Lisa-Skye – Squirrel Comedy

Recommended and Previously Reviewed shows at Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Here Comes Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2019! There are more shows than EVER before and we Squirrels are here to help.

We have a list of all the shows we’ve previously reviewed and also a few that we’re excited about or keen to recommend.

The Aspie Hour had a short run at 2018 The Melbourne Writers Festival. It was a fabulous musical comedy in two parts by two brilliantly talented performers who apparently are both on a spectrum. It’s top notch comedy cabaret for those who love Broadway with laughs.

The Fringe Wives Club has welcomed new members and has grown from 3 to 5 performers. Last year we all rushed out to see Glittery Clittery and adored the crowdpleasing feminist cabaret, but we didn’t manage a review, sorry but the simple review is: We all LOVED it. This year we’ll be rushing to see their new show Glittergrass and make sure we review it.

Tom Ballard is being very busy after having his ABC show Tonightly cancelled. He’s jumped into the festival with gusto. As well as his own show, Enough, which is having a full season run, Tom will be hosting one of the political Tuesday nights at the Festival Club and most intriguingly he’s written a satirical political play called KWANDA. It’s about a Monday night political panel show but it’s not about QandA at all. No. Of course not.

Demi Lardner and Tom Walker both have solo shows again this year, but they have also teamed up to perform We Mustn’t and it’s bound to be weird, wonderful and hilarious.

Don’t forget to check out the alternate guide to the Festival:
The Safety House Guide.
Says creator and stand up comedian Lisa-Skye:
“The Safety House Guide is a free magazine featuring nearly 100 of the best acts of the fest. Safe, but never tame, it’s not about censorship, it’s about empowering audiences to make the right decisions about the shows for them. It gives more info about stuff like content, access and the level of audience participation. It also has fun stuff like letters from comedians to their potential audience, info on workshops and quizzes. Grab your free copy around town, or at the launch!”

Sam Simmons is a late entry to MICF with his new show 26 Things You’ve Been Doing Wrong with Sam Simmons suddenly be added to the Festival program.

On the down side some performers have already cancelled….But NOT……Tom Cashman XYZ, we read that he had but he has NOT cancelled. Go see him!

Shows that have been Cancelled:

Ronny Chieng has had to bow out due to being cast in a sitcom in pilot season in the US. We wish him all the success, but worry he may be too successful to perform here again… He has rescheduled his Australian shows for July.

Benny Darsow Ad Lib

Charlie Pickering Us & Them

The Elvis Dead by Rob Kemp,

Let’s Get Wild

One Man Breaking Bad by Miles Allen

Thomas McMahon and Nick Quon Total Business Solution

Blanc (That weird fashion circussy thing at Chadstone)

And NOW, Finally…..

Previously Reviewed shows – and links to our reviews:

Annie Louey – Before I Forget

Melbourne Fringe 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13164

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/annie-louey-before-i-forget

Barnie Juancan – Tap Head

Melbourne Fringe 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13221

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/tap-head

Bunk Puppets – Stark and Dormy

Melbourne Fringe 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13151

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/stark-and-dormy

Clare Cavanagh – Literally

Melbourne Fringe: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13192

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/clare-cavanagh-literally

Chloe Black – Transistor Sister

Melbourne Fringe 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13202

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/transistor-sister

Felicity Ward – Busting a Nut

Edinburgh Fringe 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=12927

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/busting-a-nut

Faulty Towers The Dining Experience

Edinburgh Fringe 2008: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=1633

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/faulty-towers-the-dining-experience

The Breast of The Fest

MICF 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=12624

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/the-breast-of-the-fest

The Dizzy Biz – The 2007 Wonthaggi Blue Light Disco

Melbourne Fringe 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13180

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/the-2007-wonthaggi-blue-light-disco

Wool! A History of Australia’s Wool Industry: The Musical by Kit Richards

Melbourne Fringe 2018: https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=13145

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2019/shows/wool-a-history-of-australia-s-wool-industry-the-musical

5 Good reasons to see The Cult of Comedy presents…

1. Musicians. Clowns. Wordmongers. More than just stand-up, all genres of comedy come here to shine.

2. A different line-up every night, with the best local and international performers. See snippets of their work and then go see the full shows of the ones you love.

3. It’s a cult. Everyone should join a cult once in their lives. This is the best cult. Better than all the cults. It’s tremendous. Believe me.

4. Point #3 was not inspired by the Trumpanzee. It’s just the truth. Not fake news. Just truth.

5. Joy. SO MUCH JOY.

The Cult of Comedy presents… is produced by Sameena Zehra & Lisa Skye at The Upstairs Lounge @ Little Sista

For further information see the MICF website:

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/the-cult-of-comedy-presents#

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Previously Reviewed Shows

It’s nearly time for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival!!!

Our tails are waggling excitedly as we plan our festival and the shows we will be seeing and reviewing for you. It’s a big 30th Anniversary and we’ll be enjoying a lot of the wonderful birthday events and exhibitions too.

As always to help you make decisions about which shows you should see at the festival we have a list for you of all the shows we have already reviewed so you can check them out.

Don’t forget to take a punt on someone you’ve never heard of, they might change your world and you, for making up an awesome audience, theirs.

Down the bottom of this article, I’ve listed some shows that have been cancelled.

Meanwhile here are some reviews we prepared earlier:

Christopher Welldon Christopher Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9253

Dave Callan A Little Less Conversation 3: Even More Less Conversation

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9380

Dilruk Jayasinha – Sri Wanka

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9383

Geraldine Hickey Winner!

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9243

I love Green Guide Letters with Steele Saunders

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=5892

Lauren Bok Is That A Burrito In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy You Have a Burrito

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9270

Lauren Bok, Sam Marzden & Bert Goldsmith Radio Variety Hour

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=5089

Lisa-Skye & Nick Caddaye Gentlemen’s Agreement

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9309

Little Dum Dum Club: Live!

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=5938

Rama Nicholas in Mary Weather’s Monsters

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9298

Set List

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=6695

Soothplayers Completely Improvised Shakespeare

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=9433

Cancelled Shows

The following is the list so far. We will pop any more of these up on the ‘In Brief’ section of our site as they come in:

ACE Comedy vs Politics Gala Dinner

Funny Folks Have a Crack!

Squeaky Clean Comedy

5 PM Variety Show

Five Good Reasons to See Lisa-Skye: Spiders Wearing Party Hats

5. Skye’s been doing comedy since 2008 and she’s actually starting to get good at it.

4. This is the show she’s been asked to write for years, you magnificent Voyeurs of Strange.

3. In Adelaide a few people saw this show twice, and one person saw it THREE TIMES.
3.1 Skye just avoided the obvious joke about making you come again, because he respects you too much to go for the easy laugh.

2. Also in Adelaide, Skye made some artists way better than him weep with the pathos of it all.

1. She’s probably still not out of your league, ladies and others. Gentlemen: She definitely is, but she often needs distraction so there may be hope for you yet.

Lisa-Skye performs Spiders Wearing Party Hats at The Tuxedo Cat

For more information visit the MICF website

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/spiders-wearing-party-hats-lisa-skye

5 Good REASONS to see Lisa-Skye and Nick Caddaye are Gentlemen’s Agreement

1) Does your sense of humour confuse other people? Then do we have a show for you!

2) Gentlemen’s Agreement features two of Australia’s first comics together on stage for the first time. Except for that other time. But that was ages ago, and doesn’t really count.

3) What else are you gonna do, huh? Stay home and watch The Mentalist? What’s Simon Baker even up to these days? I hope we was well paid for those ANZ ads…

4) What happens when you put one of Australia’s weirdest stand-ups on stage with one of Australia’s finest sketch comedy writers? They struggle to remember their lines, is what. Bloody hell, it’s been a struggle…

5) It’s good. No, seriously. It’s funny and interesting and clever and not especially expensive. You should come.

Lisa-Skye and Nick Caddaye’s Gentlemen’s Agreement is on at The Tuxedo Cat til Sept 24

https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/program/event/view/2b46f6a5-1bc8-4a2f-8f7b-2f4cbd96d262

Lisa-Skye and Nick Caddaye are Gentlemen’s Agreement

By Lisa Clark

Lisa-Skye & Nick Caddaye could have named their show The Odd Couple, they are such a comical pairing. The older and wiser, grumpy Nick clearly has a love for and a great deal of experience with sketch comedy, Lisa-Skye has less experience in sketch but does a fabulous job as exuberant second banana to Nick’s uptight straight man. And does this show have bananas?! This show has bananas.

Lisa-Skye has been performing for several years and is a completely unique presence on the Melbourne comedy scene. As well as her own standup shows she’s been doing late night alternative chat shows or ‘Tea parties’ at The Tuxedo Cat, this has helped her become very relaxed on stage, experienced at bouncing well off other performers and adept at audience interaction. It’s great to see Nick on stage again since the demise of his first comedy duo Mr Al & Mr Nick and being the performer & mastermind behind the sketch troupe Anarchist Guild Collective. In recent years he has been concentrating on writing and directing, which has included The Fabulous Christmas Panto for adults The Terminativity and directing Rama Nicholas’ Death Rides a Horse and Lisa-Skye’s Song’s My Parents Taught Me. I remember thinking when I heard he was directing Lisa-Skye that it was a bit of an odd pairing, but obviously they saw the comic potential and decided to put on a show together, and joyfully, it actually works.

Despite the comical bickering and teasing, the thing that clearly connects them is their deep sense of political outrage and although it is mostly kept in the background, it is the backbone of the show overall. The few overtly political skits threaten to let them down, with all the changes and upheaval that have happened in our Federal government since this strongly scripted show was put together, but Nick and Lisa-Skye handle it beautifully still getting lots of laughs, while sympathising with their Fringe colleagues working on Abbott! The Musical.

A lot of the sketches are just delightfully silly mucking around, some food and a fake thingy are thrown about and there are a string of advertising sketches, the highlight being a father and transgender offspring selling pergolas that was so funny it had people nearly falling out of their seats and I found it hard to breathe. I suspect it will be the highlight of my 2015 Fringe.

It’s at Tuxedo Cat so you know it’s going to be unconventional and edgy. This also has intelligence and pizazz. Everything about this show is well thought through, including the lighting and sound which are well conceived and brilliantly employed.

A fabulous sparkly sketch show for grown ups at The Fringe.

Lisa-Skye and Nick Caddaye’s Gentlemen’s Agreement is on at The Tuxedo Cat til Sept 24

https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/program/event/view/2b46f6a5-1bc8-4a2f-8f7b-2f4cbd96d262