5 good reasons to see TriAngel

1. The cast!

Collectively they have over 60 years of improv experience between them, hailing from 3 of the worlds best commonwealth states. Yikes! Individually theyā€™ve toured locally and internationally as improvisers and teachers, and have extensive experience with all of Melbourneā€™s top improv companies: Impro Melbourne, The Big Hoo-Haa Melbourne, Impromptunes and Improv Conspiracy.

2. The music!

Award-winning musician Jamie Burgess adds his musical magic to all the songs. They may be improvised, but boy will they be catchy, ticking all the pop-trope boxes and using titles provided by the audience, promising a unique experience with a guaranteed earworm each night!

3. Nostalgia!

TriAngel is a chance to relive your childhood pop fantasies and get up close and personal to that It-girl band you never knew.

4. Improv!

You get a unique performance every night, where your suggestions will help create the story and the music. No two shows or songs are the same.

5. Sparkles!

Hoo-boy! There has been so much cash spent on glitter and sparkles that this makes TriAngel the most flammable show of the festival! If it couldnā€™t be done with a hot glue gun, it couldnā€™t be done.

Amanda Buckley, Amy Moule and Candice D’Arcy perform TriAngelĀ at Trades Hall from Sept 12 – 20

https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/triangel/

Dairy Kweenz – Normal Human Responses

By Elyce PhillipsĀ DQ Normal Human

Dairy Kweenz (Colwyn Buckland, Taylor Griffiths, Jess Hagan, Filip Lescaut and Lena Moon) are an up-and-coming sketch group based in Melbourne, regularly performing improv at The Improv Conspiracy. Normal Human Responses is their second show, following on from their Fringe Festival debut last year. Itā€™s an entertaining hour, filled with bold characters and plenty of laughs.

Each member of Dairy Kweenz is given their chance to shine in Normal Human Responses. They all prove to be adept at playing big, absurd characters and their foils. A sketch in which Moon played a character who was extremely excited to get a hot toddy was an absolute stand-out. Buckland was also wonderful as a deranged lawyer in a Serial parody sketch. Lescaut was at his best when he was given room to rant. A sketch in which he produced ever more absurd examples of what ā€œmost gay men are likeā€ was particularly great. Hagan was more subtle in her performances, playing the straight characters beautifully.

Thereā€™s no one theme that ties all of the sketches together, but a thread that does continue through the show is a doctor character performed by Griffiths, who is conducting experiments into various ā€œnormalā€ emotions. The video segments worked well and added some variety to the show.

As with most sketch comedy, the material in Normal Human Responses has its peaks and valleys. The bulk of the show was wonderfully funny, however, some sections ran a little long and it was difficult to hear the quieter lines as the performers were not using mics. The overall pacing of the show was great, though, with higher energy sketches scattered right throughout to keep the audience excited.

Normal Human Responses is a fine second outing from Dairy Kweenz and shows they have staying power as a sketch group. If youā€™re a fan of sketch comedy, itā€™s well worth catching this show during its short run.

Dairy Kweenz – Normal Human Responses is on at Speakeasy HQ until April 22
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/normal-human-responses-2

5 Good Reasons to see The Improv Conspiracy Tournament of Teams

1. Sixteen teams comprised by over 60 of Melbourne’s best comedians and most experienced improvisers are competing in the Tournament of Teams.

2. It features four different improv comedy teams performing every show (with the exception of the Grand Final which will be just two teams with a greater time limit). Different acts each show with a very different style of comedy than the one before them, all for just $10!

3. YOU decide which teams continue forward in the tournament by voting at the end of every show.

4. The tournament has a fun little storyline orbiting around it featuring four different characters (Alien Commander, Superhero, Fairy Princess, Corporate Powerhouse) that will be hosting each show.

5. It’s completely improvised! ANYTHING could happen! This is the must-see improv event of the year.

The Tournament of Teams on at The Improv Conspiracy Theatre every Friday and Saturday until April 22

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/2nd-annual-tournament-of-teams

5 Good Reasons to see Improv Against Humanity

1. You are obsessed with or even mildly amused by the card game Cards Against Humanity

2. If you are any kind of Geek, Nerd or Weirdo.

3. You have a sick obsession with yelling out politically incorrect suggestions at regular improv comedy nights and need to exorcise these demons.

4. You enjoy comedy that not only walks the line but trips the pedestrian and curb-stomps them to the ground.

5. If you’re bad to the boner.

Improv Against Humanity is being improvised atĀ The Improv Conspiracy HQ

For more info check the MICF Website:

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/improv-against-humanity-mysterious-blob

The Improv Conspiracy ā€“ 3 Mad Rituals

By Elyce PhillipsĀ Improv 3 Mad Rituals

For the past few years, The Improv Conspiracy has been establishing itself as the company to see for longform improv. In 3 Mad Rituals, a team of fabulous performers take on a marathon of longform formats, displaying both incredible stamina and a talent for pulling comedy gold from seemingly thin air.

3 Mad Rituals is a 90 minute behemoth of improvised comedy. The players take part in three ā€œritualsā€ designed by Del Close (a legendary performer and director at Second City) ā€“ Deconstruction, The Movie, and The Harold ā€“ all working from the one suggestion. In the Improv Conspiracyā€™s version, the suggestion is taken from a line of poetry called out from the audience. On the night I attended, it was Emily Dickinsonā€™s ā€œHope is a thing with feathersā€.

First up is the Deconstruction ā€“ a series of short scenes playing off an initial opener.Ā  Performers Andrew Strano and Andrew Watt showed that they also had drama chops, starting things with a brutally emotional scene about a father caring for his drug-addicted son while he gets clean. The rest of the crew then skilfully created comedic scenes based on this relationship.

Following this was The Movie, in which the team created a half-hour ā€œfilmā€, complete with suggested camera and lighting instructions. From the embers of the preceding half-hour, they created ā€˜Noah and the Mecha-Angelā€™, an anime-style take on the biblical story, featuring Hayley Tantau and Mario Hannah as a pair of extremely unproductive water demons, intent on destroying the world but failing to do much about it.

Finally was The Harold, a long-form staple of The Improv Conspiracy. Here, things got a little hit and miss. A series of scenes about a murderous husband strayed into uncomfortable territory, with the dark subject matter not getting enough laughs to feel justifiable. However, there were also bright spots. Broni Lisleā€™s performance as a magician facing discrimination from his community was hilarious, as was Dan Pavatich as the nation of Chad, who inexplicably spoke fluent Japanese.

3 Mad Rituals is a wonderful opportunity to check out some of Improv Conspiracyā€™s strongest performers testing their skills in a gruelling format. Keeping a captive audience with a 90 minutes show that starts at 10:15pm is a tall order, but the team well and truly accomplished it, keeping the room in stitches for the duration.

3 Mad Rituals is on at The Improv Conspiracy ā€“ Theatre until October 3

https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/program/event/view/9f975071-6f4f-43e6-9ca5-c468c76da19f

5 Goode Reasons to see Soothplayers: Completely Improvised Shakespeare

1. Each show is the opening (and closing) night of a completely improvised play using the language, themes and style of Shakespeare!

2. The fleeting one hour’s traffic of our stage is much shorter than sitting through an actual Shakespeare play! Imagine what you could do with that spare time – eat food, fall in love, do your taxes (or all 3 at the same time if you take your accountant on a date)

3. You get to hear fun words like: Mayhap, Verily and Strumpet.

4. A good death scene, or a love scene, or fairies (probably)

5. There will be a lute and shapely calves.

Soothplayers is on atĀ The Improv Conspiracy – Theatre