Category: Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Dave Bloustien – The Social Contract (redux)

By Lisa Clark, 

In 2009 Dave Bloustien received the Moosehead award to create a show from an intriguing idea. David had had to go to court to win wages from a dodgy promoter by proving that he was funny. It was directed by Alan Brough and a big success. I sadly missed it last time and after finally seeing it, recommend that everyone should catch up with it this time around, during it’s short run.

Dave opens with some beautiful nostalgia material to take us all the way back to 2007 when Myspace was an important Social Networking tool & nobody had heard of Kony. This smoothly takes us to the sort of political material he was performing at the time and why he was so surprised to be invited on a High School End of Year Social Cruise in Cronulla, didn’t notice blaring warning bells, his reasoning for taking the gig and the inevitable and hilarious nightmare that ensues.

It’s a wonder that there is no real anger in recounting the tales, instead, with a twinkle in his eyes, Dave enjoys sharing the ridiculousness of it all and surprises us with clever jokes along the way, my favourite being the funniest observation of the difference between nerds and hipsters I’ve ever heard. His style is intellectual, the title being inspired by philosopher Thomas Hobb’s theory and with references to Rousseau, Edgar Allen Poe and the like, it is pretty obvious that his humour might not be for drunken teens. As a tale of a nice guy underdog winning against ‘the man’ The Social Contract (redux) should actually appeal to just about anyone else.

Dave Bloustien is one of those talented performers who can combine an enthralling, beautifully crafted over arcing story with their honed crowd pleasing standup with seemingly effortless skill. He can also conjure up great characters with some well observed impressions. It is always a pleasure to spend an hour safely in the hands of this congenial comedian. Will he win his case? There is only one way to find out and if you decide to go along you will definitely be the winner.

 

Dave Bloustien’s The Social Contract (redux) is on at St Ali Cafe in South Melbourne

 

Michael Workman – Mercy

By Annette Slattery, 

A modern Cuban Myth is not what I expected this Comedy Festival, but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome. In his new show “Mercy” Michael Workman weaves a tale as magical as the ancient Greeks, as surreal as Captain Bluebear, as adventurous as Star Wars, as tenacious as Castaway, as redemptive as the New Testament and as intuitive as Indiana Jones.

Workman starts the show by giving the audience a potted history of Cuba, going from the negligent Spanish colonists up to the reign of power of Fidel Castro. The heroes of the story are Augustus and Frida, a young couple in Cuba, married and expecting a child (Claudia). It is when Augustus, a journalist, criticises Castro that the conflict begins. Augustus is forced into a terrifying situation in which he floats on the ocean in a tiny boat with only cabbages as his friends and is made to make a decision between right and wrong.

Workman accompanies his show with beautiful illustrations which are presented in card form and as projections onto a television screen. He also used haunting music which he played on his keyboard, finally singing an eerily poignant song to his own accompaniment.

This show is consistently littered with humour and Workman’s humour is its own beast. He takes a standard format like the pull back and reveal and brings to it his improbable conclusions, creating a pudding of ‘regulation absurdity’. One detraction I will make, however, is that something prevented me from becoming emotionally involved in this story, stopped me from feeling for these characters. I suspect in this regard that Workman might be too clever for his own good, crafting the show; the language; to the point that it appears like an exquisite, but distant, artwork, drained of its vulnerability.

Overall, though, this is a refreshingly original show, containing plenty to learn and much to ponder. Highly recommended.

Michael Workman – Mercy is on at the Backstage Room at The Melbourne Town Hall

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2012/season/shows/mercy-michael-workman/

Postscript: This show had nearly a full house on the night and my biggest complaint was the uncomfortably cramped conditions common to many venues, with chairs being pushed too close together.

Slow Clap – Truth

By Cathy Culliver, 

If you wanted to see something refreshingly different this comedy festival, and support some upcoming and impressive local talent while you were at it, you couldn’t much go past Slow Clap’s latest production Truth.

Performed by Vachel Spirason and aided by Stephanie Brotchie and her disembodied hand behind the scenes, Truth is a quirky one-man play with a storyline that will keep you guessing until the very end. Even then you probably won’t be entirely sure what just happened, but that’s OK. Just go with it.

Given that it’s based around a mysterious tale involving a Coles shopping bag, a creepy naked man and a plasma ball, it’s no surprise that Truth takes its audience on a strange journey. The show cleverly weaves visual elements with great storytelling, which Spirason delivers with gusto and palpable charisma. And as the show suggests, it’s all completely true. Or is it?

Spirason conjures up an array of hilarious characters throughout the show, including Juan the dancing Spaniard with a penchant for slapping, and Vaclav, the cross-eyed chess player from Prague. There’s something very Python-esque about these outrageous characters and Spirason plays them expertly with just the right amount of silliness.

Truth is full of genuine laugh-out-loud moments, most of which come from interaction with the audience. It’s all pretty harmless stuff, but just maybe don’t sit in the front row. You’ll find out why soon enough.

This is only Slow Clap’s second show (the first being the multi-award winning The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic), so it’s going to be very exciting to see what this duo come up with in the future.

Combing clever writing, silly dances, weird accents and good old-fashioned slapstick, Truth is a very funny show that’s well worth checking out to see some truly original Melbourne talent.

Slow Clap – Truth is showing at Tuxedo Cat.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2012/season/shows/truth-slow-clap/

 

Daniel Connell – Likeable Enough

By Annette Slattery,

“You can tell your friends that you saw me before I was famous” Daniel Connell told the audience as he hit the stage in his debut festival show Likeable Enough. Unfortunately, recycling tired old gags like this will not be enough to shoot Connell to fame.

However ninety percent of Connell’s was the same clichĂ©d material, the kind of jokes that other comedians go to when they want to parody the archetypal hack comedian. The pull back and reveal has never been so heartily overused and abused as it was in this show. This is a technique that only works when it’s tight and has the element of surprise. These setups had holes so big you could drive a truck through them. The premise for much of his material was unoriginal and weak in the first place and then they were overworked. These stones were bloodless already, without Connell trying to squeeze a few more drops.

For example, the Glen Iris swimming pool was named after drowned Prime Minster Harold Holt in 1969 and I’m pretty sure comedians have been pointing out the irony ever since – it’s certainly as long as I can remember and I was born in 1972. It may have been funny the first time but after forty three years this observation is really losing its bite. So you understand why my heart sank as soon as Connell started talking about a pool near his place…you can guess the rest. What’s more Connell extrapolated it out into a scene whose only purpose seemed to be to house some glaringly predictable call-backs.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel however. Some of the material that Connell produced about his childhood, such as trying to hoodwink the tooth fairy, was amusing and enlightening. And some of the apocryphal things he was told as a child which he believed showed promise as the basis of good material. He also had a couple of slightly absurd imaginings involving animals which also packed real promise.

Connell seems like a nice young guy and he did get the title of the show right at least; Daniel Connell is likeable enough. However this is a show which would struggle to pass muster at Melbourne Fringe, let alone at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Maybe if Connell lost the generic material and concentrated on developing some of his more original ideas he might be more than “likeable”.

Daniel Connell – Likeable Enough is on at Arthurs Bar on Flinders Lane

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2012/season/shows/likeable-enough-daniel-connell/

Tom Gleeson – Good One

By Andrew Holmes, 

I’ve seen Tom Gleeson perform at the MICF for the last few years and he never fails to seriously entertain. His latest effort “Good One” is up there with some of the best he’s delivered in his special exuberant way which makes it so hilarious.

As per the usual Gleeson show, current affairs are given a fair spray with Politics and TV in general being the focal. You can often get an overload of this type of “Seinfeld-esque” humour but Tom really does throw himself into the show with his venting about everyday life and passionate delivery which keeps it fresh and entertaining.

This was great for the first 15 odd minutes but then the next segment of stories and jokes about recently becoming a Dad and the behavioural anomalies of his daughter did get a bit tiring.
Congratulations on becoming a Dad Tom! But for those in the audience that haven’t headed down this path yet, 15 minutes of the routine given over to this topic was more than a few of us wanted to deal with. Maybe I just want a few surprises.

After this, Gleeson picks up a paper and starts reading an article. It was a bit left field but as the story unfolded it all became clear and the show ends on a brilliant high that I’m pretty sure no-one saw coming. I won’t get into it here as you need to see the surprise to really appreciate it.

Besides the show being a bit disjointed, it was some classic Gleeson that keeps you coming back each year for more. I’m guessing next year will involve some more Daughter stories but I can forgive him for that.

Tom Gleeson is performing “Good One” nightly during the festival between the Victoria Hotel and the Lower Town Hall.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2012/season/shows/good-one-tom-gleeson/

Rob Hunter – Late o clock with Rob Hunter

By Andrew Holmes, 

This is my second attempt at a review of “Late O’Clock with Rob Hunter” and his side kick LukeMcGregor. The first was a frontal assault akin to storming the beach in “Saving Private Ryan” on the shows lack of containing anything that resembled Comedy but after careful consideration and reflection, I have come up with the following.

I fucking hated this show – and that’s me being kind.

The whole thing was disjointed and at times felt like pulling teeth. The jokes (and I use the term lightly) didn’t flow into each other and the guest Comedians looked like they couldn’t get off this train wreck fast enough 



 But that is what this show is all about. It’s a well scripted and crafted performance that is meant to shock and amaze people but it simply wasn’t my cup of tea.

Lehmo was the first guest. He came on, pitched a bit of his routine which was pretty good and then sat down to be interviewed “Late Show” style with Rob. The concept of the interview was to payout on Lehmo and ask abrasive questions in Hunter’s ‘nervous character’ style.

Mike Wilmot came on as the second guest. He did a couple of lines of his routine as well, swore heavily at the audience then sat down to be interviewed. Wilmot then proceeded to tear shreds off Rob and Luke for their bullshit questioning and then exited the stage. The whole thing was so aggressive it completely missed my humour receptors but others in the audience were in stitches.

“Anyone for Tennis” were up next. They looked nervous while they belted out a couple of songs, said thanks and left. I was still recovering from Wilmot to appreciate their tunes.

The front row were in hysterics the whole way through the show and so were some others so this show has some credit. Knowing that this was all planned and scripted does make it a great show and would be worth a viewing. The MICF blurb about this show being “uncomfortably tense” and “not for the squeamish” was a freaking understatement for me personally.

Late O’Clock with Rob Hunter has 2 more shows on Monday night’s through the Comedy Festival – make up your own mind.

Late O’Clock with Rob Hunter is on in The Powder Room of The Melbourne Town Hall.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2012/season/shows/late-o-clock-with-rob-hunter-rob-hunter/