Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2015 – Page 6

5 Good Reasons to see Bev Killick – Party Tricks

1. to come away with some mad skills after workshop on making a chook out of a teatowel with Jodie J Hill

2. to watch a middle aged woman attempt a head stand after 30 years

3. to witness Dr Neal Portenza do something mildly dangerous with a ring toss

4. to have the chance to show your own party trick if you are game.

5. to have Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection” song stuck in your head for the duration of the Comedy Festival.

Bev Killick – Party Tricks is on Monday nights at Melbourne Town Hall 9.45

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/party-tricks-bev-killick

Cool 2B Kind: A ‘Cult’ Comedy

By Colin Flaherty

Dragged out of class and into the school hall, we (the year nine class of an unspecified high school) are to witness a show by Cool 2B Kind, a pair of religious educators from the Church of the Gospel of Pastor Greg. Jeremy (Jack Yabsley) and his twin sister / bride to be, Faye (Fiona Pearson) teach us how to survive all the issues that teenagers face and all about Pastor Greg’s wonderful compound.

The attention to detail in their parody of bad educational theatre is wonderful. The condescending talking down to their audience, the over exaggerated movements that screams first year drama school and cramming in as many confusing pop culture references as possible to talk to “the kids” on their level. We even get a segment of woefully bad puppetry to teach some life lessons.

The characters of Jeremy and Faye are brilliantly realised with their bad cult haircuts, daggy out of date clothing and sheltered world view. These are two stunted adults talking to a group of kids who have clearly passed them by in terms of life experience. There is an amusing naivety to this pair that makes them sympathetic characters in spite of the thinly veiled hatred that they are peddling. Unrequited sexual tension is ramped up over the show’s duration and dark secrets emerge. Despite plenty of comical bickering they valiantly plough on with the script.

It is interesting to see how the structure and content of the songs change as the show progresses to reflect the moods of our hosts. They begin with relatively cheerful tunes with repetitive buzzwords in an attempt to relate to “the kids”. They progressively get more complex as we are told in great detail what grisly fate awaits us if we sin. As the characters finally come unwound, disguising the underlying motives for the show is abandoned and the lyrics get darker and the message more blatant. All the songs are stuffed full of amusing ideas.

Cool 2B Kind is a brilliant character two hander that is enjoyable and hilariously cringe inducing in equal parts. Yabsley and Pearson throw themselves into the roles and belt out some impressive tunes. An immensely fun but disturbing hour.

Cool 2B Kind: A ‘Cult’ Comedy is on at The Butterfly Club until April 12

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/cool-2b-kind-a-cult-comedy

Aunty Donna

By Elyce Phillips

Aunty Donna (Mark Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane) do sketch comedy, but not as you’ve seen it before. It’s slick, flashy and has a pumping soundtrack that is more ‘dudes doing doughies in the Macca’s carpark’ than ‘a night out at the theatre’. In this self-titled show, the boys find themselves at war with a rival comedy group. It’s a bitter battle, and along the way a whole heap of totally irrelevant, utterly hilarious sketches happen.

There’s a fair amount of filth in Aunty Donna’s work, all of which got some easy laughs from the teenage boys in the crowd. It’s a well-established theme in their comedy, and I guess it just wouldn’t be an Aunty Donna show without the holy trinity of balls, semen and c-bombs – though they bleep the latter these days. But what lifts this up from being simple gross-out humour are some very clever sketches filled with absurdity and sudden dark turns. The ‘Stray Man’ sketch was a highlight for me. Kelly has naïve dead-pan down to a fine art. A series of simple, silly vignettes were also used to great effect, such as ‘The man who didn’t realise there was a queue’.

Tom Armstrong’s music and sound design adds so much to this show, setting the tone from the moment you enter the venue. The songs have all the production value of a music video. Inner monologues become catchy little jingles. Days later, I still find myself singing a few of the songs. It’s that extra element that makes them stand out from other sketch comedy groups in this festival.

It’s great to see that these guys are drawing in a lot of new, young comedy-goers – presumably fans of their very popular YouTube videos. The audience is energetic and there’s a whole lot of love in the room when Aunty Donna perform. These guys have come a long way in a short time, and I can’t wait to see what Aunty Donna do next.

Aunty Donna is playing at ACMI Cube until April 19
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/aunty-donna

Josie Long – Cara Josephine

By Hannah Frazer

Josie Long Bounds onto stage with a joyful, excitable and contagious energy in her show Cara Josephine. Long is basically a modern day Oprah. She takes us through all she has learned about Family and Romance in her lifetime, the past couple of years specifically. She takes her ‘UHUH!’ moments and shares her insights. Not only is it almost a cathartic therapy session for her but also a tutorial for the audience.

After going through an extremely hard break up Long explains her current mind set and how she vows not to make the same mistakes again. She takes a critical eye to her past relationships and the decisions she has made. Also touching on how her parents and their marriage breakup impacted on her childhood and relationships as well. Now, this might not sound like the building blocks to a comedy goldmine, but that is why Long is so so good. She takes real and relatable everyday life experiences and finds the humour in it, without losing the rawness and thoughtfulness at the same time.

Long perfectly balances the comedy and raw honesty in her material. You will easily go from laughing to crying and then make a sharp u turn straight back to laughing again. It is an emotional rollercoaster, but totally worth the stomach turning ride. It’s uplifting and touching to say the least.

Cara Josephine also works partly as a love letter of sorts to Longs Sister. She speaks with such affection and love for her sibling. Although such different people, they are each other biggest fans and greatest supports. Now with the addition of Longs Niece her adoration for sister and child only flourishes with each day.

Long seems fearless on stage, even though talking about her many insecurities when it comes to life and love, it seems she has found an inner peace of sorts. She knows that the future won’t be perfect, she will make mistakes. But she is ready to face it head on, she will embrace not flee from it.

Make sure you don’t miss your chance to experience this hour long amusement park ride of a show.

Josie Long Cara Josephine is on at Melbourne Town Hall

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/cara-josephine-josie-long

Luisa Omielan’s What Would Beyoncé Do?!

By Elyce Phillips

Luisa Omielan is a survivor. She’s not gon’ give up. After the breakdown of a long-term relationship, Omielan picked herself up and asked herself one question – what would Beyoncé do? Beyoncé, of course, wouldn’t want to be a broken-hearted girl, and so Omielan has turned her traumatic experiences into a truly hilarious hour of stand-up.

Omielan’s stand-up is bold and honest. Her stories are cleverly framed by lyrics and some fairly impressive dance breaks (Her Queen-B-circa-2013-Super-Bowl face is on-point). There are moments that are truly heartfelt and brought me to tears. Her story is deeply personal, but one that women everywhere can relate to. From her own experiences, she teases out broader conversations about tired old stereotypes of women being submissive in sexual relationships and the problems we have with powerful women. For her part, Omielan bucks these stereotypes. Her jokes are filthy and brash, and she works the stage as though she owns it and deserves it – even if it is a function room and not a massive arena.

Early in the show, Omielan tries to get a party atmosphere happening. The audience is encouraged to sing along, dance, clap and whoop. Of course, not everyone is familiar with the works of Beyoncé, Adele and the modern female pop canon in general, so we were more reticent than Omielan would have liked. Some of the lyrics-based jokes flew over the heads of the bulk of the crowd, leading Omielan to implore us to do our homework before coming to a show called What Would Beyoncé Do?! These were only minor bumps in the show, however. You don’t need to be a rabid Beyoncé fan to laugh all the way through. If you are, it adds another layer of complexity and you can have a few moments of smug self-satisfaction that you got the reference.

What Would Beyoncé Do?! is a celebration of the power and resilience of women. Omielan is a hugely talented comic who will no doubt run the world before long.

Luisa Omielan’s What Would Beyoncé Do?! is on at the Swiss Club until April 19

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/what-would-beyonce-do-luisa-omielan-s

5 Good Reasons To See Smackweasel: A Memoir by Ben Pobjie

1. It is a harrowing expedition into the dark heart of an ambitious mind, a dissection of the human lust for fame and fortune that will leave nobody psychologically intact. But, you know, in a fun way.

2. It features the Comedy Festival debut of popular children’s television characters Happy Duck and Oigle the Bear. Their journeys in the Land of Self-Esteem have delighted generations of children, and now, finally, they will be delighting adults. After all, adults need self-esteem too.

3. My voice is extremely loud – this will be one of the easiest-to-hear shows of the entire festival.

4. What is a Smackweasel? A weasel on smack? A weasel you use to smack people? A jocular nickname for a certain prominent cabinet minister, relating to his peculiar sexual proclivities? There is only one way to find out, and that is to attend.

5. The show is entirely gluten-free.

Ben Pobjie’s Smackweasel: A Memoir is on at Bar Open in Fitzroy from April 8 to 19

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/smackweasel-a-memoir-ben-pobjie