Melbourne Fringe 2016 – Page 3

Speechless Live

By Colin Flaherty

A regular night on the Brisbane comedy circuit, Speechless Live comes to the Melbourne Fringe. A cross between Set List and a PowerPoint presentation, this improvised show uses a slide show of images for the performers to work with. It’s a fascinating concept and immensely fun but it relies heavily on the quick wits of the talent to pull the humour off successfully.

A virtual wheel is spun to select the format that the speaker is to adhere to (such as Public Apology, TED Talk, etc.). With this public speaking structure, it encourages the acts to develop a narrative of sorts rather than just rattle off a set of jokes. A series of projected images are to be incorporate into their presentation including many bizarre ones that get laughs from the audience before the performer weaves their magic. There is the temptation for the comic to simply vocalise what they see, but the more successful acts approach the images from a different perspective. The duration each image is shown varies wildly. Some performers prompt for the next slide when they want to move on while others try to come up with more amusing lines until finally being put out of their misery with the appearance of the next image.

Our host Glenn Stephens came across as more a presenter than a comedian with emcee skills. He didn’t do much in terms of warming up the audience, instead concentrating on administration such as explaining the format of the show, introducing the performers and soliciting applause. On the positive side he made us feel welcome and kept the show moving along efficiently.

Andrew Port Elliot was the first guest and spun up “Public Apology”. He managed to come up with a number of amusing lines throughout his ten minutes but he found it hard going as demonstrated by his slow pace and long pauses as he searched his brain for amusing material.

Next up was the MVP of the night, Wei, who blitzed his “Dating Seminar”. With his comically aggressive sales pitch, he came up with some hilarious and inspired interpretations of the images he was given. Even though he became a little repetitive as his time wound down (they all did this as they ran out the clock), Wei was a difficult act to follow.

The one to follow Wei was the softer-spoken Mayumi Nobetsu who was also issued a “Dating Seminar” following an audience choice. Using an interesting mix of innuendo and Eastern Philosophy, she provided some laughs but also struggled a little in providing consistently amusing lines.

Rounding out the night was the boisterous Nadine Sparks who gave us a First Contact with aliens. As an experienced stand up, she showed her commendable improv talents with interesting banter and numerous asides that took us all over the place.

There was a hint that audience participation is a part of the show but this did not really eventuate. Our involvement seems to be limited to when the acts banter with us and the “Audience Choice” option on the wheel.

With a different line up each night, Speechless Live is a fun improvised experience that is worth checking out. You may just discover a new improvising genius.

Speechless Live is on at Highlander until September 24
https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/speechless-live/a29b62b0-cae0-492f-9fee-ed089820ac5f

Who We Were

By Elyce Phillips

Who We Were is a flashback to the ‘90s, packed with the kind of little details that are guaranteed to delight anyone who grew up in the age of MSN chat and My Chemical Romance. Written by and starring Caitlyn Staples, Jayden Masciulli and Tiana Hogben, it’s a cleverly composed compilation of sketch, storytelling and song.

The show centres around the stories of Amanda (Staples), Katie (Hogben) and Max (Masciulli) – three school mates who are struggling through their awkward teen years and hoping for better things to come. Using the device of a tape-recorded message, Who We Were threads through the storyline of each of the main characters, diverting off into sketches that skewer the specifics of the era. Each performer is given their moment to shine. Staples hams it up brilliantly as two henchmen in an underground Pokemon card trading ring. Masciulli was wonderful as a reluctant wizard who desperately wants to be a spy. Hogben’s presentation of a gloriously dark PowerPoint on her school holidays was absolutely inspired, from the sound effects to the overuse of clip art. The three performers work together beautifully, each bringing a distinct comedic energy and style.

The musical elements in the show were a particular highlight. A reworking of Avril Lavigne’s Complicated in which Staples and Hogben played bratty, entitled kids to Masciulli’s browbeaten mother was hilarious, as was a bright little ditty about childhood fortune-telling methods. The final number ended the show on a beautifully bittersweet note, the three kids reuniting as adults and looking back on their childhood with the clarity of hindsight.

Who We Were is a very funny effort from three fresh, young comedic minds. You’re likely to get the most out of the show if you grew up in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s as the nostalgia factor is definitely at play. However, the characters here are strong enough that you’ll get a kick out of this even if you sit outside that age bracket.

Who We Were is on at the Improv Conspiracy theatre until September 23rd

https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/who_we_were/62f59e98-f7d2-4a5b-a552-69e8beb8125c/

Isabel Angus in BLISS!

By Lisa Clark

BLISS! could be seen as the final of an amazing trilogy of feminist comedy plays, but it is actually Isabel Angus’s debut solo festival show in a similar vein. Isabel has created another captivating character in Penny P who does a lot of “Thinsplaining” about the wonders of “Wellbeing” and nails the ludicrous nature of these quasi health websites on the head.

The extraordinary award winning masterpiece Edge!, set in the world of pop music, was about the sexualisation of children and the infantilisation of women. The impressive and somewhat astonishing Prime! was about how sexual politics is changing and the new teen bro culture. They were performed by Isabel and Rachel and Rachel had small but vital roles in both shows. I hate to say this but her grounding presence to Isabel’s tyrannical character is very much missed from BLISS!

This is not to say that BLISS! isn’t a blast in its own right and no doubt better than a lot of Fringe shows trying to entertain audiences with serious subject matter. Isabel has clearly studied a lot of dodgy “Wellness” and “Fitness” stuff online. You only have to have a brief dip into “Wellness’” Instagram to see that it is full of vile bon mots like “Sweat is Your Fat Crying”. Penny P is spouting these exact phrases, while exercising hard on stage, stopping for selfies and to promote her merch. It’s occasionally exhausting to watch, and often very funny, Isabel is a brilliant physical comedian and is certainly going to be super fit by the end of the run.

There’s a reference in BLISS! to Belle Gibson (the girl who faked cancer as well as fake curing her own fake cancer, made lots of money and published a health book despite the lack of any actual health qualifications) which is the dark side of these sites and why I felt Isabel could’ve gone even harder on them. For a show about social media, it was very low tech and could’ve done with a big screen and a lot of title cards and screenshots to help her create the world we might be less familiar with. When the serious dark turn arrives it feels too contrived and sudden, adding to the feeling that this production might be a bit rushed and unfinished. The end appears out of nowhere, the ideas peter out with a very tacked on ending that makes me think, “I know what she’s going for, but it’s not quite working”.

It’s clear that it will always be interesting and entertaining to see the work of Isabel Angus. No one is doing feminist, political comedic theatre that’s as accessible and as much fun, as she is. This one needs a bit of tinkering but it’s still one of the better shows at Melbourne Fringe and I’m sure as the season goes along it will only get better.

Isabel Angus performs BLISS! at The Courthouse Hotel until Sept 25

https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/isabel-angus-in-bliss/e26f7bf4-16de-4f25-9fab-e5a341ae0e75

5 Good Reasons to See Isabel Angus in BLISS!

1. Fitspiration.
Looking for some much-needed #fitspiration1 from Melbourne’s newest, fittest #fitspo2?
Want to know how to live your #bestlife? Yes? Then you have No ExcusesTM to miss out on watching Penny’s (Isabel Angus’) motivational Personal JourneyTM, live, and in her (toxin-free) flesh. What will you leave with? Perfect Penny Body Bliss3. (This is also her Instagram/fitstagram3 name, so you can go online and follow her right away for daily fitspiration!)

i. Fitness inspiration. ii. short for Fitspiration. iii. Fit-orientated Instragram.

2. Authenticity. Wellness. Lululemon active-wear. Bliss.
You’d have to be an idiot to not want that.

3. Isabel Angus (the not quite as fit) woman who is masquerading as Penny, is a previous winner of Best Comedy for Isabel and Rachel’s EDGE!’ (Melbourne Fringe 2013). You may recognise her from previous comic characters: Stella, the precocious child star of EDGE! and Jono, the obnoxious teenage boy from Isabel and Rachel’s PRIME! (Melbourne Fringe 2015) Penny is Isabel’s first, non-child character, so come and watch her be a big grown up!

4. No audience participation required. Just specialised knowledge from a self-appointed life guru and internet accreditated wellness/fitness coach. That’s why it’s called ‘Perfect Penny Body Bliss’, not ‘Perfect Tom, Dick and Harry’ Body Bliss. BLISS! is for you.

5. Come along, if you’ve been scratching your heads lately wondering what’s up with the ever-growing wellness/fitspiration obsession.

Isabel Angus performs BLISS! at The Courthouse Hotel Sept 18 – 25

https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/isabel-angus-in-bliss/e26f7bf4-16de-4f25-9fab-e5a341ae0e75

ISLAMOFARCIST Putting the “Ha” in “Jihad” by Sami Shah

By Lisa Clark

What a stunning show! Sami Shah is a born comedian, unfortunately he was born in a part of the world that’s not very conducive to a satirical comedy career. Lucky for us he’s moved to Australia. Islamofarcist – Putting the “Ha” in “Jihad” tells us how this came to be, via lessons about Islam, Pakistan and the importance of Baywatch.

Sami seems to have arrived on Melbourne stages a fully-fledged, world class, comedy star. Sami has actually had an amazing life thus far. He started in impro in Pakistan which is surprising enough, but that he’s only really been throwing himself into a comedy career in Australia since 2012 is hard to believe. Since then he has appeared on QI, created a BBC4 radio series and has had a book about his life published. These things are less surprising when he starts doing his comedy for you.

He begins by taking an everyday popular meme about religion and intricately dissects it with comedy and pretty quickly has the audience in the palm of his hand. The information he gives us about Pakistan, Islam and, for example, the difference between Sunni and Shiite turns out to be funnier than you’d think and should also probably be considered a bit of a public service. It’ll have you laughing your butt off, but you get to learn stuff too.

ISLAMOFARCIST is political without really going into politics, it’s about religion without being preachy, about ideals while remaining down to earth and it’s actually quite dangerous. Sami could be killed for this show in some parts of the world. Not surprising that he lives here then and lucky us.

If you have a hankering for intelligent, yet accessible, comedy from a warm, talented comedian who knows what the hell he’s talking about, go see Sami at Fringe, ISLAMOFARCIST is everything Fringe should be and more.

Sami Shah performs ISLAMOFARCIST Putting the “Ha” in “Jihad” at The Lithuanian Club til Oct 1st

https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/islamofarcist/a482e708-188f-4d33-92f2-f7de0988d934

Gabe Hogan – Making Life a Double

By Lisa Clark

Gabe Hogan is a good old fashioned personal story telling comedian of the best kind. No bells or whistles, just entertaining personal stories liberally sprinkled with great jokes to keep the audience laughing throughout.

The audience is welcomed to the intimate space by Gabe’s warm up guy who we later found out was David Tulk. Warm and friendly, he chatted to the crowd and told some jokes, but if he’s not going to do her tech, Gabe doesn’t really need him. Gabe is very capable at carrying a show on her own and if she’s worried it may be a bit short; as I always say – a shorter festival show is better than a longer one.

There is a lot to unpack from Gabe’s midlife crisis, leaving an unhappy, long term relationship and finding herself single in a share house with three less-than house-trained, crazy artistic blokes while trying to make it on the Melbourne comedy scene. She has some rather hair-raising and hilarious tales about scary people she meets at gigs and is also able to find the funny side of modern dating without the easy clichéd tinder jokes.

There were a few things against this show working on the night I was there; her entire family in the audience making unnecessary interjections and cramping her style somewhat, a tiny squashed venue with a spotlight attached to the back of the door which meant that anyone leaving or entering the room couldn’t help but distract from the show, inadequate tech (no room for a techie anyway) so that the room is lit too brightly and Gabe has to fiddle with the house music herself. But impressively Gabe sailed above all of this like a trooper who has put up with a lot of crap at all sorts of gigs and can now deal well with anything thrown at her and keep the audience captivated. Brava!

Gabe has gained confidence in her stand up over the past couple of years. When I saw her effortlessly host a fairly small comedy night one evening I was impressed and it made me seek her out elsewhere. Gabe Hogan is definitely on her way to better things.

Gabe Hogan performs Making Life a Double at The Courthouse Hotel Sept 15 – 23

https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/gabe-hogan-making-life-a-double/d270952b-8b7b-40b2-b4d2-67055a6740a9