Jay Morrissey and Danielle Walker: Illuminate Karate Party.

By Lisa Clark Jay & Danielle

This is a one of those shows where two newcomers pair up to put on a Festival show together and do half the show each. Jay Morrissey and Danielle Walker have both been finalists at RAW and are pleasant company but still have a way to go before standing out in the huge and unwieldy Festival the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has become.

Needless to say there is no Karate in this show, sorry Karate fans, it’s just a very cute title and nothing to do with the comedy on offer. Danielle and Jay have worked out a nice structure of one set each with a short pre-recorded video before each staring both of them. The videos link the two performers in a rom-com plot, they are well made and pretty funny.

I’ve seen Danielle Walker doing standup around town over the past twelve months and have been very impressed by her individual style. There is a hilariously psycho edge to her cheerful country charm that pops out every now and then. Not too often, which is great, she’s learning where to let the psycho out and when to rein her in. It’s great to be part of the experience of Danielle developing her fabulous unique comedy voice. She also has delightful material about her nutty family and being from Townsville. She describes her family Christmas ritual of butchering a pig and other ways that her family might be a bit different to other people she meets in the city and has the audience laughing pretty much throughout.

I’ve not seen Jay Morrissey before, but other Squirrels have enjoyed previous outings by him and he comes across as pretty affable. Like Danielle he tells stories about his dad, family and friends. Unfortunately he stops to explain an early routine, and not in an ironic way. A bit about a facebook experiment where he tweets word for word the same as a pretty girl online to see if he gets the same amount of likes, is not an original idea but has a lot of potential, if he does more work on it and possibly creates the screen shots to go with it. Most of his material (singing replies to an old Shania Twain song, designing a bizarre funeral that has nothing to do with his life and a bunch of stiffy jokes) doesn’t feel very fresh or unique to Jay. He has a lot more work to do in small comedy rooms to really find his own strong comedy voice and material that works better for him and hopefully will help him stand out in a sea of similar comedians.

It’s not surprising that young performers talk about their families, they have not had a lot of life experience to talk about much else, it’s finding the laughs that’s the main thing. This show is unsurprisingly uneven, but both comedians show potential. If they put a lot more work in, these performers will grow and develop and it will be interesting to see where they go.

Jay Morrissey and Danielle Walker: Illuminate Karate Party is on at The Imperial Hotel

for more info go to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Website:

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/illuminati-karate-party-jay-morrissey-danielle-walker

 

The Axis of Awesome – Won’t Never Not Stop Giving Up

By Elyce Phillips Axis of Awesome pic

If you keep up with your comedy news, you’ll know that there’s been a change to the Axis of Awesome (Jordan Raskopoulos, Lee Naimo, and Benny Davis) line-up recently. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is that this trio is thoroughly talented. Won’t Never Not Stop Giving Up is musical comedy that’s fun and silly, but packs a punch.

The Axis of Awesome cleverly address any questions the audience may have about Raskopoulos’ gender transition in a hilarious opening song. Naimo also demonstrates how not to behave in a running gag where he is painfully over-supportive of his bandmate. Aside from that, things largely remain the same. There’s absurd songs, pitch-perfect parodies, and the sold-out crowd loved every minute of it.

Won’t Never Not Stop Giving Up delivers the laughs with new songs and a selection of old favourites like ‘Birdplane’, ‘4 Chords’ and ‘Ode to KFC’. Jackie Change, who some may remember from Naimo’s solo show Definitely Not A Trap, makes an appearance with the gloriously silly tune ‘Square of Ice’. The new material is strong – a collection of Will Smith raps were absolutely wonderful, and a bizarre song about an octopus left me still giggling about it the next day.

Raskopoulos, Naimo and Davis have an amazing comedic chemistry on stage, each bringing their own unique energy to the performance. You can see that they’re having a great time, and still have the ability to crack each other up after 10 years of performing together.

The Axis of Awesome may have more than 200,000,000 views on YouTube, but they truly are a band that needs to be experienced live. Get in quick – their MICF run is a short one and if opening night was anything to go by, tickets are going to disappear quickly.

The Axis of Awesome – Won’t Never Not Stop Giving Up is on at Max Watt’s until April 10

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/won-t-ever-not-stop-giving-up-the-axis-of-awesome

 

Ben Volchok: Ben’s Illustrious Fact Show Episode 2

By Colin Flaherty Ben Volchok

Were you aware that tarantulas have no skin? Did you know that the only predator of butterflies are blue birds? No? Then you need to pop on your 3D glasses and strap yourself in for an hour of weird and wacky facts from “the only person ever who knows everything about everything ever”, Ben Volchok.

This performance is structured like an eccentric TV tonight show complete with guests, audience participation, commercials and a peppy musical sting that it sure to be lodged in your head for days to come. We get a visit from the post-apocalyptic future and a unique incarnation of a public figure currently in the news. Audience members compete to see who has learnt the most and one lucky punter finds out what Infected Primate he or she is. Ben has created a wonderful world with a strange logic, from the unnecessarily convoluted segment introductions to the bizarre products pushed by his sponsors. Over this and his previous show he has built up a number of off stage characters that are brilliantly fleshed out during his viewer letters segment.

What everyone has really come to see are the facts, collections of hilarious one liners presented in short bursts based on a single topic. They are creative and have just enough sheen of plausibility that makes the surrealism all the more powerful. He cleverly links to previous jokes both in succession and from other segments so all jokes clearly have their designated place amongst the seemingly random lines. Ben does plenty of wordplay and clearly loves a pun; it’s amazing how far he pushes a routine in search of them.

Ben’s character work is ultra bare-boned with only a hat as costume and/or a slightly different pitch to his voice. A sly glance shows that he isn’t bothered about convincing the audience to suspend their disbelief, we are all aware it’s a sham and this quirky charm is adorable. There’s a massive song and dance number featuring actual tapping and lots of slapstick that’s impressive but the pre-recorded banter played over the song is a little hard to decipher at times.

Even if you haven’t seen the first instalment, Ben’s Illustrious Fact Show Episode 2 is worth checking out if you like bizarre humour and pointless facts of dubious accuracy. You’re sure to get swept up in the lunacy and never see the world the same way again.

Ben Volchok performs Ben’s Illustrious Fact Show Episode 2 at Highlander

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/ben-s-illustrious-fact-show-episode-2-ben-volchok 

Karen From Finance and Dean Arcuri – Les n Mis

By Elyce Phillips Les n Mis

You can hear the people sing this MICF. Well, more specifically, you can hear Dean Arcuri and Karen From Finance sing. Les n Mis is a cheesy, over-the-top tribute to one of the most iconic musicals of all time.

In Les n Mis, the class warfare of the French Revolution is scaled down somewhat, Arcuri and Karen From Finance fighting the good fight against the tyranny of the Myki ticketing system. In the first act, we are introduced to the evil ticket inspectors, and poor fare evaders who must turn to selling themselves in order to pay their fines. Arcuri starts the show strong, bringing the funny with absurd lyrics. Karen From Finance takes things up a notch with some fine physical comedy.

In the interval, the duo perform a version of ‘Master of the House’ that satirises the current government and their appalling treatment of the Safe Schools program. It’s funny and well-written, but feels out of place when they return to the mundanities of Myki. The satire of the second act becomes a little limp with a mid-show reminder that there are more important things to be fighting for. It’s a minor jarring moment, however, as the second act is even more absurd than the first and quickly has you laughing.

Arcuri and Karen From Finance work very well together. Both are wonderful performers. When Arcuri sings live, his voice is truly impressive. He engaged the audience at all times. Karen From Finance’s drag performance skills are spot-on, particularly her ridiculously exaggerated lip synching. Her version of ‘Castle On A Cloud’ was absolutely hilarious, rightfully mocking what is an awful song.

Les n Mis is obviously geared towards fans of the musical Les Miserables, but even if you haven’t seen it, there’s plenty to enjoy here. The show is big and silly and rages against the daily struggles we all face. Acuri and Karen from Finance are a fabulously funny pairing.

Karen From Finance and Dean Arcuri – Les n Mis is on at the Hare Hole (Hares & Hyenas) until April 10

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/les-n-mis-karen-from-finance-dean-arcuri

Jude Perl : Part Of This Complete Breakfast

By Lisa ClarkJude Perl

Jude Perl is an extraordinarily talented musical comedian. She’s an amazing singer full stop. She could have been a great pop singer but something is urging her to write comedy songs and I encourage that urge, for it is an excellent urge, the sort of urge that drives great comedians and I suspect she is destined for Greatness.

There is no patter up front, Jude Perl opens with what she does best, an original musical comedy song at the piano. They are not simple one joke songs. She packs a lot of jokes and laughs into each song and all are highly intelligent, cynical and toe tapping. I can’t help but draw comparisons with the first time I saw Tim Minchin or Geraldine Quinn and was completely blown away by their talent.

Jude’s show is about having to bow down to commercial interests to make money while dreaming of a more artistically rewarding recording contract. She writes (very funny) jingles for the (fake) Sugar O company who have paid for her album and her comedy festival show. Other songs are about love, trying to please others and how hard it is to be a decent person in a pretty screwed up world. She also manages to sing impressive harmony with several incarnations of herself.

It’s a simple setting with Piano for playing her songs on and a stand up mic for the stand up comedy between songs. Some of the stand-up is part of the sort-of-plot as she yacks with the disembodied (pre-recorded) voice of her manager. The highlight for me was her material about the creepiness of the people who decided to make Law & Order SUV or the Saw movies (let alone those who are keen to watch). Very sharply observed and very funny, she has a natural comedic voice.

The only negative was the positioning of the piano (which is always going to be a difficult hurdle) meant that not only was she hard to see but we didn’t get to see the two fabulous costumes she changes into properly. The boob dress (yes it’s a dress covered in boobs) can be seen in her youtube video for ‘Pop Singer’ a fabulous song about society’s expectations of modern female pop singers. I was a little disappointed not to see any of her very professional looking pre-recorded comedic video ads for Sugar Os as part of the show (She made them as promos for her show, why not put them in it?). In the end though she doesn’t need them, there is definitely enough here for the audience to be wowed by.

Jude was a RAW finalist in 2014 and has only been doing comedy for a couple years. She has the talent, comedic nous and stagecraft of someone who’s been doing it for a lot longer. If she’s this great now, I think she’s heading for inevitable stardom.

Jude Perl Part Of This Complete Breakfast at The Butterfly Club Wednesdays and Sundays at 10pm

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/part-of-this-complete-breakfast-jude-perl

Adrienne Truscott’s A One-Trick Pony! (Or Andy K**fman Is A Performance Artist And I’m A Comedian)

By Elyce Phillips AdrienneTruscottsAOne

Adrienne Truscott made an impact with her debut solo show Asking For It – a stark comedy about rape in which Truscott performed partially nude. Such a strong show out of the gate could have been hard to follow up, but Truscott has well and truly done it with One-Trick Pony. It’s a fascinating and devastatingly funny exploration of irony, feminism and what makes a person a comedian.

From the moment the show begins, Truscott blends the “shocking” with the absurd, appearing nude but for a spangly gown held to her front by a coathanger, while the blandest of melancholy pop plays. Scrolling text on a screen informs the audience that this opening is “deliberately bad” and the tone is set.

Truscott is an incredibly engaging performer, combining stand-up and physical comedy with an unhinged energy that leaves the room on edge. She blurs the line between her genuine and performed self, leaving you unsure what’s part of the act, what’s being made up on the spot and where things might genuinely be going wrong.

One-Trick Pony heavily references the work of Andy Kaufman, with clips of some of his better-known work played on a screen, and re-created by Truscott – both live and in some clips with cameos from local comedians.

Through the framework of Kaufman’s comedy, Truscott examines how the work of female comedians is perceived, specifically looking at the reaction to Asking For It. While it’s rarely questioned that Kaufman – who, as Truscott notes, never told a joke – was a comedian, female performers who step outside the box aren’t always given the same benefit of the doubt, given labels like “performance artist”.  A male comedian telling dick jokes is doing “blokey stand-up”, but a female comedian joking about her vagina is doing feminist material.

It’s a train of thought that struck me as particularly relevant, reading reviews recently where some of the more out-of-the-box female comics have been dismissed by critics as weird or ill-prepared. While things are certainly getting better, there does seem to be a subconscious bias where male comedians are given the benefit of the doubt that they know what they are doing. One-Trick Pony is timely and provokes conversation without being preachy.

Truscott uses the words of her reviewers for comedic purposes, flashing them up on a screen in juxtaposition with her actions. It’s a show that appears to be constantly evolving – on the night I attended, words from a review of her MICF opening night had been thrown into the mix, to great effect.

Layered on top of the tricksier elements of the show are snappy dick jokes and tales of Truscott’s time as a stripper, which are funny in their own right and hilarious in the context of the broader performance.

One-Trick Pony is a must-see show. It’s absurd and clever, will leave your face hurting and your brain fizzing. I find it hard to express my love for this show in words. I just want to wrestle it to the ground and take it out for milk and cookies.

Adrienne Truscott’s A One-Trick Pony! (Or Andy K**fman Is A Performance Artist And I’m A Comedian) is on at the Malthouse Theatre

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/a-one-trick-pony-or-andy-k-fman-is-a-performance-artist-and-i-m-a-comedian-adrienne-truscott-s