Category: Reviews

We’ll Always Have Paris

By Colin Flaherty

Comedy walking tours have been popping up as alternatives to theatre based shows over the past couple of years. One such tour is Jacqueline Mifsud’s We’ll Always Have Paris. This event requires the participants to suspend their disbelief as Mifsud uses Melbourne landmarks in place of Parisian ones while presenting a very accurate yet amusing commentary about the history of Paris.

First to put a preconceived notion to rest: you won’t have to navigate a thick comical French accent, she is not playing a snooty French woman. It was interesting to learn that she spent four years living in Paris and conducted tours for English speaking tourists, demonstrating that she knows her stuff. Including all the humorous lines into this fact heavy script and remembering it all was an impressive feat. She was able to make light of some of the more horrific data about French history with a witty disarming quip.

Numerous pop culture references are thrown into the narrative at every opportunity to add some giggles of recognition. The source materials vary wildly and span many years so it’s unlikely that you will recognise them all, but many will make you smile even when shoehorned into the topic at hand. Also making up the humorous content were plenty of innuendo and self-deprecation which added to her crazy tour guide persona. She generally kept up the fascade of us being in Paris by explaining away many of the Melbourne things staring us in the face which was a nice touch.

Jacqueline had a rather scatty ADHD demeanour to her performance. The constant verbalisation of her inner dialogue and frequent asides gave the show a very loose feel amongst her well executed spiels but also disrupted the flow at times. She was also easily distracted by events around us which gave her opportunities to make amusing off the cuff remarks but more often than not she lost her place in the script.

I was part of the Sunday morning tour (a rather leisurely stroll between the landmarks) and had heard that due to increased foot traffic the evening tours are a little bit chaotic, just like a European city crowded with multiple tour groups and hundreds of lone tourists. If you want to have a more authentic experience the 6pm tour fits the bill. Also note that the route includes a number of staircases so those with mobility issues may experience problems in keeping up with the group.

A wonderful Edu-taining event that appeals to history buffs and comedy fans alike, Jacqueline has created a fun way to kick of your day / evening at Fringe.

We’ll Always Have Paris departs from outside the Melbourne Arts Centre each weekend until October 6.
http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/we-ll-always-have-paris/

Songs for Europe – Two short plays about Eurovision by John Richards & Lee Zachiriah

By Lisa Clark 

It warms the heart to see such fabulous intelligent, funny and moving Australian theatre being debuted at Melbourne Fringe. Songs for Europe – Two short plays about Eurovision, is what the title suggests, but don’t go expecting a glitzy, trashy Eurobeat style parody, ‘cause you will be disappointed. This is a more poignant look at how Eurovision has influenced the world and the people involved.

The first play Nothing by John Richards is an intimate portrait of an encounter between two people in the basement dressing room of a nightclub somewhere in Eastern Europe, while the sounds of bombing can be heard in the distance. Patrick, played with straightforward simplicity by Nicholas Colla is an English hipster freelance journalist writing an article about Eurovision. He’s hunting down certain ex Eurovision performers and is here to meet up with Sonja despite her disinterest and downright refusal in granting him an interview. Sonja is an aging Eastern European diva magnificently and intelligently played by Marta Kaczmarek. Their feisty parley is witty, clever and ultimately powerfully moving.

The second play is about revolution and Eurovision’s association with war and hope for peace in Europe. The Carnation Revolution by Lee Zachiriah is set in Lisbon in 1974, three men are waiting in a cafĂ© waiting for a signal over the radio to start a revolution against a dictatorship. The signal is a song from Eurovision and it is based on a true story. A mysterious, menacing customer enters the cafĂ©. Chris Broadstock as Diego is bland and unassuming on the surface, yet creates unease with word play that becomes tension you can cut with a knife. The performances here are all excellent, though you can’t help but notice Jack Beeby who has a small part in the first play and then is barely recognisable as the young keen, sweet, naive revolutionary Carlos who has the audience completely on side. Petra Elliott is also excellent as the capitalist cafĂ© owner, wary of Diego and his potential for trouble but willing to sell her wares to whomever wants to consume them.

The stage is simply set with a drabness that suggests being back stage at a theatre that perfectly complements both plays’ themes of backstage / behind the scenes to Eurovision; and the reality behind a glamorous front. There are two televisions on each side of the set that play vision from Eurovision before and between the plays and they give the audience members a taste of Eurovision as well as setting up the next play.

Songs for Europe is a production of contrasts, inverse expectations, conflict and peace. Where the first play is intimate and personal the second is about the world stage and they complement each other well. The dialogue is clever, and all the performances in this production are excellent but Marta gently soars above the rest, her experience and conviction in the role evident. Her riveting nuanced, portrayal of Sonja will stay with you long after the play is over. Whether you are a fan of Eurovision or not, this is definitely worth hunting through the back streets of Brunswick for.

Songs for Europe is on at Broken Mirror til Sept 29th.

Note: Broken Mirror off Sydney Rd is actually a more comfortable performance space than many Fringe spaces. Not hot and stuffy at all.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/songs-for-europe/

The Improv Conspiracy – A Night in Chicago

By Elyce Phillips 

I’ve been a fan of The Improv Conspiracy for a while now. Their weekly shows over at the Dan O’Connell in Carlton are one of the highlights of the comedy off-season. And so, I headed over to the Croft Institute expecting a top-notch night of improv and I was not let down.

For this year’s Fringe, the group is trying out a new improv format – the Armando (named after improv legend Armando Diaz). Developed in Chicago, the format is perhaps best known for being used by the likes of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey at Assscat.

The evening begins with a storyteller responding to a personal question asked by a member of the audience. From there, the group takes the story apart and plays with the elements, creating scenes until the storyteller steps in with a new tale.

On the evening I attended, Creative Director Adam Kangas was the storyteller, letting loose with some brutally honest stories after being asked “When did you lose your virginity?” Over the course of the night, we heard some great stories about his time at nerd college and his family.

It’s wonderful watching the improvisers at work, playing with some of the tiniest aspects of a story and pulling them out into something altogether absurd. A passing comment of Kangas’ about his siblings being not so ‘genetically gifted’ became a rousing round of Genetic Lotto. A story about his stepdad building cabinets for a strip club led to some rather uncomfortable times for a couple of strippers. A simple list of his siblings’ names led to Luke Ryan organizing an almighty family reunion, involving Kangas’ lesser-known relatives Spaceman and War Machine Kangas.

If you’ve been to some improv in Melbourne before, there might be a few familiar faces – the likes of Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd and Charlie Sturgeon also perform at HOO-HAA! and Theatresports and just about every other improv night in town, so you’re in experienced hands. The crew work together intuitively and are consistently funny.

There is a new storyteller each night, so there’s no telling what will happen from one show to the next. But with such a strong group of performers, you’re not going to be disappointed.

The Improv Conspiracy – A Night in Chicago is on at the Croft Institute until October 5.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/the-improv-conspiracy/

3 Little Gigs

By Colin Flaherty

What is becoming a fixture of Imperial Comedy programs, 3 Little Gigs showcases the talents of up and coming performers in the safety of a group show. The Melbourne Fringe line up comprises of Arielle Conversi, Cameron Tyeson and Rose Callaghan.

Hailing from the States, Arielle hit the stage with boisterous enthusiasm. When she launched into material about the differences between her birthplace and Australia, a feeling of dread swept over me as this kind of gear is generally hack material by someone just off the plane. This lifted a little as it did actually fit with the way the show was advertised (worldwide comedy from Florida, Tasmania and Port Melbourne!) and she had a few unique observations that were amusing. The remainder of her set comprised of funny stories of working at a strip club where the humour came from her workmates lack of intellect and class. It was quite an enjoyable set.

Tasmanian born Cam was next and also opened with an outsiders view of Melbourne that was little generic but had a few interesting ideas amongst it. His set really hit its straps in the second half with a routine about his tips for dating success complete with hand drawn visual aids. Some of the cards were a little wordy and contained the exact text he was reciting to us but there were plenty of cute cartoons to entertain. His wordplay was sometimes a little forced but some nice surreal concepts kept us laughing.

Local girl Rose rounded out the night and had a strange, varied tone to her delivery. Beginning with embarassment when referring to an un-named feminine hygiene product, she later described various amusing sexual misadventures using plenty of detail and innuendo. She had a lot of interesting ideas beneath it all but often failed to capitalise on them, many of her jokes drifted off into the ether without pay-off. It was as if she was relying too much on the audience to connect the dots to understand the angle from which she was approaching a punchline rather than actually giving us one.

All three performers displayed confidence on stage to effectively sell their material but their inexperience tended to show through. When lines fell flat they highlighted them with some comments to their fellow performers which came dangerously close to blaming the audience for not laughing. It was nice to see their camaraderie and these interactions gave the show a fun, informal feel, but to some it may not be professional enough for a paying audience. The cold hard fact is: if a line fails repeatedly, it probably needs re-evaluation rather than stubbornly persisting with it.

Overall it was a fun show. They were all still rough around the edges and it’s worth keeping an eye open for their future endeavours. Those willing to take the risk on these relative unknowns will have a good time if they take their greenness into account.

3 Little Gigs is on at The Imperial Hotel until September 27

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/3-little-gigs/

Inside the Egg – Sam Allen

By Elyce Phillips 

If you were around in the ‘90s, you’ll be familiar with the work of Anne Geddes. Her sickly sweet snaps of bubs dressed as buds were inescapable. But whatever became of those adorable little sprouts? ‘Inside the Egg’ tells the stories some of these now-grown-up baby models, as they try and process their horrific experiences in Ms Geddes’ studio. What unfolds is a bizarre tale that’s part legal drama, part therapy session and all hilarious.

The mood is set as soon as you take your seat at The Wild Pony at the Tuxedo Cat. On a screen, a slideshow of Anne Geddes photographs plays with a soundtrack that is best described as ‘menacing Deep Forest.’ A giant prop egg sits on the stage, waiting. It all works to create a mildly unhinged atmosphere – which is perfect for the cavalcade of the maladjusted that Sam Allen brings to life.

Allen’s performance is truly memorable. He displays incredible versatility in the characters he portrays, leaping from a smarmy lawyer to a grandfather with a gambling problem to a man-child Shakespearian actor with ease. Although we only spend a short amount of time with many of the characters, they feel well-rounded. Allen’s performances are over-the-top and absurd, yet entirely believable – it’s a beautiful thing.

The main story thread is supported by installments of a mocked-up episode of ‘Four Corners’ about the parents of one of the Geddes babies, following their journey as they try to cash in. The show’s co-creator, Chris Harrigan, features in these pieces, playing a wonderfully dreary dad.

‘Inside the Egg’ is inventive and superbly performed. This show is one to see for those who like their comedy absurd and their pop-culture references ‘90s.

Inside the Egg is on at The Wild Pony at the Tuxedo Cat until September 24.

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/inside-the-egg/

The Happiest Bowerbird and other Stories – Jonathan Schuster

Lisa Clark

Jonathan Schuster’s show at Melbourne Fringe has a beautiful poster, an intriguing name and his show opened with some amusingly edited house music that got the laughs going and set up expectations for something different and interesting that he’d put a lot of work into. Then came Jonathan’s rambling intro which was a bit hard to follow but was basically an apology that his original idea for the show – as described in the poster – hadn’t panned out, because he hadn’t gotten around to writing his Bowerbird story, so had decided instead to structure the show around (ie wedge his material into) ‘Five Reasons Why I am Like a Bowerbird’ instead. This made my heart sink a little.

In the end, the show did deliver a lot more than his lack of confidence would suggest. The structure around Jonathan’s  stories works well, though after the Third Reason he seems to lose heart with the concept and doesn’t really point out four and five, though they are there if you pay attention.  The stories themselves are mostly engrossing with various levels of humourousness. He even told, much to our astonishment (considering his intro), a cute bowerbird story at the end, where for a moment Jonathan himself became the bowerbird, but I’m not sure if he noticed. It made me wonder, is the slacker persona and opening explanation a rouse to lower our expectations and surprise us
? Nah, the overall impression of the show unfortunately did not support this theory.

Jonathan’s strongest stories centre around penfriends (gosh, does this still happen in this day and age of Web 2.0?), his scurrilous letter to Slater and Gordon and his encounters with women. The high point was actually his response to a late coming audience member, who turned out to be a huge fan who delighted  him with a call back to Schuster’s gig material. It showed Jonathan to be a dab hand at audience interaction. One or two of the stories failed to elicit more than smiles and sort of petered out lamely. This material in particular needs some sharpening and more humour.

There were many points in the show where Jonathan said something like ‘if you want to know about that letter I wrote see my facebook’ or ‘if you want to know what a bowerbird looks like check out my poster’. Does he expect us to all turn on our phones and start googling during the performance? Do some homework afterwards? I wanted to point out ‘Hey see that big projection screen up on the wall behind you? You can use that to project things on. It would add some pizzaz to your show.’

Jonathan Schuster won RAW comedy in 2007, as he mentions cheekily throughout  the show and you can see why.  As his comedy festival show Dad! (And the Other Men My Mother has Been With)  showed, he is a talented comedian with a lot of potential. The evidence is here too, there are the bones of a fine little show, but at the moment it is a bit ramshackle and needs some work. Of course ramshackle can be funny, if pitched right, if you make that your thing, but after his rambling apologist opening, this simply came across as lazy. And lazy is something that Bowerbirds are definitely not. Bowerbirds are all about putting on the best show they possibly can.

Jonathan is performing The Happiest Bowerbird and other Stories at the Imperial until Sept 27th

http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/the-happiest-bowerbird-and-other-stories/