Susie Anderson
The Pun 2011 Reviews »
@KarlChandler likes short jokes. That’s why, at this year’s #MICF, he devotes an entire show to everyone’s favourite microblogging tool: Twitter.
The good thing about this show is that even if you’re not really into social media, Karl takes you through the basics with an informative slideshow. I’ve always considered the slideshow a comedic device, and I’m glad to see Karl make use of that within the show.
Karl explains that Twitter is a good place to trial jokes and to test material on your followers. I was concerned that this segment …
The Pun 2011 Reviews »
Ah, audience participation, my old foe.
I’d been looking forward to the Lords of Luxury comedy festival debut for weeks, excited to see the stage adaptation of the fortnightly sketch comedy podcast. The Lords are a quartet of boys with a prolific back-catalogue of media experience – Paul Verhoeven of Triple J and the Vine, Luke Ryan also of the Vine, Matt Saraceni and Dan Debuf, both of Nova, to crudely summarise their prowess.
It could have been just another night at the festival, but within the first 15 minutes of …
The Pun 2011 Reviews »
My philosophy teacher once reminded us that we are all dying. It’s true, we aren’t getting any closer to birth. Ben Pobjie gets very close – a little too close, if you know what I mean – to death at his Melbourne Comedy Festival debut, Funeral.
Best known for writing the back page of The Age’s A2 section, Pobjie’s affinity for words shines through in this deadpan metacomedy about the staging of his own funeral. Starting the show with the reminder that people always say nice things about you when you die …
The Pun 2011 Reviews »
Fear of a Brown Planet Attacks is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival return of stand-up duo Aamer Rahman and Nazeem Hussain.
From gripes with the sporting obsessions of the typical Australian bloke to “collector’s edition racism” at airports, the boys hilariously expose how white Australia still is.
When Hussain opened the show with “there are a lot of white people here tonight” I was concerned that, white as I am, I wouldn’t be in on the jokes. But I think it’s fair enough to say that their humour transcends colour.
I found myself cringing …
The Pun 2011 Reviews »
Like So You Think You Can Dance with audio commentary by two bickering Brits, Tom Roden and Pete Shenton bring their best of show to the 2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
The pair have been dancing together for close to 13 years, and you can see the consequences of being in a comedy duo for this long manifest themselves onstage. Roden and Shenton argue about a variety of things. Like the levels of interpretation (or lack thereof) of their dances, misplaced dance moves or which dances they should perform. Their disagreements are …
The Pun 2011 Reviews »
Zack Adams brings his heartbreak to Melbourne with Love Songs for Future Girl.
Adams is the earnest and awkward alterego of Perth native Shane Adamczak. As his show attests, he is a regular on the touring circuit, bringing Love Songs fresh from the Perth and Adelaide Fringe Festivals.
Between nostalgic throwbacks to Third Eye Blind and Billy Ray Cyrus, Adams serenades us through the history of all his failed relationship. The break-ups might have been responsible for its conception, but the driving force of the show is Adams’ anecdotes and digressions.
Adams is honest …
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