MICF 2017 – Page 11 – Squirrel Comedy

Luke McGregor – Almost Fixed it

By Lisa Clark

Luke McGregor was always a bit of a fixer upper. His standup comedy, since he landed on the mainland from his home in Tasmania has always been about his insecurities. He’s been so stressed about his looks, his OCD and his prowess with the ladies that there are times when his audience genuinely worries about him. This all came to a head last year when Luke decided to do something about these things and his show is about all of this and it’s repercussions.

The first half of the show is for all those Luke Warm Sex fans and may make any shy audience members who’ve come for the OCD stuff squirm a little. Yes for all those curious folks, Luke has got a girlfriend and he is learning how to cohabitate with her. This comes as a relief for fans who followed him on Luke Warm Sex who give him a round of applause. Luke has a lot of observances to share about getting used to his new living arrangement, but they are not your usual ones. The show has made Luke even more open about issues that most people would prefer to keep quiet. The stage is a safe place for Luke.

Luke has been the King of Self Depreciative comedy for some time, it’s great to see that despite him gaining in confidence as a performer, it is not impacting negatively on his comedy. The second half of the show deals more directly with how he’s been working on his ‘issues’ and garners another encouraging round of applause. He’s worried that if he fixes all his problems and tics that he might lose what has made him a successful comedian.

This is a warm, funny and fascinating show by Luke. The highlight though was about 2/3rds in when about six people arrived late to sit in the front row. Luke handled it so brilliantly that it showed his stagecraft, comic timing and ability to judge his audience. It proved that his comedy is not just a product of his personal issues, he is a born comedian who will be as great without them as he has been with them.

Almost Fixed It is on at Thhe Comedy Theatre until April 9
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/luke-mcgregor

Snort With Friends

By Elyce Phillips

Snort are a bunch of up-and-coming New Zealand comedians, banding together to do some great longform improv. With a rotating cast of performers and guest monologists every night, no two shows will be the same. I caught a performance where the cast included Rose Matafeo, Guy Montgomery, Donna Brookbanks, Alice Snedden, Tom Sainsbury and Brynley Stent.

With Friends runs the Armando improv format. One person will deliver a monologue prompted by a word provided by the audience, and then the team will perform scenes based on that monologue. On the evening I attended, there was a monologue from Snort member Alice Snedden, as well as from special guests Aaron Chen and Tom Walker. The best part of the stories is seeing how each performer interprets their prompt. “Kookaburra” led to a story about cricket gear, “pickle” to an in-depth description of a meal you can buy in Marrickville, and “abyss” to some bad wrestling gimmicks.

The Snort crew have a great rapport and play fast and loose with the format. Some of the best moments in the night came from scenes left to run a bit too long, confusing interactions and cast members throwing each other under the bus in general. This is clearly a group that is comfortable enough playing together that they know they can test each other’s limits. Stent was a standout as a maid/pickle saleswoman/camel saleswoman with an unplaceable broad accent. Sainsbury and Brookbanks were fantastic as a couple on the run after having a Christmas that was a little too “edgy”. Snort have hit a sweet spot with their improv – silly but not out-of-control, unpredictable yet skilful.

Snort With Friends is a wonderful hour of late-night mayhem and is a must-see for improv fans.

Snort With Friends is on at the Victoria Hotel Acacia Room until April 22
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/snort-with-friends

Andy Zaltzman – Plan Z

By Angela East

Alternative political comedian Andy Zaltzman starts with the jokes before the show even officially begins. A miked voice from behind the stage delivers a pre-show preamble, encouraging incoming patrons to find a seat, switch off their phones and unplug all landlines. The voice-over continues with a self-deprecating apology to long time fans for there being a large audience when they should be used to having a row each themselves. The in-show warnings and apologies increase in absurdity until the laughs are large. The audience are well and truly warmed up by the time the doors shut and it is time for Zaltzman to hit the stage to an extended ringmaster-style intro.

Some initial audience banter establishes that there is a large percentage of the crowd who are already familiar with Zaltzman through his long running podcast The Bugle, which provides a chance for some ribbing of his former co-host John Oliver.
Zaltzman covers all the bases you may expect from the current news cycle, quickly moving back and forth through Brexit, Syria, and Trump. Sound clips and some fruit and veg props aid the laughs as he delves into Trump’s brain, Australian news headlines, and Australian politics with a soft toy Prime Minister Turnbull making an appearance.

The subject matter could have the potential to be quite bleak or overused, but the laughs are steady and the mood is kept up with a loose performance and just enough moments of silliness. Zaltzman mixes metaphors and creates juxtapositions to great effect, hilariously comparing our immigration policy to AFL, explaining why test match cricket is akin to reading novels, and also—by taking a quiz with a sceptical audience member—proving that the best thing in life is probably sports.

The audience were primed from the moment they entered the room, and Zaltzman delivers with a rewardingly fun hour full of sharp gags and satire.

Andy Zaltzman : Plan Z is on at the Town hall until April 23rd
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/andy-zaltzman

Chris Knight – The Title Is Quote Too Conceptual Question Mark Unquote

By Colin Flaherty

Chris Knight begins by recounting the tale of three comedians, Elron Hibbert, Jay Jay Jones and Anders Milkenbrote, shooting the shit after a gig. Discussing festival shows and the politics of the comedy scene, this is a story that appeals to comedians and comedy nerds so they can laugh at the ridiculous aspects of the industry. Things soon take an abrupt turn into science fiction territory; again this still appeals to many comedians as they love talking about nerdy pop culture (as Knight mentions and demonstrates regularly). What follows is a wildly inventive storytelling show with twists and turns, more meta quips than you can poke a stick at and plenty of movie references to satisfy the biggest film geek.

Knight deliberately lifts huge chunks of plot from well-known movies and thinly disguises them as something else. A lot of the show relies on the recognition of the films for its humour or uses them as puns; hence the title of the show.

Being a one man show, Knight certainly has his work cut out for him as he darts about the stage inhabiting each of the three main characters, even using a small platform when speaking as the tallest one. With a few props, that he is constantly picking up and putting down, and silly voices, he brings these wacky people to life. It eventually dawned on me that Knight’s half jacket / half shirt ensemble was costuming for two characters, not just some eccentric fashion choice. Each has a distinctive voice so following the dialogue isn’t too much of an issue.

Confusion may begin when the plot gets rather convoluted with only densely written exposition to explain what is going on. The fact that Jay Jay is especially thick and things need to be explained several times for the story to advance doesn’t necessarily help clarify things. This is such a dialogue driven text containing plenty of circular conversations that it feels like not a lot actually happens over the course of this play.

The narration is equally wordy which paints detailed descriptions of the scenes and almost reads as stage directions in a movie screenplay. Most of the action lives in the words rather than the acting of Knight, save for a few moments accompanied by great sound and lighting cues to add a bit more colour and movement to the show. Multiple flashbacks and flash-forwards give us back story for the trio and allows different angles to scenes which suits this story told quite well.

Despite a bit of clunkiness, Chris is a decent storyteller who keeps the audience rapt and chuckling throughout. If you’re up for a dense yarn of absurdity and an interestingly structured adventure this show is worth checking out.

The Title Is Quote Too Conceptual Question Mark Unquote is on at The Tuxedo Cat until April 11
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/the-title-is-quote-too-conceptual-question-mark-

Watson – Go To Hell!

By Lisa Clark

Fear is the Mind Killer. Fear can cripple people from living their life with freedom and joy. Two years ago Melbourne Comedy Festival Stalwarts Watson put on a horror comedy show in the historical and genuinely creepy Melbourne Gaol. Anyone who went will never forget all the hilarious and terrifying hijinx that took place in that Gaol. It will no doubt go down in Festival history as one of the best things ever put on at the festival. This year, Watson’ Go To Hell connects through to that show but taking us to the even deeper, darker places in between the two that are the inspiration for this show.

Watson have always loved to play act movies for us and here they get to play out some famous horror film scenes for laughs, but this isn’t the bulk of the show. It’s just part of the whole exploration of fear and links back to a more innocent time for Watson. Things have changed.

Like going to a Horror Movie, from the title and poster of Go To Hell you know you’re in for something scary when you’re seated in the Beckett Theatre but you don’t know what or how. The stage is a big empty black space and the audience doesn’t know when or if anyone will appear behind them or above them or next to them. At least you have the reassurance of being in the safe hands of the endearing and funny Watson crew who will guide you on this rollercoaster ride of a show and bring you through the other side.

The surround sound soundscape is visceral and the original music spine tingling. Director Steven Gates did not create the soundscape, it was created by Gillian Lever but he was obviously a big influence on its existence, he did design the soundscape for Inside with Frank Woodley & Simon Yates and I remember it blew me away.

I can’t tell you about the crux of the show, you’re going to have to find that out for yourself. But you know those sorts of comedy shows that have you crying with laughter then crying with empathy, ‘til it all gets mixed up? You know the sort of show that critics love? This is one of those shows. I loved it.

Go To Hell! is on at The Malthouse Theatre until April 23
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/go-to-hell

Sarah Jones – Creepy Dummy

By Colin Flaherty

The advertising for Creepy Dummy promises much more sinister material than it actually delivers (unless the mere sight of a ventriloquist dummy gives you uncontrollable shakes) but this light-hearted and silly show is the perfect vehicle to spend time with Jones’ cast of adorable characters (well Hugo is still pretty damn disturbing).

If you’ve seen her at various comedy rooms this year you will have met some of these puppets before (Dennis the Tennis Ball and her enthusiastic but dimwitted dog) and the newer ones (such as the spider and her great aunt) are just as spellbinding. Even though the interactions with her characters are largely self-contained scenes, a loose theme of confronting your fears is used as a linking device.

Jones’ humour is regularly silly with her puppets telling daggy jokes to impress the punters with their comedy skills; it’s all very family friendly fare. Regular self-deprecating comments make light of her eccentric profession and she regularly jokes about the limitations of the art form; a nice disarming tactic that fits well with her stage persona.

Several segments of shadow puppetry are brilliant, especially during the opening and her twist ending. One routine has Sarah performing in front of the screen, contorting her hands into animals, which is a way of inviting us behind the curtain to see how it’s done and become even more impressed by her talent.

Some elements from her A History of Ventriloquism show from the 2014 Magic Festival are sprinkled throughout and a “personal history” with ventriloquism sets up jokes and the premises upon which segments hang.

There are a few bits of audience participation but fear not, it couldn’t be further from the confronting or aggressive interactions employed by other Vents. These are gentle exchanges with the puppet usually made to look foolish as he/she awkwardly converses with the punter.

This is a wonderful hour to spend in the lovely company of Sarah and her menagerie of friends.

Creepy Dummy is on at The Butterfly Club (& one night at Tasma Terrace) until April 10

https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/creepy-dummy