Stew Walker – Squirrel Comedy

5 Good Reasons to See The Book of Snorin’ – Sleep Apnea the Musical by Stew Walker

1. It’s the world’s first comedy show about sleep apnea. By seeing the show you’ll be part of history!

2. The show is educational as well as funny. If you snore or love someone who does, this show might save your relationship or even your life.

3. There are silly songs in a big range of genres like pop, blues, country, folk and even Europop!

4. I perform the song in my pyjamas, and have had the fly sewn up to ensure no wardrobe malfunctions.

5. In one song I try making up verses based on audience suggestions. Hopefully! Maybe I won’t pull it off and I’ll crash and burn…

Stew Walker performs The Book of Snorin’ – Sleep Apnea the Musical at The Charles Dickens Tavern Tue 9 14 Apr at 6:30 pm

http://stewwalker.com/go/snorin

5 good reasons to see 1 Night Stand: A Musical Comedy Showcase

1. It’s the only festival show featuring Melbourne musical comedy legend Rusty Berther from the Scared Weird Little Guys.

2. Diversity. The show features an eclectic mix of guys and girls, musical instruments and musical styles.

3. It’s the only festival show where you can see Elena Gabrielle from The Shuffle Show, Darren Freak, 6ft Fairy aka Melinda King, Raw Comedy state finalist Rohan Windle and Stew Walker.

4. It’s another chance to enjoy fantastic acts you may have already seen during the festival such as Claire Healy and Andy Moratis.

5. Chapel Off Chapel is a sensational venue renowned for presenting top-flight entertainment. It’s just a minute away from Chapel Street’s dining and nightlife options so you can make a night of it, and a short tram ride away from the city.

1 Night Stand: A Musical Comedy Showcase is on at Chapel off Chapel on April 2

For more Information go to the MICF Website

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/1-night-stand-a-musical-comedy-showcase

Squirrel Comedy’s Recommended and Previously Reviewed Shows at Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2015

By Lisa Clark

Well the Squirrels are getting ruffled up and ready for autumn nut collecting. And comedy reviewing. There are soooo many shows on offer at the 2015 Melbourne International comedy Festival and it can be very difficult for us to see everything we want to see, let alone review everything we want to review. For those readers who are planning their Festival schedules and are in need of help, we have some good news: Squirrel Comedy has previously reviewed thirty of this year’s shows and we have laid out links to all those reviews below.

First Up here are some brilliant shows I previously saw & loved but Squirrel Comedy hasn’t reviewed.

I recommend you see:

Claire Hooper’s School Camp

Claire takes us back to school days in a raw & truthful way where nostalgia takes some surprising and dark turns that make this show very special.

Celia Pacquola – Let Me Know How It All Works Out.

Celia’s show about fortune telling and her international lifestyle was another of Celia’s crowd-pleasing corkers.

Barry Nominated last year as word got around it was selling out like hotcakes, so if you weren’t lucky enough to see this gorgeous show better book now.

Denise Scott – Mother Bare

Denise deservedly won the Barry Award last year for her droll and often riotous reflections on motherhood and other aspects of her comedic life.

She’s only doing four shows this year at the fan friendly time of 4.30 Sundays, so get your tickets early.

And now for shows that we have previously reviewed.

Particular highlights this year that I can also recommend include:

Are You Afraid of the Dark by Watson

Watson’s funny and occasionally genuinely scary show is not for those with a nervous disposition or heart condition but my goodness it is a monstrous load of fun. It can only fit smallish audiences into the space at the Old Melbourne Gaol so book early, I hear the first week is booking out fast. Not surprising as this show won Best Comedy at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and considering it is site specific it is one you will have to come to Melbourne to see.

Bart Freebairn Ultra Power Lord

Bart is a comedian at the top of his game just waiting to be discovered by the mainstream. I get the joyful shivers when I see a stand up comedian reach a point where they can host a room and own it keeping everyone rolling with laughter non stop. Bart is there and I hope everyone loves Ultra Power Lord as much as I did at Fringe last year.

Bucket’s List by Sarah Collins starring Justin Kennedy

Buckets List is a whimsical, beautiful and of course very funny tale with a star turn by the amazing Justin Kennedy (who we just don’t see enough of on the circuit any more – I miss him, but if this is the sort of work he’s producing then I’ll forgive his absence). Justin is blessed with the ability to make an audience laugh without saying a word and when I see independent theatre this good I think our major theatre companies should have a good hard look at themselves.

Damian Callinan – The Lost WW1 Diary of Private Paddy Callinan

A perfect show for this anniversary of ANZAC it’s another comedy character tour de force by Damian where truth and tall tales blur with loads of laughs and a streak of darkness. The true spirit of the ANZAC is thoroughly celebrated.

We can’t wait to discover new exciting comedy at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival but meanwhile

Here’s the full list with links of those we reviewed earlier:

The 13–Storey Treehouse

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=6692

Anthony Jeannot is Unaccept-a-bubble

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7985

Bart Freebairn: Ultra Power Lord

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7643

Clem Bastow – Escape From LA

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7956

Damian Callinan – The Lost WW1 Diary of Private Paddy Callinan

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=6010

Dr Brown – Befrdfgth

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=1244

Dylan Cole – The Moon in Me

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7760

Fancy Boy Variety Show

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=6647

Faulty Towers – The Dining Experience

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=1633

Geraldine Hickey – Listen Out For The Castanets

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7669

I Love Green Guide Letters Live

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

Justin Kennedy – Bucket’s List

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7723

Late Night Letters and Numbers

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3846

Lee Naimo – Finding Lee

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7970

Lisa-Skye’s Lovely Tea Party

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=5880

The Little Dum Dum Club Live

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

Luke McGregor – I Worry That I Worry Too Much

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=6045

Mark Butler – Grammar don’t matter on a first date

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7885

Political Asylum – Late Night Riot

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=3785

Sam Rankin – Wake Up, Sheeple! (2.0)

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7639

The Sexy Detectives – Mono Logs

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7952

The Sound of Nazis

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7712

The Umbilical Brothers – KiDSHoW – Not Suitable for Children

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=6870

Stuart Daulman is an Absolute Credit

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7706

Stew Walker – A Hard Day’s Night of Beatles Parodies

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7920

Gary Portenza: Apologies in Advance

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7915

Set List

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

Watson – Who’s Afraid of the Dark

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=7786

World Record Show with Andy Matthews, Adam Knox and Dave Warneke

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=5973

Zoe Coombs Marr – Dave

https://www.squirrelcomedy.com/?p=6963

A Hard Day’s Night of Beatles Parodies

By Colin Flaherty

After being discovered by Adam Hills on In Gordon Street Tonight, Stew Walker took the plunge into Fringe with an hour of Beatle based musical humour. The parodies were in a similar vein to those by Greg Champion, songs mostly about local identities, current events and whatever else took his fancy. They were also delivered in a similar manner, he didn’t have the angelic voice of a young John, Paul or George but he could certainly hold a tune, with acoustic guitar accompaniment, although he had some pre-recorded backing vocals to flesh things out. The Beatles songs he used were cleverly matched thematically to the subject he was lampooning which was a nice touch.

The initial songs in Walker’s set used blunt strokes in attacking his targets (including Franco Cozzo, Geoffrey Edelsten and Melbourne Weather) which often resulted in a song containing variations of the same joke. Each song was limited to two verses and two choruses which occasionally still felt a little drawn out but gave us a chance to sing along if the mood took us. As the set progressed I noticed some songs that proved that he could write better parodies if the subject allowed. Songs such as ‘Michelle’ (Bridges) and his Harold Holt medley revealed plenty of humorous ideas. An original tune ‘Dad Jokes’, dedicated to his late father, went down a storm demonstrating his talent outside of the Beatles framework.

Walker’s between song banter was a bit stiff and his timing in delivering funny lines was a little off but this was just down to inexperience. There were a few amusing self-deprecating comments about his real life, some groaning puns and a spot of Beatles trivia which kept the crowd giggling and enthralled. He tended to give away the jokes when introducing each song which robbed most of the lyrics of any surprises. This was especially problematic when the parody relied on a single joke. Explaining exactly what he was going to sing about may be fine for straight songs but good comedy songs require minimal preamble.

In spite of some rookie errors this was a fun Fringe debut. You really can’t go wrong with the music of Lennon and McCartney, and having fun with the lyrics is a winning formula for good times.

A Hard Day’s Night of Beatles Parodies is on at The Last Jar at 8:30pm until October 5

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/a-hard-days-night-of-beatles-parodies/

5 Good Reasons to see A Hard Day’s Night of Beatles Parodies

1. A wig that really puts the “fringe” back into the Fringe Festival

2. Silly lyrics come together with the timeless tunes of The Beatles

3. Songs about Melbourne identities like Shane Warne, Franco Cozzo and Frank Walker from National Tiles

4. Political satire with targets including Myki and Clive Palmer

5. If the jokes aren’t for you, you’ll still enjoy the music!

For Information about dates and tickets see the Fringe website

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/a-hard-days-night-of-beatles-parodies/