All posts tagged: MICF

50/50 Melbourne Comedy Festival

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Michael Shafar is a self-proclaimed Jewish atheist, who loves a bargain, hates hugs, and always likes to be right. All jokes aside though – Michael has a really interesting story to tell about his diagnosis and survival of testicular cancer in 2017 through his new Melbourne International Comedy Festival show – 50/50. Not one to appear to throw a pity party for himself, Michael’s jokes are dark, raw and very personal – however he has a warm, sweet style of humour which engages with his broadly diverse audience, despite the hilarious but sometimes R-rated content. His knack for finding the humour in every situation, however dark and unhappy has armed him with a lot of quality laughing material and allowed him to add a positive spin on what most of us would find a terrifying and painful experience. For example, as a male with only half of his, err… nuts to worry about – he now enjoys the comfort of skinny jeans, something many men could not attest to – a silver lining, and so …

MICF Review: Perri Cassie “Secondhand Bubblegum”

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Melbourne local Perri Cassie is a twenty something man wrapped in a blush pink “Leisure” sweater, all tied up in black dungarees and ready to make you laugh. Cassie has been honing his material in Melbourne’s local comedy scene, in rooms around Australia and has recently returned from entertaining audiences in the USA, bringing all his best material to MICF with his show, “Secondhand Bubblegum”. Cassie’s show is a complete joke free-for-all, with an upbeat story telling style mixed with self-deprecating quips, shock value and topical observational humour. Stand outs were his hilarious observations on the changes to the order of bases when dating in adult life (why go to home base last?), testing flat earthers, Afterpay for property and the joys of having high school classmates as Facebook friends. Cassie closes his show with a re-write of your typical men’s body spray ad (where better to start addressing the levels of toxic masculinity in our society) bringing the audience to near tears and joyous rounds of applause. 4 Stars Reviewed and written by our …

MICF Review: Tash York “Adulting”

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At 30 years young, Tash York is essentially a veteran of the Australian Festival and Fringe scenes, having toured solo shows including “These Things Take Wine” and with troupes The Desperettes and Impromptunes, she now delights audiences with her new show “Adulting”. If you’ve ever tried to adult and failed, York’s show could be the soundtrack to your life!  York weaves a tapestry of anecdotes into hilarious rewritten cover songs, including hits from Destiny’s Child, Ace of Base, Bruno Mars and Whitesnake. Her stories and songs delve into York’s own adventures in adulting, from being engaged at 19 to racking up serious parking fine debt but also commentary on modern life, always being connected but that we should also be okay with being alone and having some solo self-love time (hilariously sung whilst in a sleeping bag).  York also gives her thoughts on why modern generations are failing at adulting, placing at least some of the blame on Walt Disney’s shoulders, through a medley of Disney princesses greatest hits! York rounds out the absolute hilarity …

MICF Review: Chimp Cop “The Death of Chimp Cop”

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Ben Vernel, Adam Knox, Rosie Vernel and Timothy Clark are Melbourne’s own sketch comedy quadruple “Chimp Cop”.  The group brings their fourth Chimp Cop show to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with “The Death of Chimp Cop”.  This reviewer was familiar with the group by name only and was uncertain what to expect but was blown away by the talent, the gags (ranging from sophisticated to Dad joke) and the production of the show. As the title would suggest, the show centre’s around the death of beloved hero cop turned movie star, “Chimp Cop”.  Easily moving between scenes, including a modern-day court setting, where Chimp Cop’s children have their lawyers battle it out over their inheritance to flashbacks of Chimp Cop’s life, a fantastic action filled story is woven.  At times the show felt like a sensational combination of the 60s Batman and Get Smart tv series and was a gag-a-minute roller coaster ride with a plot twist that Hollywood would be proud of. The room was packed, with friends, long time fans and now …

MICF Review: Annie Louey “Butt Donut”

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Sometimes life does a 360 degree turn around and throw the most unexpected surprise at us. That is exactly what happened to Annie Louey; but not in a graceful way. You might wonder why “Butt Donut” is the name of the comedy show. Don’t worry, Annie will explain exactly how she got the name “Butt Donut” during the show. Annie Louey, a burnt survivor comedian who took us on a journey of her life experiences. Travelling, family, being a Chinese born Australian… and of course, the survival story of her incident. She was engaging with the audiences, expressive and very detailed (in a comical way). Annie knows how to interact with you, and keep you on your toes during her show. You might learn a little about Americans and travelling around the world. A show that has bittersweet moments that may make your nose tingle. (That feeling you get when you are about to cry?). But Annie will use her humour to make sure you walk out laughing. P.S Did you know if you type …

MICF Review: Jacqueline Mifsud “Be Better!”

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Having read a bit of back story before the show, I was excited for what was to come – her story is empowering and great motivation to ‘be better’, if she can do it why can’t you!  Remising about growing up and her relationship with her mother is something we can all relate to. Nothing being good enough and trying to take control, especially over a cheese platter… we have all been there! Mifsud’s hilarious take on the ‘wog’ family life left nothing to the imagination and had everyone in stitches as did her witty analogy to her spirit animal – the blue ringed octopus!  As brilliant as the show is, her comedy can be somewhat a little dark and tackle some big issues in the media right now such as cyber bullying and eating disorders. Her take on this is still very funny, however could be a touchy subject for some. The overall theme of the show is ‘be better’ and don’t be a d**khead, her idea of what makes a d**khead is fantastic …

MICF Review: Gerard McGowan “Only Getting Funnier”

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Gerard McGowan has been gracing the stages of Australia’s best RSL’s and pubs for over seven years now, and it shows in his rapid fire approach to jokes. McGowan lays them on hard and fast, leaving the audience feeling they’re getting good bang for their buck. He’s used to competing with Keno and drunken hecklers for his punchlines. From stories about his day job colleagues in civil construction (read: unskilled labouring) to his terrier like inability to let go after being swindled out of a pizza McGowan uses his dry wit to disarm and entertain. I was lucky to catch him on an almost sold-out night, McGowan was fresh from an appearance on FM radio but appeared stunned that we’d all shown up without hearing his spruiking. He says the 50 minute solo show is not his favourite medium but he delivered admirably despite that. You do get a sense that he is used to filling in ten minute sets on variety nights, with his stories all lasting about that long. He managed to tie …

MICF Review: Daniel Connell “Bit of Shush”

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Daniel Connell’s ‘Bit of Shush’ reaches out to all those who could use a bit more quiet in their lives. Whether you are seeking a break from hoons tearing up the streets, friends foisting foreign gourmet food on you or an increasing tide of political correctness Connell has you covered. Using some good ol’ Aussie self deprecating humour and delightful nostalgia he tackles some serious issues, like his Elon Musk induced existential crisis and Australian attitudes to refugees. If you’re a fan of TLC references and childhood favourite Allen’s Killer Pythons then this is the show for you (maybe not your kids though, it gets a bit bawdy!). A Bit of Shush is a great example of dry observational humour, with ‘No Scrubs’ allowed. 4 1/2 stars Reviewed and written by our guest writer –  Caitlin Carter Where: Melbourne Town Hall, Backstage Room, 100 Swanston Street When: 8:15 or 7:15pm, selected nights until 22 April. For more information and tickets check out the MICF website.

MICF Review: G’Day Comrade

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G’Day Comrade answers that age-old(?) question.. ‘what do you get when a Russian bride, a nerdy scientist and a failed rock star walk into a bar?’ The result, a fun evening of Russian stereotype puns, Dostoyevsky references, random dancing and the stand up talent of three Russian comedians with some pretty impressive street cred. Comedians Kaychu Symon, Gosha Bodryi, Gleb Tugushev and special guest Kirill Sietlov all bring their own unique style of observational humour to Comedy Festival goers, applying a quirky, adorably confused Russian perspective to classic Australianisms, and the legal limit of only two Vladimir Putin based jokes. Aside from a couple of jokes that went a little beyond dark humour, the crowd loved this sweetly hilarious show, which offered a nice balance of performance, and audience interaction. On its debut season, G’day Comrade is not a perfectly polished or sophisticated comedy show, but it’s a must-see for those who love simple, self-deprecating humour – with enough sweet warmth to thaw an icy Russian heart on a bitter winters day. Tickets start from …

MICF Review: Nikki Britton is Romanticide

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We recently head along to check out super face-paced, anti-romance comedy – Nikki Britton is Romanticide as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. From the moment we arrived, we were hit with hilarious, laugh out loud comedy from a lady that says everything we are all thinking as she shares her own true stories about dating, single life, getting older and the mysteries behind life. Every single girl within the room caught themselves out nodding along as her continuous comment “This doesn’t happen to normal people” reminds them of their your own cringe-worthy stories. Being that they are all her own true stories, it does get emotional at times as she describes a heart-break and unbroken hope for true love but always lifts the crowds moods quickly in her hysterical fashion even if that does involve acting out seeing her ex and then falling into a tower of Tim-tams, which quickly melted under her. Nikki tied her performance together with a continuous reference to the two characters that she is in life – a …