Melbourne International Comedy Festival – Page 116

Tommy Little – Enter the Weapon

By Hannah Frazer

Comedian, actor, Radio/TV host, There really doesn’t seem to be much that Tommy Little can’t do. From the minute he walks out on stage Little makes you want to immediately leave with him for the Pub round the corner and just relax with whatever’s on tap.

Little’s show ‘Enter the Weapon’ is really a self- help seminar, he is your lecturer on ‘How to save face, and effortlessly hide your weird’. Little is unpretentious and relatable while also oozing charisma and just all over coolness.

Since starting his Nova Breakfast radio gig, life has changed slightly for Little. While he may still be share housing he knows how to casually flaunt his increased bank balance. His new attitude being, “I don’t need a kilo of cured meat, no one needs a kilo of prosciutto, but you know what, Imma have it anyway”.

Little’s ability to play off the audience is also impressive. No matter what odd or peculiar remarks are thrown at him, he takes on the challenge and seems to enjoy the shake-up his carefully constructed material gets.

Whether it be a failed pick up attempt, walking in with snacks to keep up his energy levels when bravely getting a new tattoo or a less than graceful sky diving experience, Little makes you feel better about things, as you realise “It’s not just me! There are others, just as strange and wonderful as me out there”.

You can’t ignore Little’s professional success, as over the past few years he has gone from strength to strength. But no matter how popular he becomes, it is he down to earth, boy next door persona that draws you in. Usually if you were in the presence of someone that referees to themselves in the third person with their self-made nickname you would generally be right to walk in the other direction. However you really won’t want to walk away from this guy. Little’s show is like ‘Breaking Bad’ or ‘Game of Thrones’ you really need to watch it and keep up with it, because it’s all anyone will be talking about tomorrow at work, and you don’t want to seem uncool.

Enter The Weapon is on at ACMI until April 19

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/enter-the-weapon-tommy-little

Ben Russell : The Tokyo Hotel

By Colin Flaherty

Ben Russell is the genial yet troubled tour guide of our voyeuristic visit to The Tokyo Hotel, a faded beauty of a place with lots of run down and broken occupants. He takes us to various parts of the hotel where we meet these strange people and learn about their past and their slide into the fringes of humanity. We meet people such as resident pianist Carlos with his inelegant anecdotes, games designer Martin with his many conspiracy theories and even bump into Caligula in the elevator where he tells us of his latest debauched activities.

This show is akin to a late night fever dream with its many hilariously strange yet inspired ideas featuring a cast of wonderfully eccentric beings. The way that his character segments are constructed is a joy to behold. Russell takes a delightfully silly concept, that from anyone else would get a single laugh, and stretches it to ridiculous extremes, sometimes almost to breaking point. Even though he does the over the top repetition routine beautifully, it’s the other times where he keeps piling on more and more hilarious ideas that impresses and takes us further down the rabbit hole of this strange world.

Russell’s character work is brilliant, using very little in the way of props and clever musical cues to bring these bizarre souls to life. Some characters require plenty of comical ranting and exaggerated mugging to get their jokes across while others spout their nonsensical monologues with a straight face. He is also able to expertly employ some subtly in the quieter moments to give emotional colour to the performance. Dominating the stage is a full sized door that threatens to unhinge his performance on occasion but he handles these mishaps with a deft touch of slapstick that keeps us entertained until he is back on script. His time spent at Second City in Chicago was certainly time well spent.

Despite what you may read on Trip Advisor, I highly recommend a visit to The Tokyo Hotel. You are sure to enjoy your stay!

The Tokyo Hotel is on at The Imperial Hotel until April 19

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/the-tokyo-hotel-ben-russell

DeAnne Smith – Get Into It

By Lisa Clark

DeAnne Smith has had a dramatic couple of months leading up to the Festival. She begins by filling us in on all the news. You may have read in the paper or online that her Adelaide run had to be cancelled because her mum passed away and what DeAnne doesn’t mention is that her comedian friends stepped up and performed her show for her fans, sending profits back to her. It’s not hard to see how she has engendered such loving support within our comedy community. She’s so damned adorable and such a fine comedian. To complicate things, she’s also recently fallen in love but she trips lightly over her recent upheavals with a ‘Hey, enough about that – let’s just have a fun time together!’ And we did.

Luckily for DeAnne she had a show ready to go that she can throw herself into, her life changes have cast a different light upon some parts of the show, such as her material about her last relationship breakup but DeAnne is able to laugh that off beautifully. By taking us behind the show DeAnne creates an intimate relationship with her audience and invites us into her world. It’s a relationship where we give her the permission to gently tease and chide us. She also joyfully and knowingly insults the reviewers in the audience. A great way to embrace us into the intimate space she has created. Though I hope she understands that some of us are fans too.

It’s been a joy to watch DeAnne develop as a comedian since first seeing her performing spots in Melbourne, before she officially brought a show out. DeAnne’s style is zippy, sharp and sometimes surprising. There is a hint of (I hate to say it but it’s true) Ellen and a dash of Rita Rudner about her delivery. Hipsters as a topic of comedy are pretty ripe for the picking, though considering comedy audiences in Melbourne, comedians might want to tread carefully here, but it is mind blowing to think that a cool, smart, woman like DeAnne might be intimidated by them. She navigates through her subject matter perfectly; laughing with, rather than sneering at, and certainly has an endearing way of making us feel better about ourselves. Most of her tales have happy endings of sorts and, less surprisingly, she has a delightful nickname for the vagina that Cal Wilson would really appreciate.

DeAnne has a brilliant ability to make every show feel like it’s an extra special performance created just for you. That your night with her will be unique and precious. Which it no doubt is. It’s one of the few times where I don’t feel embarrassed about being greeted by the performer after the show on the way out. It’s a perfect conclusion to the intimate experience where she follows through with a moment of shared appreciation, leaving room for shy ones to duck out.

Audiences to DeAnne’s live show will also get the treat of a bonus track to be found on-line with the password from the show. Get Into It.

DeAnne is performing Get Into It at The Greek Centre in the Mykonos room til April 19

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/get-into-it-deanne-smith

Madam Moonshine Muppet Oracle

By Colin Flaherty

Behold! The all-seeing, all-knowing Muppet Oracle Madam Moonshine (along with her nephew Where?Wolf) is here to solve your problems. Using her decks of cards and various mystical trinkets, she provides all the answers (as long as those answers are found in the bottom of a bottle).

People seriously into astrology and fortune telling may find her techniques lacking but it is merely something upon which to hang her interactions with us troubled souls. Audience participation is vital as it forms the main thrust of the show. People can interact to whatever extent they feel comfortable, there is no pressure as The Madam can fill in the gaps with many amusing quips. The guy on the door clearly identifies who is able to partake of the many problem-solving alcoholic shots (designated drivers can opt out if they wish) so it’s obvious who wants play along. It is a warm and comfortable atmosphere.

The Madam herself is a brilliant character who is intimidating with her no nonsense attitude but disarming with her grandmotherly appearance. She often causes embarrassment in her clients when she calls a spade a spade but it’s all light-hearted and never malicious. Her European accent of indeterminate origin is the icing in the cake.

Where?Wolf is equally strong being racy and crude in his role as a Gangsta Rapper being pushed into the Oracle trade. Dismissive of what he sees as mumbo jumbo, he offers punters narcotics, flirts with the ladies and offers very different advice to that of his Aunt. He even treats us to an amusing improvised rap.

Having only had the puppet for a year, Fenella Edwards’ skills as a puppeteer are impressive. Although her face is visible, she has created a world so immersive that it’s not difficult to keep your attention focused on the puppet rather than the performer. During malfunctions she is able to cover with a witty quip and is able to make jokes about the limitations of the Ms Moonshine. During the extended transitions from The Madam to Where?Wolf she keeps up the banter off stage to ensure we are kept entertained. Even though she probably has some prepared patter to cope with common audience responses, her impro skills are great when thrown some unique ailments.

This charming show is a rather unique comedy experience. The compact running time ensures that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. I highly recommend that you step into the caravan and let Madam Moonshine work her magic.

Madam Moonshine is on at The Last Jar until April 18.
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/muppet-oracle-madam-moonshine

Sarah Kendall – A Day in October

By Sofia Monkiewicz

A story can change how real-life events actually transpired. Reality can be edited, enhanced, or even transformed completely to create a recount that may or may not be entirely accurate. That is the beauty of storytelling – that true events can be artistically altered for personal preference or entertainment value – and Sarah Kendall is an excellent storyteller.

A Day in October is a story about Kendall’s childhood, and a traumatic moment at a pool on a school camp that has remained with her since 1990. On this particular October day, something very unexpected happened to a boy at her high school, and she tells a touching tale about the events that came before and after this significant memory.

We hear about the school she went to, the students who went there, and the constant fear that she experienced day after day as she did her very best to be invisible. She tells us about the town she grew up in and her weekend job, and it becomes clear very quickly that this is not really a comical show; it’s a poignant story about a period of time in Kendall’s childhood, which includes some light-hearted, funny moments in between some fairly dark material.

A story like this one needs to be detailed to be effective, and Kendall has a natural ability to be incredibly descriptive but still maintain a clear and succinct structure. The show flows well, and while there is the occasional throwaway comment that doesn’t seem to fit in with what is being said at that time, this information tends to be of importance further along in the show. Everything interconnects nicely, and makes for a compelling sixty minutes.

Kendall speaks like she is having a casual conversation with friends; she is engaging and likeable, with a ton of energy that she throws into large physical gestures to further inject life into her story. The few moments she briefly moves off-script and interacts with audience members also indicates that her stand-up abilities are great, and it would have been nice to see a little more of that banter in this heavily scripted show. The descriptions about her unpleasant duties at the part-time job she despised are hilariously relatable, and her memories of trying to ‘micro-manage’ a bullied boy at school by suggesting he change who he is as a person is both funny and grim. Not every joke worked, in particular some movie references that few people grasped, and an off-the-cuff remark about looking like an ISIS bride, but Kendall moved on seamlessly, and was not visibly affected by the audience’s undecided reaction.

A harmonic sound effect that she uses to coincide with the couple of times she mentions a creepy store mascot is a little unnecessary, and a bit at the beginning about the plot holes in the movie Aliens does go on for a tad too long, but these are minor critiques which don’t really detract from the story at hand.

Unpredictable and clever, A Day in October is a moving recount with a seamless balance of dark moments and light humour. It is not a show to see if you are looking for fast side-splitting laughs, but the depth and detail to Kendall’s sad story is certainly something special.

Sarah Kendall’s A Day in October is on at Melbourne Town Hall until April 19.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/a-day-in-october-sarah-kendall

Michael Hing – Much Ado About Not Hing

By Noel Kelso

There can often be something cocky and arrogant in the performances of some comedians – which is fair enough, it takes a lot of self-belief to just stand on-stage for any amount of time simply because you think you can make them laugh. Then there are those comedians whose performances are more akin to someone bashfully asking someone to dance.

In his show at the Portland Hotel, Much Ado About Not Hing, Michael Hing gives an assured performance tinged with nuggets of insecurity, uncertainty and cringeworthy social awkwardness.

Hing first apologises to the audience for the lack of Shakespeare references in his show as he was unaware that the title was very similar to that of one of the plays. He explains his background and how he has encountered a lot of baffling casual racism from people due to his Asian appearance, but actually being fourth generation Aussie. A story which got the audience chuckling along at the horrible recognition.

His cleverly written routines had the room alternately laughing or groaning from the recognisably awful situations which he describes such as his first attempts at sexting his girlfriend during a meal with his family or the worst date ever, which just so happened to be his first with his current girlfriend and involved him doing a terrible impression of his gay friend just so he wouldn’t be thought of as a sex-pest.

Anxiety is a strong theme for Hing in this show and he wrings it for every drop of humour he can. This informs his routines with a nervous energy and an almost apologetic nature as he worries about what people will think of him and the decisions he makes in order to hopefully curry favour – not all of them being the best decisions.

One of his chief concerns when interacting with women is trying not to appear creepy, which, when you are still quite awkward around women and have a mouth which is constantly trying to sabotage you, is a tall order to fill.

Hing’s performance technique on-stage is fluid and well-practised with good use of callbacks and well-placed asides. His delivery never falters or stumbles, yet neither does it become just a constant stream of words as he allows some of the awfulness of each situation to sink-in with carefully placed pauses or knowing looks from over his spectacles.

Michael Hing – Much Ado About Not Hing is playing at the Portland Hotel at 8:15pm until 19^th of April.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/much-ado-about-not-hing-michael-hing