One of the more dangerously hit and miss types of comedy, to perform and to watch, is improvisational. It’s very easy for over-eager performers to put on a lackluster or, let’s be honest, plain old crap show. For every ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ that comes together, there’s one that falls apart.
Sketch comedy overlords Idiots of Ants return for their second Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a golden hour of non-stop action packed sketch hilarity.
Based on the TV show of a (similar) name, Late Night Letters and Numbers is the late night comedy game show of choice for word nerds and math geeks who don’t want the laughs to end after a night out at the Festival.
The gig itself is kind of meta journey through the comedy show experience itself, diverting out into deliberately controversial topics in an unprecedentedly cool way – with a whole lot of action thrown in.
Tegan’s show throws you into the world of her two heroes – Brendan Fevola and Harry Potter. Their hidden similarities magically appear when their virtues are comically extolled through personal anecdotes.
Tim Ferguson’s show was full of reminiscences, and though it was not as filthy as his earlier work and perhaps not even quite as funny, he still has the ability to entertain a crowd.
The Moulin Beige is all about crossing the line. Couched in cabaret tradition of the Moulin Rouge this regular Variety evening delivers a mix of cabaret, comedy, burlesque and vaudeville, housed in the opulent venue of the Burlesque Bar in the heart of Fitzroy.
Jimeoin is a world famous comedian with 20 odd years of live gigs under his belt- and in his new show, ‘What?!’, it kinda shows – in unexpected ways.
Jack invites you in as he wrestles with the question – what is narcissism – how many times is too many times to have your name in the title of your show?
Like a small animal being electrocuted, Virginia is wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, shocking the audience with the contradiction of her sweet voice singing dirty lyrics (accompanied by the talented Declan McGavin on piano).
John at one point described his show as “absurdist humour”, and there can be no argument of that. A man in a dark room with an iddy biddy book light and the X-Box controller around his neck is without doubt absurd. It’s definitely worth seeing.
I’m not entirely sure what it is about Juliet Meyers, but she seems very approachable. You know how some people give off a friendly vibe and you’re pretty sure you could just say hi to them and they’d be kinda cool?
There’s something of a fine art to using rude humor. When you’re talking about sex in particular, you need to be comfortable with it, otherwise your audience won’t be.
At $5.33ish per comic you can’t go wrong with the Heaps Good SA Showcase.
Within the first two minutes of his show Hunter Smith threatens “loads of audience participation”. Have no fear, through, meek comedy connoisseurs. Help Me, Hunter is really just about Hunter.
