Category: Room Reviews

Ethnic City

By Hooi Khaw

Ethnic City is a new  month long run of standup comedy gigs in Melbourne that brings to the stage a lineup exclusively made up of performers of colour. After going on a marketing rampage, with shout outs in The Age, The Herald Sun, and Triple R radio, Ethnic City sold out the 53 seat theatre at The Improv Conspiracy on opening night. The hype lives up to the expectation, boasting formidable lineups since the start of the run. The buzz of the audience is palpable, as they mill about the licensed bar, waiting for the show to start.

In an industry that is often decried for lack of representation, diversity has become a hot topic, and shows like Ethnic City create a space where performers can be appreciated for their talent and not seen as a token (with that added pressure to “represent”).

Room runner, local comedian Brendan Wan speaks to us in more detail about Ethnic City:

H: What is the intent behind Ethnic City?

B: The intent behind Ethnic City was to create a show where not only Performers of Colour can showcase their talents but also give audiences from diverse backgrounds a chance to see members of their own community do their thing on stage. Sometimes, it’s as simple as seeing someone that looks like you on stage that gives others the confidence to pursue their own certain projects. It’s no secret Melbourne’s creative arts industry lacks diversity. I know far too many incredibly talented ethnic actors, writers and comedians who need to create projects in order to pursue their artistic goals as their ethnicity isn’t regarded as marketable. When I started comedy, especially improv, I could count the number of people of colour on one hand. Gradually more people of diverse backgrounds have been welcomed on stage but we still have a long way to go until ethnicity isn’t regarded as unique.

H: What is your approach to balancing new comers and experienced comedians of colour?

B: I guess this is the same case with any comedy show, you have a big name headliner who initially attracts the general audiences and then the up-and-coming talent to support. I’ve been luckily enough to have the bigger name acts of Lawrence Leung and Sami Shah involved to perform at Ethnic City and they’ve been incredibly supporting of the whole show.

H: Have you been actively recruiting the acts, or are people asking for slots?

B: I’ve been actively recruiting acts but as the show has gone on for a few weeks, there have been a few people approaching me for spots. In the stand-up comedy side of things, I’m in a fortunate position to have more performers than I actually have spots for. But the nature of the show is that it’s a variety show, since comedy comes in all different genres, so finding ethnically diverse acts in other areas of comedy ie improv, clowning, cabaret, sketch – that’s been a bit of a challenge.

H: You’re currently booked for a four week run, what are your plans for Ethnic City moving forward?

B: There are definitely plans for Ethnic City to come back! However there will be a bit of a hiatus for the next few months since I’ll be involved with a few projects. There’s a lot of effort and behind the scenes work required to do this kind of show so juggling full-time work, with several projects can be stretching me real thin. So when it does come back, I’ll be giving it 100% commitment.

Ethnic City is on Friday’s 7pm at The Improv Conspiracy from the 24th of May 2019 until the 14th of June 2019. See website for Details –

https://improvconspiracy.com/shows/ethnic-city

Interview with Karl Chandler about Comedy at Spleen and Portland Comedy Rooms

By Lisa Clark

Karl Chandler came into the comedy world in his late twenties and has since built a small comedy empire of sorts around him. Along with his contemporaries, he played a big part in rejuvenating the Melbourne Comedy scene of the past five or so years. Karl runs two of Melbourne’s top comedy rooms that have been crucial in the developing careers of a new generation of comedy stars such as Ronny Chieng and Luke McGregor. They have also provided fresh audiences for established comedians to try out material and for media stars to perform to live.

Karl grew up in Maryborough then lived and worked in Ballarat before moving to Melbourne. He didn’t really start getting into comedy til he was 29 or 30 and so was a bit more mature and ready to get serious about making a living out if it. As a stand up Karl became well known for his short-jokes. A form of comedy that had not been very fashionable in Melbourne, though the likes of Tim Vine and Milton Jones in the UK were making it popular. Karl’s take on it has a more relaxed, country-bloke laconic quality, a bit closer to Americans such as Steven Wright and (the late) Mitch Hedberg . With a reputation for helping others with their routines Karl has written for television shows such as Good News Week and Spicks and Specks. In 2011 Karl edited and published a book of jokes by local comedians called Funny buggers – (the Best Lines from Australian Stand Up Comedy). Karl was also quick to get in early on the Podcast scene in Australia and with mate Tommy Dassalo has created one of Australia’s most popular podcasts The Little Dum Dum Club. 

Live comedy scenes in towns are often as good as the venues available and the people willing to run them. Comedians need a variety of good places to perform, to develop their craft and preferably be valued and paid for their efforts. The Melbourne scene, like many has gone up and down over the years, rooms tend to come and go  and around 2007 was in a bit of a lull. Karl with his comedian friends Steele Saunders (who now also runs Public Bar Comedy) and Pete Sharkey started running existing free comedy venue Comedy at Spleen on Monday nights in Melbourne’s CBD in May 2008. It became known as a good quality try out night where no one was paid but newbies got to perform along side bigger names, gradually gaining a strong audience of regulars and a great reputation, spawning two sequels; running on Thursday nights, Karl’s first paid-gig venue Softbelly opened in July 2010, and the short lived but just as excellent Felix Bar opened in St Kilda on Wednesdays from 2011. Softbelly later moved and was re-named Five Boroughs. It has recently moved again and on December 16th 2014 Karl brought his room (and comedy nous) to the Portland Hotel to become Portland Comedy.

At the moment Karl is also getting ready to perform his solo show at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival called Karl Chandler – Worlds Greatest (and Best) Comedian. A brave title indeed. As you can imagine he is a very busy man and hard to pin down, but was kind enough to find a spare moment before a busy night at The Portland Hotel to talk to me about himself and the rooms he runs.

Who do you look up to or who inspired you in comedy?

My favourite, because I do shorter jokes, is Mitch Hedberg, absolute favourite by far, between the jokes and even the character and the charisma… I don’t listen to heaps of comedy but he’s a guy I’ll listen to over and over.

What got you into comedy?

When I grew up I always watched and I’ve always enjoyed watching sitcoms and every form of comedy but I never thought I’d do anything with it. I came quite late to actually doing standup.

I suppose growing up in a country town there wasn’t much opportunity

Well I’d never seen a gig. I had a mate who liked to watch Champagne Comedy on Channel 31. He used to love it because it was so bad. He used to get me round to his house and we would get drunk and watch it and laugh at how bad it was [as did I] and then once after they said at the end of it ‘Come down and watch it live’ we said “What if we went and saw a whole night of this – how bad would that be?” So then me and my mate started going down there and watching it live every week and getting drunk and saying ‘How bad is this?’ and this was the only stand up I’d seen live. Until one night I got that drunk I said to my friend “Right. That’s it. Give me two months and I’ll do it once.” It was just a drunken thing to say but he held me to it saying ‘Nah it’s happening!’ and then told all my friends so I couldn’t back down. So then I had two months to write a routine. Then my friends found out about RAW comedy, I’d never heard of it before and my mate said “Right, you’re booked!” So then I did RAW Comedy without knowing anything else.

Wow, I’m amazed that quite a few people have started out in RAW.

Well if you are not in comedy you wonder, ‘Where do you Start?” It’s pretty intimidating stuff.

But I would’ve have thought RAW Comedy would be
 a weird place to start

Intimidating?

Yeah, it’s a comedy competition!

You’re right, but I didn’t know any better, I didn’t know what else there was. And it was of course the best way, I don’t know about now, but it used to be a great gig.

There are surprisingly quite a few comedian’s who’s first gig was RAW.

Well it’s advertised. I think that’s part of the reason. I think my mate saw it in the paper, whereas you don’t see other open mics advertised. You see, that was never in my
 head, I certainly never had the idea to see comedy live or anything.

It’s a weird thing to jump into and suddenly go ‘Alright I’m doing this from now on’.

When did you, Steele Saunders & Pete Sharkey start running Spleen (a venue that already existed)?

I can only speak for myself. It was about eight years ago, and I was so sick of doing gigs that weren’t very good

I remember that time well and it was a bit of a low point in the rooms available to see comedy in Melbourne. It goes up and down and that was a bit of a bad time.

Yes and I remember people saying ‘You can’t do comedy in the city’. Maybe because I’m a bit of a control freak or a perfectionist – I was just sick of going to gigs and thinking ‘well this is shit, why are they running it like this? They should be doing it like this.’ I finally went I’m sick of this complaining about everything why don’t you do something yourself?

The owner of Spleen still says ‘Oh I made a good decision choosing you’ But it wasn’t like that at all. What happened was; Spleen was an existing gig, but it was not that great, the numbers weren’t there at all, about 10 people turning up each week. About four people ran it before us. They went through four different people. I went in there drinking with my mates one night and I really believe this, I think the owner thought ‘I’ll kick these current people out and I’ll get these guys to run it because they’ve got seven mates here and they’ll bring their mates every week and that’ll be it.’ So I think he thought ‘They’ll bring their mates every week and that’ll be a business’ and I thought ‘well it’s time to put up or shut up’. So it was me and Steele [Saunders] and [Pete] Sharkey and we were all in. We were all serious guys we all had common sense and wanted to do it properly.

The first week we honoured the line up that had been booked and it was the worst fucken line up. I mean honestly looking back at it, if you tried to fuck up a night – the start of a new room – this is how you would do it. It was literally the 10 worst comics in town at the time and we got there and they didn’t even turn up.  Because they’d been booked by the previous management. So I remember clear as day, 8.35pm having no audience members and being out the front of the gig and ringing people to say “Can you please come down and do this spot?” So it was quite bad.

The second week was more or less the same and I remember the owner saying to me “This can’t keep going on” and me saying “You’ve only given us two weeks so far, you’ve gotta give us more than two weeks”. After that I remember the third week wasn’t so bad and then it sort of took off. Within six months we were full every week.

And you know, that’s not a big deal now I reckon.. It sounds a bit like ‘Old Man Chandler telling a story’, ’cause there’s a lot of rooms around, but I fully believe that Spleen gave birth to a lot of rooms. I’ve given a lot of people advice on how to run rooms, so they’ve all come from that. I think Spleen is sort of like the heart of the comedy rooms that we’ve had in the last five years.

At first we were too scared to get big names to come down. We didn’t want to go ‘Come down Tom Gleeson, come down Lehmo and play in front of 10 people.’ So we made sure we were consistently really good before we started saying ‘Hey, if you want to come down
’ and it sort of built & built from there.

We’d been on for six and a half years and someone said ‘Oh aren’t you sick of it?’ and I’ve never been sick of Spleen. Even though we’re running it as a sort of open mic room I love it, you hang out with your mates and it’s such a good gig and I hop on every two weeks and do material. I feel at home, that’s my home ground. I feel so comfortable there. I actually feel a bit scared and sad that one day I won’t be there. Like someday… if you have to pass it on. If I got successful enough that I didn’t have to do that gig anymore, I think I’d still be trying to find a way of still doing it.

Has Pete moved interstate?

He’s moved away, he’s got married and had a kid and he’s in Perth now. He left eighteen months ago. So it’s just me and Steele running Spleen now.

What is the concept behind Spleen?

The whole idea of it is ten acts about five minutes each and we want a nice range of acts. This is the sort of gig we wanted when we first started. We started running Spleen about 2 years into doing comedy and we tried to build it as the sort of gig that we would’ve been able to get on or would’ve been a great gig to get on at.

So even though you’d been doing gigs for a couple of years, in the comedy world you would be still considered newcomers. It’s pretty amazing for newcomers to be running such a successful room.

Sure but Steele and I are around the same age, we’d had jobs and had run things before. We weren’t like the typical open mic-er; a 21 year old who’s never held down a mainstream job, may never get one. We had business savvy about us.

We designed it so it was ten acts, with a good Emcee, there was always going to be space for new people to hop up. That’s how it’s always been, but it does get over booked now. Which means it’s always a bit of a shame when people think I don’t book new people. We do, but the thing is there’s that rule where you’ve gotta come down and sign up. You’ve got to come down and support the gig.

It’s always been my advice to young comedians that if you want to get up in any room you’ve got to go down to the venue first and hang out there for a while. Get to know the audience, the other performers and the people who run the room and how they run it.

Well we never got given that advice when we started and anyway there was mostly bad rooms and the bigger places where we couldn’t get on. So we always try to make that space for new people to get on because we see ourselves through those eyes.

I don’t think I did a gig with anyone remotely famous inside my first eighteen months. At Spleen we’ve had people doing their first gig with Tom Gleeson or their second gig with Dave Hughes. We find that a really cool thing to be able to pass on to people.

None of the performers at Spleen are paid but then you opened up another gig where you can pay the comedians with more experience.

So once we were running Spleen on Mondays for eighteen months to two years we were killing it and it was great but I noticed there was that market and because I’d learnt a lot of lessons and been successful I thought, you know what? I could do another room. Also I had quit my job and thought, what do I do well? I run a room well, maybe I can run another one. So I started running a Thursday night room which was Softbelly which became 5 Boroughs and has now become Portland Comedy. The model for this one is big names and an Emcee with acts being paid.

Again there was not a room quite like it running in Melbourne at the time. After Spleen a few similar free rooms popped up. I thought it was time for a good paid room with big names in and it sort of became the Best of Spleen. I turned Spleen in my head into a bit of an audition room for the good gig. It was new and a bit of a struggle at first.

It seems easy now ‘cause you’ve got so many rooms happening but back then in was in a bit of a lull. I think it might be that people didn’t know about it but now you’ve got the Internet
social media has really helped with that sort of stuff. Back then you put an ad in the street press and few posters around and that’s about it. I would always flier to start with for my rooms and comedy people would remark “Oh that’s for Comedy festival” but I would say “No that’s for business!” You can’t sit on your arse and think ‘I hope people find this place’ plenty of people have tried that concept!

So flyering did help?

Yes, definitely and I still do it…. because you get a lot of tourists going through. Not so much for Spleen anymore because we couldn’t fit more people in but for here I do. [Karl has recently moved his Thursday night gig to The Portland Hotel and changed it’s name but both nights I’ve been there it’s been pretty packed out.] It’s effective in Comedy Festival, why wouldn’t you do it here? It’s only because no-one likes to be rejected, I mean I’m the same but it’s business.

It’s not personal.

No

You’ve named all your comedy rooms after the venue they are in. Have you thought of not doing that, so you don’t have to change the name every time you move?

Yes I know. It’s a very valid point. The plan was at the start that we wouldn’t move around. The other thing is that I want to give value to the venue. So if I call it ‘HaHa Comedy’ you have to explain it. It has to be HaHa Comedy at The Portland Hotel – it becomes a bit complicated. But the gratifying thing is that each time I’ve moved people seem to follow. Definitely if I had my time back I would probably do that, but it seems to have worked out anyway, so it’s fine.

How Long did the Felix Bar run for in St Kilda.

It began about nine months after Softbelly started and ran for two and a half years. It was an up and down gig that was never bad but I think it was just harder, it may have been being in downtown StKilda.

Because it was mainly Backpackers?

I don’t think so, because it was a different model room – it wasn’t a free room. It was a $12 room and backpackers don’t really want to spend $12. The lowest crowd we ever had was 25 people but at it’s peak we had 130 in there and people would say to me that that was the best room of all of them. When it was good it was amazing, but it was just too much work and it never got that flow on.  Whereas Spleen and this gig at The Portland had flow on; where they hit their mark and people said ‘well we’re coming here every week’. Whereas Felix never flowed. One week we’d have 130 people in for a big name then we’d have another pretty big name in the following week and only get 30 people and I’d think, ‘Well what do we have to do?’

So as well as running two major rooms a week, you have a podcast with Tommy Dassalo, [The Little Dum Dum Club which includes regular live recordings], you’re doing a Festival show – [The Worlds Greatest (and best) Comedian]. You sound pretty busy!

Well I do all that and I also do TV writing. I’ve been really busy the past three years because of the TV writing. Well you just try to take on as much as you can.

Because you never know when the work is going to dry up

Yes I think to do full time comedy, unless you are a big name, you’ve got to have a lot of strings to your bow.

Karl certainly has a lot of strings to his bow.

Comedy at Spleen is on at 8.30 on Monday nights

http://www.comedyatspleen.com/

Portland Comedy is on at 8.30 on Thursday nights

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Portland-Hotel-Comedy/106643309424356?sk=timeline

The Little Dum Dum Club can be downloaded here

http://littledumdumclub.com/

Karl Chandler and Tommy Dassalo Live Podcast Little Dum Dum Club at MICF

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/live-the-little-dum-dum-club-with-tommy-dassalo-and-karl-chandler

Karl Chandler – Worlds Greatest (and Best) Comedian 

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/world-s-greatest-and-best-comedian-karl-chandler

Thanks to Peter for the Photo

Justin Hamilton talks about Comedy @ Crown

By Lisa Clark

Earlier this year Crown Casino put on a Winter season of comedy in its Groove Bar and they had the smarts to get Justin Hamilton in to help put the night together. Hammo’s reputation brought the hardcore comedy nerds in (like me) and Crown brought a relatively different comedy crowd that you might not see in a dark Fitzroy dive but appreciates good comedy none the less. The lineups were, as expected, exceptional and everyone had a great time.

The good news is that comedy is back at Crown for Spring. It’s a four week season curated and hosted by Justin Hamilton that goes til November 9th. Performers coming up this season are a great mix of established and up-and-comers including; Tommy Little, Michael Workman, Anne Edmonds, Hannah Gadsby, Kate McLennan, Geraldine Hickey, Frank Woodley, Michael Chamberlin and Rob Hunter.

It is a truly wonderful thing that Melbourne has such a vibrant, varied live comedy scene at the moment, with everything from tryout nights, cosy established pub rooms, to really out there kooky variety comedy nights and impro and then high end mainstream places such as Crown. It gives a lot of choice for punters and performers alike, newbies have a variety of places to start and to aspire to and experienced performers have places to try out stuff and also do a well paid gig.

Comedy @ Crown has a great atmosphere, with a convivial crowd ready to laugh. The room has two bars and a choice of chairs and some couches. The venue is easy to get to, close to the CBD with undercover parking and lots of pre-show food choices nearby. There is also a Groove Bar snack menu.

If you usually only see one or two shows a year during the comedy festival this is a great place to get a taste of the style of performers who you’ve never seen perform live standup or may not know so well.

Justin Hamilton was kind enough to talk to me about this relatively new Melbourne comedy venue.

L: How did Crown recruit you to curate their new comedy night?

Justin: Crown approached me after seeing a few shows at The Shelf.  Crown Entertainment realised they have a thriving comedy scene in their backyard that they could showcase in an upmarket environment so we sat down and made our plans from there.

Lisa: How does the room work?

J: I wanted the night to be the sort of show that not only shines a light on our biggest stars but also helps introduce some of the younger acts to the types of gigs they may not see on a regular basis.  If you want to make a living in Australia you have to be able to work all types of rooms and this is a good opportunity to help open up those types of markets to newer acts while bringing in the big guns to headline. 

L: The first season seemed like a roaring success, did you and the venue people learn from that season and fine tune things for this season?

J: Without a doubt.  You should always be attempting to improve no matter how successful.  We’ve cut back from the three brackets to the two as since it is on a Sunday night it means the night finishes just a little earlier for the punters.  It is fine for us comedians staying up to all hours but for real people working real jobs it was finishing just a little late.

L: With performers clamouring to get up at The Shelf, have there been some performers (or even punters) who don’t like the idea of performing at a Casino?

J: I’m certain there are but nobody has said anything to me.  That is how the industry works.  You bitch about it until it is offered to you.  Then you usually say yes.  Everybody who has done the gig has had a pretty easy time of it.

L: How are the performers coping with the flames going off on the hour?

J: It is surprising how little happens.  It was a concern going in but our audiences have been so good that they’re locked in and appear to be a little annoyed if a comedian goes on about the flames for too long.  They’re a pretty focused audience.

L: Has it been interesting for the performers to perform to a more mainstream crowd?

J: Maybe for the younger acts but for the rest of us it is business as usual.  Most comedians are happy to do the same type of set for any type of audience.  You just pull them into your world rather than going into theirs.

L: Have you noticed a new type of regular turning up to these nights?

J: More people dressing up for the gig.  That has been interesting.  Not quite as laid back as you would see at your normal gigs.

L: Where did you get your inspiration, in running a good room? Did you seek advice?

J: My inspiration comes from my Adelaide days when Lehmo and I started running rooms to stop Adelaide promoters from ripping off the local acts.  You just run a room in a manner that suggests you might like to perform in it.

L: Do you enjoy the flexibility of doing short season runs of rooms as opposed to running them year round?

J: Sure do.  I wouldn’t run a room all year, too much work and not enough gratitude. I know that from my time in charge of The Rhino Room in Adelaide.  I tip my hat to the Karl Chandlers and Steele Saunders who run rooms and perform year in year out.

L: Is there a disadvantage of some people missing out because they may not find out about it til late in the run or afterwards?

J: Then they can come along next season.  We’re not entitled to see everything that ever happens.  It is good to miss out now and again.

L: Do you have any advice to anyone considering running a comedy room?

J: Don’t be an arsehole and make certain you provide space in the line up to get your own stage time.

L: Will there be more Comedy at Crown in the future?

J: If it continues at this pace for the rest of the season I would say there would be.

Comedy @ Crown takes place in the Groove Bar at Crown Casino Southbank on Sundays at 7.30pm. 

Tickets can be bought at The door from 6.30pm for  $20. This Spring Season finishes on Nov 9th

To find out more about Comedy @ Crown, check out their website http://www.crownmelbourne.com.au/Comedy-at-Crown/

 

New Comedy Rooms in Melbourne

By Lisa Clark

We’re half way through 2014 and the live comedy landscape which is ever evolving has been gradually changing in Melbourne. Some comedy rooms have closed (or are Winter dormant – it can be hard to tell) and new ones are opening, so I thought it might be pertinent to highlight some new venues popping their heads up around town.

We are lucky in Melbourne to have a good stable base of established rooms that have been around for many years giving performers and punters regular spaces to get their comedy fix. It is always a good thing though, for a fresh outlook, either with a new concept or even an old one re-opening in a new space. It can encourage new audiences and inspire new performers as well as new ideas amongst old performers and gives us all new places to play.

The hard part is keeping track of them. Our Keeper of the Lists Colin, does his best, putting hours of work into hunting down info on comedy rooms but it seems to us that some room producers would prefer to keep their rooms secret with very little on-line presence or out of date/scant information. Sometimes we only hear about a new room because a performer tweets that they are performing there and it’s very rare that anyone announces when a room is closing. This is why we mostly concentrate on Melbourne rooms. I know the list below is not exhaustive and the best information can be found on the gig guide drop down menu above. If you are planning a comedy night out on the town check out Colin’s work on our comprehensive Comedy Gig Guide. If you know of a room not listed feel free to let us know!

Meanwhile these are some of the new- ish rooms happening around Melbourne we wish them all great success.

 

TUESDAY

Society Variety – Standup Comedy and Variety acts

In a classy café [sounds like the very roots of comedy in Melbourne back in the 70s.] You can have cocktails or dinner here too.

Monthly – Last Tuesday of Every Month from August

Venue – Society Restaurant, Bourke St Melbourne – 7pm $20

http://www.societyvariety.com/

 

WEDNESDAY

A Very Public Punch Line – Standup 

It’s by the Yarra in the CBD. Not brand new, they had a season in 2013, but new to us


Weekly

Venue – Melbourne Public Bar, 11 Dukes Walk  South Wharf –  8pm (Dinner available from Bar from  6.30pm.)  $15

http://www.melbournepublic.com.au/upcoming-events/details/65-A%20Very%20Public%20Punch%20Line%20-%20Comedy

 

THURSDAY

Tiki Bar Comedy Night – Standup 

With an islander atmosphere and Mai Tais in Richmond.

Weekly

Venue – Tiki Bar, 327 Swan St Richmond – 8pm  Free (coin donation for charity)

http://tikiloungeandbar.com/2014/07/02/tiki-bar-comedy-night-every-thursday/

 

FRIDAY

Friday Night Comedy – Standup with a difference 

“Comedians battle for the ultimate comedy championship. Everyone in the audience can take out their phone, log in to a super-secret website, and write stuff that goes on the projector screen behind the comedian.” definitely something different…

Weekly

Venue – Butterfly Club, Carson Place, off Little Collins St Melbourne – 10.30pm $14/12

http://thebutterflyclub.com/show/friday-night-comedy

 

SATURDAY

Alan Smithee’s Screen Test – A comedy gameshow 

Two teams of comedians compete to show off their film and television knowledge – live and uncensored. Recently moved to the gorgeous Butterfly Club now in the heart of the CBD, down one of those famous Melbourne Alleyways.

Monthly

Venue – Butterfly Club, Carson Place, off Little Collins St Melbourne  – 10.30pm $15 / $10

http://thebutterflyclub.com/show/alan-smithee-s-screen-test

https://www.facebook.com/AlanSmitheeST/timeline

 

Rule of Three  – Comedy Variety 

With different line-ups each month including: Sketch, Improve and Character comedy.

Monthly

Venue –  Butterfly Club   10.30pm $10

http://thebutterflyclub.com/show/the-rule-of-three

 

SUNDAY

Ha-Has at Yah Yah’s  [not to be confused with HaHa’s at YaYa’s in Perth] 

Standup at what is an inner city music venue that has presented comedy festival shows in the past.

Weekly

Venue – Yah Yah’s 99 Smith st Fitzroy – 7pm $10

http://yahyahs.com.au/

 

The Fancy Boy Monthly Super Show – Variety 

If you’ve seen the Fancy Boys you’ll know that they are smart and they pull no punches also – no money will be refunded to walkouts. The team were the hot ticket for those in the know at Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2014 and won The Golden Gibbo Award. Toff in Town is a beautiful little music-hall theatre styled venue in the CBD with tiny round tables up the front with candles on them, a bar and food nearby.

2nd Sunday of the Month (starting August 10th)

Venue – Toff In Town, Level 2, Curtin House, 252 Swanston Street, Melbourne- 8:30pm $20

http://tickets.thetoffintown.com/event/view/8gjf91xrb

 

Groove Bar Comedy – Stand-up curated by Justin Hamilton. 

The Winter season has just finished with astonishingly good, tight line-ups and packed audiences every week.

Weekly – the next season will be starting in October

Venue – Groove Bar, Crown Casino, Southbank Melbourne – 7.30pm $12

 

Check out the full Squirrel Comedy Gig Guide

Interview with Matthew Hardy about Yarraville Laughs comedy room.

By Lisa Clark 

A month ago I was lucky to be in the audience for the first birthday show of Yarraville Laughs. It was one of those really special nights in a club with a top notch, awesome line-up of standup from Glenn Robbins, Dave O’Neil and Tony Martin. Then to top it off Shaun Micalef dropped by to add to a finale that was a live version of radio panel show Now I’ll have to Kill You where comedians tell stories that they’ve kept secret from others. It went late into the night. Hosting it all was Matthew Hardy, comedian turned entrepreneur who returned to Australia just over a year ago and decided to open up a comedy club in his new neighbourhood of Yarraville, a gentrified, latte-fied village in the inner western suburbs of Melbourne. In only it’s first year, the venue can boast having had performers such as Tom Gleeson, Denise Scott, Hannah Gadsby, Dave Hughes, Cal Wilson, Peter Hellier and the list goes on.

The last time I saw Matt was in his show Willy Wonka Explained which he performed with the actress who played Veruca Salt in the original film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Julie Dawn Cole. The fact that he was able to talk her into coming all the way from England to Melbourne, to perform in a relatively small room for his comedy festival show, says something about Matt’s ability to talk people into things and make stuff happen.

Lisa: How long were you in the UK and what was that like?

Matt: For a total of twelve years. 8 in the 90’s and 4 sporadic individual years since. I arrived just before the comedy boom began, and just before the Britpop boom began too. Comedians became rockstars and rockstars became comedians. The Gallagher brothers from Oasis, Jarvis Cocker from Pulp, Damon Albarn from Blur, were all being as funny as the comedians in their media interviews and the comedians were conducting themselves like rockstars. Mighty Boosh, Ross Noble, Russell Brand. Somewhere among all that, at least attending the same parties anyway (!), fair dinkum, was me. My own comedy highlights were writing with or for Ricky Gervais and Kelsey Grammar, headlining the Mecca, which is the Comedy Store in Leicester Square, and stepping on stage at Glastonbury (again, fair dinkum!) just as the acid kicked in. Whoops! Ah, they were the days. There’s many more lowlights but you didn’t ask that question.

Lisa: Was it there that you learned about running a comedy room?

Matt: My biggest lessons in regard to our Yarraville Laughs club is why some comedy clubs work, and others don’t. or how a good club can become great. It’s never a mystery, or a case of good luck. Hard work and smart choices, and financial risks lead to the performers and the punters having an equally enjoyable night. Which leads to them wanting to return.

Lisa: When / How did you get the idea of running a room in Yarraville yourself?

Matt: I had my first kid (a beautiful daughter) which meant no more jet-setting back and forth to London. We settled in Yarraville and rather than wait to see if Spicks & Specks or whichever other shows would invite me back, I decided to be proactive and start a regular club, which ideally leads to a regular income.

Lisa: Tell us about Yarraville Laughs, what kind of room it is and how it is organised.

Matt: We’ve built a stage within the original stage, which creates the impression of an illustrious theatre environment.
I run it with the great man James Young, a Melbourne entertainment maestro (formerly RRR, now Cherry Bar), who’s also a great mate.
I wanted to create the best comedy club in the country and think we may have achieved that goal.

Lisa: Do audiences tend to be local?

Matt: I’d say it’s 30% local and 70% from everywhere else. We have the data (a very unfunny word I know!) showing where people come from, and there’s people from as far as Brighton, South Morang and Glen Waverley who are attending. And often.

Lisa: Have you had any feedback from the community?

Matt: Definitely. One lengthy hate letter and hundreds of pats on the back, fortunately. Pretty good ratio.

Lisa: Considering that it is in the less fashionable western suburbs of Melbourne, were you worried about getting audiences to come to Yarraville for comedy?

Matt: I thought, like Kevin Costner in Field Of Dreams, that ‘If we build it, they will come’. As long as we build it to withstand all sorts of weather. Luckily, it’s been mainly sunny.

Lisa: Were you worried about getting bigger named comedians to come to Yarraville?

Matt: Not really because again, being a comedian, I know what comedians want, and how to create an environment where they’re totally comfortable and confident. I’m not personally rich or famous or mega talented, but I’ve worked with and am friends with most of the comics who are.

Lisa: Was it quiet at the start and easier as things went on?

Matt: I’m beginning to wonder how up myself I may be sounding here, but from our very first show we’ve sold out. Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and the Nelson Twins is a fair bill up front, and it’s maintained itself since then. But this fact has arisen only because of how much relentless hard work everybody involved puts in. The Yarraville Club’s General Manager has been incredibly supportive, his staff are passionate, plus the restaurant provides great meals and friendly service so it’s all part of the package. I am obsessed with checking ticket sales (too much so) and if they slow down, our work rate speeds up. As does our ad spend, unfortunately! 

Lisa: Have you had any ‘challenging’ experiences from patrons – or performers?

Matt: Not once from a performer and only once from a patron. Who was a woman, surprisingly, who we had no choice but to evict because she was spoiling the show for everyone else. We knew this because everyone else was telling us. That said, her hate letter arrived shortly afterwards. Even though we’d given her money back and two free tickets for another show as she departed. Hey, we all have bad days.

Lisa: There are quite a few comedians running successful rooms around Melbourne at the moment do you think a performers own experience helps them be good at it?

Matt: I think there’s just three other comedians running successful rooms. If there were a couple more I’d not have bothered starting my own with James Young. I gauge a successful comedy club to be one which is paying respectful, guaranteed fees to the performers, charging the patrons a respectful fee to get in, and attracting a large number of patrons to most shows. Being a comic should make it easier to run a club but that’s not always the case. Anyway, my way isn’t the only way, and others gauge success differently. And we’re still minnows compared to the promoters who bring out, say, Dave Chappelle.

Lisa: Does the percentage of people Dining / viewing a show change a lot from week to week and does this change the configuration of the room?

Matt: Not really. For massive acts (like the upcoming Michael Winslow from Police Academy shows) we do rowed seating to fit more in, otherwise it’s table seating but either way works for us.

Lisa: Name some of your favourite experiences in running the room so far.

Matt: MC-ing our first ever show to a full house, headlined by the brilliant Mick Molloy. Having James Young hold up the phone when I rang Yarraville Laughs from a Thailand family holiday, so I could hear the deafening laughter Dave Hughes was creating. Booking a diversity of comedians, rather than just four white men every week. Even if white men make up the majority of comedians. Our first birthday show with Glenn Robbins, Dave O’Neil, Tony Martin and a surprise appearance by Sean Micallef. Who are, umm, four, white, men. Hey, I invited Julia Zemiro and Magda but they were both unavailable.

Lisa: Tell us about your up coming MICF shows.

Matt: We have EFFIE the Gold Logie winning Greek Goddess of comedy, who’ll be speaking about her new baby girl, Aphie (short for Aphrodite). Effie & Aphie. Simple but fucking funny I reckon.

And we have Michael Winslow from not just Police Academy, but also Gremlins, Spaceballs and regular voice-work (including as himself) on both The Simpsons and Family Guy. Both have been with us before and both are truly superb performers.

Lisa: I’m guessing running a room has meant you don’t get out to do stand-up as much.

Matt: Yes and no but I am the MC of all of our shows (if I don’t employ myself, who else will) so I’m not missing out.

Lisa: What advice would you give to other performers thinking of starting up a room.

Matt: Go for it, do it thoroughly and don’t cut corners, have a partner to bounce ideas off, and then when it works, enjoy the camaraderi

e with your fellow comedians and feeling like you’re overdosing on adrenaline after each great show. And every room ends so have fun while it lasts!

 

Find out about upcoming shows at Yarraville Laughs on their website http://www.yarravillelaughs.com/

You can book dinner with the show too.

 

Find out about their Festival shows on the MICF website

 

Effie A Date With Effie: Looking For Love… And Child Support!

– http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/a-date-with-effie-looking-for-love-and-child-support-effie


Michael Winslow Police Academy Sound FX Show

– http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/police-academy-sound-fx-show-michael-winslow

Commedia Dell Parte

by Luke Simmons

Commedia Dell Parte may well be one of Melbourne’s best kept secrets. It’s got a reputation for holding a great “underground” night where new and high profile comedians can test their new and existing material. To the good fortune of everyone in the packed house, many of the performing comics provided samples of their upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival shows.

The night was MC’d by Sean Ryan (co-runner of the night) who commands attention on the stage with his Ned Kelly / ZZ Top style facial hair and comedic style of storytelling. He’s great at giving examples about how not to win friends and influence people – in a wide variety of settings. To his credit, not all examples feature him as the villain. He maintained the pace of the night well and kept the audience grinning throughout.

After Sean’s intro, the first act was Lijretta who is a unique comedian who hails from Ambassell, Ethiopia. With his sunglasses planted firmly on the top of head, he got the audience laughing straight away with a series of punchy observational one-liners. The highlight of his set came when he took everyone through an odd situation on the tram which involved two good Samaritans almost coming to fisticuffs. His show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is called The Lijretta Show.

Jay Morrissey stormed onto the stage and showed everyone how his thousands (not millions) of miles an hour style helped him win the Victorian final of the RAW competition. Whether he was talking about mind-altering experiences at work or how females find it easier to garner support on Facebook, he generally had the audience in stitches. Check out his #bollard show at the current festival.

Xanda Allen then came on looking like he’d come straight from a Whitesnake concert. Purely based on his look, he demanded attention on the mic and used his visual gags to extreme effect. In fact, if he grows tired of comedy, he could do well on the catwalk. Melbourne needs to see more of this guy because he has the X factor.

Dean Eizenberg’s quirky style provided an interesting change of pace for the night. He also used the intimate stage to full effect for his visual gags – mixed in with his stand-up of course. If comics are going to use some edgy material (see: bad taste gags), they need to be able to come back with a strong punch. Based on the crowd reaction, Eizenberg’s sucker punch almost hit the mark. His unconventional style of stand-up was a gas though.

Ronny Chieng hit the stage and unleashed a volley of jokes towards the audience for the length of his short set. For some of his material, he loves to use his ancestral roots as both a source of boasting and piss taking. After all, we are currently in the “Asian Century”. He’s clearly got a keen observational wit and an acidic tongue to match. He took exception to poor old (or, young) bar tender who had the audacity to capture his attention which was a highlight. His show at the current festival is “Can you do this? No you can’t” and would be well worth it.

Steele Saunders then took the mic and immediately took control of the crowd. In fact, this man oozes stage presence and doesn’t mind taking a risk with a bit of banter with the audience. His power set was a mixture of short gags and extended stories – which both went down well. Don’t make a fool of yourself in a nightclub when Steele’s there because karma may make you pay… His show at the festival is The Steele Saunders’ Venue Got Demolished Late Night Show.

Daniel Connell is a rising star and this stunning set proved why. His voice has the calming effect akin to a doctor which helped him connect with the audience. On this particular night, Connell took the audience on a journey of piss-funny storytelling with the highlight being his tumultuous (and sumptuous) upbringing. In fact, he made most in the audience lose their appetite based on the groans… See his Mr Personality 1988 show at the festival!

The night ended with Luke Heggie whose dry style of joke telling makes Dave Hughes sound like a giggling Rodney Dangerfield. He peeled off joke after joke and whipped the audience into a wee-in-the-pants frenzy. What a way to end the night. He obviously dislikes people with jet skis, sneaky strippers and would rather drink paint that head to the horse races and/or greyhounds. Unsurprisingly, his upcoming show at the festival is called Mega Dry. Check this man out!
Following Radiohead’s lead, the night is run on a pay-as-you-like basis with most being happy to part with a fiver or a tenner on the way out. If you’re ever around the St Kilda area and have a free Thursday night, Commedia Dell Parte is a perfect place to hear some short and punchy sets from a wide selection of comedians.

Commedia Dell Parte is at George Lane Bar every Thursday night thoughout the year.