During her 60 year career, Ella Fitzgerald lived an extraordinary life that has earned her place in music history. The inspiration that shone so brightly through the voice of Ella will find it’s new vessel in Kelsey James, a vocalist whose projects include the Furbelows, her own Quintet and her original project. When: 24 – 25 April 2016 Where: Bennetts Lane Jazz Club Visit the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club website here.
Markit returns to Federation Square on Sunday 8 May 2016 with over 100 Australian independent designers. Drawing an eclectic mix of designers out of their workspaces for the day – ceramicists, jewellers, shoemakers, illustrators and micro fashion studios – Melburnians will be able to pick up limited-edition pieces, one-off gifts and handmade objects of beauty that won’t be found on any high street. The day will be a chance to meet your favourite Australian designers in person and find out more about the design processes behind the wares. For those seeking out original, unexpected design pieces made with the environment and ethics in mind – this is your dream-shopping day all in one place! When: 10am -5pm, Sunday 8 May Where: Federation Square Visit the Markit website here.
It’s not that often you go to a stand-up gig and the comedian has flown in as the only passenger on a private jet just to be with his audience. Michael Bowley’s Incomplet is an unashamedly, unfinished eclectic collection of thoughts and experiences of a comedian 12 years, 3 months and 13 days in the making. The show is super educational, particularly for the internationals in the room. Bowley explains the four different types of “mate”, which means I now have to go over the last eight months in my head to see if anyone has referred to me as “your mate”. There are also top tips about how to be socially responsible/morally reprehensible depending on whether or not you’re ok with using a credit card the late former tenant of your house has been approved for. Someone sat next to me described Bowley as “a real cutie”, and he definitely comes across as this nice guy. This makes his occasional moments of dark humour all the more funny. These little surprises create a great balance in the show. There are times where Bowley …
Expand your mind and connect with other innovative thinkers at Melbourne Knowledge Week. This year will see over 60 events explore the themes of innovation, creativity and technology shaping our future. Take part in a workshop, listen to a talk or even build your own robot. Some highlights include: Life in the cyber-physical world In this hands-on workshop, the audience will get an opportunity to interact with robots, and new technologies from the labs and research departments of Deakin University to discover the new cyber-physical world. Canopy: Melbourne green roof forum Canopy is the event where practitioners at the cutting edge of urban greening share knowledge about what it takes to get greenery onto Melbourne’s city streets, rooftops and walls. Crytoparty Concerned about online surveillance? Want to protect your privacy? Bring your phone or laptop and learn about tools that help you deter digital snoops. Making Data Sing How do we transform millions of lines of data into stunning and intuitive visualisations? This fast-paced event explores the ways that traditionally off-limit data is moving towards an …
Wine and chocolate lovers you’ll be in a gourmet paradise at this year’s Wine and Chocolate Festival. Sample wines from some of Australia’s best wine producers and nibble on some chocolate from premium local artisans. Want to learn about how the two go together? There’ll be plenty of experts available on the day to teach you all about quality chocolate and wine, and how the two can be so deliciously paired together. In case that wasn’t enough, there’ll also be cider, beer, liquor, cheese, gelato and coffee suppliers showing off their high-quality artisan products, masterclasses, entertainement plus signature coffees and cocktails created by Liquid Infusion for attendees to enjoy. A day of pure decadence! When: April 30 Where: Seaworks, 82 Nelson Place, Williamstown Visit the website here.
The start of Evan Hocking’s stand up comedy show kicks off with a theme song, the Belinda Carlisle classic ‘Heaven is a Place On Earth’– cleverly dubbed over the top so that she’s singing ‘Evan is a Place on Earth’ – he cheekily announces that this is so that we can have that song stuck in our head for weeks, and the truth… it works. Evan’s show is true Australian ‘bloke’ humour. Short snippets of his life, tales of weddings he’s been to, trips he’s been on, his lovely-sounding, almost-doctor girlfriend and his time as a pool cleaner in Port Douglas – typical stories of a 30-something year old guy with a dry, hilarious and lighthearted outlook of life. Evan includes a tiny bit of audience interaction in his show, but it’s not obnoxious and off putting like some shows, it’s just… good true blue fun. A funny guy with an entertaining story to tell, Evan is a Place on Earth is showing as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in The Downstairs Lounge @ The Grand Mercure until 17 April, and, …
It’s a Canadian showcase, with added Australian “for visa reasons”. Queensland’s Jacques Barrett’s comedy partner couldn’t get over to Melbourne for the Comedy Fest, so instead every night the audience are treated to some of the Great White North’s top comedians. Barrett is clearly a big fan of Canada; I guess he wouldn’t be doing this show otherwise! But he knows the country and its narcotics pretty intimately. He’s playing double duty as he MC’s and represents Oz, and has done an incredible job creating a proper late night comedy gig. The atmosphere, the jokes, how intoxicated the audience are; Boomerangs and Beavertales is entirely different to shows that start even 15 minutes before. Jack Druce is the first Canadian to the mic, it is important to note that he has lived in Australia since he was nine however. Sex with birds and men who love magic; Druce’s personality is much less intense than the other two comedians, so the show balances nicely. Headliner Lars Cailleou has the rosiest cheeks you’ve ever seen and is …
There were canapés, there were drinks and there were three awesome comedians; The Swanston Hotel put on the perfect night at their downstairs lounge at this year’s comedy fest. MC Mike Klimczak runs the venue and has just casually invited three of his comedian friends down to help him out for the evening; it’s difficult not to be jealous that he’s got these three acts in his phonebook. But the whole evening does have this lovely laid back feel to it; it’s their last day off before the final week of the fest, the calm before the storm perhaps! Either way the atmosphere is great for a night of chilled comedy. Claire Hooper has just had her second baby, is doing a solo show at MICF and came along on the 11th; she’s an all-round superwoman. The whole set feels like she’s just riffing off of what the audience give her. Hooper’s maternal instincts kick in when she spots a 14 year old girl in the second row with her parents. Her Mum looked particularly …
If you haven’t seen a Circus Oz show before you’re in for a real treat. At Circus Oz nothing is impossible and everyone is extraordinary and things won’t be any different for the newest show, Twentysixteen coming this June. The latest show will be a refreshing cocktail of new and old, innovation and tradition. The turbo-charged acrobats bring amazing new skill and wizardry to the flying trapeze, the Chinese pole and unicycle adagio. A brand new group-juggling act is sure to drop jaws as 21 clubs duck and weave from acrobat to acrobat. The two-hour show will feature all sorts of acrobatics and explosive aerial antics all accompanied by the sensational Circus Oz band! When: 15 June – 10 July 2016 Where: Circus Oz Big Top, Birrarung Marr Visit the website here.
He’s Australia’s most beautiful comedian, but Tommy Dassalo is going through an ugly break up. Heartbreak isn’t a revolutionary topic when it comes to stand up, but you definitely won’t have seen anything like this before. Dassalo has illustrated an entire book so that the audience can read along with his relationship misery. It sounds twisted, but the best comedy often is. Dassalo has everything working for him. He has the best relationship with his audience and they laugh the whole way through; at his improv-ing, his storytelling, his slightly disturbing drawings. But I can’t remember ever leaving a comedy show on the verge of tears. Like a great playwright, Dassalo somewhat lures you into a false sense of security as you chuckle through the set. You’re enjoying sexual Connect 4 and then completely out of nowhere you’re hit with this oh so poignant ending, even though it’s set to the music of The New Radicals, and the show’s just finished. I would suggest going with friends so that you have someone to hug when …
weknowmelbourne.com.au 
You must be logged in to post a comment.