The Pun » Brewster Hipik

Science-ology

Brewster Hipik — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:26:11 +0000

Boldly step into a white square room that smells of plywood and prepare yourself for Science-ology, a one-hour journey fusing glam rock with science and turning labs assistants into roadies and scientists into rock gods.

Sitting in a room jammed with people, where the person beside you is as a consequence now your new best friend, a lab coat clad Ben McKenzie immediately captures your attention with his surprising use of a matchstick, glass beaker, pinch of salt and an egg.

From there, he launches into a tirade about the conspiracies surrounding TV commercials for meat starring Sam Neil, debunks the forensic methods used in CSI and enlightens his audience to the science babble used in ‘Star Trek’.

Although the hard science Ben uses to set up the punchlines is both informative and intriguing, it can at times become tedious, causing the routine to fall into a lull until the next punchline kicks in.

However, Ben’s satire of science is subtle, intelligent and delightfully unpredictable; his use of PowerPoint is simple and originally funny. To top it off, he has an impeccable sense of timing, a witty self-effacing humor and a presence on stage that commands your attention.

You don’t have to be a science buff to enjoy this show but if you are, you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more, possibly to the point where you’ll cackle like a kookaburra throughout most of the show as one lady did!

MW OH Show’s Quarter Life Crisis

Brewster Hipik — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:13:35 +0000

The MW OH Show’s Quarter Life Crisis is a mix of impersonations, black humour, self-deprecation, storytelling, improv and wrestling theatrics. Mark Williamson is the mind behind this massive blend of performance styles.
After 14 months of doing open-mic gigs at the Roxbury Hotel in New South Wales, Mark made his Melbourne Comedy Festival debut on a Wednesday to a small but interested crowd in an intimate, curtained-off room at Club Four.
The show had both hits and misses.
Mark’s smash hit in the show was his account of working in a call center during which he listed the outlandish ways he tried to get fired from his job. As he delivered his lines, I laughed out loud, both in disbelief and awe.
Other hits were his impersonations of established comedians. He invited audience suggestions and convincingly portrayed Billy Connolly, Richard Pryor and Jerry Seinfeld.
But when he entered the territory of crude puns and jokes, he did so unsuccessfully. Mark’s nervousness about performing at the festival showed most when he spoke too fast at times and had to repeat lines. These jitters impeded his performance and hampered the audience’s enjoyment of the show.
Mark is a rough diamond, a talented raw comic who’s still a bit jagged around the edges. With more stints at Club Four in the coming days, Mark is sure to polish his performance. With that, the show is likely to score more laughs.