Comedy Zone (The)
The Comedy Zone consists of a quartet of ‘stand-up and coming’ comics who have proved themselves worthy of a Festival platform. Andrea Gibbs, Mat Kenneally, Josh Thomas and Nellie Wight are four fresh new faces of comedy. Each with a distinctly different style, these young performers are a joy to watch, not just because they’re gutsy, but because they’re genuinely funny.
Mat Kenneally plays the role of MC, warming-up the crowd with his affable manner and conversational style of comedy. Josh Thomas follows with endearing anecdotes of parental misguidance. Nellie Wight is non-effusive and likes to court controversy, while Andrea Gibbs is high-impact and loads of fun. Each comic has their own approach, but the most successful is Josh Thomas, whose virginal looks defy a very cheeky tongue. Thomas won the coveted Raw Comedy gong last year, so it’s not surprising he’s a standout.
The Victoria Hotel is an ideal venue with an easily accessible bar that sees many punters standing rather than sitting. It feels rather like a comedy heat at your local pub. and the relaxed atmosphere is part of the show’s appeal. The acts are surprisingly polished considering that they’re the ‘green team’ of this year’s Festival. Despite some requisite nerves, these comics hold their own and draw a steady stream of laughter from the crowd. Josh Thomas is worth the admission price alone. Go and support them.
|
Hi, I’d just like to say that I thought Mat Keneally’s material worked the best out of the four, even if only by a millimetre to Josh Thomas, who I nevertheless agree with Bex Lee was as good as he/she? says he was. Just I don’t think the quality of Keneally’s material, its delivery and the flexible intelligence of his work should be overlooked. I must say I was surprised Thomas was only 18 and he, as did all four of them actually, pipped many of the other big names I saw, as I blather on about in my comments on Anthony Morgan’s show on this website.
For as it so happens, while Anthony Morgan was my favourite of all the shows I saw, with Rod Quantock my second, David O’Doherty, Adam Richard and The Comedy Zone were my other three favourites, and in the case of Comedy Zone and Adam Richard, probably somewhat cruelly underrated. I thought Nellie Wright’s performance was excellent, very polished, highly intelligent and once again, disarmingly precocious for her youth – these four really did it for me, more so than Wil Anderson, Hughesy, Akmal & Judith Lucy!
For I guess it was the freshness and energy borne of their youth, not jaded and as yet uncorrupted by the inevitable bourgeois complacency perhaps of certain others (which I myself agree to being guilty of myself)…!!! Andrea Gibbs’ characterisation, energy, inventiveness and once again polished performance were really very impressive, I thought. It is ironic then, that Mat Keneally, when spruiking outside the Town Hall a few nights later, just walked off when I told him I’d already seen the show, armed and ready as I was to spout forth probably much-needed praise for Comedy Zone.
Oh, well! And Josh Thomas, so magnanimous and charming on stage, stared out into the audience after the show, looking lost and forlorn. I saw him mooching about the festival precinct in the following two weeks looking a bit melancholy as well – and it was so sad, for such an apparently nice guy! Perhaps it was those not pleasant-sounding personal things going on in his life getting him down, or disappointment at the reaction to the show, although the crowd’s response was quite to very favourable on the night I went.
Amusingly, as “the only gay in the village” quite often at these festival shows myself, one of the first things Thomas said was that he wasn’t gay and then proceeded to tell the story of his brother, who came out recently, and parody his own presumed effeminacy, drinking alcohol with a straw etc., ha ha!! I had no assumptions myself, and Mat Keneally likewise pointed out he couldn’t understand homophobia and went on to illustrate with a very amusing anecdote of taking a friend from the country to the Xchange on Commercial Rd, ha ha!!
I was most impressed with that was was quite keen to indicate my appreciation to Keneally when our chance encounter arose on Swanston St, but alas – maybe he was scared (incorrectly) of a mediocre rating from moi! It is interesting then, that you could see “Mr. Gay-Friendly” Wil Anderson had freaked out by the end of the show when he (correctly) assessed me as gay, guaging by my overly neat haircut compared to the rest of a large audience perhaps, sitting in the fourth row.
When Anderson got to the gay marriage material at the end of his hour he looked into my eyes with a primal terror that screamed only one thing: “gay stalker!” This, and he gets the front cover of the gay magazine BNews that very same week!!! No other gay people in sight at the show, as was the case when I saw him at the 2003 Comedy Festival. For goodness’ sake! I only went to see Wil because he has given me so much mirth with Adam and Wil on JJJ and The Glasshouse!
Good on Adam Richard for taking all our gay and queer and campness to the stage and using it for what it’s best – wit and high quality humour! Hmmmm…
Leave your response!