Richard Watts
- Website: http://richard_watts.blogspot.com
- Bio: Single. Sometimes solitary. Introspective. Occasionally manic. Basically trying to be a nice guy. A writer, DJ, broadcaster and inner-city bar habitue. Media slut.
The Pun 2009 Reviews »
British comedian Jeff Green met and fell in love with a Melbourne girl at the Comedy Festival ten years ago, so his new show Living the Dream goes well beyond the shallow observational humour about Australia that many UK and US comics employ in their festival acts.
Instead, Green waxes cynical about suburban life in Heidelberg, about visiting Northland Shopping Centre on ‘Ugly Day’ (although I think it’s always Ugly Day at Northland to be honest), and he jokes about his wife and kids in a way that is simultaneously old …
The Pun 2009 Reviews »
Kiosk is a new outing for Melbourne boy Wes Snelling, and is an excellent showcase for his ever-developing skills as a performer. Less a cabaret show, more theatre-based, it’s an exploration through song of his childhood; a story about growing up in the Kyneton Caravan Park and the characters who lived there.
If you’re a fan of Snelling’s work, then you’ll definitely enjoy the opportunity to watch him push himself as a performer, relying on his acting skills and a handful of simple props – a handkerchief, a hat, a handbag …
The Pun 2009 Reviews »
The Bedroom Philosopher’s hilarious Songs from the 86 Tram is without doubt my favourite show of the festival to date.
In it, this acutely talented performer brings the journey from Bundoora to Docklands on my local tram route, the #86, to wonderful, three dimensional life through character-based monologue and song. As Steve Bennett writes at Chortle, this is ‘a concept album of a show’; told through the tram driver’s sometimes (appropriately) muffled announcements and by a series of instantly recognisable characters: the talkative but forgetful grandmother, the depressed housewife, the Northcote …
The Pun 2009 Reviews »
Beaconsfield: The Musical is a savagely satirical exploration of the media feeding frenzy that descended on the Tasmanian town of the same name in 2006, following the mining disaster which killed Larry Knight and made temporary stars out of Brant Webb and Todd Russell.
Eddie McGuire, Mel and Kochie, Naomi Robson and all the other major players come under scathing attack in this simply staged but vividly realised production, the season which has now unfortunately ended. A wonderfully funny and merciless show about media excess which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Pun 2007 Blog »
Saturday witnessed all manner of mirth and merriment at the penultimate night of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival club at the HiFi Bar, not the least of which was a pole-dance-off between rapidly-shirtless and Hannah Gadsby. Their performance, an undoubted highlight of the evening, soon segued into the presentation of the festival awards, in a brief ceremony overseen by MC Lehmo.
The winner of the festival’s prestigious Barry Award (named after inaugural patron Barry Humphries) was British comedian Daniel Kitson, for his show It’s the Fireworks Talking. Upon accepting his …
The Pun 2007 Blog »
Must. Laugh. At. Funny. Person. Must. Drag. Exhausted. Carcass. To Next Gig. Must. Laugh. HYSTERICALLY. At. Funny. Person…
No, wait a minute, that’s not a funny person, that’s another fucking cashed-up bogan in a pink polo shirt with the fucking collar turned up who’s part of the audience! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHY THE HELL DO YOU LINE UP TO LAUGH AT SOME OF THE MOST BLAND, MEDIOCRE, MIDDLE OF THE ROAD SHITE IN THE FESTIVAL?
Woah, Richard, get a grip. Elitist, much?
Ahem. As you can tell, the Comedy …
The Pun 2007 Blog »
The end is in sight, ladies and gentlemen. Soon I can return to blogging as usual, instead of obsessively documenting every comedy show I’ve seen in the festival this year. I’m sure some people are reading these reviews and using them as guidelines as to what to see or what not to see. I also know that various comedians are coming here to read what I’ve written about them. Whoever you are, can you leave some goddamn comments please? It’s lonely here with just my hitcounter and me!
This next lot …
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