Alethea Kinsela
The Pun, The Pun 2010, The Pun 2010 Reviews »
Watching Frank Woodley wriggle and prance his way across the stage for an hour is like being tied down and tickled till you scream. It’s just so much fun. Even afterwards, when you realise you may have burst a few blood vessels in your eyeballs, you still can’t help chuckling at the lanky-limbed comic genius.
In Bewilderbeest, Woodley is at his coloured-sock-wearing, laptop-bashing best. He sings and mimes, and chases fish and golf carts across the stage. He occasionally calls on the assistance of an unreliable stagehand and a lighting technician with a sense of humour. All this to bewilder, stun, …
The Pun, The Pun 2010, The Pun 2010 Reviews »
I must admit, I didn’t have high expectations for Peter Helliar’s Dreamboat Tour. For me, Helliar is a hit-and-miss comedian. Sometimes I find him very funny. Other times, his jokes make me wince, or yawn. Dreamboat Tour was a pretty ordinary show with luke-warm humour that didn’t always work. Helliar seemed nervous to begin with, but as the set progressed he relaxed and found his rhythm. Once he did, his timing was good, and his banter with the audience was entertaining, if at times a bit uncomfortable as he got a little too personal. …
The Pun, The Pun 2010, The Pun 2010 Reviews »
Brazen and confident, the trio of stand-up comedians in Bulmers Best of the Edinburgh Fest present a show that is both hilarious and cringe-worthy. Jason Cook opened with some familiar gags – Melbourne vs Adelaide, what Australians think about other nationalities – but his interpretation of these jokes was refreshing. His ability to banter with and engage the entire audience, especially a large one, was remarkable, and something not many comedians are able to pull off successfully.
Next came Elis James, a quiet young man from Wales. James reminded me a …
The Pun, The Pun 2010, The Pun 2010 Reviews »
The apocalypse will begin with one small thing. This is the premise for Claire Hooper’s show One Small Thing. Hooper takes the audience on a side-splitting journey as she bemoans the many problems caused by small things, such as trying to purchase an avocado at a self-serving check-out. The larger implications of these seemingly insignificant events are often the catalyst for an imagined apocalyptic ending. In one version, Australia ends up at war with China because Hooper sticks her hand in a toilet bowl.
One Small Thing is a balanced and …
The Pun, The Pun 2007, The Pun 2007 Articles »
Elegant, vintage, rough at the edges, Trades Hall is a venue worth seeing.
This historic building is a labyrinth of passages and stairwells that wind up, down and around and open out onto ornate, carpeted foyers and trendy warehouse spaces.
Like the advertising material in the dank subways of London’s Underground, posters follow the gradient of the stairs, and heavy steel beams hold the roof centimetres from your head. Each step of the main staircase has sunken bowls from the many thousands of feet that have trampled it over the centuries.
There are …
The Pun, The Pun 2007, The Pun 2007 Reviews »
Dark, humorous and weird, Strangelove the Musical is an adaptation of the 1964 classic film Dr. Strangelove. Tristan Coelho’s music is a fantastic addition to the already bizarre story. Nuclear warfare presented through song is not something you see every day, but this show is definitely worth a look.
Jon Williams is superb as the maniacal Brigadier General Ripper who torments Group Captain Mandrake, played by Kip Williams. Think comedic versions of Kurt and Marlow stuck in a small room with a six-barrelled machine gun. The things Ripper gets up to …
The Pundit, The Pundit 2006, The Pundit 2006 Reviews »
Set during the 1960 Algerian civil war, Lieutenant Roque (Vincent Martinez) is weary of the tedious conflicts and longs for the fighting to end. A general feeling of unease permeates Roque’s unit, and there are frequent displays of guarded and open racism directed towards the four harkis (French soldiers of North African decent). To the locals, the harkis are traitors, and to their comrades, they are filth. The harkis’ ability and willingness to communicate with the locals fuels the suspicion and distrust amongst the other French soldiers. When treacherous but …
The Pun, The Pun 2006, The Pun 2006 Reviews »
Helen Thorn is Arty Farty will make you laugh, groan and squirm. It is not, as I expected, a collection of sardonic anecdotes and derisive one-liners that turns art lovers into fuming tatters. Rather, it is an accurate expose of the world of visual, written and performing arts. Thorn’s cringing truth takes the likes of trendy high school dance teachers and glamorous university humanities professors and shows them for what they really are: pompous, daggy and ridiculous.
Through an empty picture frame, Thorn delivers an autobiography of sorts. The antics …
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