By Colin Flaherty
With four years of stand up under his belt, Rob Caruana is here to teach everybody about comedy. After listening to his ridiculously incomplete analogies and half-baked examples you will probably be none the wiser, but are guaranteed to split your sides as he tries to impart his wisdom.
The theme for his show was essentially a loose framework for Caruana to throw all sorts of silliness our way. There were no weighty themes at work here – just an hour of exuberant joy, even during his token “melancholic” segment. It was a mix of fluffy throwaway lines and wonderfully clever ideas all presented in an almost stream of consciousness manner (that had surely been tightly scripted). His routines led to some excellent, imaginative prop work often with ridiculously detailed background details to flesh out the joke to its fullest. Tools he deemed necessary to be a proper teacher were haphazardly discarded or misused to add to the lunacy.
Banter with the audience not only served as joke set ups but created plenty of amusing segues. Caruana’s interactions with us flowed effortlessly and created a warm atmosphere where laughter was lovingly nurtured. Granted the night I attended was a room stacked with friends and family (ensuring some easy comebacks) but he certainly has the skills to bounce off any crowd with ease.
What really impressed was his uber confident stage persona. His experience co-hosting the C31 talk show Live On Bowen shone through with extremely slick presentation. In fact the show had a vague tonight show structure with an opening monologue followed by a high energy opening (how he didn’t injure himself on that small stage is a miracle!). He had a touch of old school vaudevillian comic about him in his cadence, joke structure and exaggerated reactions. There were even a couple of brilliant prat falls that hearken back to that era.
Learn Comedy is a brilliant debut from a comedian who has just only begun to hit his straps.
Learn Comedy is on at The Downstairs Lounge @ The Grand Mercure Hotel until April 5
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/learn-comedy-rob-caruana