Jude Perl : Part Of This Complete Breakfast

By Lisa ClarkJude Perl

Jude Perl is an extraordinarily talented musical comedian. She’s an amazing singer full stop. She could have been a great pop singer but something is urging her to write comedy songs and I encourage that urge, for it is an excellent urge, the sort of urge that drives great comedians and I suspect she is destined for Greatness.

There is no patter up front, Jude Perl opens with what she does best, an original musical comedy song at the piano. They are not simple one joke songs. She packs a lot of jokes and laughs into each song and all are highly intelligent, cynical and toe tapping. I can’t help but draw comparisons with the first time I saw Tim Minchin or Geraldine Quinn and was completely blown away by their talent.

Jude’s show is about having to bow down to commercial interests to make money while dreaming of a more artistically rewarding recording contract. She writes (very funny) jingles for the (fake) Sugar O company who have paid for her album and her comedy festival show. Other songs are about love, trying to please others and how hard it is to be a decent person in a pretty screwed up world. She also manages to sing impressive harmony with several incarnations of herself.

It’s a simple setting with Piano for playing her songs on and a stand up mic for the stand up comedy between songs. Some of the stand-up is part of the sort-of-plot as she yacks with the disembodied (pre-recorded) voice of her manager. The highlight for me was her material about the creepiness of the people who decided to make Law & Order SUV or the Saw movies (let alone those who are keen to watch). Very sharply observed and very funny, she has a natural comedic voice.

The only negative was the positioning of the piano (which is always going to be a difficult hurdle) meant that not only was she hard to see but we didn’t get to see the two fabulous costumes she changes into properly. The boob dress (yes it’s a dress covered in boobs) can be seen in her youtube video for ‘Pop Singer’ a fabulous song about society’s expectations of modern female pop singers. I was a little disappointed not to see any of her very professional looking pre-recorded comedic video ads for Sugar Os as part of the show (She made them as promos for her show, why not put them in it?). In the end though she doesn’t need them, there is definitely enough here for the audience to be wowed by.

Jude was a RAW finalist in 2014 and has only been doing comedy for a couple years. She has the talent, comedic nous and stagecraft of someone who’s been doing it for a lot longer. If she’s this great now, I think she’s heading for inevitable stardom.

Jude Perl Part Of This Complete Breakfast at The Butterfly Club Wednesdays and Sundays at 10pm

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/part-of-this-complete-breakfast-jude-perl

Set List: Stand-up Without A Net. The TV Series.

By Jayden Edwards

“Set List- Stand up Without a Net” the international hit show that has comedians shitting themselves the world over, is coming to our TV screens.

Set List invites willing comedians to jump up on stage and tackle a never before seen list of topics and spin out a fully improvised routine in front of a live audience.

The original concept is the brainchild of US comedians and film makers Troy Conrad and Paul Provenza. After experimenting with the show in comedy rooms in and around Los Angeles, Set List has set up shop around the world in front of sell out crowds, including London, Edinburgh and at our own Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The show has attracted some of comedies biggest names and delighted audiences, giving them the clearest possible view of a comedians inner-most workings. All this hype eventually attracted the attention of UK Television network Sky Atlantic, who commissioned the 14 part series, showing here on ABC2.

The TV series was filmed in the US and the UK last year and sees the likes of Robin Williams, Ross Noble, Drew Carey, Tim Minchin, Rove McManus and more, take on the Set List challenge.

Episode one, premiering 9.00pm Thursday January 24 on ABC2, sees Robin Williams, Matt Kirshen and Eddie Pepitone step up to the mic. All very different comedians, it’s great to see how they approach the task in their own style. Robin, as you’d expect, pulls out some wacky voices and whimsical tales to get him through, while Eddie employs a lot of swearing and yelling to keep the laughs coming while he’s thinking. Yeah, some of the jokes miss, but the fun in Set List is seeing the comedians find the hits, it’s like a spectator sport, everyone loves a car crash as much as a triumph!

The TV format adds another layer to the successful live show by mixing the comedians performances with behind the scenes footage and pre and post show interviews, so you really get to see the acts sweat and panic before jumping up on stage, and their reaction straight after their set. The camera gets right in the comedians faces during their set, showing their gears turning and brows sweating. These are all great techniques that puts the viewer on the other side of the fence, it feels like it’s you and the comedian vs the audience, a whole different experience to being an audience member at the live show.

Set Lists transition to television was always at risk of losing it’s edge and underground live room feel, but the doco style filming, basic set and lack of host ensure none of that is lost, no glitz, just raw stand up inprov.

The show is produced for the UK, so there’s a few names that may not be so familiar with Aussie audiences, but plenty that will. Hopefully they’ll film some in Melbourne in the future!

Set List the TV show is a highly entertaining, nerve-wracking journey into the unknown, make sure you check it out.

Starts 9.00pm Thursday January 24 on ABC2