Eureka 7 is another in a long-standing tradition of Japanese animation that involves a 14-year-old and a giant robot. This series sees teenager Renton living in an isolated city, wishing he’s somewhere else. Once Eureka and her trusty robot arrive the show takes it up a notch. It might be a little too heavy on the philosophical meanderings, but once put out for general consumption the kids are going to eat this up.

Basilisk is about two waring clans of ninjas and how two people on opposite sides have fallen in love. Part Romeo and Juliet, part Ninja Scroll, this one is for lovers of the more classic and adult style of anime.

Speed Grapher, very different from the other three episodes on offer, plays out like Film Noir. It’s the story of a man trying to uncover a conspiracy, who has the strange ability to make things explode once he has photographed them. It is definitely aimed at an older audience as it includes all sorts of adult themes. I personally thought this was one of the better offerings from Madman this year. Be warned however, that the animation sometimes isn’t the best.

Naruto is a basic story about a young orphaned boy at ninja school with a mysterious past. He’s a prankster with a good heart, and once he is told some of what his past involves he steps up to the plate and becomes the scholar and ninja that he was born to be. It’s very light on plot with crude animation and backgrounds looking like they were cast-offs from an eighties cartoon. However this was only the first episode and further episodes may see the series evolve into something better than a ninja version of Dragon Ball Z.

This movie was a treat to watch visually, with techniques reminiscent of Jean Pierre-Jeunet’s films (Delicatessen, Amelie) and David Cronenberg’s body-horror works (eXistenZ, The Fly). One scene starts with an embryo of a baby inside its mother’s stomach before the camera pulls back and reveals who the mother is. Be warned though, this is not a film for the faint-hearted. It contains scenes of bestiality, explicit masturbation, sexual intercourse and paedophilic themes, not to mention a five-minute graphic sequence showing the self-evisceration of a man. That scene in particular was the only time the audience remained silent. One woman in fact left the cinema!

I liked this movie for all its strange plot twists and left of centre characters, but for the average moviegoer it might be too much. It definitely left a unique impression and should be on the discernable movie viewer’s list of films to see this year.

The show included a couple of songs that showcased Snelling’s singing talent and proved that he really could belt out a tune, but most of the set comprised of Wes and Steven trying to work out the best way to play their ‘hit single’. Should it be funky? More Sinatra-esque? Or a little Robbie Williams? This is where the comedy comes in. The interplay between the two musicians was fantastic to watch, as Steven was forced to stop playing over and over again to incorporate every whim that entered Snelling’s head, no matter how ridiculous. The two have great chemistry on stage, and that’s a good thing; for without, it this show wouldn’t work.

I strongly recommend this show to anyone after an inventive concept and a lot of good laughs.

The comics weren’t bad. I found some of the material funny. Don’t get me wrong though; these guys were not stand-up superstars. You couldn’t see them standing alongside Danny Bhoy or Dylan Moran. To be fair, all these guys need is time and polishing. You could see the makings of future talent in their professionalism and timing. It’s just that some of the jokes were a little flat and a little familiar.

Their dealings with a constant heckler were a testament to their professionalism. A bar full of drunks, some of them mean drunks, can test your ability to hold an audience, and these guys handled it with ease. A lot of the laughs came from those dealings. I say, give these guys time and they might change from a group of guys, who remind you of your drinking buddies telling stories around the BBQ, to pretty decent comics.

Danny spends a lot of time during his set talking about the food, lifestyle and culture of his home country Scotland. He takes a tongue-in-cheek attitude to all this, which makes you believe he has no qualms with his country. He just enjoys poking fun at it. He employs the same tactic when talking about the differences between Scotland and Australia.

The only flaw to his set was the fact that some of this material has been aired before in the Montreal Comedy Festival Gala (broadcast on TV here). This is only the smallest of flaws though, as I still laughed throughout and it can be attributed to Danny’s on stage presence. He’s all smiles and charisma’and that’s the charm of Danny Bhoy: he could tell you the world’s worst joke and all he’d have to do is smile and the audience would be roaring with laughter. If other comedians have had me laughing harder, Danny had me laughing throughout his entire set, and that is very rare.

The basic outline for a show includes the selected actors, comics, music-makers and other assorted types making up a character from suggestions from the audience. The audience gives their approval (or disapproval) for the character, and the most popular gets to be the focus of the show. On the night I went it was a four-hundred-year-old vampire escaping would-be vampire killers by heading towards Byron Bay that got the prestigious nod from the audience. However, once the main character is chosen the real show begins, and the audience is taken on a ride where the only limitations are the player’s imaginations.

The show’s premise is simple and yet very effective. The Crew have been doing improv for years and it shows. The quick wit, the rhyming songs, the ability to stay in character against the hardest of laughs all go towards showing their professionalism. Yes some of the jokes fall flat, but even those groan-worthy moments still make you chuckle. I can’t even count the amount of times I laughed out loud. Be warned though, this isn’t a show for the kiddies, but that aside it should definitely be checked out.