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(?)Â is on at Trades Hall until October 12
https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/jks-a-comedy