Greg Larsen – Page 2 – Squirrel Comedy

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award Winners for 2016

by Lisa Clark

It has been an amazing year at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In a first for the Festival – The Winner of the Barry Award, Zoe Coombs-Marr, is also the Winner of the Golden Gibbo. So it’s a Barry Winner who is brave and independent and we couldn’t be happier for Zoe. Presented via Skype (also a first) by last year’s winner Sam Simmons, the award was for Zoe’s show Trigger Warning starring her gender bending alter ego called Dave. There was Big Buzz around all the Winners this year, with none being a huge surprise and all being lauded and promoted by word of mouth and on social media for weeks. All of the nominees were favourites with everyone and those of us who got out to see them are very happy about them all being held up for celebration. It’s also a rare year where all the winners are Australian, and rightly so. So congratulations to Everyone!!

If Anne Edmonds and Damien Power are a bit sad about missing out on a Barry, they can be cheered by their Directors Awards win as True Australian Patriots and know that their own shows were loved too. True Aussie Patriots – Live was some of the best political and social satire seen on an Australian stage performed by some our best comedians (2 of them having been nominated for Barrys – the other Greg, didn’t do a solo show this year to be nominated, but won the Golden Gibbo as part of Fancy Boys two years ago.) Rhys Nicholson, can take heart in the fact that his new wife Zoe won the Barry and that their big fat gay wedding at the Festival Club last night will go down in Festival history and Legend.

I think I saw co winners of The Directors Award, Zanzoop – Feeble Minds, before a lot of ‘official’ people managed to and have been singing it’s praises to everyone ever since. A truly insane, intelligent, incredible, late night chat show hosted by the wise cracking green alien Zanzoop (Sam Campbell) that surprises you by having sweetness at its heart, performed by some sincerely talented, charismatic people. It also contains Best Newcomer Tom Walker who shines in both Feeble Minds and his own gentle and delightful immersive clowning show Beep Boop.

The Pinder Prize (Named after the late John Pinder who was an original co-founder of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and opened some of the first comedy rooms in Melbourne in the 1970s – The Flying Trapese and The Last Laugh Theatre Restaurant) is a brand new award at the festival which sends recipient – Tom Ballard – to Edinburgh Fringe to perform as part of the Assembly Theatre Program.

Remember that there is still another day of Festival shows tomorrow and some shows cancelled due to illness will hopefully be rescheduled in Melbourne Soon.

Readers from other states: You can look forward to seeing some of these shows or performers in your town soon.

Here are the Award Winners for 2016

BARRY AWARD

Winner: Zoe Coombs-Marr – Trigger Warning

Nominees:
Damien Power – Sell Mum into Slavery
Luisa Omielan (UK) – Am I Right Ladies?!
Tom Ballard – The World Keeps Happening
Anne Edmonds That’s Eddotainment
David O’Doherty (IRE) – We Are All In The Gutter, But Some Of Us Are Looking At David O’Doherty
Rhys Nicholson – Bone Fide

BEST NEWCOMER

Winner: Tom Walker – Beep Boop

Nominees:
Demi Lardner – Life Mechanic
Guy Montgomery (NZ) – Guy Montcomedy
Rose Matafeo (NZ) – Finally Dead

GOLDEN GIBBO AWARD (Independant & Creative show)

Winner: Zoe Coombs-Marr – Trigger Warning

Nominees:
Asher Treleaven & Gypsy Wood – Peter & Bambi Heaven – The Magic Inside
Luis Brown – Lessons With Luis
Tommy Dassallo – Little Golden Dassallo

THE PINDER PRIZE (including a trip to the Edinburgh Festival):

Winner: Tom Ballard – The World Keeps Happening

PIECE OF WOOD (Peer Voted – Comedian’s Choice):

Winner: Chris Wainhouse – The Antichris

DIRECTOR’S CHOICE :

Winners: (Anne Edmonds, Damian Power and Greg Larsen) True Australian Patriots – Live

and

Winners: (Sam Campbell, Cam Campbell, Tom Walker and Aaron Chen) Zanzoop – Feeble Minds

Peoples choice: Carl Barron – Drinking with a Fork

Funny Tonne (Audience Member seeing the most [over 100] shows): Jeremy McPherson

PREVIOUSLY WON MICF AWARDS

Deadly Funny National Champion – Jalen Sutcliffe

Class Clowns National Champion – Lauren Duong from the ACT

RAW Comedy Award (Including a trip to the Edinburgh Festival)- Danielle Walker from Victoria

True Australian Patriots Live

By Elyce Phillips

Les, Gary and Steve (Anne Edmonds, Damian Power and Greg Larsen) are the True Australian Patriots, a fringe group desperate to protect the Australian way of life from all manner of perceived threats. This comedy festival, they are stepping into the lefty heartland to teach us all a lesson about the dangers we face, and perhaps entice us to join them in their fight.

From the moment the audience entered the venue and saw the PowerPoint presentation displayed on stage – a truly magnificent collection of patriotic memes and yellow Monaro photos – the laughter was constant. Everything about this show is painfully funny. There are educational segments filled with crackpottery, baffling displays of Australian culture, and more weightlifting than you would expect. Bubbling underneath it all is the complicated relationship between the trio – a constant struggle for power and love.

Edmonds, Power and Larsen throw everything they’ve got into their characters, creating personas that are truly horrible and yet kind of endearing. Over the course of the show, you get some insight into how these people came together as a result of deeper issues in their lives. Les, Gary and Steve are perfectly unprofessional, regularly stuffing up lines, positioning themselves awkwardly on the stage, and getting upset when the audience laughs at them.

This is not a show for the faint-hearted. Edmonds, Power and Larsen stay true to their characters throughout and do not shy away from the content they’re satirising. The bulk of what comes out of their collective faces is deeply offensive, and a part of you does cringe at the thought that there are people out there who are genuinely that prejudiced. But through being bold and out-and-out stupid with this material, True Australian Patriots show these “patriotic” groups for what they are – collections of very sad people with completely ridiculous opinions that should not be taken seriously in any way, shape or form.

True Australian Patriots Live is a show unlike any other. It’s a total assault on all the senses, and an absolute masterclass in commitment to character. This big lefty was certainly shown what’s what and left the venue in tears.

True Australian Patriots Live is on at the Melbourne Town Hall Supper Room until April 16.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/live-true-australian-patriots

Greg Larsen – Experience the Difference

By Sofia Monkiewicz

When a stand-up show begins with the comedian dancing onto the stage wearing a bright pink hat and waving around a dildo, you just have a feeling that things are going to get a little weird.

Greg Larsen is a self-proclaimed socially awkward full-time comedian who doesn’t want to live up to any stereotypes or be placed (figuratively) into any boxes. His 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Experience the Difference, covers a variety of topics and themes that help counteract Larsen’s concerns; it is impossible to pinpoint the ‘type’ of comedy he is all about.

The first half of the show does cover fairly typical stand-up comedian subject matter, as we hear about Larsen’s love for fast food, his dire employment history, and similarities and differences between Brisbane and Melbourne. Not to say that his jokes aren’t funny – his observations and the way he conveys his thoughts are remarkably droll – but it isn’t the most original content offered in the festival. He then throws in a poem about autumn, with some not-so-subtle political references attached to each verse, and shares his views about gender equality, women in comedy, and his resentment of limiting people based on predisposed perceptions. Larsen tells us that he wanted to be a comedian that focused solely on political material, but that he won’t because dicks and farts are just so funny; a sentiment that seems to perfectly describe the entirety of Experience the Difference.

From a revolting memory that revolves around watching a child defecate in the middle of a department store (and being forced to clean it up) to a hilarious retelling of an embarrassing situation involving sending a girl some risqué text messages, Larsen maintains a likeable and engaging personality, despite the crude nature of many of his stories. He is the kind of exceptional comic who can be inappropriate and utterly vulgar, but one that you could still probably take your parents to see.

During one part he rants long and hard about over-the-top advertising campaigns involving crunchy chips and chunky soup, and a short while later he rages over society’s obsession with labels and putting people into boxes. It is clear to see that he is a very passionate man, about both food and politics, and his enthusiasm is endearing and comical. It is great to see his passion for equality spill into his comedy. Comedians often make mention of current issues, but then follow up their thoughts with an unrelated joke, in an attempt to keep things light. Larsen pushes on, thoroughly explaining his sincere opinions about breaking stereotypes.

A final trio of short poems combines his political beliefs with his appreciation of lewd humour, which concludes the show nicely, and leaves the audience giggling like uncouth schoolchildren.

Larsen has put together a decent selection of his best work in Experience the Difference. A tight debut, with a delightful mix of crudeness, seriousness and hilarity.

Greg Larsen’s Experience the Difference is on at Gin Palace until April 19.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/experience-the-difference-greg-larsen

Comedy Xmas Shows Are Coming to Town

By Lisa Clark

All around Melbourne the comedy venues are putting together Christmas shows with more laughs than you’ll find in any Christmas Cracker. We put together a list and you can check it twice. These are all the Christmas shows we know about, coming to Melbourne this December, including some exciting live podcast recordings.

THE BELLA UNION BAR

The Bella Union Bar is in a Seriously Festive mood and has a lot of Christmas cheer to offer. Comedy wise there are three main offerings.

Sweetest Plum – How the Plum Stole Christmas
Podcasters Nick Maxwell and Declan Fay will present their usual razor sharp banter**, with a star-studded line-up of celebrity guests***

** Razor sharp banter is not guaranteed.
*** Star-studded line-up may just be Gatesy, on a stool, with a guitar
Date: 14th December, 2014
Time: 5:00pm
Price: $20/15

http://www.bellaunion.com.au/program_guide/show_902/

After Dinner Mint Christmas Spectacular By The Lords Of Luxury
The final After Dinner Mint of the year features:
– Master of the dark arts, David Quirk
– Masters of mayhem, Aunty Donna
– Master of sideburns, Hairy Soul Man aka Kai Smythe
Plus many special guests AND a visit from the one and only Santa Claus!

Hosted by The Lords of Luxury with music from Gillian Cosgriff.

Date: Tuesday December 9
Time: 8:30pm.
Price: Presale $12/9 or $15/10 at the door

http://www.bellaunion.com.au/program_guide/show_838/

A Swinging Bella Christmas

This will be a musical comedy show with MC Casey Bennetto and his co-host being comedy chanteuse Geraldine Quinn with their band the Bella All Stars. On Thursday 18^th the special guests will be Alan Brough and Mike McLeish and on Friday the special guests will be Tripod so you can no doubt go to both and are pretty much guaranteed a sensational time.

Dates:
Thur 18 Dec 2014
Fri 19 Dec 2014

Time: 7:30pm
Price: $35 Full $30 Group $25 Conc

http://www.bellaunion.com.au/program_guide/show_656/

THE BUTTERFLY CLUB

What The Dickens!

Travel back in time to 1851, to Victorian England and the great age of discovery and storytelling. Created from your suggestions, tales of sweet-hearted heroes, sickly orphans, bumbling constables and winsome ladies are woven into a new, unique Dickensian tale every night.

Play parlour games like Poor Pussy, the Laughing Game and join Melbourne’s finest improvisors for mince pies and some Christmas cheer in the wonderful ‘curiosity shoppe’ that is The Butterfly Club.

Wednesday 17 December 2014    6:00pm
Thursday 18 December 2014     7:00pm
Friday 19 December 2014 7:00pm
Saturday 20 December 2014     7:00pm
Sunday 21 December 2014       6:00pm

Price $28/23

https://www.thebutterflyclub.com/show/what-the-dickens

The Comedy Gallery @ Jacksons Christmas
Jacksons – 8 Jackson Street Toorak

With Marty Fields, Nelson Twins, Andrew Brown, Dale Craig and Mayumi Nobetsu

Date: Tue 16 Dec
Price: $25 SHOW ONLY $50 MEAL & SHOW – contact details for dinner and show bookings – 9827 8244
Time: 8.30

THE GH HOTEL (formally Greyhound Hotel) St Kilda

Joel Creasey’s Office Christmas Party

Joel Creasey and special guests share their Christmas tales, disasters and songs. Join Australia’s finest comedians and celebrities at Joel’s office Christmas party!

Seating is unallocated- come down early for some pre-show Christmas cheer!

This is an ALL AGES event however anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Date: Sat 6th December, 2014
Time: 7:00pm (Doors open at 6pm for 7 – 8:30pm show.)
Price: $30 or $33.80 with Booking fee

Bookings through Moshtix http://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/event/joel-creaseys-office-christmas-party/74160

LOCAL LAUGHS presented by Janet A Mcleod

At The Local Taphouse – 184 Carlisle St StKilda

With Janet’s famous Christmas style, decorations, the inimitable Andrew McClelland as MC and guests who so far include: Matt Elsbury, Rusty Berther, Dilruk Jayasinha and Cal Wilson, it’s sure to be a jolly good wiz bang night.

Date: Mon 22^nd Dec
Time: 8.30pm
Price: $15/12

https://www.facebook.com/LocalLaughs

PUBLIC BAR

238 Victoria St Melbourne (opposite Queen Vic Market)

The Public Bar Xmas Show

With Steele Saunders, who will be cooking up an all-star mystery line up.

Date: Wed 17 December
Time: 8.30pm
Price: $5

https://www.facebook.com/ThePublicBarComedy

THE SHELF

At The Toff in Town, 252 Level 2 Curtain House Swanston St Melbourne.

Have a Christmas celebration with The Shelf. For three Mondays in December, The Shelf team will be rocking the night away with their final show being Dec 15 (So it must be a Christmas Show)

Hosted by Justin Hamilton and Adam Richard, regulars include Cal Wilson, sketch troupe Aunty Donna and Claire Hooper and there is always a huge line up of very special guests

Date: Mon 15 December
Time: 7.30pm
Price – $25/$30

http://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/event/the-shelf-season-10-15-december/73460

COMEDY AT SPLEEN

Spleen Bar, 41 Bourke St Melbourne

Spleen Xmas Show is having a huge three bracket show that closes with the naming of the 2014 Spleen Comic of the year.

Featuring:

Harley Breen, Oliver Clark, Tommy Little, Greg Larsen, Gary Chook, Xavier Michelides, Nick Cody, Anne Edmonds, Dilruk Jayasinha, Karl Chandler , Steele Saunders and surprise guests!

Date: Mon 15 December
Time: 8.30pm
Price: Gold Coin Donation

http://www.comedyatspleen.com/

YARRAVILLE LAUGHS

The Yarraville Club 135 Stephen St, Yarraville.

Yarraville Laughs has two sparkly fabulous Christmas Shows this year.

The 2014 Christmas Cracker

Sat 13 Dec

Featuring Denise Scott & Fiona O’Loughlin
Plus Special MC Jeff Green (UK)

A top comedy line-up that will sell out fast.

Tickets: www.yarravillelaughs.com

DOORS
Dinner & Show: 6:30pm
Show Only: 8pm
Show Starts: 8:30pm

TICKET OPTIONS
Dinner & Show $100 (Doors open at 6:30pm)
Reserved Seating $55 (Doors open at 7:30pm)
General Admission $45 (Doors open at 7:30pm)

EFFIE in A Date With Effie – ‘Kiss Me Under The Camel-Toe… Sorry, Mistletoe’

Sat December 20

DOORS
Dinner & Show: 6:30pm
Show Only: 8pm
Show Starts: 8:30pm

Ticket Options

Dinner & Show $90 (Doors open at 6:30pm)
Reserved Seating $45 (Doors open at 8pm)
General Admission $35 (Doors open at 8pm)
On the Door $40 (if available)

Also Other Pre Christmas Live Podcast Recordings:

I Love Green Guide Letters 15th Episode Live Spectacular
At the Last Laugh Comedy Club at the Athenaeum Theatre 188 Collins St Melbourne

With a cast of 1,00s including adorable Channel 9 Newsreader Peter Hitchener

Date: Saturday Dec 6
Time: 3.30pm
Price: $20

Little Dum Dum Club 4th Birthday Show Live

At Five Boroughs Comedy, 68 Hardware Lane (upstairs), Melbourne.

Tommy Dassalo and Karl Chandler present the usual dickheadery, tips about fast food outlets and some super special guests. Includes an extra post show by Nick Cody

Date: Sunday, December 7,
Time: 4pm.
Price: $21

Fancy Boy Variety Show

By Colin Flaherty

There has been a lot a buzz about this show. Many have told about the wild, debauched exploits of its performers. It generated so much interest that extra late night shows were added to its limited week long run. The basic premise is of a variety show where anything can happen. The line ups are closely guarded secrets and tickets are sold with the warning “No Refunds.” Colour me intrigued!

The core cast comprised of John Campbell, Greg Larsen and Henry Stone who, along with special guests from the festival, portrayed the acts performing at this variety night from hell. We saw stand up from the “king of crowd work”, a piss-weak song parodist, a magical duo, an inappropriate song by Geraldine Hickey’s conservationist, a high tech clairvoyant, Jonathan Schuster in Singer/Songwriter mode and a Rock Eisteddfod entry.

A lot of shows and performers sell themselves as edgy or dangerous but this one comes damn close to fitting that bill. The all male cast makes for quite a testosterone filled hour with male nudity and frequent jokes about penises and bodily fluids. Some of it was a little repetitive but generally this was very clever smut that had the audience in stitches. It is certainly not for the faint hearted and we did lose a couple from the front row who found it all too much.

The variety show conceit provided a brilliant forum to cleverly ridicule all manner of acts who perform at the festival, making it perfect for comedy nerds and fellow performers who get off on this naughty meta humour. All the “acts” were ridiculous stereotypes of their genre or the worst examples who were portrayed beautifully in the short time we were with them; no unnecessary background was required to laugh at these pitiful souls who were thrown into this bear pit of a show.

Our host (played by Stuart Daulman) kept the show moving along at a cracking pace. The acts usually didn’t overstay their welcome after we had cottoned on to the joke, occasionally stopped short by the MC which was a great bit of scripting. It was something sketch troupes should take note of

If you’re not too prudish and up for a dangerous and filthy late night show this is an awesome choice. Make sure you get in early before all the comedians fill up the room.

Fancy Boy Variety Show is on at the Imperial Hotel at 12:15, Thursday to Saturday until April 18
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/variety-show-fancy-boy

5 Good Reasons to see 10:45pm World Record Show.

THE 5 STUPIDEST WORLD RECORDS WE’LL ATTEMPT:

1. DARING STUNTS:
Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall and Pat Burtscher will compete to see who can snorkel in a fish tank the longest, whilst completing puzzle challenges.

2. SEX APPEAL:
Greg Larsen will try and set the record for the ‘fastest time to get an erection and play Baker Street on saxophone.’

3. YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE HISTORY:
We’re going to break records with the audience:
– Most people eating a single Le Snak biscuit.
– Most people pretending to fate at once.
– Most people saying ‘Beat Cancer’ in Chinese (all real records).

4. TRUE LOVE:
We’re going to lock comedian and local lover Jonathan Schuster in a sound proof booth with a stranger for an hour and get to them to complete a series of scientific experiments to see if we can break the record for ‘Fastest time for Jonathan Schuster to fall in love.’

5. REAL RISKS:
Hosts Adam Knox and Dave Warneke will compete to break ‘The world’s most terrifying message left on their own mother’s voice mail…’

(We’re also going to try a bunch of real records including the LONGEST EVER VARIETY SHOW on Saturday October 5th from 10am at Tuxedo Cat).

The most chaotic and unpredictable comedy show of the Fringe is on at Tuxedo Cat on Friday and Saturday nights at 10:45pm from September 20 – October 5.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/10-45pm-world-record-show/