19 Meyers Place, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3000

The one and only Jackie Lime is back for his final appearance of 2018. Join Jackie, Indiana, Bitch Boy and a whole slew of special guests to celebrate a massive year with the Talkie Time family in an improvised kind of way.

Price $5 at the Door or $5.50 online to guarantee a seat.

Booking: https://www.improvconspiracy.com/shows/unit/2768/buy-tickets

Dec 6 – 7 – 9.30pm
The Chaser & The Shovel Presents: The War On 2018

At The Village Roadshow Theatrette – 179 La Trobe Street
Melbourne, Vic 3000

Join Charles Firth (The Chaser), James Schloeffel (The Shovel), Mark Humphries (Channel 10’s Pointless) And Special Guests To Be Announced As They Dissect Everything From The Leadership Crisis To The Banking Royal Commission.  (Also touring Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane)

Price: $34 – $104.04

Bookings: https://events.ticketbooth.com.au/event/the-war-on-2018-melbourneHzchcPM

Thurs 8 Dec at 7pm
Merry Salt-Mas! One Hour Of Improvised Christmas

At the Improve Conspiracy Theatre at 7pm

Help them ease into the silly season by suggesting something Christmassy to spring them into an hour of improvised comedy. The Heralayan Salt Lamps’ signature show involves creating a completely improvised show with 8 people on stage at once.

Price: $10

https://www.facebook.com/events/291125438188379/

Tues 11 Dec at 8pm
Catfish Comedy Christmas

At The Catfish upstairs, Fitzroy

Standup Comedy with Daniel Connell, Danielle Walker and Brett Blake  and more great acts To Be Confirmed

Doors open 7:30, $12 entry and don’t forget to try the Philly Cheesesteaks

Sat 15 Dec at 3pm
Don’t You Know Who I Am? 2018 XMAS SHOW

At The Catfish upstairs, Fitzroy

30 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC 3056

Live podcast recording. The last live show of the year. An all-star cast raising money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation all hosted by Josh Earl from 3:00 PM

Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=446103

Mon 17 Dec at 8.30pm
Local Laughs XMAS SHOW

At The Local Taphouse 184 Carlisle St. St Kilda East

– MC Andrew McClelland, Cal Wilson, Tom Ballard, Sami Shah, Ethan Cavanagh, plus a host of special Christmassy guests.

Price: $25/20

Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=175052&

17, 19, 20, 21, 22 Dec at 7pm
A Christmas Tale – a Girls Act Good Production 

At The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne

The all female Verbatim Theatre play that takes a comedic and heartfelt look at the Aussie festivities and celebrates how we can come together to remember the magic of Christmas. Yes! Verbatim Theatre! That is Funny! And about Christmas!

Bookings: https://thebutterflyclub.com/show/a-christmas-tale-2018

10, 12, 13, 14 & 15th Dec at 7pm
’Tis the Season…

At The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne a\

Winner of the prestigious Julie Michael Cabaret Award, ’Tis the Season is performed by Maverick Newman and Stacey Thomsett. It’s a comedy about divorce, dysfunction, love and Christmas!

Cost: $25-34

Bookings : https://thebutterflyclub.com/show/tis-the-season

Dec 20, 21, 22 at 8pm
A Swingin’ Bella Christmas!

At The Melba Spiegeltent this year, the legendary palace of festivity and frivolity adjoining Circus Oz /Melbourne Polytechnic / Collingwood TAFE / Collingwood Tech (depending on your era)!

– a finger-snappin’, toe-tappin’ romp through traditional carols, modern favourites and specially-written original songs of the season, executed with airy panache by a horn-laden bevy of brilliant performers known throughout the civilised world as The Bella All-Stars!

Out front, MCs Casey Bennetto and Geraldine Quinn will be joined by special guests:
Selina Jenkins – Thur 20th December
Nina Ferro & Tripod – Fri 21st December
Mike McLeish – Sat 22nd December

Limited tickets remaining
Bookings: https://www.bellaunion.com.au/

Sat 22 Dec at 8pm
Basement Comedy Club – Special Xmas Show!

European Bier Café, 120 Exhibition St Melbourne

There will be fantastic Comedians on the bill as ever….TBA

Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=263827&

Sun 23 Dec at 8pm
The Little Dum Dum Club Orphans Christmas Live Podcast

Downstairs at Basement Comedy Club,

European Bier Cafe, 120 Exhibition St, Melbourne CBD

Come and hang out with The Dum Dums: Karl Chandler and Tommy Dassalo and heaps of their comedian friends. + a little bonus Christmas gift with every ticket sold!

Bookings: http://littledumdumclub.com/?events=orphans-christmas-december-23-8pm

Melbourne Fringe Awards 2018

I hope everyone had a wonderful Melbourne Fringe this year. The best thing about Fringe is discovering performers who are being daring and brilliant. It’s always fun to pop into the Fringe Club too and discover a performer or show on stage who you may have overlooked in print.

Our congratulations to all the Award Winners and especially to comedy legend Bob Franklin. A jaw dropping show that had me crying with  laughter.

I’m not listing all the Winners here, just the ones that may interest our niche readers. Though if you are especially keen on furniture (or any of the wide range of Fringe Arts), check out the website.

Best in Category Awards  

Best Cabaret
Creatures of the Deep
Jude Perl: I Have A Face

Best Circus
Casting Off

Best Comedy
Bob Franklin – Yours Sincerely
Squirrel Review: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13209

Special Awards 

Melbourne Fringe Living Legend Award 
Susie Dee (actress, Director)

You may have seen Susie in Winners & Losers, Bad Eggs, Funky Squad or my favourite Australian short film Bonza
For more information on Suzie and a list of previous recipients,
please see here.

Venue of the Year
The Melba

Best Emerging Artist
Supported by Quealy Winemakers
Lou Wall’s Drag Race

People’s Choice Award 

Baby Bi Bi Bi

Touring Awards

The QLD Tour Ready Award 
Supported by Brisbane Comedy Festival
10 Things I Hate About Taming of the Shrew

The Summerhall Award 
Supported by Summerhall, Edinburgh
My Best Dead Friend

The WA Tour Ready Award 
Supported by FRINGE WORLD Festival
Cam Venn – Charles Horse Lays an Egg
Squirrel Review: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=12659

Artist Development Awards

Best Emerging Performance Ensemble
Supported by Theatre Network Australia
DOG SHOW

Best Emerging Producer
Supported by MILKE
Tom Backhaus – Dazza and Keif Go Viral

Queer Development and Mentorship Award
Supported by Midsumma Festival
Erin Pattison, Samantha Andrew & Annabel Larcombe – Baby Bi Bi Bi

For for the full list of Award Winners go to the Melbourne Fringe Website :
https://melbournefringe.com.au/festival-info/melbourne-fringe-awards/

Risk Taker – Tracey Mole

By Hooi Khaw

Tracey Mole debuts her show Risk Taker to a friendly audience with a comfortable ratio of friends and family, to punters. There is always the potential that these type of anecdotal shows by young, inexperienced performers will rely too heavily on the crutches of familiarity and in-jokes directed towards the audience members with the affiliation, but the few personal digs in the show are well crafted and easy to enjoy as a punter.

The structure of this show loosely relates to “Risk Taking”, in the framework of Mole’s personal stories. The story telling is extremely engaging, and Mole sprinkles in genuine moments of vulnerability amongst the jokes, the combination of which her crowd laps up. Her ability to make the stranger details from her life funny and amusing is a credit to this up-and-coming comedian.

Her comedy is wonderfully wry; at times absurd, at times bitter sweet. Mole takes the audience down the rabbit holes of her imagination, making humorous comments on these weird realities that she creates.

As a whole piece, it would have been satisfying if the show was tied together more thematically, however, this debut show should be applauded. It is the result of an incredible effort by Mole, whose sense of self and sense of comedy seem well defined and stage ready. In this show, her meta comments about not knowing how to use the mike stand, and not wrapping up the show smoothly come off as charming, and help to build the character. The jokes are well structured and delivered, and with further progress in execution, Mole could become a truly brilliant comedian.

Risk Taker was on at Errol’s & Co.
https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/risk-taker/

Tap Head

By Colin Flaherty

What a fascinating premise for a show. A man with a tap for a head. I was all set for an hour of plumbing humour but in the hands of New Zealand comic actor / mime / all-round silly bugger Barnie Duncan, this was so much more.

The Tap Head character was a wonderful creation both in physically and performativity. With its limited field of vision it’s amazing that Duncan could find his way around the stage let alone convey a range of complex emotions with this featureless fellow. Brilliant sound design was essential in creating this world. Whether it was the bright lit stand up stage, an empty street or a fantasy world, this soundtrack set each scene perfectly. The sound tech was also a character in this performance which blurred the lines between this surreal world and our reality.

This show’s narrative alternated between Tap Head’s daily life performed in mime and the stand up routines of Barnie Juancan. The comedy was wonderfully silly observational material that explored seemingly random topics using plenty of clever wordplay and fascinatingly skewed logic. It was punctuated with musical stings where Duncan showed off his hilarious physicality by dancing wildly to Cha Cha and German Techno.

In stark contrast, Tap Head’s scenes transported us to a strange yet familiar world where our hero led a rather tragic life. He was subjected to some comical misfortune and often retreated to a dream world of happiness which kept things from becoming too bleak. This fellow also took to the stage to perform his own stand up which was as heartbreakingly sad as his life off stage and also served the purpose of providing verbal background to the mime scenes.

When the worlds of Tap Head and Juancan collided most of the initial randomness became clear. Some of the call backs related to Tap Head’s emotional journey while others seemed to only exist for the sake of closure. Things culminated with a stirring speech and song that, while not quite a triumphant conclusion, was sufficiently uplifting and joyous to send us out of the theatre in a happy mood.

This work in progress will likely undergo many iterations but even in these early stages, Duncan has already created a magical experience.

Tap Head is on at Club Voltaire until September 30
https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/tap-head/

Sleepover Gurlz – Vidya Rajan and Emma Smith

By Elyce Phillips 

In a bedroom somewhere in North Fitzroy, Vidya Rajan (Asian Ghost-ery Store) and Emma Smith (Woman Laughing with a Bowl of Salad) are having a sleepover. It’s full of all the cool stuff you remember – snacks and watching movies and gossiping – but lurking in the dark is something more sinister. Sleepover Gurlz is a hilarious triumph, blending the soft warmth of nostalgia with a deft hard punch of interrogative wit. It whips between the familiar and the strange, gross and intelligent – a tightly constructed package crammed with everything you could want in a Fringe show.

The staging of Sleepover Gurlz is incredibly fun. You show up to the secret location filled with the same kind of nerves you felt when you were going off to a sleepover at a school friend’s place for the first time, full of excitement at what’s to come but nervous to be somewhere strange and new. Those nerves are quickly set aside when you are welcomed in and guided to the craft table. Before the show begins, the audience sits in a small huddle, making paper crowns, putting on candy bracelets. There’s a few books available to flip through to pass the time, all pop psych tomes on dealing with depression and navigating single life. We all have a quick chat and get to know each other a little, and it makes the sleepover feel all the more real when we’re guided into the bedroom where the show takes place.

The conceit of the show is simple. The audience are all friends who have come over to Rajan and Smith’s sleepover. Over the course of the hour, we experience a feverish, heightened version of the parties we remember – as kids, then teens. From this familiar starting point, however, Sleepover Gurlz twists and unravels to reveal some hard truths about female socialisation and the ongoing effect it has on our lives. Rajan and Smith work together terrifically. Smith’s bold physical movements bring a manic energy to the childhood portions of the show. Rajan is intelligent and measured, getting laughs with a quick look or an unexpected turn of phrase. Both bring their whole selves to the performance for the full duration in a way that is incredibly impressive. Xanthea O’Connor’s sound design is utterly brilliant and should also be commended. Her work makes the experience all the more immersive.

Sleepover Gurlz does a fabulous job of uncovering the sense of ritual that’s deeply embedded in childhood sleepovers. Things which, at the time, felt so fun and grown-up – like playing with make-up and revealing your crushes – are stripped down to their base elements and shown for what they are – preparation for the patriarchy. Scenes demonstrating the elation and excitement of discovering a new adult world are intercut with the harsh realities of what you find when you get there. Rajan and Smith have created a show that will have you gasping with laughter in the moment, but then leave you thinking about it for days afterwards.

Sleepover Gurlz has sold out the remainder of its run at Melbourne Fringe look out for any extra or future performances