FIVE GOOD REASONS TO SEE SIMON GODFREY – DESTINY RACER

1. To prepare for the show I quit comedy for 18 months to become a professional sports car driver. After I won the world championship I resigned from Porsche to put on the show, turning my back on the excitement, the adventure, the fame, the travel, the women, the money and… oh god, what have I done?!

2. If you’ve ever wanted to watch a Le Mans race, the bloody thing lasts for 24 hours. I condense the race into about ten minutes, so I’m saving you a lot of time. I’m also saving you leave from work, a trip to France and about 3000€.

3. One of the many characters I play is a cowboy named Buck Wild West McCowboy. I think that reason speaks for itself.

4. Simon, are there any shows in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year that feature a monkey who realises its dream to become a race car driver? Hmm, no. Not that I can think of. Tell you what; I’ll chuck it in my show to fill the gap in the market.

5. Destiny Racer is the ultimate racing story. There are thrills, spills, people mopping up the spills, speed, drama, Nazis, cowboys, cars, corruption and a tree that fakes its own death. It’s fast, furious and funny and a lot cheaper than a trip to France.

Simon Godfrey performs Destiny Racer at The Tuxedo Cat from April 7

For more information See the MICF Website:

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/destiny-racer-simon-godfrey

Simon Godfrey: Sauce

By Lisa Clark Simon Godfrey's sauce

The thing that made me want to see Sauce is The 5 Good Reasons that Simon submitted (yes they CAN work!). They were so whacky that they made me chuckle and he did not sell his show short. He promised a heavy use of Trebuchets in his show and they might be imaginary but there really is a lot of catapulting going on. And yachts? Yes two of the minor characters are yachts.

There is no dilly dallying with welcomes or warming the audience, we were taken straight into the world of tomato sauce hating schoolboy Max, his nemesis Bartholomew and evil school principal of St Optimus Primary (probably the best pun of the Fringe) Mr Matthews. The mind bending plot, that is quite difficult to recount afterwards, surprised us by having a hint of a political venom in its tail, it involves Madam President of the United States flying Airforce One, Putin, Peterson of The Trebuchet Society and a small nuclear device.

This is a one man show with Simon Godfrey playing all the parts. Simon’s mime and acting skills are wonderful. We were treated to a vast array of characters with silly voices and there were lots of laughs all the way through. There are three Acts so that Simon gets to catch his breath and say hi to the audience in the two brief breaks before jumping back into the mayhem.

The scenario comes from a small premise of a young boy refusing sauce at a school sausage sizzle that escalates out of all proportion reminding me of a Simpsons episode until it reminds me more of South Park. There are interludes of fabulous literal depictions of lines in the script that remind me of the surprise cutaway scenes in The Young Ones and of course it was inevitably going to end in a Goodies style sauce battle.

As is one half of sketch duo This is Siberian Husky, Simon is no stranger to entertaining an audience and it’s all pretty sleek. Simon is adept at employing running gags and call backs into the well written script. The lighting in particular is excellent. Without any sets or props for this complex and convoluted plot the lighting becomes vital in telling the audience where we are. For example the red light signals the running gag in the tomato sauce factory and the green lights remind us that we’re back in the swamp.

Sauce is a riotous ride into some weird and wild territory, there’s a lot going on, so pay attention, it’ll be worth it.

Simon Godfrey’s Sauce is on at The Lithuanian Club til Oct 3

https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/program/event/view/0b265fac-5bbe-4baa-ad1a-e6b48c756892

 

5 Good Reasons to See Simon Godfrey – Sauce

1. In the show, two of the minor characters are yachts. If I was only playing one yacht, I’d understand if people were like, “Just one? I could see that anywhere.” But two… Strap yourselves in, sailors.

2. Sauce is a deeply personal show about a boy who doesn’t like tomato sauce. Oh the torment, discrimination and scorn we non-sauce-eaters suffer. When I was a child, I was ejected from every school sausage sizzle. I’m convinced they thought something was wrong with me, (I know you’re thinking there is), and that my sauce refusal was a form of anarchism.

3. What’s with the lack of catapults in modern comedy? It’s a question I hear all the time and a problem rectified by my heavy use of trebuchets in the show.

4. To write Sauce, I used the tried and tested equation: underdog + geopolitics + silly voices(rudimentary impression of Vladimir Putin) x sausages2 = comedy.

5. It’s a one-person show with 30 and a bit characters, revenge, intrigue, milk bars a lot of sauce. And, if I can remember it all, it should be a lot of fun.

Simon Godfrey’s  Sauce is on at The Lithuanian Club

Info and Tickets: https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/program/event/view/0b265fac-5bbe-4baa-ad1a-e6b48c756892

5 Good Reasons To See The Earth is Flat by Simon Godfrey

1. I play 22 characters, one of which is Clive Palmer and when it comes to comedy, that man is a blank cheque.

2. I also play a horse. It’s taken me 30 years to realise, but I am happiest when pretending to be a horse. I just think that’s psychologically interesting.

3. There are very few things that are better than medieval cardinals hatching a dastardly plan. There are also very few things better than the word ‘dastardly’. The Earth is Flat features both.

4. The science underpinning the show ranges from unlikely, to improbable, to impossible. Come and see science nerds in the audience silently seething, desperate to jump on twitter to attack my poor grasp of physics. #HowCanYouSawTheEarthInHalf

5. The Herald Sun said “Godfrey will have you uncontrollably cackling.” I don’t know what it is about my comedy that turns people into witches. Most likely, it’s the cauldron and my pact with the devil.

For Tickets and Information check out the Fringe Website:
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/the-earth-is-flat/