All posts filed under: Reviews

3 States of Comedy: Reinstated – MICF Review

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It’s the way fights were meant to be settled: head to head… to head comedy bouts. Danny Stinson, Geoff Setty and Becky Steepe battle it out to have their state crowned as Australia’s funniest. First up, representing everyone’s favourite state, Victoria (not that we’re biased in Melbourne), is Danny Stinson. Straight out of the ring and Stinson is throwing punches. There’s sealife in strange places, disorientated drunks and spiders who are watching their weight. You expect that the rest of the show is going to continue in a similar vein; but this is where the state bashing ends. One liner Geoff Setty has the best rapport with the room. He has great timing, and seems to have a joke about every subject imaginable, but there is a flow missing to his work. Going from Star Wars sex jokes to Happy Days to “Hitler Instagram” is just a little too much of a leap. You can still tell a story with one liners, and you can lose your audience if you move around too much. Going …

Paul Culliver: The Honeypot – MICF Review

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“A straight, white male doing a comedy show, that’s novel”(!) Paul Culliver might be a middle-class man, but don’t worry you haven’t walked into some terrifying Men’s Rights Activism lecture masquerading as a comedy show. Culliver is super aware of his privilege; in fact he’s even invented a scale to determine just how privileged he is. (It’s 17 doors by the way). With his cheeky, chappy nature he can talk about race, feminism and politics, and the combination works. Culliver seems to have an endless supply of intelligent, quipping lines. The show never feels scripted; just one hilarious stream of consciousness, making his ability to be so quick witted all the more impressive. He doesn’t get it quite right all the time; you can feel bits of the room tense up during certain sections of his stand-up. But in fairness he does go back and correct himself when he can feel this happening, Culliver says he “really doesn’t want to be a shit head in this show”, and he definitely doesn’t come off like that. …

Good Morning Mofo – MICF Review

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Good Morning  Mofo is filled with a cocktail of characters that you’d normally see and hear behind the scenes and on set of a breakfast show and Zoe McDonald plays them all. Upon entering The Bagging Room at the Malthouse Theatre, we were greeted with Jenny who as she explained “was the intern. She wasn’t getting paid for this but was very excited to be here.” This interaction with the audience we would soon realise was a large part of the whole show. The hour-long show moves through a series of characters for Women’s Week at Channel’s 8 Brunch show and Zoe Mcdonald transitions seamlessly between each. Taking apart the world of morning TV, characters including Chloe Davies the host with the perfect newsreader voice, Jessica Murphy the ‘bogan’ member of the audience, Rachelle the weather lady and also our favourite, Jenny the intern plus more – Each characterised by a different voice, rigid hand or flailing of the arm making them unique. The audience is never left questioning which currently character is on stage …

Willem Richards is Bringing out the Cheeseboard – MICF Review

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Once you’ve seen a full grown man dance in a Kylie Minogue outfit, you’re going to find it hard to be surprised by a show again. At Willem Richards’ last show at this year’s Comedy Fest, he truly was “Crushing life in the dick”. Richards plays a whole host of outrageous characters as he tells us about his relationship with his Dad/ Tennis Coach. A man who has the personality and expressions of a Muppet, as Richards’ hair and mouth flap up and down with an incredible amount of elasticity. As well as his intense passion for his son’s tennis career, the best thing about Richards senior is that he brings out the cheeseboard. There’s brie, there’s cheddar, there’s a multitude of crackers to be passed round. So when the gentleman at the end of my row puts the cheeseboard down you can feel the whole room staring daggers at him. Luckily this is rectified by Richards before an angry mob forms. Another sparkling character is Spanish Ken Doll, Miguel Barcelona. Although he is heartbroken …

#1 Ninja – MICF Review

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Pitched as an affordable, unlicensed 55-minute seminar, channeling the likes of Tony Robbins, #1 Ninja is an hour of super-funny sketch comedy running as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Starring Andy Balloch, Dan Pavatich and Ivy Latimer – a good-looking trio of fantastic chemistry, the show kicks off with the ‘seminar’s’ promotional video, passionate testimonials from the #1 Ninja’s success stories – and then the real performance begins as we’re taken through a bunch of revolving characters, sketches and alternate perceptions – poking fun at the absurd way that society treat those of different sexuality, gender…. and ninjas. Basically, a glorious, cheeky middle finger to small-mindedness. Without giving all of the good stuff away, if you like the sound of aliens with bizarre attractions to non-functioning bubble jet printers and awkward love stories from the Titanic, you should definitely get along and see this show, #1 Ninja is sketch comedy at it’s most fun. Bring your mates and support local talent. Rating: ★★★★ #1 Ninja runs up until 17 April, as part of …

Be a Man – MICF Review

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We Know Melbourne were invited along to see comedian James Rankin share with us, exactly what it takes to ‘Be a Man’ at his aptly named Melbourne International Comedy Festival show. During his hour-long one-man show, we were regaled with entertaining tales of his youth (including a wildly inappropriate but hilarious story about teddy bears), interesting insights into growing up with Jehovah’s Witness parents, school stories, girls stories and a bunch of other recollections and life observations which helped shape him, as the man he is today. Unlike some comedians who rely very heavily on dark humour, James’s content was light and easy to follow. The audience were kept laughing constantly, particularly when met with relatable experiences (which was often) and you could tell everyone was having a blast – hanging on his every word. We could literally just sit back and enjoy the show for an hour without fear of audience participation (perfect for the introverts in the crowd), and walk away with a spring in our step. A light, entertaining and fun show, for boys and girls alike. Be …

When Hayley Met Salad – MICF Review

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If you too grieve over kebabs that could have been, make embarrassing drunk phone calls and have an intimate relationship with your fast food server then When Hayley Met Salad is the show for you. Hayley Brennan takes us through her time as a gym bunny, under the watchful eye of her personal trainer sister, and the events that sent her from KFC to the treadmill. Brennan’s physical comedy is superb. Her slo-mo recreation of drinking tequila, is hilarious until you realise that’s how awful you looked the last time you did shots. And you’ve never seen someone so accurately take a bra off one handed whilst remaining fully clothed. It takes a little while for Brennan to get into the flow of her piece. Her beginning section moves nervously from one thought to another, and when she feels that her audience aren’t completely with her she rushes through the sketch. But once everyone warms up, her jokes land brilliantly. Brennan’s personal misadventures scan much better with the audience then some of her early lines …

Bobby’s Bits – MICF Review

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“I’m so gay I own a flannel shirt”. The next 45 minutes are a chuckle-inducing snap-shot into Bobby Macumber’s somewhat wacky life. With a Father who tries his best to be politically correct, a Mum who’s a champion at aggressive hide and seek, and a girlfriend who’s obsessed with watches but useless at time keeping; Macumber has been provided with plenty of fodder for her show. Through a series of stories we see Macumber is gifted at creating characters on stage. Her trip to Bali gives her the opportunity to show off her skills, as the audience meet the larger than life locals with interesting marketing techniques. Although it is confusing when the Balinese market sellers sound like they’re very closely related to Apu from The Simpsons. Each of her stories are very much self-contained, but Macumber could work on her transitions between sketches. It’s obvious there is a theme to the show, but it is missing the flow that a great comedy piece needs. What really stands out are Macumber’s comedy songs. Her parody …

At Arm’s Length – MICF Review

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Walking into the intimate La Mama Courthouse in Carlton, the first thing that greeted us was clothes… piles and piles of clothes, strewn about the stage floor, across the seats, in the aisles – designed to realistically bring you into the home of Elsa, Ollie and Clare – three very different twenty-something housemates, who, along with the fourth character Tommy, are the stars of this light-hearted, but complex show. Kitted out with the quintessential uni student necessities like an ironing board table, Mi Goreng noodles and alcohol – the audience actually feel as though they a part of the character’s lives as they move through the ‘complexities of #adulting’. A fabulous mix of dialogue, dance and audience interaction, the content of this show struck a chord with everyone in the audience. The topics covered are highly relevant to the daily lives of average modern punter, whether it’s complicated relationships, ideals, goals or just trying to find out who they are. At Arm’s Length is performed by Victoria Bennet, Patrick Durnan Silva, Jacqui Essing and Riley …

Tegan’s City of Love – MICF Review

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Tegan Higginbotham is celebrating a very special year this year. It’s her 10 consecutive year in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, it’s the year she turned to 28, and this was finally the  year she achieved all her childhood dreams! Opening her show with old home movies  of herself running amok at 2 years at 9 months , we instantly fell in love with Tegan and her self-depricating humour. Moving through her teenage years, we were treated to hilarious stories of foibles and follies, from her teenage, Dear Dolly diaries filled with amateur poetry through to amusing and somewhat violent sketches including a Mr Squiggle lookalike being burnt at the cross, for which even Tegan couldn’t explain. Taking inspiration from the City of Love itself; Paris, Tegan’s show was a filled with a series of hiccups she faced as she tried to chase her childhood dreams: a) Fall in love in Paris b) Become an action movie star; and c) Be magic. Like an episode of This is Your Life, Tegan treated us to all sorts of …