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5 Good Reasons to see Tea With Dystopia

1) Marek Platek & Firdi Billimoria have been tirelessly exploring the recesses of their minds to develop sketch comedy that is not only absurd, but also clever. See these 2 bring you their riotous cavalcade of short sketches and ridiculous characters, guaranteed to make your late night adventure to the Portland Hotel highly worthwhile.

2) Tea: a hot beverage. Dystopia: an imaginary world where everything is bad. Stir with caution. Do not add sugar. Tea with Dystopia should not be taken orally. If consumed, induce vomiting. Then add sugar.

3) We all know that in a few short years, the machines will eventually take over and the human race will become nothing but a means production. Its kind of already started hasnt it. So instead of descending into the horror of the machine apocalypse with nothing but anxiety and fear, why not do it with a graceful amount of sketch comedy. Tea with Dystopia cannot provide you with the grace, but can do the sketch comedy part.

4) Well the rumours are true, Marek Platek, the guy who brought you Wormhole and Domestos the Acid Fairy, is leaving the fair shores of Melbourne, for some place called Paris. That is correct friends, this is the last time you will see Marek perform in Melbourne for a while before he goes to study clowning under Philippe Gaulier. Not juggling, red noses and children’s parties and shit, real clowning.

5) In one of his drunken hazes in the early 90s, late Russian president Boris Yeltsin vomited on his security staff and whispered to a door mat “Give them hell!” , in broken English. The doormat has been emotionally scarred ever since and thus been a recluse since 1993. We have just heard that this doormat has bought tickets to Tea With Dystopia. So not only is guaranteed sketch hilarity to ensue, but it is also your chance to see Boris Yeltsin’s door mat in public for the first time in 21 years.

For information and tickets check out the Fringe website
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/tea-with-dystopia/

Jennifer Wong – Laughable: The One-Liner Show

By Alanta Colley

The demure and delightful Jennifer Wong presents the picture of an entirely unlikely comedian. Shy, introverted, and softly spoken, Wong endears us almost instantly with her particular brand of improvised punning. In Laughable Wong walks us through the day in the life of a ‘Puntrovert’; puns at absolutely every turn. As Wong explains, the puntrovert thrives on groans, so the audience’s loud responses to her incessant word play only makes her stronger and eggs her on.

Wong displays the unique talent of a punner on the run; working with whatever material the audience provides she improvises puns on the most unlikely subject matter. Every night I imagine will be a unique masterpiece of this perpetual play on words.

This is gentle and genial comedy. Wong employs each of us as characters she meets along the way on her day of punning about town. On this particular night we saw what Wong could cook up with a librarian, a psychologist, fish and chips, and various bakery items. Her interactions with the audience are delicate and respectful and as such she gets the very best from people happy to contribute to this collaborative tale being woven.

Wong plays with the stereotypes surrounding her Chinese heritage. As well as our expectations that she’ll play with the stereotypes of her Chinese heritage. She manipulates meta comedy for her own purposes. Wong proves she’s a bilingual punner; capable of punning in Cantonese as well as English. Luckily, she’s also happy to translate for us.

Punning and improvisation are unlikely bedfellows making this show something quite special. Even if puns aren’t your preferred form of comedy you can’t help but be impressed by their sheer multitude in this performance. We can almost hear the whirring of Wong’s mind as she revisits episodes throughout our narrative towards the end with a fresh batch of puns out of the oven. It’s not quite clear how she managed to concoct them while the show powered along.

Intelligent, engaging and unashamedly uncool comedy from a deeply endearing up-and-coming comic. A pleasant addition to your Comedy festival experience.

Laughable: The One-Liner Show is on at the Forum Theatre – Ladies’ Lounge until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/laughable-the-one-liner-show-jennifer-wong

Genevieve Fricker : The Pineapple

By Noel Kelso

Performing in a room which appears to have only just been rediscovered after many years and had the cobwebs and dusty boxes removed, Genevieve Fricker entertains her audience with an hour of great gags, brilliantly observed musical comedy and tales of her life.

Wielding an electric guitar, Fricker begins her show with a very funny song about writing routines on her phone. This warms her audience up for the tales which follow.

This includes reminiscing over adverts from the previous decade and positing a tragic backstory for the main character. This is well done by Fricker and it mattered not that I had not seen the ad in question as she paints such a vivid picture with her words.

Her curiosity at the world is infectious and the audience finds itself pondering if there really is a phone call gossiping conspiracy betwixt cab drivers and convenience store clerks. There is an honesty to her delivery which is refreshing as she speaks about her depression and the overcompensation this leads her to.

One of the highlights of the show is Fricker relating the tale of finding her car vandalised in quite a strange manner and the confrontation this leads to with one of her neighbours whilst Fricker herself is dressed like a prim Sunday school teacher from the 1950s. Apparently comics are prone to doing crazy things when criticised.

This was really funny, naturalistic comedy which included several astute observations about the foibles of modern life and thoughtful musings on her family and mixed cultural heritage including some well-timed call-backs.

The Pineapple is on at The Duke of Wellington Hotel until April 7
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/the-pineapple-genevieve-fricker

Tien Tran : If You Don’t Know, Now You Know

By Colin Flaherty

Things have been moving rather quickly for Tien Tran. After competing in RAW in 2011 and being in the MICF Comedy Zone last year, he has taken the next step and put on his debut solo show. Have things been moving too fast for Tran? Possibly.

Tran covered the topics that most twenty-somethings talk about; Weed, laziness and porn amongst them. These were topics that he easily milked laughs from but at times it was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. He also included some interesting views on child-rearing, front lawns and religion that were surprising and hilarious.

In an effort to differentiate himself from all the white middle-class performers out there, he explored some serious topics such as immigration and racism with which he was able give a slightly different perspective by being an Australian born of Vietnamese descent. There were some unique and amusing ideas amongst these topics but he often provided straight opinion and fact instead of jokes, leaving us agreeing with him rather than laughing.

Most of his material was structured in a way where he would run with an idea to its logical conclusion. This worked some of the time, taking them to genuinely unexpected places, but often the punch lines could be predicted ahead of time. He also had the habit of continuing past the actual punchline, ending on a whimper rather than a bang. The result was a hour whose laughs were patchy.

On stage, Tran is personable with a slight hip hop edge (he did name his show after a Biggy Smalls lyric after all). He had the audience hanging on his every word even through the lulls.

This was an enjoyable hour in spite of his rookie mistakes. There are lots of fertile ideas in his set, some that already work but others which have plenty of potential with some retooling. Tran has a unique voice and is definitely a performer to keep an eye on.

If You Don’t Know, Now You Know is on at The Forum – Carpet Room until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/if-you-don-t-know-now-you-know-tien-tran

Geraldine Quinn – MDMA: Modern Day Maiden Aunt

By Elyce Phillips

Geraldine Quinn is the black sheep of her family. While she is currently unemployed and unattached, pursuing her career in the arts, her siblings have all paired off and produced children. This makes Quinn the cool older aunty to 19 nieces and nephews. Nineteen. In MDMA: Modern Day Maiden Aunt, Quinn relates her struggle to be seen in a society where ‘older’ women are invisible, be there for this horde and perhaps most importantly, educate them about David Bowie.

Quinn’s voice is absolutely stunning. There’s not a dud among the songs she has composed for this show. The lyrics are sharp-witted, even when they’re spelling out curse words. The melodies are catchy enough to hang around in your head well after the show is done. There may not be many out there who have families as big as Quinn’s, but this doesn’t make her material any less relatable. A song about distant acquaintances banging on about their babies on Facebook could have been written about anyone’s feed, I’m sure.

As a production, MDMA hits all the right notes. Quinn’s costume, made by Sam Bolton, is perfect – its over-the-top theatre glamour contrasts so beautifully with Quinn’s drunken staggering and Ziggy Stardust-eqsue eye make-up. Justin Hamilton has done a fabulous job of directing. The lighting and sound do just what they need to to enhance Quinn’s performance, whether it’s stadium-style rock opera flashiness, or a deft touch that takes a song about invisibility to an entirely different level.

MDMA: Modern Day Maiden Aunt is an uproariously cynical portrayal of singledom and a loving ode to Quinn’s nieces and nephews – even if they’re too young to see it. Quinn is both powerful and vulnerable, scathing and sweet. If you’ve ever been asked when you’re going to get a proper job or settle down and have kids, you have to go see this.

MDMA: Modern Day Maiden Aunt is on at Melb Town Hall – Lunch Room until April 20
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2014/season/shows/mdma-modern-day-maiden-aunt-geraldine-quinn

Class Clowns 2014

By Noel Kelso

Everybody remembers the class clown in their year at school. The one person who was always messing about and making people laugh.

Now in its 19th year, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s own Class Clowns education programme takes those kids from the back of the class, gives them some workshops with professional comedians such as Kate McLennan, Danny McGinley (himself a former winner) and Aunty Donna, and places them front and centre on stage before a packed audience at the Capitol theatre in Melbourne.

The afternoon commences with our hosts Ronny Cheung and Luke McGregor – the unlikeliest double-act in comedy – arriving on stage and warming-up the audience with their very different performance styles. This got the audience laughing and opened them up for the young acts to follow.

Thirteen acts from all across Australia stepped on stage to entertain and delight those in the room. The audience laughed along to gags about school trips, teacher’s foibles, solutions to Melboune’s traffic problems and teenage surliness. It was two hours of joy from start to finish.

As the judges deliberated their decision the room was kept laughing by special guests Demi Lardner, RAW comedy winner 2013, and British sketch duo Max and Ivan. Their bizarre take on a botched bank robbery was effortlessly funny and their air guitar contest, which recruited an audience member to help out, was inspired lunacy which had the room roaring with laughter.

It was then time for the big moment and McGregor and Cheung led all of the young performers back onto the stage as they announced the winner and three runners-up as decided by the judging panel which included comedians Sara Pascoe, Dave Callan, Sammy J and Melbourne International Comedy Festival Director, Susan Provan.

The three runners-up were Mabita Makwaza from Sacred Heart College in South Australia whose material was both funny and socially aware; Jack Keenan from St Leonards College in Victoria whose routine was energetic and surprisingly mature for someone of fourteen, and Grace Bruxner from Darwin High School in Northern Territory, whose lampooning of the stereotypical surly Goth teen was sharply observed and laugh-out-loud funny.

The winner of the competition was 14 year old Gregor Tarrant from Wodonga Middle Years’ College in Victoria, whose elastic-limbed routine combined physical comedy and great gags to fine effect and had the audience rolling about with laughter.

Hopefully we will see more of these young comics in the future and they will continue their comedic endeavours further.

Heats will begin for 2015 later in the year.