Tag: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Nothing To See Here, Just A Totally Normal Comedy Show, Wouldn’t Worry About It.

By Colin Flaherty

Nothing To See Here, Just A Totally Normal Comedy Show, Wouldn’t Worry About It is the latest show by Jett Bond and Zoe Heim (with a special apearance by James Collopy). Known for their interesting, almost experimental, concepts, this is another work that subverts theatrical convention and cleverly blurs the line between the stage and outside world.

The Fringe program blurb spells out what happens but it’s done so kinda cryptically. This show is probably best experienced cold as the bulk of the humour comes from the many surprises in this roller coaster ride of a performance. Jett and Zoe have created a brilliant high energy story that sweeps up the audience into an almost cult like fervour.

This performance requires a great deal of audience participation to propel the plot forward. On the surface, the tasks assigned to the punters seem rather daunting as they seem to involve venturing past the safe confines of the theatre. We soon realise that we are in safe hands with a covert supporting cast to keep the interactions silly and fun for both participants and the rest of the audience.

There is a strong script at the heart of this show but the often ramshackle audience participation combined with very loose performances by both Jett and Zoe give the impression of a show that’s likely to fall apart at any moment. This sense of danger gives things a real spark that keeps the audience enthralled and rolling about throughout.

An extensive audio visual component drives this show using whiteboards, corkboards, pieces of paper and a projection screen. Their tech handles sound and lighting perfectly but curiously Zoe spends a fair chunk of the show tinkering on a laptop at side of stage to create the screen visuals. Some of this is in keeping with the story but it often leaves Jett alone with the audience to engage in some awkward banter that slows things down.

This is the first Fringe show that I’ve seen that creates a clear demarcation between paying audience and freeloading fellow performers. Whether this is a metaphor for the ticketing system or an attempt to stop other performers from upstaging them, both seem apt.

Despite its rough edges, this is an immensely fun and rather unique communal experience that fully embraces the spirit of the Fringe.

Nothing To See Here, Just A Totally Normal Comedy Show, Wouldn’t Worry About It is on at Theory Bar until October 19

https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/nothing-to-see-here-just-a-totally-normal-comedy-show-wouldn-t-worry-about-it

King of the Pigs

By Colin Flaherty

King of the Pigs was a one man sketch show featuring improviser Barney Pollock. Here we met a cast of hilariously grotesque characters and were dragged kicking and screaming into their unhinged realities. We met such individuals as the hallucinating pest exterminator, a strange lounge singer, the extreme helicopter parent and an insane Faerie on the English Moors.

These scenarios were a sequence of colourful characters who introduced themselves, told us of their wacky world view, subjected us to some slightly uncomfortable banter and then abruptly transformed into the next. Darting about the stage, often with a evil look in his eyes, he used great physicality to flesh out each of these creatures beautifully and keep us laughing at their eccentricities.

Being the only one on stage necessitated that costume changes were economical and sometimes haphazard to keep the action moving. His recycling of clothing between characters meant that his gestures and the odd prop did the heavy lifting in differentiating between one freaky creature and the next. Needless to say he pulled this off with ease.

Audience banter played a considerable part in this show. A lot of the time the punter wouldn’t have a clear idea of what exactly Barney was prompting/fishing for which led to some awkward silences. Although the audience eventually warmed to the shows’ premise, he did have some amusing responses up his sleeve for when people either didn’t want to play or were simply confused.

The sole exit to the theatre was located not too far from the stage. Unfortunately there was an almost constant stream of people exiting and re-entering the theatre (possibly to whet their whistles at the bar – perhaps some folks need a stiff drink to cope with this freakiness!) which became quite distracting for the audience and seemingly for Barney. He handled it quite well by freezing, casting a glare and making a quip in keeping with his current character.

A special commendation goes to his tech Caitlyn Staples who created a brilliant audio visual feast to flesh out this bizarre and often unsettling world. Audio cues were perfectly timed for Barney to react to and the lighting effects brought us into the troubled minds of these lunatics. The smoke machine certainly got a heavy workout.

Those up for an hour of David Lynchian strangeness will find plenty to appeal. This off the wall menagerie were immensely silly and had the audience roaring throughout.

King of the Pigs is on at Improv Conspiracy until October 18

https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/king-of-the-pigs

jks: a comedy(?)

By Colin Flaherty

Tom Ballard’s play jks: a comedy(?) is, as the Americans would say, very inside baseball. Set backstage at a comedy gig, it is filled with references to the Australian comedy scene which the comedy nerds will salivate over and a number of dark jokes that are normally confined to the safe space of the Green Room. Focusing on the thorny subject of percieved offence in comedy, it’s audience appeal extends beyond just those in the comedy world given our current culture wars.

This Green Room contained a range of characters immensely familiar to those who regularly see stand up in pubs. The cast, a mixture of trained actors and jobbing comedians, were all excellent in their portrayal of our quintet. Nicky Barry (playing the world weary Matriarch of the room) and Tom Ballard (as the “right on” SJW of comedy) seemed to be playing slightly tweaked versions of themselves so they pulled these roles off with ease. Kevin Hofbauer and Tiana Hogben were immensely impressive in their respective roles of edgy comedian and young clown. Aside from an impassioned speech near the end, Jordan Barr’s Rhi didn’t get a hell of a lot to do but her snarky comments peppered throughout were a joy.

It felt like a companion piece to Greg Fleet’s 2005 play (and subsequent television series) “Die on Your Feet”  which saw comedians talking shit to (and about) each other and pitted the old guard against the new school. Tom’s version features a more diverse cast (we actually have two females and one non-binary person, how’s that for progress over 20 years?) and really digs deep into how we consume and view comedy in the online world.

The two male characters dominated the script with their constant bickering about what type of comedy is valid. The others were mostly there trying to maintain sanity as tensions escalated to fever pitch. Laughs droped off as things got very shouty and serious – ramping up the pressure with the odd respite of a witty self aware quip to briefly release the pressure.  Tiana Hogben’s naive clown was an welcome respite adding much needed levity with the silliest of lines.

The staging was very bare boned with some chairs for our mirthmeisters to sit on when they weren’t pacing around. The audio design was well done with the sound from the “stage” encroaching the Green Room and affecting the comedians at appropriate moments. One letdown was the “audience on three sides” set up of the staging in the venue. This was fine when most of the cast wandered around but the often static character of May had her back to a large swathe of the punters throughout the performance.

A fascinating and hilarious exploration of the state of comedy in the year 2025. Bravo!

jks: a comedy(?)  is on at Trades Hall until October 12

https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/jks-a-comedy

Don’t Draw Pictures of Dicks The One-Man Musical

By Colin Flaherty

Well
this was certainly a most ambitious fringe offering. One man performing various musical styles as eight different characters and promising “it’s gonna be offensive” (hence the long list of trigger warnings in the show blurb). The main issue was that this writer/composer/performer of music theatre, comedy and rock, William James Smith, seemed to focus on the offensive content to the detriment of this shows’ humour.

Hung upon a story of ten year old Little Timmy being dragged in front of the Human Rights commission for drawing a dick. Commisioners for Race, Gender, Sex and Disabled Rights (as well as his inept lawyer) presented their “cases” in song with a variation of the dick portrait introducing each segment. Ultra PC types making a mountain out of a molehill was a solid topic for ridicule but Smith painted all of his characters with extremely broad brushstrokes and used crass stereotypes which seemed a bit lazy. Sure, he was all about pushing buttons with all these grotesque people but he constantly beat you over the head and deliberately presented misinformation as fact to flesh them out as bogeymen which gave the whole performance a nasty and ignorant undercurrent. Most of his observations on these “PC monsters” were so surface level and brief that instead of expanding on their beefs, each song spent the majority of its running time giving an inappropriate and graphic sexual education to Timmy .

The majority of his jokes were talk of sex acts including plenty of double entendres. They lacked finesse to be outright funny but the onslaught elicited nervous titters at times. Some lines could have been amusing if he was playing them for ironic laughs but the vibe of this performance suggested otherwise.

Using a viola, Smith played various musical styles – a huge challenge which he achieved with varying degrees of success. Some genres were easily recognisable while others needed some clarification. Tuning issues and possible opening night nerves resulted in many bum notes and screeches. The songs themselves were full of variety and rarely repetitive
 unless he was coaxing the crowd to sing along to some highly offensive parts which became a grind and was embarrassing for all involved.

Smith’s background in musical theatre certainly was apparent, doing various characters and questionable accents as well as adding a reprise of the songs to a show already running way over time. He plowed on through some technical difficulties and danced up a storm, all while staying in character.

This was certainly a show that many would find problematic. Even if you’re one who doesn’t easily take offence you might be offended by the lack of smart comedy.

Don’t Draw Pictures of Dicks The One-Man Musical is on at Club Voltaire until September 28
https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/dont-draw-pictures-of-dicks-the-one-man-musical/

The Joy of Working with Children and Other Lies

By Peter Newling

I don’t know about you, but when I was going through school, I never thought about my teachers having a life out of school. In fact, I’m not really sure I recognised them as humans. Imagine what a shock it would be to find out that your teacher was a stand-up comedian in their spare time – and what’s more – a very good stand-up comedian.

Josh Webb, Billie Duncan and Nick O’Connell are all exciting new voices in their respective comedy scenes – in fact, they’re all award winning comedians in their own right. And they’re all teachers. It makes perfect sense, then, for them to join forces to present a very entertaining hour of anecdotes and horror stories about the challenges they face on a daily basis.

Despite all coming from different parts of the education system, several common themes emerge. First and foremost, teachers are undervalued in our society. This is reflected in how people perceive (and treat) teachers, and how dreadfully they’re remunerated compared with less taxing professions. Secondly, there was consensus that working with the kids is infinitely more enjoyable and rewarding than interacting with the students’ parents



A bit about each performer:

Nick O’Connell kicked proceedings off, and set a fantastic pace and rhythm for the evening. Originally from Adelaide, O’Connell shifted across to Melbourne and landed work in a school on the suburban fringe. Much of Nick’s routine is based on the very difficult circumstances faced by schools in these outer suburban areas. The fact that he looks like a private school lad doesn’t work in his favour amongst his more streetwise charges.

Nick’s style oozes confidence. Some of the lines come out sounding a bit plastic or clinical, but his observations are sharp, and there’s just enough self deprecation in there to win the audience over. His rhythm was thrown out once he found out there was a school-aged child in the audience. I’m sure it was his teacherly instincts that kicked in, with his primary concern turning to whether his material might be damaging to the child’s wellbeing. Thankfully, he soldiered on and everyone was better for the experience.

Up next was Billie Duncan. Billie is also from Adelaide now working in Melbourne (does Melbourne import all its teachers?). But as a fantastic counter-point to Nick, Billie works in the private school sector, so was able to relate a very different set of experiences and challenges.

I wonder if it is her work as a teacher that makes Billie so comfortable with crowd work? She brings to the stage a confident and brashness that I’m sure would make many in the private school system wince. I came away convinced that her life in comedy provides much needed catharsis from her daily workplace!

A lovely part of her routine involved her sharing some of her students’ work – much of it hilarious – and she finished her time with us by sharing a heart-felt email from an ex-student. Great stuff.

Rounding out the evening was Josh Webb. Josh was a Raw Comedy finalist 2017, surprisingly not from Adelaide. As the only substitute teacher in the show, his material was based around a completely different set of experiences and perspectives on teaching – much of it on an ‘all care and no responsibility’ theme.

Josh has a delightfully dry and unassuming delivery. His perfectly understated observations are mixed in with some purposefully cringe-worthy word play. This is very funny work, from a young performer you should definitely keep an eye on.

The Joy of Working with Children and Other Lies is a welcome contribution to the 2019 Melbourne Fringe. It gives three very impressive young comedians a chance to strut their stuff, delivering material which is obviously very close to their hearts.

The Joy of Working with Children and Other Lies is playing in the Small Room at Coopers Inn until September 27
https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/the-joy-of-working-with-children-and-other-lies/

This Is Our Pilot by Annie Lumsden and Lena Moon

By Lisa Clark 

In a Fringe Festival full of weird and crazy things, it’s almost refreshing to sit down to a good old-fashioned sketch comedy show. Annie Lumsden and Lena Moon in their first outing as a duo prove to be so good at it, that they make it seem effortless.

This Is Our Pilot is about two friends pitching their ideas for a TV show to an invisible “Mr Big TV Man” but it’s really about poking fun at TV shows and friendship. The theme song from Friends is playing as house music. (what is the sudden obsession with this long extinct sitcom?) There is quite a nostalgic vibe to the sketches, like a cross between Fast Forward and Big Girls Blouse, where a lot of them would sit nicely. The great thing about mainstream TV is that it’s a shared cultural experience. Even if you don’t watch Love Island you know what it is because you have seen the adverts or cross promotions or heard people talking/joking about it and so Annie & Lena can do a sketch knowing that we will all get the joke of it, which they set in Greek Mythology with the girls playing Sirens.

Sketches send up Gardening shows, game shows (Millionaire), Marie Kondo (“Organise your Shit”), Queer Eye, a music show which is used to introduce a song about working in a cafĂ© and cafĂ© culture on the Ukulele played by Annie and Sunrise and its dreadful advertorials. “Blend Her” was a particularly hilarious advertorial send up using real portable blenders on stage. A highlight for me was “Toilet Roulette” which was a hilarious disgusting dissection of a social taboo, demonstrating how terrifying public toilets can be.

The pair have a lovely rapport and perform brilliantly as a team. Annie tends to be the Straight person / person in authority and Lena the 2nd Banana / silly one. They prove that classic comedy tropes can still work and even manage to make a fart joke that feels fresh. Under all the accessible, charming silliness is an obvious politically awareness that remains feminist while also exploring how female relationships can occasionally be toxic.

I needn’t say ‘hit and miss’ because you can say this about any sketch comedy, including Python. The laugh rate for This Is Our Pilot is impressively high. This is a very strong debut and is recommended to any Mr Big type TV People out there looking for new up and coming comedy talent.

Annie Lumsden and Lena Moon perform This Is Our Pilot at The Coopers Inn til Sept 27

https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/this-is-our-pilot/