Sidney Critic

0-Die : 1-Cr@p : 2-Watchable : 3-OK : 3.5-Nice : 3.75-Cool : 4-Good : 4.5-Very Good : 5-WOW
Key#'s : 1-walkout : 2-hate it : 3.5-acceptable : 3.75-worth the $s : 4.5-light-headed from laughing

Legend : T=ticket : F=coffee/food : C=Commute, ie, public transport/car(car rate=$2/10km)

Summery lists :- TV Movies - Cinema Movies - Band List(600-ish)

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I'm the SIA of comedy watching, ie, I don't want to be famous, so please don't doxx me photo-wise or I'll cry - lol -, ie, I would prefer not to have photos posted. Thanks.

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News Section

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20.12.24 : Flog Cabin Stands Up : Crowbar Sydney(Leichhardt)

[Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$32 + F-$5 + C$6]

Daniel Muggleton(MC), Aleks Milinkovic, Danielle Walker, Tom Witcombe

19.12.24 : Beachside Comedy Club - Thursday Night Showcase : Bondi Liquor Co

I was thinking it's a bit crazy going that far when the similar Erskineville Comedy Club is so close, but it looks like all the good comics were hiding in Bondi because it was a strong lineup. Probably only Freddie wasn't in his usual form, ie, usually the delivery is faster, but overall all 5 were tip top. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$5 + C$6]

Billy D'Arcy(MC), Freddie McManus, John Cruckshank, Ben Kochan, Tom Witcombe

18.12.24 : Stand OUT Comedy Club : The Chippo Hotel(Chippendale)

Of course Hammo smashes, Cam and Neel were good, and Bec had new stuff at the end. Still a bit down so wasn't in the laughing mood, but I think it was still pretty good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$17 + F-$4 + C$6]

Reece Boyall(MC), Bec Melrose, Andrew Hamilton, Cam James, ?, Neel Kolhatkar

18.12.24 : Kraven the Hunter - movie

MA15+ : Action - Sci-Fi : Kraven's complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff, starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.

Despite the bad scores it was looking up after the first action scene, but then it turned into long, slow, unremarkable storytelling, ie, more Sopranos than fun action. Basically it needed to be shorter and with more action. I could watch it, ie, it wasn't so dull that I tuned-out, but you should not seek this out other than as only a time-filler. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

17.12.24 : Enmore Comedy Club : Enmore Theatre

I usually wouldn't even consider this, and in fact I totally forgot this existed - lol -, and that's because nearly every time walking out I feel hollow/disappointed, ie, it wasn't worth the high entry fee. But times have changed and now most stuff is around that price, but with less comics, eg, Running Joke $25, not as good Arcade Comedy Club $23, etc. It looked like strong lineup, but what sold it for me was Imaan Hadchiti, who was good again, and Benny Davis. Unfortunately Benny didn't do the clever juxtapose sarcastic stuff he did last time, but conventional relationship stuff that didn't standout. Mike Goldstein is usually decent but mild, but tonight he did some controversial stuff, ie, not PC, and he was brilliant. MC Barney was next best, with the rest being good. All except for Luke, who just didn't jell with the crowd tonight - his current routine isn't as reliable as his early Bottlo stuff that always hits -. Not disappointed this time - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$5 + C$6]

Andrew Barnett(MC), Harry Jun, Carolyn Swindell, Benny Davis, Mike Goldstein, Bonnie Tangey, Imaan Hadchiti, Luke Heggie

16.12.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

We had one of the bigger crowds, but for some reason they barely made half the noise of the 6 people we had last week. Cam and Tom did well, Alice was ok, but Jake wasn't really connecting, ie, people weren't laughing that much, and that lack of laughing during Becky's set made her think she did badly. I can't explain it, but the crowd listened, ie, were patient, it's just that they didn't laugh much, ie, it even made me not want to laugh. It was good enough, and I don't think the crowd minded that much. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$10 + C$6]

Jake Howie(MC), Alice Tovey, Tom Witicombe, Cam James, Becky Lucas

15.12.24 : A Very Trocadero Christmas Comedy Carol Spectacular : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

Welcome to the industries leading bucket of drivel - lol -. This one had a Xmas theme, so it was Die Hard all night - lol -. Pretty much everyone had to come up with a Xmas based set, so it was practically everyone playing a character doing all new stuff, eg, Freddie McManus played Frosty the Snowman in hot Australia, so they brought out a bucket of water and he did voice-overs from the greenroom - lol -. Demi Lardner came out between every act and did a genital based Xmas song. Luke Heggie Santa played mandolin for a singalong. Alice Tovey did a set and also a song. Cayenne did a sluttish Santa dance. I liked the Halloween one better, but it was something new and plenty fine. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$13 + F-$17 + C$6]

Sam Bowden(MC), Demi Lardner, Alice Tovey, Ryan Sim, Eric Hutton, Freddie McManus, Cayenne, Luke Heggie

13.12.24 : Harvey Comedy : Norton's(Leichhardt)

Tonight we were informed the room is closing down, so this is the last show - maybe not so much the show, but definitely this hotel isn't hosting any more -. It a bit of a tragedy because is was such a nice big room, that I was thinking that this could be the new Roxbury Hotel for shows, which is wishful thinking because no one is really making shows anymore. It was a strong show with two headliners, and you're never going to find shows this cheap on a weekend, so it's pretty much a no-brainer to go. Alex White has a new short set, and Barney also had a lot of new stuff. Gary was on fire with a set that was practically all ad-lib crowd-riffing. I was watching Thalia and thinking how fast she talks, and I just realised there is 3 lady comics that talk fast, eg, Jess Fucks, Amelia Navascues, Thalia, but no fast talking guy comics except Umit Bali in the old days. We have constant talkers, eg, Luke Heggie, Dan Rath, but they don't generally squeeze in ad-libs with the crowd while doing their routine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$10 + F-$13 + C$6]

Jake Harvey(MC), Thalia Joan, Alex White, Andrew Barnett, Brea Macey, Gary Eck

12.12.24 : Super Chill Comedy : Otis(Leichhardt)

There is only so much you can do with only 6 people in the audience, but overall it was still quite alright. We had a first time comic Lydia Feng, and you don't usually see someone that smooth at their very first gig, ie, she was doing comments after jokes if they didn't land, which is how you get bigger laughs for a gag. Alex White was trying new stuff, with most of the rest being above average/good. Still not good so wasn't there all the time, but concentrated enough that it was nice. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$17 + C$5]

Jacob Perry(MC), Fran Middleton, ?, Alex White, ?, Gerard McGowan, Lydia Feng, Shash Kapur, Kiyanosh Sahebi

11.12.24 : Stand Up Comedy Night : The Sherwood(Leumeah)

Tahir's tour was a bit expensive at $50, and despite the annoying far distance, I thought this would be a decent substitute a reasonable price - lol -. The crowd listened, but they were pretty ded until Tahir came on. Some sh!t came up personally so I wasn't in the mood to listen, but even with that it also was hard to hear, ie, the volume was a bit low and lots of hard surfaces made it echoey and muddied words, so there was even less to grab my attention. The crowd was something like 3.5 for the supports first half, and 4 for Tahir in the second half. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : na] [T-$25 + F-$5 + C$10*]

Jake Howie(MC), Carolyn Swindell, Billy D’Arcy, Tahir

10.12.23 : Question Everything S4-E10 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo

Do I HAVE to write something for this, that's what it felt like. It was that same same, same people, same guests, same jokes, same mild humour, it was just very ho-hum. I think it was the repetitive nature of TGIF that got it cancelled, even the guests didn't try in the end, and for me this is bordering on that. The guests were adequate, but they've been on so many times there is no spark. In fact the only ep this season that had a spark was the Tom Ballard one, because he's a bit irreverent. I'm sick of talking about this, The End. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$5 + C$6]

Mel Buttle, Jillian Cosgriff, Suren Jayamane

09.12.24 : Comedy Night @ Taffy's Bar (April) : Taffy's Bar(Neutral Bay)

The show was alright, it's just that I ended up in a not so good seat at the back and couldn't hear or see that well. Elliot has come along way from when I first saw him in an Open Mic at 19.04.23 : New Wave Comedy Showcase : Agincourt Hotel, because now he's a pretty good MC. Daniel didn't do any crowd work because he wasn't the MC, and even though it wasn't as good for me, ie, a heavy repeat set routine, it was plenty good enough. It was a 3.5 for me, but I think if I was at the front it probably would've been a 3.75. So I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that it was the better score. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$11 + C$6]

Elliot McLaren(MC), Alex Jae, ?, Tom Witcombe, Daniel Muggleton

08.12.24 : Story Club - Xmas Spectacular : Comedy Store(Entertainment Quarter Moore Park)

I don't know how such a low-key show, ie, not very animated or high in laughs, ends up being so good. I don't know if Sunday was a good idea, because less than half the crowd turned up, ie, maybe 50 people. It's kind-of weird how going to a show on Sunday makes me feel sad because it feels like liminal spaces, ie, once busy streets and now deserted, but once the show starts I'm fine. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$35 + F-$5 + C$4]

Osher Günsberg : Osher told of his trip to Nazareth, and how he lived in the US for 10 years trying to get a gig as a game show host

Emma Wortley : In a drunken stunt Emma jumps off a table and cracks her heal, but then does the male thing of not going to a doctor but ignoring it and hobbling around for 2 weeks.

Rosie Waterland : A doggy chicken has her in for urgent emergency anal surgery

Tom Nash : Tom makes up a BS shark attack story of how he lost his limbs to some annoyingly inquisitive strangers while on a ferry from Hull in the UK to Rotterdam Netherlands

Zoë Norton-Lodge : How her family in the UK perpetuate a lie about all their ages to her uncle's wife's family, so it's not as creepy that her uncle is 25 years older than his wife.

08.12.24 : Robot Royale : UNSW(Kensington)

Angus from the Youtube channel Make's Muse said there was a robot battle at UNSW on Sun morn, so I went just to see something different. These are Ant-weight robots, ie, 150 grams max, and most of the battles are mild because most don't have high energy weapons. But when the open class Ant robots turn up, it's so brutal with their high speed weapons they ricochet around the arena with such force that the crowd jumps back at the loud impacts on the perspex. Angus's bot Dead Cat Bounce got pretty much taken apart in the 1st battle, ie, wheels ripped off, but he rebuilt it and was ready by the 2nd round. There is also solar car racing, and solar boat racing, solar car, etc, so there is enough going on that there is always something you can watch. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 3] [T-$ + F-$3 + C$6]
The Maker's Muse Youtube vid - Is this tiny combat robot INDESTRUCTIBLE?

Angus Maker's Muse Dead Cat Bounce in front Chicken pecking robot

                                                                      solar car racing solar boat racing
                     Angus's bot Dead Cat Bounce with green wheels being taken apart - lol -

07.12.24 : Raygun: The Musical : iD Comedy Club(Kinselas Darlinghurst)

So I'm waiting around and it's 7:15 and the room downstairs is still dark, so I look it up and it's all over the newspapers that the show got cancelled because Raygun threatened legal action, ie, that explained why the show name changed in the morning from "Raygun: The Musical" to "Breaking: The Musical". It was that legal BS that the names were too similar - how does Heath Frankin get away with Chopper -, but it also said that the kangaroo part is kind-of copyrighted. Technically Raygun's looks more like a horse rearing than a kangaroo, where as Stephs is paws left, right, left, leg lift, while staying vertical, ie, no lean back. It's a disappointment, and they are looking at it legally, but generally it's not worth contesting for an individual because it costs more than it's worth, ie, it's kind-of stuck. I was on team Raygun before because I thought people were picking on her too much, but now I'm not - lol -. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$6]

PS: I never saw the vid at the time, and only knew everyone was saying her routine was so lame it was embarrassing. Well I bulk recorded all the Olympics from TV and only got to the Raygun vid a couple days before this show - lol -, and basically she didn't do much, ie, not much physical acrobatics and very short sets. Basically her skill level was way behind 2nd last. What I think happened was that none of the commentator did any research, but instead hyped her up as the great OZ hope when she had the lowest skill level, ie, usually the commentators justify/make excuses when they know they have low skill level. In an interview after she actually said that it was expected, because Oceania is not at that level. Whether that's true or an excuse I don't know, but usually Youtube has vids showing world class level which you can copy. Personally I'm not a fan of musicals, ie, sing to talk is weird - lol -, but I'm too lazy to do the research into what happened so was interested in the abridged story, which is usually part of a musical - lol -.

PPS: I saw people waiting, then looking at their phone, and then leaving, and I found the email in the spam folder the next day - lol -.

06.12.24 : Takashi Wakasugi : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I went to Taka when he started 20.09.17 : Takashi Waka (JPN) - Japan Things : The Factory Theatre : Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75 - odd I gave it only 3.75 because in my mind it was way funnier, ie, a 4.25, and I even remember telling Rose Matafeo(NZ) how super funny he was -. But after that I never could get tickets because everyone else found out how funny he was, ie, it always gets sold-out. Even with this one they had to move Taka to a larger room because of the demand, and he hasn't even been on TV Taskmaster yet, ie, he's not well known yet. This one wasn't as funny as the first one - the fish out of water moving to a new country is most OS comics best show -, but this was still very good because of the Taka/Japanese logic, ie, he sees things differently, and it's the quirkiness that this funny. As an example, you know how people dump stuff in different sections of a supermarket when they change their minds, well Taka he came up with an idea to help people, eg, leaving toilet paper near the coffee for that morn poo - very clever lol -. Even though the laughs were a 3.75, the logic made it a 4. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$29 + F-$0 + C$6]

05.12.24 : Super Chill Comedy GONG SHOW : Otis(Leichhardt)

The last one wasn't great, simply because not much of a crowd turned up, but that didn't bother me because the added sound effects to cover ded jokes was fun. This one had no magic, and I think the enthusiasm got sucked out by a plethora of unfortunate things. Like they didn't do many sound effects, and they were too quiet, and that left joke with dead-air - laughing is preferable but any noise makes jokes better than silence -. Even less of a crowd turned up - downstairs looked dead. Traditionally Dec to Feb is dead because people have parties or go out of town, so that didn't help. But I think the biggest kicker was that not many comics turned up - they didn't even run that contest part of the show -. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.25] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$5]

didn't take pics because I was practically on the stage, ie, too obvious - lol -

04.12.24 : Super Chill Comedy GONG SHOW : Otis(Leichhardt)

Doh!. I lost track of the days and thought it was Thur, which was super stupid because I was just at an appointment that I knew was on Wed - lol -, so went to the Leichhardt for no reason - I weirded-out the owner when I turned up one day early, lol - . All I could think of was Charo’s Comedy Club : Charing Cross Hotel(Waverley), but the problem with that is you never know the actual date, or even if it's still running. Basically they do that lazy thing where they say "1st Wed of the month" on a posting that is very old, ie, no actual posted dates that get updated so you know it's still running. I already blew $9 so I didn't feel like blowing more on something that might not exist anymore, ie, it costs $s to travel. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$5]

had an appointment with a black cat - lol -

03.12.23 : Question Everything S4-E9 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo
The crowd wasn't as good this time, ie, they didn't want to clap much, which suxed a bit because it was one of the better/funnier ones - they did laugh adequately so it wasn't that bad -. There was a funny bit about Elon calling the ABC "communists" after those nut-jobs got criticised in a sketch, so Tom Ballard playing a mock comrade official sarcastically lambasted them. I don't know if something that risque will get to air, ie, there's the Russian invasion thing, etc, so we will have to see if it get in. The "communist" thing is that usual right-wing trope they always pull out when they criticised, but if you look the left-wing in first world countries it's never true communism, it always the morally correct stance. All the crack-pot right-wing stuff always gets air time, but when have you ever seen communist stuff on air, ie, it practically doesn't exist anymore, and if there no one to question them it's just another dictatorship. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]

02.12.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

This was way way better than it had any right to be, because only 6 people turned up - there was something going on downstairs that sucked the extra people away -. Artie Gallagher put everyone into an friendly accepting mood with a new intro, ie, we know the situation but we are going to have a good time anyway. But it was Jake Howie that really set the mood with all improvised friendly crowd work. Basically he didn't do his routine so it wasn't a repeat for me, but it was so smooth and nice that it was very fun. Chris Safi is not PC, but it's that crude/rude stuff that is quite funny. Alex White did a lot of new stuff, so with ¾ new was quite good for me. Ironically I was thinking of skipping this show because I've see Julia Wilson so many times, ie, a heavy repeat, but she did different versions of her stuff with different wording and extra stories, and that made them feel practically new again. She also did an old story that I've only heard maybe once before, but this time it was way more polished with way more details that made it outstanding. Super good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]

Jake Howie(MC), Chris Safi, Alex White, Julia Wilson

28.11.24 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co(Camperdown)

Last time here we had a tiny crowd, so when there was mention this might be the last - it said "final?" in the title - it got me worried because this is a nice little show. But it looks like there might be a change of mind when a decent amount of people turned up, because Marcel said that supposedly someone else is taking over from Freya and they should be back Feb. It's probably a good idea to take a break for the holidays, because traditionally Dec through to Jan it gets a bit dead as people have other stuff - winter is also a bit lean -. Somehow they wrangled Andrew Barnett, ie, top tier, who smashed. Never seen Cameron Woods, but he was very good. I think Carolyn Swindell had a new set, at least I didn't remember it, and that was quite good. Steph Broadbridge and Marcel Blanch-de Wilt had some new stuff, which is good because I'm a repeat offender - lol -. Then we had Claire Robin(Nun Slut) come out in a nun's habit, but with her bare arse hanging out while doing provocative poses and flirting with audience members - rofl -. I was wondering why they moved the stage near the door, and that was because they wanted to keep Nun Slut's arse a secret until she turned around - lol -. Super fun. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$16 + F-$14 + C$6]

Freya Reviews(MC), Carolyn Swindell, Steph Broadbridge, Cameron Woods, Claire Robin(Nun Slut), Andrew Barnett, Marcel Blanch-de Wilt

Got the last seat and it wasn't good for pics + didn't take Nun Slut pics because it's creepy

27.11.24 : The Running Joke at Crowbar : Crowbar Sydney(Leichhardt)

With a lineup that strong you couldn't not go - I need a calculator for that(Dan Rath joke lol) -. They did that thing where they have a lot of breaks so the bar can make money, but for someone that does this a lot it leaves pauses and makes the night long, ie, lower energy in places, but that aside it was pretty strong. Daniel Muggleton is so smooth/good at crowd riffing he makes me think of Gary Eck, if not better. Becky Lucas was strong with new material. Chopper sorted out his new set from Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel, and now it's super strong. And Dan Rath was blistering, ie, when you see him in small clubs working on new material it's not as fast, but as a headliner it was incredible. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$25 + F-$16? + C$6]

Daniel Muggleton(MC), Becky Lucas, Heath Franklin's Chopper, Dan Rath

26.11.24 : Gladiator II - movie

R : Drama - Action : After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.

There is so much wrong with this film that it doesn't have an ounce of gravitas, ie, it's not even a shadow on the original. Some of the physical logic is sus. The fighting is garbage, ie, you can see them missing a swing by miles. The lead actor has no presence and delivers everything weakly. The director should've stayed doing TV soap operas with the amount of ridiculous close-ups trying to portray emotions, ie, never seen so many people spit when shouting - lol -, and he didn't direct the actors to produce strong forcible dialogue. I found it a sleep-fest at the start, but got used to it so could watch the rest. [2.5] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]

25.11.24 : Emma Holland - Special Taping : The Chippo Hotel(Chippendale)

I know John Cruckshank is going to kill it at Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo), but I went for something different to mix it up. I did see this show about 7 months ago, and even though it is a repeat it doesn't detract from this one because after all that time I only have a sense of what happened, not the specific gags. What was a problem was I was at the back and couldn't see the monitor, which is a big part of the show, and being isolated it was hard to laugh. Probably just as good as last time. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]

24.11.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

It turned out to be pretty big because we had the posted lineup plus some high-level drop-ins from the show next door at Enmore Theatre. We had cabaret form Ruby Teys, a Raygun the Musical sampler - boo-hoo for me surprise wise because I have tickets. Luke had a new killa short set with a massive amount of new backhanded sarcastic roasts - rofl -. Fady was back to his blistering form. Cam James had some new stuff and new songs. Kiyanosh Sahebi always has a strong smooth set. Fariola Valtolina was new and appealed because I've been around Italians all my life. Super night. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$13 + F-$11 + C$6]

PS: When Steph Broadbridge(Raygun) came out to sing I couldn't figure out who it was because of the mop hair - I have the milder Prosopagnosia where if someone changes something I have trouble recognising them -, so I was thinking, how the hell is Angie Hart from Frente! here doing Raygun - lol -. Even now looking at the photos I still can't pick who it is.

Sam Bowden(MC), Kiyanosh Sahebi, Ruby Teys, Gavin Scott, Raygun Steph Broadbridge, Luke Heggie, Fariola Valtolina, Fady Kassab, Cameron James

Raygun had people dancing Cam James

23.11.24 : Eddie Ifft - Natural Stupidity : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I thought they moved this from the Comedy Store to the Factory because the trains were on strike, but it turned out it was because they didn't sell many tickets. This may sound grim, but the 40 or so people were pumped to be there - it was like they know of Eddie and were enthusiastic to see him -, so it still turned out pretty good. Overall Eddie wasn't as funny as in the old days with his NY style fast one-liners, but has switched to longer story based stuff. He did do some political and other stuff at the start, which was the best part, but basically most of it was the married/wife and father with kids stuff, which I've heard a lot of lately. Basically silly stuff is funnier, eg, Eddie using "tsunami" when phonetically spelling the T in Ifft over the phone, where as the reality based stuff isn't , eg, marriage, kids, etc. Not as good as the old days, but I wasn't disappointed, ie, things are never going to be as good as the peek times because things change all the time. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$49 + F-$0 + C$6]

22.11.24 : Harvey Comedy : Norton's(Leichhardt)

I wasn't planing on doing anything because generally shows get more pricey at the end of the week, and I totally forgot about this show, but thankfully someone posted it on the FB Sydney Comedy Scene (Australia) page and I was able to arrange things last minute, ie, 30min to spare - lol -. Boi this place got popular fast, because a big crowd turned up, and even though I would prefer if it travelled a little quicker to keep the energy high - seen too much so prefer fast -, it was still pretty good because the line-up was pretty strong. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$10 + F-$21 + C$6]
PS: Gary Eck maybe here 13.12.24, ie, ineup is confirmed on Insta and search Harvey Comedy for tics

Jake Harvey(MC), Chris Knight, Hughie Philips, Ryan Sim, Brea Macey, Eric Hutton

21.11.24 : Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis(Leichhardt)
It was pretty quiet, but it's was ok. Basically the crowd was small, but because they knew the score they were fine with it, ie, they were happy even if they didn't make a whole lot of noise. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$5]
Kiyanosh Sahebi(MC), Kimberly Snow, Josh Whitehead, Bryce Lavery-Jacko, Guneet Kaur, Fadey Yosif

20.11.24 : SCC Comedy SPECIAL GUEST Show : Low 302(Surry Hills)
It was one of the better free comedy nights. Like it has the usual new comics, plus some you hardly ever see, doing longer sets, but smoother than usual, ie, like they are regulars here so are very comfortable with the delivery. The standout besides "The SHANK" - lol -, was this angry teacher dude doing the not very non-PC stuff, ie, not for the faint-hearted, and because that stuff is funny/rude-crude it was like old type lol comedy. John Cruckshank is now more dimensionally accurate with his 15cm radius Frisbee gag - I think he used to say 15cm diameter which is a bit too small -. I think at one time he said 20cm diameter, which I though was too small, but when I looked it up, Frisbee's are supposed to be between 20-25cm - me personally would go for 250mm diameter because it sounds bigger lol -. He didn't do any new stuff like he did on Mon, but is always good so it didn't matter. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$6]

19.11.23 : Question Everything S4-E7 studio recording : ABC Studio UltimoI should know better than sitting in the front floor seats, ie, it's hard to see, but if you are on the far left you are behind the guests, and that makes it's even harder to hear them - I think the back seat tiers have amplified sound because I don't remember not hearing stuff -. Even though I missed some punchlines, I think this was one of the better ones because the audience laughed more than usual. There also a lot of stuff just for the amusement of the panel, eg, the cast would riff all over the place with stuff that can't go to air, the head writer would make them say stuff on the teleprompter to amuse himself, etc. It started a bit late and went on longer than usual, and despite not hearing that well it was still pretty good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]
Mark Humphries, Cameron James, Gen Fricker

18.11.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

On paper it was a little screwy, ie, Luka Mullar was supposed to be MC-ing this month but we got last month's Mitch Garling, plus we got John Cruckshank when he's supposed to be headlining next week. I guess it's only me that notices because I'm always here, ie, wouldn't mind a Sam Kissajukian or Ben Kochan slipped in as something new - lol -. As for the show, everyone was super good, plus we are getting full room crowds these days. Very good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]

Mitch Garling(MC), Steph Broadbridge, John Cruckshank, Dan Muggleton

14.11.24 : Manly Comedy Club : Shark Bar - New Brighton Hotel(Manly)

Because Salame was very good in the old days, and that he didn't do much material MC-ing at the Fitz, I thought I better go and see a set where he is forced to do material, but it was kind-of the same as the Fitz doing mainly new dad/kid and getting old/injuries stuff with some crowd work. It was better than the Fitz, but it wasn't the killer stuff from the old days. Usually this place is guaranteed good because it gets big crowds, but tonight for some reason - maybe end of year parties -, we only had 30 people, ie, 1/3 of the usual crowd. Either way they were decent laugh-wise, so it was pretty good anyway. Everyone was fine, but probably only Andrew Barnett really stoodout. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$31 + F-$5 + C$0]

Marty Bright(MC), Ned Townsend, Anthony Salame, Charlwood, Andrew Barnett

13.11.24 : Improv Theatre Sydney Gala Show : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

30min in I started thinking this is not the show I thought I was getting. Like it said Gala and it showed pro improvisers, but this was a improv comp, ie, Smackdown thing, with no pros. Smackdown is like the old Full Body Contact No Love Tennis, ie, it's 4 teams doing short improv scenes alternatively until they use up their allotted 10min. I guess not reading the blurb was my fault because on re-reading it afterwards it did say Smackdown further down the event, but at the time I wouldn't have known what a Smackdown was because I've never heard of it before. Plus it wasn't in the title so I didn't go past Gala. Either way I couldn't concentrate on what was going on for the next 30min wondering what happened, ie, did I buy tickets to the wrong show, was this even mentioned in the event, etc. Annoying before my confusion I was thinking the Smackdown guys were quite decent, ie, a cut above recent stuff I saw, but afterwards I stopped listening, ie, I shot myself in the foot - lol -. When Intermission hit I was thinking of leaving, but I figured if I stay maybe my mind will stop racing and I'll be able to listen. But when the second half started I was surprised when pros did come out and do the whole 2nd half - now it makes sense why they did those shows at ITS recently -. This was a higher level and funnier than the 1st half so it ended quite well. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : na] [T-$35 + F-$0 + C$6]

ITS Smackdown

Pros

13.11.24 : Red One - movie

PG : Action-Adventure - Fantasy - Comedy : After Santa Claus (code name: Red One) is kidnapped, the North Pole's Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with the world's most infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) in a globe-trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas.

It's meant to be a silly fun PG movie, and it is that and a bit more, ie, it's ok for adults. No matter how silly/unrealistic things get it is always delivered with a straight face and dialogue, and coupled with a big adventure quest, it's fun. [3.25] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

12.11.23 : Question Everything S4-E6 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo

We had Charlie Pickering and he is a cut about the norm, ie, he quick like Wil used to be in the old days, so it was better that usual. It's ok, it's just that it's more mucking around superfluous stuff than the serious stuff it did when it started, but if this format gets the views I supposed it doesn't really matter. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$6]

Charlie Pickering, Lizzy Hoo, Josh Earl

11.11.24 : Comedy Night @ Taffy's Bar (April) : Taffy's Bar(Neutral Bay)

I missed the early-bird discount because I was waiting for another venue to post their lineup, ie, go to the best one, but the lineup looked so strong it seemed well worth the extra $5 - lol -. I would say Kiyanosh was the funniest with Eric second. Because Luke starts fast and you have to workout the vibe, ie, sarcastic, and his new routine isn't one of his funniest, it took a while for the room to catch-up and start laughing. Super good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$15 + F-$19 + C$6]

Marty Bright(MC), Jen Carnovale, Kiyanosh Sahebi, Eric Hutton, Luke Heggie

09.11.24 : Western Sydney Comedy Club : The Collector Hotel(Parramatta)

Going by the old days I was thinking this wouldn't be that popular - it soldout 1st show but I was thinking small room small crowd soldout -, but it was actually a large room with a large crowd. If you think about it, there is nothing cheaper on a Sat night in Sydney, and that not to mention Sydney Comedy Club : Riverside Theatre(Parramatta) is around the corner and $45 - ouch! -, so it is quite appealing. I think it went well, ie, it was mainly the better new comics - see pic -, but I couldn't laugh much because I couldn't hear that well. Basically it was too quiet at the start and most people didn't laugh at Elliot McLaren(MC) because they couldn't hear him. And even though they turned it up soon after, the sound was too muddy and had no sharpness/treble, ie, it just wasn't clear enough for me. I thought about this latter, but maybe I was too far forward and behind the speakers, and that the people at the back could hear just fine, either way, even with me knowing the jokes I still missed maybe 30% of them. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$15 + C$6]

PS: I wasn't happy to see Fady after last week, but he did one of his better sets. Basically his old set was blistering, but currently he purposely wrecks the start and tries to recover the set - this was straight from Fady's mouth -. I've seen comics get bored and self-destruct, eg, Jimbo, so they only have themselves to blame if something goes wrong.

Elliot McLaren(MC), Nathan Chin, Laura Coleman, Riv Narak, Fady Kassab

They also do the improv jokes based on a subject thing, like the end of Mock The Week

08.11.24 : Harvey Comedy : Norton's(Leichhardt)

This is another show you're never going to find unless you are a local, simply because there is practically nothing online. Basically I only found out about it when Gary Eck asked about a comedy night on Norton St, ie, he couldn't find it either - lol -. It's kind-of one of those smaller nights, at least in the first half because by the second half a decent/big crowd turned up, and the level is up&comers with experience and a semi pro headliner. There is also a small trivia contest and a meat raffle. The only thing was there was a lot, ie, too many, PSAs about supporting the night with $s. It's that Catch-22, you need to remind people to support the show or it will die, yet too much PSAs and it gets annoying - kind-of reminds me of A Laugh And A Half, whose PSAs got very tedious the 2nd time -. It feels like the locals want to support it, ie, there was repeat customers and practically everyone listened intently, but it also had that vide that that the locals live close by and it's easy/cheap to do on a Fri night. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$10 + F-$19 + C$6]

07.11.24 : Win Me Over - The Boldest Live Comedy Blind Date Show! : Factory Theatre

Because it's not a fast format, ie, lots of slow talking, and because it started 40min late, it sucked all the enthusiasm out of me, and you kind-of need the enthusiasm to keep attention during the low-key slow questioning. I remember Jimbo had a Perfect Match dating show, but it was pure comedy with wacky questions. This is more like a real dating show with normal questions, and a bit of comedy thrown-in. The format is 2 girls and 2 boys always blindfolded, and in first bit they would bring out the first 3 one by one and talk to them, then in pairs, then triples, then pairs again, then introduce the 4th guy in pairs or triples - there is so much of this I forget -. Then it's thumbs up or down, and the matched pair gets to remove their blindfolds and see each other. Basically it's a lot of minorly interesting talking, hence why you need to be enthusiastic so accept all the talking. It's fine for a one off. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$30 + F-$0 + C$6]

PS: No idea why Rory was questioning why people were wearing Halloween costumes, when the ad blurb for this event TELLs you to wear a costume - lol -.

Rory Lowe, Henry Zhu

06.10.24 : Story Club : Comedy Store(Entertainment Quarter Moore Park)

When I saw the price, ie, $35, I was thinking this got expensive and I should skip, but then I remembered it was about $30 in the old days - lol -. I don't know if it's because I haven't been to this in ages, ie, 4 years, but it was like a re-first time viewing - lol - and I found it exceptionally good.

Osher Günsberg : In the early days Osher though he was a good DJ, but latter found out he wasn't.

Jordan Raskopoulos : Jordan witnessed The Hoff meet a cheap knock-off Hoff impersonator that sneaked into the TV greenroom.

Cait Harris : A chance brush with poison ivy makes her face swell just before going to the Oscars.

Kate McClymont : Catching Eddie Obeid and all his illegal under-the-table dealings. It's surprising how much you can get away legally with a good layer and simply lying, eg, he dodged a $12M fine simply but making his company insolvent.

Larry Emdur : Larry's lucky watch keeps him employed despite being the most fired TV host.

Zoë Norton-Lodge : Crazy boss in the denim one-piece

[Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25] [T-$35 + F-$5 + C$6]

Osher Günsberg, Jordan Raskopoulos, Cait Harris, Kate McClymont, Larry Emdur, Zoë Norton-Lodge

06.11.24 : Saturday Night - movie

MA15+ : Biographical - Comedy-Drama : At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live (1975).

When I saw the trailer my first impression was that this is exaggerated to make it look like it was more/harder than it was, and that's pretty much what the film was like. On top of that it's made busy, ie, quick cut scenes from different depts showing the problems, but overlapping so it comes at you quick and constant - the fast pacing is usually there when there isn't much in the film -. The only redeeming factor for me was the history, ie, didn't know singer Janis Ian was on because we never got SNL, but overall the busy/over-exaggerated stuff got annoying for me. It also wasn't funny. [2] [T-$10 + F-$5 + C$3]

05.11.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

It's not the best show in town, but so long as you go once in a blue moon it's quite alright, ie, every week and it sux. This is kind-of like a open-mic, but because it has the better comics doing new material it is quite a bit better, ie, beginner open mics can sux. Fine [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$6 + C$6]

04.11.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

I wasn't very keen on going because it was that same headliner from 2 weeks ago, but in the end it turned out super good. Luka was good. Pat was good with his fast talking style - lots of words kill dead-air and make the set feel better/bigger - . Tom was good because he practically had an all new set. And Danielle was good because she added some new stuff in the middle. But the biggest plus was that the crowd was big, and because of the added laugh-track it made everything better - it also makes repeats better -. Excellent. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$15 + C$6]

Luka Mullar(MC), Pat Doherty, Tom Whitcomb, Danielle Walker

02.11.24 : The Grand Masters of Comedy @ Easts Leagues : Easts Bondi Junction

Usually these big club shows are guaranteed good because they have strong lineups, but this one ended very badly. It started a bit slow - Meisel takes a bit of time to get going when he hasn't gig-ed for a while -, but that was soon forgotten because the middle section was quite good. But then Faddy decided to go political for too long, and totally destroyed the show. It got so bad for so long, ie, silence, that even I was thinking this is sh!t and how can I get out, like the other 3 walk-outs. What was ironic was that I was thinking that this crowd listen intently, but wasn't super vocal, and that Faddy's super good routine will get them going/lol-ing, but he totally wrecked the night. It was a big disappointment, ie, you go for a good time to get away from the world's problems and you wind up with a sour taste in your mouth. Most of it was around 3.75-4, but the end was a big fat zero. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : na] [T-$30 + F-$5 + C$6]

Steve Philp, Peter Meisel, Bek De Unammuno, Mick Meredith, Fady Kassab

01.11.24 : Daniel Connell: Little Aussie Battler Encore : Comedy Store

I was looking at tickets last time he did this show and deemed it a bit too expensive, and wasn't looking at this show either thinking it would be the same price wise, but when I did a curiosity look a couple hours beforehand the $30 looked reasonable. Overall I would say he's good, ie, above average, just not super good. Basically if I hadn't seen Daniel Muggleton a hundred times before - lol -, I would say Dan is better, ie, 4-ish. Someone different made a good change. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$30 + F-$5 + C$6]

31.10.24 : Scary Story Night @ The Factory! A Comedy Spooktacular : Factory Theatre

It was nice, but I don't know if it was a bad time to quit coffee - lol -, or I'm not used to shows that aren't as dynamic since the Giant Dwarf closed years ago, ie, you just sit there passively listening rather than laughing, but I had trouble concentrating, ie, tuning in&out. That is until Ahmed Zubb, that was so funny that the whole room lit-up with laughter. It was a change, and it was nice enough. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$30 + F-$0 + C$6]

James Colley : Constantly hearing noises while staying in a hotel, and finding out it was next to the music venue the Hordern Pavilion.

Alexei Toliopoulos : Having a dream about a kid named Felix, then finding out his hotel is attached to a children's hospital.

Dave Woodhead : Telling us the Aboriginal story of the creature the Dogeye - can't find the spelling -.

Alex Lee - Finding an actual real life skeleton in the closet.

Froomes : Buying a new house and finding out a kid drown in the pool.

Ahmed Zubb : Finding a vegan ghost in the Bankstown hotel.

Osher Günsberg : living in a haunted house in Adelaide.

Nick Harriott - music

30.10.24 : Live Comedy Night : Bar 53(Canley Vale)

I could've done with a different headliner, ie, seen him a lot lately - lol -, but it's free so it's not a big deal. It didn't go that well, but that's fine for free. Basically there wasn't many people - the owners and their friends had to pad the crowd -, but the bigger problem was the crowd didn't laugh enough. I guess it's because we are in the West, but it was only non PC jokes and local references that got laughs, ie, Ian Mu was from Cabramatta, and Riv was from Blacktown, so they did best. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$16 + C$5]

Tavis Harrod(MC), Maddie Dockrill, Ian Mu, Riv Narak, Marty Bright

29.10.23 : Question Everything S4-E4 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo

I think they cut the budget for this show this year because we got Matt Parkinson again, ie, no special guests, and true to form, a Parko show was a dull. I don't know if it's because I see so many of these, but it just feels like this big slow dull guest rotation, à la TGIF. It's getting to the point I need a surprise, like last year when Paul McDermott and Carl Barron turned up, because this is kind-of a drag for me. From memory last year it was getting dull for me until these guests turned up, so lets hope things change in future eps. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]

PS: I had John Cruckshank and Eric Hutton behind me - lol -.

Matt Parkinson, Mel Buttle, Gillian Cosgriff

28.10.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

It was a bit disappointing because I specifically went to see Demi and the laptop F'd-up, and totally ruined the set. This is where I started wondering if I have ever seen Demi do a full set, because the only other time I remember, ie, 02.05.24 : Demi Lardner & David Correos : Factory Theatre(Marrickville), the laptop F'd-up as well and wrecked the show. Maybe it's some Apple propriety thing but I have no idea why plugging in an external monitor would make apps not work, because they were working earlier at home. On the bright side Anthony was better this time, and Jake did the best version of his routine - he added more embellishments to his stories and that made them funnier -, it's just a shame Jake wasn't last because that would've left a good impression, ie, leave on a high. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$15 + C$6]

Anthony Salame(MC), Demi Lardner, Jake Howie

27.10.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

I don't know how these half-baked theme shows end up being so much fun, and to think I was going to skip - lol -. Sure they come up with special bits just for this night, but most of it is seat-of-the-pants ad-lib, and yet it winds up being good. Lots of fun. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$13 + F-$16 + C$6]

26.10.24 : Dave Hughes: Fully Furnished : The Builders Club - The Basement(Wollongong)

I think that was every story/bit Dave Hughes has ever done plus some new stuff, and to fit all that in this quite long 1½hr show he had to constantly talk non stop, to the point that the hecklers didn't have a chance because he talked straight over them - they were DHs anyway -. Super good show. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5] [T-$40 + F-$5 + C$6]

24.10.24 : Cancel Or Keep: Competitive Comedy Night : Burdekin Hotel(Darlinghurst)

Money wise, the logical thing was to go to Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis(Leichhardt), but sometimes free isn't enough, so I tried a full/big version of CorK at a place I've only been once before. The concept gets rid of boring fast, and the comics in the know started hard and fast because after 60sec you could be online app voted out. The thing is there was 2 vote-outs that probably deserved it, ie, too slow or no material, but about 4 that got cut just when they got to something interesting, ie, probably 1:30-2min might be better. It was ok/decent, but it was actually the crowd being too quiet that you noticed more, ie, no laugh-track makes the show feel a bit iffy. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$19 + F-$0 + C$6]
MC - Danni Issues Haedliner - John Cruckshank

24.10.24 : Venom: The Last Dance - movie

PG13 : Sci-Fi - Action - Adventure : Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance.

Not as good as one, and probably a touch behind two, but wasn't boring so I didn't mind it. There seamed to be holes in the plot, ie, someone should'ave come up with better solutions, but it's not a deal breaker. I don't think it was something special that stands out, ie, just more of the same, but it was ok to watch. [3] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]

22.10.23 : Damien Power - Special Live Taping : Comedy Store

It was tough going because I had to drag myself out of a sick bed, ie, not feeling good, but it was worth it in the end. Damien is a bit of a dichotomy, like most of the stuff gives the impression of normal level comedy, eg, d!ck jokes, etc, but then there is this very high level thinking/clever parts dotted in. It might just be my observation, but it's like he is one of those high level thinkers that will never be happy because they think too much. Either way it was as good as it was when I last saw him 19.07.24 : Damien Power - Not so Funny Now is it? : Carousel(Darlinghurst). [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]
Damien Power support Danielle Walker

21.10.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

It started slow, ie, the crowd did listen but didn't laugh much, but thankfully Steph Broadbridge came to the rescue with a good set, ie, it ended on a high. Fady Kassab also helped, but he didn't do any of his set "fire" material, but did ad-lib crowd-work, ie, not as funny as usual, but still pretty decent, ie, he should do a month of MC here - lol -. I'm sure Steph has gained power by using scumbag's comments in a funny song, but the lyrics do make me sad. I realised a few years ago that there is no such thing as Social Media, it's actually Unsocial Media, so I cut most of it out of my life because it's so toxic that it was causing mental health issues. Basically SM makes you fake think you have joined a group of like minded people, ie, you are being accepted, but in fact you are never part any real group. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]

Anthony Salame(MC), ?, Alex Jae, Fady Kassab, Steph Broadbridge

19.10.24 : The Dating Game : ITS-Improv Theatre Sydney(Redfern)
I gotta stop impulse buying, because on the way there I was wondering why I would pay for a ticket to something that I know is not my thang anymore. I think the logic was that it's a dating game with an audience volunteer and 3 improvisers playing bachelors that can be any wacky character, and even though on paper there was wacky characters, ie, The Grim Reaper, The Devil, etc, none were that wacky. Even though there wasn't much laughing, and I didn't hate it, ie, it's ok to watch, it wasn't anything special. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.5] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$7]

18.10.24 : Got Your Number(What's Your Number) : ITS-Improv Theatre Sydney(Redfern)
Ever since Osher Günsberg's TV shows got canned and put him out of work, he has been doing side projects to get back on TV. The first one was an impro show where they use the news as prompts for improv scenes, which was done about 10 years ago and proven not to work on TV - it barely works as a live show -. This second one is a game show were the hook is that all the answers are numbers, and even though it is a better idea, on the night it had lots of problems. Some were understandable, ie, they used an online scorer and there was trouble login in, but some were self inflicted, ie, most games shows have 3 rounds and a final, this had 2 rounds, a final, and an attempt at comedy with a simulated water-cooler moment between Osher and his friend that did not fit at all in a TV game show. Also they didn't give the all the answers, which is bad if you want engagement because people at home will guess the answers and they want to know if they are right. Needs work. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$7]

17.10.24 : Manly Comedy Club : Shark Bar - New Brighton Hotel(Manly)

I wasn't expecting much, because there was no big big names, but it turned out pretty good. Probably best in order, Neel Kolhatkar, Stella Wu, Lauren Bonner, Daniel Townes. It was a long day, ie, go to Merrylands, Belmore, Chatswood, Town Hall, and Manly, but I made it through - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$31 + F-$14 + C$0]

Marty Bright(MC), Lauren Bonner, Neel Kolhatkar, Stella Wu, Daniel Townes

17.10.24 : Hellboy: The Crooked Man - movie

R : Action - Horror - Fantasy : Hellboy and a rookie B.P.R.D. agent in the 1950s are sent to the Appalachians, where they discover a remote community dominated by witches and led by the sinister local demon, the Crooked Man.

Not horror, more super-natural, and not a big action blockbuster, but more a slow, sparse, side story. More mood scenes, like the stills you see in an action comic, with not much substance, ie, definitely not like the other movies. I guess the 3 failed attempts travelling to get to this movie was a sign, ie, this was the 4th trip - lol -. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$6]

15.10.23 : Question Everything S4-E2 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo

This was better than last week, but boy has this series drifted from it's brief. Originally it was this semi serious debunking of fake news facts, but by the 2nd series they drifted it towards entertainment/comedy. This was the most far removed from that, because they just used the news story as a serving suggestion, and then went in any direction related or not. Not as much substance, but it was ok to watch. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]

14.10.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

I miss fat Salame, this thin Ozempic Salame isn't as fun - lol -. He was one of the good ones back in the day, but tonight he hardly did any material, just mainly ad-lib crowd work. He did do some stuff about having a kid, but that is a pretty well worn topic these days because a lot of comics have had kids lately. Jacques Barrett came to the rescue and did a top notch set, and it's leaving on a high that people remember. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$19 + C$6]

Anthony Salame(MC), Amelia Navascues, Jacques Barrett

11.10.24 : The Super Seven: Live Stand-Up Comedy : Forest Hotel(Frenchs Forest)

I pretty much overheard everyone in the crowd saying that it was super good, and that was because it was a very strong lineup. It's kind-of an older crowd so you would think they would only get old style comics, but they lapped up the unique machine gun styling of Luke Heggie, and the lateral side-thinking one-liners of Bruce Griffiths. David Smiedt(MC), Patrick Golamco, and Jackie Loeb were the best, but the others weren't far behind. Excellent. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.5] [T-$25 + F-$4 + C$6]

David Smiedt(MC), Patrick Golamco, Peter Miesel, Luke Heggie, Bruce Griffiths, Jonas Holt, Jackie Loeb

11.10.24 : The Wild Robot - movie

PG : Sci-Fi - Animation : After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island's animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

It's nothing outstanding, but it's nice enough to watch, ie, Transformers One(2024) is more mentally stimulating for adults. [3] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

10.10.24 : Stibbs Lecture - The Quest For Cosmic Dawn: Results from the James Webb Space Telescope : The University of Sydney

Unlike other topics, eg, quantum, etc, this one had actual substance, ie, historical facts and actual pictures, so it was quite good. A surprising thing was the first JSWT photo, like at the time it was just spots to me, but because I've been watching Dr Becky Smethurst I now know the red galaxies/spots are mainly red-shifted galaxies that are older. Basically light from a galaxy is at one frequency, but because universe is expanding the the older the galaxy the more the light frequency is stretched, ie, red-shifted. It the same when a ambulance passes you the sound pitch drops the motion of the ambulance stretches the sound waves. Also the red curved banana type galaxies are galaxies that are behind something that is bending the light around them due to gravity, which is called gravitational lensing. The 6 point star is just JWST's mirror shape. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]

09.10.24 : Broken Bay Brewing Co - Comedy Night : Broken Bay Brewing Co(Brookvale)

The crowd wasn't as big as last time, which is understandable because I think it was opening night and they had heavy hitter Al Del Bene, but it was still a pretty good size. It's also understandable that this smaller crowd isn't going to make as loud a laugh-track, but they did listen intently. That being said, the comics that got laughs got more applause. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$10 + C$6]

08.10.23 : Question Everything S4-E1 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo

I don't know why but every time Matt Parkinson is on it ends up being mild, and this didn't buck that trend. To tell the truth a 2hr taping of a 30min show is never high energy. The only standout was Concetta Caristo's unplanned ad-lib section where she claimed she can predict when you last had a haircut and how much - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]

07.10.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

I was surprised a decent crowd turned up, ie, same number as last week, because Kings Cross was pretty empty - the trains stopped and there was heaps of cops at Town Hall -. Annoyingly Anthony Salame did the runner again, ie, all his appearances have been cancelled lately, so we got Shad Wika as MC instead. It was plenty fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$16 + C$6]

Shad Wicka(MC), Laura Coleman, John Cruckshank, Dan Rath

05.10.24 : COMEDY for Pyrmont Bridge Hotel's 154th Birthday : Pyrmont Bridge Hotel

I wonder what happened to the comedy here, because they had 2 shows and then canned it. The first one was packed, so I guess not many people turned up the 2nd one. Either way this free 154th B'day show turned up, it's just that it was weird because it was in the middle of the day. It took a while to get the crowd going, and it also took a while for the crowd to get here, ie, the crowd wasn't big at the start but filled up as the show ran. It was good, plus I got home quite early - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$16 + C$6]

Christan Elderfield, Ruven Govender, Bec Melrose, Elliot McLaren, Mick Meredith

04.10.24 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo

This thing is mild at best unless someone steps up, and even though I pick the eps with the comics with the higher laugh percentage, no one was "ON", so it ended up being pretty mild, ie, I had more fun last night with an audience of 5. Pretty ho-hum. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$6]

Guests: Tahir, Jennifer Wong, Tommy Dean - Host: Richard Glover

03.10.24 : Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis(Leichhardt)

This was the monthly Gong Show ep, which last time wasn't great, but this time they added a soundboard with sound effects and that made it better. The main problem was that not many people turned up, ie, 6 if you include the dog - lol -, but even the bar downstairs was kind-of empty. It wasn't a huge disappointment for me, despite looking forward to the show and it being so quiet, so I didn't mind it. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$5]

PS: I was walking home and passed The Royal Hotel, and because I bought a ticket for Eddie Ifft recently I suddenly remembered seeing him in there maybe 2008-ish.

03.10.24 : My Old Ass - movie

R : Comedy : A mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott face-to-face with her 39-year-old self. But when Elliott's "old ass" delivers warnings to her younger self, Elliott realizes she has to rethink everything about her family, life and love.

It's not a comedy per se, and it doesn't have heart-warming moments except for one place, but it is quite nice, ie, it won't change your life but it's nice to watch. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$3 + C$3]

02.10.24 : Dragon Friends Season 10 - Live D&D Comedy Show : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Last time I decided this is not for me anymore, ie, not enough in it, but because I bought this ticket back then, I kind-of had to go - doh! -. Even though last time I had to play cards while listening to stay awake, this time I kind-of made it to the end by watching. Which was kind-of ironic because there was nothing in it - lol -. This was just a filler who-done-it ep with hardly any story, but because there was this nuanced interactions it was more interesting than last time. Like something would happen, then someone would question it, then that person had to impro justify it, and it was this banter filler that just had enough that I could keep awake with minimal yawing. If this show was stuck at this level for something like $20 I might go to another, but for close to $30 it's a hard sell for me. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$6]

Dragon Friends with singer Montaigne as guest

01.10.24 : The Running Joke Comedy Club : Potts Point Hotel

Well that didn't go to plan. I missed Anthony Salame on Friday so this seemed like a good substitute, ie, a long short set, but he bailed at the last moment and was a no-show. That not a deal-breaker if the show is good, and it did start good, but then it quickly went mild, ie, only chuckles. Even more weird was that Luke Heggie was good last night, but tonight I've never seem him do such a slow delivery - there was new stuff so maybe he paused to remember it -. The crowd can be ded here, but they did clap at the start, it's just after that the clapping/laughing was a bit miserable. It was ok, just nothing special. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$25 + F-$15 + C$6]

Daniel Muggleton(MC), Steph Broadbridge, Dahn Rozario, Luke Heggie

01.10.24 : Transformers One - movie

PG : Action - Adventure - Sci-Fi - Animation : The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but who once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.

Not a fan of animation when it's aimed at kids, ie, it's usually too juvenile, but aside of some lame dialogue the story was pretty decent, ie, I wasn't bored. This is a prequel, and if you match the bot colours with the colours from the other movies - it took me a while to realise the yellow one was Bumblebee lol, it adds a bit extra to the film, ie, a relatable callback. I prefer the live action adult style movies, but this wasn't bad either. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

30.09.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

Yay, a decent sized crowd turned up this time - I think they came for Danielle Walker because she got the biggest reaction -. Luke Heggie usually machine-guns gags regardless if the audience reacts, ie, ignores silence, but this time he broke the 4th wall and commented on the jokes that didn't hit, and that made it extra funny. Amelia Navascues also broke the 4th wall, but didn't use her famous line :WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE WANT" - lol -, that didn't matter because her fast talking is engaging even if people don't react. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]

Mitch Garling(MC), Amelia Navascues, Luke Heggie, Marty Bright, Michael Cho, Danielle Walker

29.09.24 : Theatresports Scriptless Cup Grand Final : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Seeing the supposed best teams in a Grand Final for only $22 seemed like a bargain, but it was so low skill level that it wasn't engaging at all, ie, I couldn't concentrate on any of it. Impro is supposed to engage the crowd by making them use their brains to workout how the teams work around the rules, but when only 2 of the 16 scenes woke me up, it wasn't doing that. Some stuff had me flabbergasted that they didn't know the basics, like a Poem game is one line at a time rhyming the last word, but these guys would rattle off a bunch of sentences each and not rhyme anything. They even missed the obvious like the prompt "Highway Patrol", ie, one guy put two chairs on the stage and walked around them like a cop, yet the other three team members couldn't workout the chairs represented a car - doh! -. Even the prompts were plain, eg, in a cabbage patch, like what happened to something cliché like a Western campfire that becomes a callback that everyone relates/remembers, ie, uses your brain. Pretty disappointing. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 1.5] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$6]

28.09.24 : Yeah the Gays : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Only one was a repeat repeat, ie, very scripted word for word, the rest were either new, or mixed-up their set enough that it kind-of felt new. Brendan Hancock did the best delivery I've seen him do, so was extra good. The Canadian girl - forgot the name doh! -, was new, and that made it good. And John Glover was fun. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$17 + F-$0 + C$0]
Brendan Hancock, John Glover, Canadian girl, Jack Gow, Guneet Kaur

28.09.24 : Stella Wu & Yosef Bender - Amateur Hour : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I gotta stop snap-buying tickets just because they are discounted without checking my schedule, because I just saw Stella & Yosef 3 days back - doh! -. Thankfully they did long sets with half new material, and that made it worth seeing. For some reason the crowd didn't clap as much at the end as they laughed during the show, so their score was lower than it should've been. Plenty fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$5 + C$6]
Yosef Bender, Stella Wu - they probably change order each night lol -

27.09.24 : Steven J Whiteley And Friends Comedy Tour : Guildford Leagues Club
Never heard of these guys, and since they are new I thought I better check them out. This was basically a Steven J Whiteley solo show with 15min support/MC by John Peacock. John does short one-liners, where as Steve does stories - stories usually aren't as intense as punchline one after the other -. It's kind-of old-school, but more specifically Bogan/rural, ie, country/tradesman speak, and because you know the demographic you can kind-of workout the direction of the punchline, ie, semi predictable. It was fine, just nothing exceptional, ie, probably should've gone to 27.09.24 : Anthony Salame - WIP : Factory Theatre instead - lol -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$30 + F-$5 + C$6]

PS: I've been here a long long time ago, and the lineup was Sarah Kendall, Jackie Loeb, Kitty Flanagan, before Sarah and Kitty moved to the UK - I'm guessing 2000-ish? -. In that time I think the pulled the building down and built a new one - lol -.

Steven J Whiteley, John Peacock(MC) - there was also another support comic -

26.09.24 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co(Camperdown)

It's a nice night, it's just that it's tragic when the crowd was so small, ie, 5@front, 3@back -. It is what it is, so lets hope it's a winter thing. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$14 + C$6]

Freya Reviews(MC), Jake Howie, Esky, Tiffany Spurway/Lauren Rowe?, Marcel Blanch-de Wilt, Andrew Hastings, Luke Heggie

25.09.24 : Live Comedy Night : Bar 53(Canley Vale)

There was a better option at the Crowbar, but the bank balance said free - lol -. Unfortunately this 3rd show crowd was a bit thin compared to the large opening night's crowd, ie, they were adequate but the show could've done with more laugh-track. You would think they would be starving for entertainment out here, yet local and free isn't enough. I think Akila has a new routine - haven't see him that often to know if it's his regular set -, but it was quite good. There was a guy in the audience cracking jokes that was good - he wasn't malicious but actually helping -, but he disappeared in the 2nd half - boo-hoo -. Everyone was fine, but the problem for me was I bought tickets to Stella Wu & Yosef Bender that day not knowing they were on tonight - DOH! -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$16 + C$5]
PS: is it just me or did Harry Jun look friendlier with glasses - lol -

Tavis Harrod(MC), Akila, Stella Wu, Yosef Bender, Harry Jun

24.09.24 : Arcade Comedy Club - Tuesdays : Arcade Bar Sydney

I was a bit worried when I got there because the place was empty - you would think I know to turn up ½hr late for ID shows lol -, but they turned up closer to start time - can you tell I'm padding these posts lol -. Elliot McLaren and Billy D'Arcy had totally new sets that were very good. It's been so long since I saw Mick Neven that I didn't even remember what he looked like - lol -. The crowd could've been better, ie they were too quiet, but it was one of those ones where they didn't make much noise but still liked it. My score would've been higher if the crowd was better. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$13 + C$6]

23.09.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

Poor Artie tries hard to promote this show, ie, I see it popup in new places all the time, yet we still can't get a decent crowd. What is even more tragic is that he usually gets high-end headliners, yet it doesn't attract people. I think Dan Muggleton was trying all new untested material, and even though it wasn't as strong as his good stuff, it was pretty ok. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$4]

Mitch Garling(MC), Freya Reviews, Ryan Sim, Dan Muggleton

23.09.24 : The Substance - movie

R : Sci-Fi - Horror - Drama : A fading celebrity decides to use a black-market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

I don't know what idiot thought that ending was a good idea, but it was so stupid it pretty much trashed what was a film that was tenuously holding on to watchable. Other grievances other that it wasn't that compelling was, it was way too long, and the constant tight closeups to exaggerate the scenes was a bit try-hard. The first 2 hours was kind-of moral dilemma Sci-Fi, which was tolerable/passable, but the last hour they tried to turn it into horror, which was so lame-ass that it was stupid. I split ½ hour from the end after a boob fell out of an eye socket. [1] [T-$10 + F-$5 + C$3]

22.09.24 : Annie Boyle -WIP : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

When I left I checked and they were selling tickets online, but 40 min latter when I got there it was cancelled - it's easier buying at the venue -. The fringe isn't great for laughs - I quit for a few years a while back because of no laughs -, and since I didn't see anything else worth $18 I split. Saved $18 lost $6 - lol -. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]

20.09.24 : Taskmaster AUS S04E09 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney(Eveleigh)

This time the last live task was better, but because both rounds of it were kind-of similar, ie, a repeat, there wasn't much laughing the second time around. The other tasks were fine, and better than yesterday's Taskmaster(UK) ep, so that's a thing. No matter how I try to finagle the check-in for a good seat, I nearly always get the bad side of the room. It wasn't as bad as the far wall block, but from the middle block on the bad side you still can't see the contestants faces. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]
after the floor gets cleared they put chairs back to their same positions using UV marks and UV torches

19.09.24 : Cam James & Becky Lucas - New Jokes 2024 : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It was like Cam said, ie, more like a podcast than a comedy show. It felt like free-form banter about their lives, and though noy super funny, it was plenty ok. Nice. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$14 + F-$0 + C$6]

18.09.24 : Kevin & Ingrid Han - Wife Does Comedy For The First Time : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It's only a work in progress(WIP) so the delivery still has to be sorted, ie, what to emphasise and when to time it for max effect, but it was nice enough. I was expecting the wife to do the straight-man and roast with husband jokes, but it was actually closer to a double bill. Kevin did a short set with all new material - good for me because no repeats -, and his wife did the much longer set with gags she wrote - Kevin did some coaching from the back -. It's a WIP with a small crowd(10-ish), so you can expect too much. Ok. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$13 + F-$0 + C$6]

17.09.24 : Taskmaster AUS S04E03 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney(Eveleigh)

It was all good except for the last live task that was so slow and tedious it made the recording run 40min longer that last night. They kind-of realised halfway that it wasn't working, ie, it was a slow careful Jenga style game that made the first two of four rounds 30min long, so they added a 5sec time limit per move for the last two rounds and that kind-of fixed it - why didn't anyone trial this and notice you had to be slow and careful -. As soon as a got home after last night's recording someone had posted the cast on Wiki, so I guess I'm not spoiling anything. I was happy to see Taka Wakasugi when he was revealed last night, because I knew he would be unconventional fun because of the language barrier and the different style type of Japanese thinking, and so far he's been crazy good. I would say the banter was better/funnier than last night, but that end dragged it down for me - the crowd also died at the end because it was a boring long finish -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

PS: You get seated in the order you check-in, and despite me queue backward jumping - lol - for a supposedly better position, they put me on the cr@p far wall side, with Kevin Jin & Ingrid Han - lol -, where you only see the back of the contestant's heads. Basically they used to put the first 50 people on the good side of the room, but now they put them across the full length of the front of the room.

16.09.24 : Taskmaster AUS S04E01 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney(Eveleigh)

The middle task wasn't that interesting, and the final live task failed, but the 2nd task was good, so it was ok overall. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

15.09.24 : Succulent Comedy Showcase : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Even though I've been to a bunch of Succulent, ie, repeats, it's always good so it's a no-brainer. The only sucky bit was that the crowd took half the show to loosen up and produce a laugh-track. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$18 + F-$5 + C$6]

14.09.24 : Luke Morris – Introverts Guide To Extroverts : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It was closer to an actual lecture than a comedy show, ie, more clever/interesting than funny. Basically it was delivered as a kind-of lecture, and like all science-comedy shows the gags were very dry. In the show he actually shows "scientific papers", when scrutinised to today's knowledge/standards are total BS, ie, the ridiculousness of the papers are what the comedy part is -. Even the famous psychologists, eg, Jun, etc, were all unqualified in psychology - lol -, and were just making stuff up on the fly. Basically they were trying to make something fluid into boolean predictable science, which is impossible even today because everyone is atypical. Even though no one laughed, I still liked it because it was interesting. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$6]

13.09.24 : Doug Bayne – Only God Can Judge Me : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Pretty much everyone was saying it was good on the way out, and so was I. He kind-of does stuff like 12.05.24 : Mat Ewins(UK) - Screen Time, ie, make crazy video clips, it's just that his are shorter kind-of like one-liners. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$22 + F-$5 + C$0]

13.09.24 : Stella Wu – Trial By Funny : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

The way it works it they pull a verbal task from a hat and the comic has to come up with something funny on the spot to appease the judges. If you are an old comic you probably have enough stories/experiences to pull something out of a hat, but when the constants are young it's always going to be harder, ie, about 2 of the 8-ish was actually decent. It's fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$6]

Host and judges

12.09.24 : Mic Drop Comedy : One Drop Brewing Co(Botany)

It's kind-of weird going to a new room when so many rooms closed in the last week or two - I think winter kills crowds -, but I guess a change is as good as a holiday - lol -. I thought I missed the party coming to this show so late after it opened, ie, maybe less people, but it was pretty much a full room. I was wondering why they were only promoting 2 comics, and when I saw Jonas Holt running around I realised this is the same format at the show he runs at the 15.02.24 : Birchgrove Comedy Night : The Riverview Hotel(Balmain). They are headliners so it's entertaining enough, so can't really complain other than the crowd could've been a bit louder. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$14 + C$8]

11.09.24 : Zinger Box : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I was thinking this was going to be some sort of podcast/panel thing, but it was just a triple shared comic show. I went because Nick Bartlett was super good last time I saw him, but tonight he did the shortest set. He's good at crowd-work, but because the audience was mainly comics he knows he didn't do any. The other comics made up for it so overall it was fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$14 + F-$0 + C$6]

11.09.24 : Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - movie

PG-13 : Fantasy - Comedy - Horror : After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

I don't remember much of the original, ie, Beetlejuice(1988), other than it was a bit of fun. This is kind-of fun, it's just that it takes about 1 hour to get to the fun parts. There's also weird/abstract stuff, like some flashbacks are claymation, and some parts are cartoons. Nothing exceptional, but ok to pass the time. [3] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

09.09.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

Since I wasn't far away I made a quick change of plans and made it in time for headliner Sean Woodland. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$10 + C$0]

09.09.24 : Roundhouse Comedy Night : Roundhouse UNSW(Kensington)

Moshtix stopped giving out proper downloadable tickets and I didn't want to turn up with just a name - last time they scanned QR codes -, so I took a risk that there will be door sales. Well there was no door sales, but at least I found out they can look up a name is ok. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]

07.09.24 : Community Notice Board Live : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It was alright, it's just that I was the only one who doesn't follow the podcast so didn't get any of the references - because I was out of the loop I didn't know what was real and what was a fabricated joke -. Also the images on the screen was too small to read, ie, they could've made them bigger so they filled the screen, so I didn't get those gags either. About halfway they stopped referencing previous stuff and started with funny stories, and then I was able to connect. It's fine, it just that it would be better if you are a fan. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$17 + F-$0 + C$6]
Guest Alexei Toliopoulos in yellow

06.09.24 : Prawn Hole : iD Comedy Club(Kinselas Darlinghurst)

The way it works is, 3 comics battle in 4 Rnds to win old prawns, ie, most prawns wins - I though the toilets next door broke because there was a funk in the air, lol -. In Rnd1 three comics pitch a made-up product Dragons' Den style. Rnd2 they have to come up with a slogan for a given business/item. Rnd3 they have to field bad online review complaints for a business. And Rnd4 they have to demonstrate a mystery product they have never seen before. I kind-of thought it was going to be hard to make something serious like Dragon's Den funny, which was exactly what happened. You might be able to pull this off at a Uni where students think fast and have abstract ideas, but normal comics deal in the real world and kind-of struggle with fantasy improv. At least someone was trying something new, but I think something comedy based would've been better, ie, I have seen Would I Lie to You and Would you Rather done live by high level improvisers, and they were amusing enough that they were ok. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2] [T-$12 + F-$11 + C$6]

05.09.24 : Instant Re-Write : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

The way it works is that the cast briefly verbally explain a movie they have recently watched, and then kind-of try and send-it-up impro style by rewriting the story with the same characters. The movie was the instantly forgettable flop The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones(2013) - I was thinking Mortal Engines(2018) at the time-, that was so old and unmemorable that I didn't even remember it after re-watching the trailer when I got home. To me this seems like a terrible idea if you haven't recently seen the film, because you are never going to get the references, and their description of the film was so brief/vague/scattered that I instantly forgot it. There were even points where the cast didn't even know what person was playing what character, because the character traits were never assigned to one person. A lot of comedy runs on callbacks - Seinfeld observational comedy is actually just callbacks to common experiences -, and if you don't know them you aren't going to laugh, ie, the more you know the more you will laugh at. Basically I didn't have a clue what was going on, so I have no idea why a couple of people in the crowd were chuckling in places. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 1] [T-$14 + F-$0 + C$6]

04.09.24 : Dragon Friends Season 10 - Live D&D Comedy Show : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Don't you hate when you impulse buy tickets totally forgetting the show is not as good as it used to be - DOH! -. I've had to cram the 12 podcasts eps to catch up so this show will have context, and just from listened to them there isn't much meat in them. The old episodes were clever, more intricate, and a lot more funny until near the end when it turned into d!ck jokes, but this second series reboot is even more seat-of-the-pants/in-the-moment scattered impro. In the old series each ep seamed like it had purpose by supplying a clue, where as this feel more like unrelated side quests that are just time fillers, ie, free-form impro with not much to do with the narrative. As an example, in one ep everyone dies at the end, but the very next ep they just ignore it and everyone is alive again. The podcast is listenable, ie, I don't hate it like some others, but the whole series is just crude toilet humour that only produces mild laughs. As for the show, by about 45min I was yawing so much due to boredom, ie, toilet humour is a bit too simplistic for me, I did what I do when I listen to the podcast and started playing card games, ie, 2hrs is tough to concentrate when it's not that interesting, and that made me wake up and made it listenable to the rend. Compared to the other eps it didn't seam as good, but live shows aren't edited, ie, it has the dull bits that get cut out, so that could be it. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 2.5] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$6]

03.09.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

I was going to take the night off, but when I saw Mick Meredith I thought I would tough it out for another one - lol -. Some comics were trying new material, eg, Jacob Perry and Mick Meredith, and because their new stuff was good, and not a repeat - lol -, they were quite exceptional. Ryan Sim(MC) was at his best. Steph Broadbridge brought out her highly technical bit that I failed to follow last night - I don't usually concentrate because most jokes aren't technical, but this time I concentrated, and it is quite clever with ironic twists. It was a pretty good night. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$11 + C$6]

02.09.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

Even though Heath Franklin-Chopper wasn't as good as the old days - I think he was trying new material for his upcoming show -, he was still pretty good. It was a small crowd, but they were an enthusiastic crowd with clapping and laughing, and that made up for the lack of people, ie, it ended up quite fun. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$10 + C$6]

Mitch Garling(MC), Dave Henning, Frankie Rowsthorn, Steph Broadbridge, Heath Franklin-Chopper

01.09.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

It was good, it's just that there wasn't many people - I think everyone stayed home because when I left the streets were empty -. When I saw Andrew Wolfe I had to go, and even though he wasn't as super good as last time, he was still good good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$13 + F-$11 + C$6]

Sam Bowden, Kevin Jin, Gunet Kuar, Alex White, Michael Cho, Amelia Navascues, Andrew Wolfe

31.08.24 : USU Science Revue 2024: The Renaiscience - The Creation Of Atom : Seymour Centre

I went to the Law Revue as a filler for the Science Revue, but it wound up that the Science Revue was the filler. I've only been to a few Uni revues, and that was a long time ago, but I remember the Science Revue being good, ie, why I prioritised it. Well that was fool's thinking because those guys left a decade ago, so following shows will have no resemblance to previous shows. What was odd was that there were hardly and science gags/callbacks, it was more theatre gags. It was fine, but when you start noticing it running long it kind-of tells you it wasn't as interesting. [Crowd : 4.5- Me : 2.75] [T-$25 + F-$5 + C$6]

30.08.24 : The Great Comedy Club : The Toxteth(Glebe)

I was going to decide if I"m going after TGIF so I didn't pre-buy a ticket, but when I got there there was no one at the door to see if there were any tickets left. Either way the room was so packed, ie, probably sold-out, I legged -it. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$0]

30.08.24 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo

After the last ep I decided I'm only doing Tahir shows, but when I got there I was a bit disappointed because he had been replaced by Gary Eck. I don't what happened but Gary was good, in fact everyone was good, ie, these shows are a bit hit-n-miss unpredictable, so it winded up being worth going. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$6]

Guests: Rebecca de Unamuno, Gary Eck, Tommy Dean - Host: Richard Glover

29.08.24 : The Erko Comedy Club : The Erko(Erskineville)

Well that plan backfired. There was plenty of options for shows tonight but I picked the free one because I was churning through too many $s lately, but that bit me on the a$$ when the crowd wouldn't stop talking. Last month there wasn't many people but at least they listened, this month there was a lot of people who had no interest in listening to comedy. I stuck it out for the first half, and even though the headliner was the killa Al Del Bene, guys next to me always talking, the mic kept cutting out, no spotlight on the comics to draw attention, and the comics giving up, put me off so much I didn't bother staying for the 2nd half. What was idiotic was the guys next to me were talking through all the comics, yet they were complaining that the comics were no good, ie, dumb-fuks. The room was too tough to stick it out. [Crowd : na - Me : 0] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$6]

29.08.24 : The Crow - movie

R : Action - Fantasy - Crime : Soulmates Eric and Shelly are brutally murdered. Given a chance to save the love of his life, Eric must sacrifice himself and traverse the worlds of the living and the dead, seeking revenge.

Never saw the original, ie, The Crow(1994), but it wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting it to be more an action film, but it started quite slow, and when we got some action it was slowed down with these mood-setting scenes. It kind-of felt sparse, like Monkey Man(2024), ie, slow for stuff to happen,and the stuff wasn't that interesting. Didn't hate it, but it wasn't anything special either. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

28.08.24 : The Running Joke at Crowbar : Crowbar Sydney(Leichhardt)

I've been trying to go to The Running Joke Potts Point for a while now because they usually have stronger lineups, but every time I try the lineup has recent heavy repeat comics. Then this turns up at a new venue, which is my thang currently - lol -, and it had a lineup that is good but not recent - Ben Kochan sold it for me - lol -. It was good, ie, everyone pretty much killed, and the crowd was pretty large and quite decent in applause and laughs. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$25 + F-$11 + C$6]

Dan Muggleton(MC), Cam Knight, Ben Kochan, Danielle Walker

27.08.24 : Physics in the Pub (Sydney) : Abercrombie Hotel(Chippendale)

It wasn't as good as last year. All the topics were either uninteresting, too brief, vague, or theoretical, ie, no meat to them. Basically there was no ah-ha/wow moments, there wasn't even a "that's interesting" moment. Eg: there was wormholes and multiverses, and because they are theoretical based only on equations, there's not much they can tell you about them because no one has found any. We used to have a better science night, ie, Nerd Nite Sydney : The Arthouse Hotel that had only 4 speakers doing longer talks with more details, where as this was more "this is a thing" and not much more, eg, here is some pics of nano-etching. I was thinking about splitting during, but in the end I toughed it out. IT was more a show to get people out of the house rather than anything informative. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$6]

27.08.24 : Inside Out 2 - movie

PG : Family - Comedy - Animation : A sequel that features Riley entering puberty and experiencing brand new, more complex emotions as a result. As Riley tries to adapt to her teenage years, her old emotions try to adapt to the possibility of being replaced.

When Inside Out(2015) came out everyone was raving how amazingly clever it was, but when I saw it recently I didn't think that having emotions as characters was anything special, ie, it's common in Impro, so for me it was around 2.5. I was hoping this 2nd one would be like the 1st, ie, nothing special but good enough to pass the time, but I didn't find anything interesting in it, so I was pretty much yawning all the way through. Maybe the abstract concepts were too abstract for me, so I didn't really relate to it. [2] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

26.08.24 : Comedy Riot - Jugs & Jaffles : Enmore Hotel

I picked this show over my usual Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel show because it has a bigger crowd/laugh-track, unfortunately hardly anyone turned up, ie, it was a similar crowd level to the Fitz. I originally picked the Fitz because this had too many recent repeats, but I switched back when I saw Harry Jun on the lineup, because he's good and I haven't seen him for a while. It was a bit hard to laugh in the silence, but people started laughing around halfway, and that made it ok. Them's the breaks. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$18 + C$6]

Sam Bowden(MC), Gerard McGowan, Alia Lievore, Harry Jun, Daniel Townes, John Cruckshank

24.08.24 : Dark Matter in the Pub : Kent St. Hotel(Sydney)

It was a bit on the basic side for me, ie, I know too much - lol -, but it was fine, plus there was some stuff I didn't know, eg, detectors being built in AUS. I follow the YT channel Dr Becky, and she goes into it in much more detail and at a much higher level, where as tonight it was the basics for people that didn't know what Dark Matter was. The skinny of DM is, everything in a galaxy spins at the same rpm, and that means the stuff on the other edge has to travel a lot faster then the rest to stay in it's position. The thing is, in normal physics that stuff should fly off due to centripetal/centrifugal forces, because the mass of what we can see doesn't have enough gravity to hold it in place. Basically it's theorised that 86% of the stuff in a galaxy is something we can't see, ie, DM. If you think of the wind, you can't see it, but you can see it move trees, well DM is the same, ie, can't see it but can see it's effect. Scientists don't clap much, hence the crowd score. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$10 + C$6]
Dr Phil Dooley(MC) on keys doing one of his many informative parody songs

23.08.24 : USU Law Revue 2024: The Good, The Bad And The Trustee : Seymour Centre

It was a bit hard to hear form the rafters - got one of the few tickets left -, but it was pretty good. Some stuff was so good the crowd went crazy and lifted the roof. This was 3hr long, and there was so much stuff it's hard to remember the specifics, but there was a duet of singers doing a sendup song that were amazing singers. Sendups of the US election, Aust politicians and their parties, nepotism, being priced out of the hose market, etc. Some big choreographed dancing/singing bits. A band in the rafters doing interludes. And lots and lots of short skits. At the end there was so much applause that it was deafening, ie, I guess they liked it - lol -. [Crowd : 5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$13 + F-$5 + C$6]

22.08.24 : Sporties Comedy Club : Moorebank Sports Club(Hammondville)

High level pro comics made it very good. Not that he has ever done a low-level set, but David Smiedt did one of his better sets. He crowd riffed like an expert, and even brough his bag of funny props - I was wondering what happened to them lol -. Daniel Townes always has a low key layed back style, but he was still pretty good. Gary did it again, and I don't mean DIDN'T do it again - lol -. It was like a different person comparded to last Fri, because he was very switched-on/alive/animated with crowd improv, and even adding stuff to his set so it was new/better than usual. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$10 + F-$6 + C$6]

David Smiedt(MC), Daniel Townes, Gary Eck

21.08.24 : Rob Carlton - Willing Participant : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)
I had already figured out beforehand that they were going to be Rob's Story Club stories, but even though they are repeats, they are good stories to hear again. There was the one about naughty 1st cousins. Being hired as a continuity expert on a movie, even though he didn't even know what a continuity expert was - lol -, and winging it. One was about him coming to terms with his recently departed father. The last one was one I hadn't heard before, and it was about auditioning for the role of the father in Muriel's Wedding at the prestigious STC. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$31 + F-$0 + C$6]

20.08.24 : Yeah The Girls Comedy Presents: Lady Laughs : The Lady Hampshire(Camperdown)

When I got there I was thinking this might be a mistake because there's less lady comics so they repeat more often if you do a show a day - lol -, but it really was only one that I noticed simply because I saw them yesterday - lol -. Some did new stuff, some I hadn't seen before, and I pretty much forgot all the repeat's sets, so it was plenty fine. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$10 + F-$11 + C$7]

19.08.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

It was one weird crowd, like no one laughed much, yet they listened well and clapped the appropriate amount, and I think it was because half the audience were engineers who don't laugh much because they seen too much. Then near the end someone shouted everyone a shot of whiskey, ie, $10 x 17 people, and that gave the impression people liked it despite not making much of a laugh-track. Not the best one, but it was plenty fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]

Bek Charlwood(MC), Chris Knight, Luka Muller, Edan McGovern, Nikki Britton

17.08.24 : Dragon Friends - No Dice! : ITS(Redfern)

Now I regret saying that I didn't like the last "short form" show, because this was long form and the short form one was better, ie, quick changes makes it seem like more is happening. I don't think it was actually the format, more that the other show has some laughs, where as this one had none. It kind-of feels like everyone is out of practice, which might be why they are doing these shows. Like in the old days the characters would be exaggerated stereotypes, where as these are plain characters with no adjectives, eg, a sea captain, as apposed to a crusty sea captain complete with accent. The format was that they sit around a campfire while someone tells a ghost story, and then stop at points to play out a scene, the problem was no one could come up with a decent ghost story, hence out of practice. I kind-of noticed the same thing when I did engineering, back then I could think so fast and clear, where as now my brain is mush. I pretty much drifted early on and keep thinking of better scenes they should be doing - lol -. [Crowd : 3.75- Me : 2] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$7]

16.08.24 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo

Gary Eck did it again, or should I say, DIDN'T! do it again. This is a mild state of affairs because it's for an older demographic, eg, it has an old music section in the middle, and it kind-of relies on someone stepping up to make it funny, hence why I only go when pro comics are on. Tommy Dean is ok - he was the funniest today -, but in this setting he not usually as funny as a standup set, and when Gary didn't steal the show, it made it just another ep - it kind-of looks like the old guests are sick and tired of doing this show -. It's free, so I guess it was ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$6]
Guests: Bridie Connell, Gary Eck, Tommy Dean-Host: Richard Glover- Costa turned up with free mags

15.07.24 : Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis(Leichhardt)

I was thinking about going somewhere else, but the "free" sucked me in for another one - lol -. I was a bit worried when I got there because there was no one there, but by start time people turned up to make a decent crowd - they were about equal to the 2nd biggest I've seen here -. Ryan Sim was making Alan "fits of strength" Fang look bad, but lifting multiple comics and carrying them on and off the stage - lol -. Edan McGovern practically brought a new set compared to last night, ie, non repeats are good. Jacob Perry also had a new set. It was actually quite good, with a crowd that listened and was fairly enthusiastic. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$5]
PS: Northies and Comedy On Kingsway missed their dates so I guess they have also closed, which is a shame because I liked them.

15.08.24 : Alien: Romulus - movie

Horror - Sci-Fi - Thriller : While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

Even with the new/old trick at the end - stolen from Prometheus(2012) -, I still found it a tedious, "more of the same", repeat. Basically I boredom-hated it - I played cards in places lol -, but that could just be me because I've seen too much - they even recreated scenes for the original, ouch! -. [2] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

14.08.24 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King(Newtown)

I thought something bad was going to happen when at the start of the week there was multiple days you could book, but today they were removed and there was only this one left, because when we got there we found out JoC was closing and this was the last show. There always is a reduction during Winter, so I guess it hard being motivated when barely 10 people turn up each week. The crowd wasn't very vocal, but were very large and did listen, so they were ok. It was a strong lineup so it was a fitting farewell, ie, insert sad emoji here. It also didn't help when they kept playing the Semisonic - Closing Time song - lol -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$6]

Jen Carnovale(MC), Eric Hutton, Rohan Arneil, Jackson Stewart, Edan Mcgovern, Sam Bowden, Dave Woodhead, John Cruckshank

12.08.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

It was crazy that not many people turned up for such a high-level comic, ie, a $50 comic doing most of his latest show for free. I was so sure it was going to pack-out because of Lawrence Mooney that I actually reserved a seat, but in the end there was only 20 people. All I can think of is he is one of those love-hate comics like Hughesy, ie, people have a bad impression until they see him live. Either way, by the end this crowd loved him and gave extra applause. Steph Broadbridge pulled out more new stuff, ie, must of wrote a lot for her latest show. Aleks Milinkovic never seems to do the same set twice, which is good because there is no repeats, but his earlier stuff is funnier. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$19 + C$6]

Bek Charlwood(MC), Shad Wicka, Aleks Milinkovic, Steph Broadbridge, Sam Bowden, Lawrence Mooney

12.08.24 : The Fabulous Four - movie

Comedy : It tells the story of two friends who travel to be bridesmaids in a surprise wedding of their college girlfriend.

Old people films can be lame because they run predominantly on nostalgia, eg, Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023), but when I checked the trailer it seemed to have actual decent jokes. Well it wasn't particularly funny, ie, no laughs, and there wasn't much to it, but thankfully it was light and not annoying/lame, so it was ok to watch. Nothing special, but it passes the time. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

10.08.24 : Free To A Good Home - podcast taping : ITS(Redfern)

It's the same as last time, ie, good that it's different, but not anything that exceptional. They are now concentrating on doing classifieds instead of a lot of personal happenings, but the problem was that the classifieds weren't that special. I've noticed the classifieds can make a difference, like ironic posts, eg, person put 4 pieces of common furniture together and called it a love chair, aren't as good as weird posts, and this ep was mainly ironic stuff. Another weird thing is they only do these shows for the podcasts, and the people paying Patreon, yet they hardly upload any, eg, maybe done 6 but only 2 got uploaded. We are told the recording aren't good enough because you can't hear what people are saying, yet no one sits down and fixes the problem, which I would prefer because sometimes the podcasts are better than the live show. Oh well, it was good enough that it was ok, but I did notice a smaller crowd this time. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$7]

Guests: ?, Luka Muller, Demi Lardner - Hosts: Ben Jenkins, Michael Hing

09.08.24 : Borderlands - movie

Action - Adventure - Comedy : Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.

The nerds are panning the cr@p out of this film, but I didn't see it anywhere near the BS 7% they are stating on Rotten Tomatoes. If something is lame I quickly sit there hating it, eg, I hated Pacific Rim (2013) because of the lame dialogue, but this I didn't hate, and in fact enjoyed. Easily a pass mark, and the time just flew by, ie, it keep my attention so I didn't notice time pass. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

08.08.24 : Manly Comedy Club : Shark Bar - New Brighton Hotel(Manly)

I had plans to go to a new place, ie, Botany or Hunters Hill, but the lineups were such heavy repeats I figured this was going to be the better night. Plus it's a good ferry ride - lol -. I was a bit worried when I got there because there was only 15 people, but the room filled when everyone appeared close to the start time. Fady Kassab is now doing hard/non crowd friendly starts, and then trying to win them back, ie, his set routine is usually a big hit, but when a comic gets bored they try to mix it up. First thing when John Cruckshank walked in was look up and says "where did they get that spider light fitting" - he's an electrician lol -. Pretty much everyone loved The Shank, because I overheard many people talk about him on the way out. You don't see Matty B around these parts anymore, so that was good. And Nikki Britton was quit sassy with the audience. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$31 + F-$16 + C$6]

Marty Bright(MC), Fady Kassab, John Cruckshank, Matty B, Nikki Britton

07.08.24 : Morning Show... Up Late : Petersham Bowlo

I don't usually do this level of Improv anymore, ie, it's hard going back when you've see world class, but it was fine for what it was. There was a stereotypical misogynistic footy fanatic that was ok, a giant cockroach that was good, and the upcoming movie previews was ok. On a side note, it took a while to remember the room because it's been a century - lol -, ie, saw The Killjoys maybe late 90's/early 2000's, but I've never been to the theatre downstairs, and it's quite a nice place, ie, way better than the dungeon at the Chippo. Some cheap and different. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2.75] [T-$11 + F-$9 + C$4]

05.08.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

The crowd was a bit stand-offish at the start, and despite them interrupting with smart-arsed comments, they loosened up and were soon kind-of ok-ish. Everyone was fine, ie, Bec Melrose was probably the best, but Freddie wasn't at his usual level. Usually when a show is small he grabs the show by the scruff of the neck and forces it to be good, but this time he did a kind-of shy/small crowd pessimistic delivery. He was plenty fine, but usually he's more up-beat. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$15 + C$6]

Bek Charlwood(MC), Jess Fuchs, Freddie McManus, Bec Melrose

04.08.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

Danielle Walker was delightful - "ichiban kawaii" as Csama would say - lol -, with her new stuff. Chris Knight can be hit-n-miss, but his new stuff is a winner. Crazy/lateral thinking Eric Hutton is cool. The ladies were good also. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$13 + F-$11 + C$6]

Sam Bowden(MC), Laura Coleman, Jess Fuchs, Eric Hutton, Chris Knight, Danielle Walker

02.08.24 : Comedy Untamed : iD Comedy Club(Kinselas Darlinghurst)

I was going to stay home to save some $s - end of week stuff cost more -, but these guys are throwing free tickets out the window all the time, plus it was an early show, so I rode the horse one more time - lol -. I thought this was just going to be an ordinary night, ie, small crowd, but this was the opening night of Fri Comedy Untamed at this venue, so it was sold-out/packed. All were good, and there was that game were the comics have to come up with one-liners based on a subject, like the end game in Mock the Week. It was good, it's just that the air con died and I was uncomfortable/claustrophobic for the last 15min. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$6 + C$6]

Neel Kolhatkar(MC), Jess Fuchs, Frenchy, Jamal Abdul, Luke Heggie, DJ guy

01.08.24 : Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis(Leichhardt)

It was a bit chaotic but it was good. There was free wine tasting so a lot of people turned up, and even one got a bit loose at the start - lol -. This time other comics wrote routines for different comics which they had to read out, and some of the stuff made them bad people, ie, racist - lol -. Good crowd so it was a good night. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$5]
PS: I think I'm getting the Kiyanosh blues, ie, 3 times in 3 days - lol -
Alia Lievore(MC), Luka Muller, Stella Wu, Kiyanosh Sahebi, Tom Walker, Edan McGovern, Bryce Lavery-Jacko, Wine Guy

31.07.24 : Live Comedy Night : Bar 53(Canley Vale)

This turned up at the last minute on a FB Sydney Comedy page, and was doable, and was a good change form the same places all over again. You always worry the crowd is going to be weak when you see comedy away from the city, but this crowd wasn't too bad. Basically a lot of people turned-up, they did listen, and they laughed a decent amount, it's just their clapping wasn't that high, ie, they probably liked it but didn't show it, hence their score for enjoyment was probably higher than 3.75. They were all fine but Jamal Abdul was the best, which is why he was the headliner - he forgot the story about the guy trying to give him $s lol -. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$16 + C$5]

We finally saw The Fang pickup somebody - lol -

30.07.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

By half way it pretty much died when the crowd whittled down to 3. I was thinking of going to The Running Joke because you rarely see Anthony Salame around here anymore, but I pov-ed-out and now I regret not going. It also didn't help when things got unfunny in the second half - the first half was ok -. Sometimes free doesn't pan out. [Crowd : 2 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$6]

30.07.24 : Deadpool & Wolverine - movie

Action - Adventure - Comedy : Deadpool is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine to save his universe from extinction.

Who wrote this thing!, because smart clever funny doesn't exist in Hollywood anymore. They broke the 4th wall, ie, talked directly to us the audience, sent-up movies and organisation, eg, Mad Max, FOX, Disney, lots of back-handed comments - you have to listen carefully because they are fast -, used urban/street dictionary words, eg, pegging, etc. It was kind-of like Uni humour, ie, a bit weird/unconventional. Good. [4] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

29.07.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

The crowd was better this time, ie, Sam Bowden actually got laughs - lol -, it's just that there were less people. I now regret not going to Steph Broadbridge solo show, because she had some new stuff. Luke Heggie also slipped some new stuff into his latest routine. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]

Sam Bowden(MC), Alex White, Steph Broadbridge, Luke Heggie

27.07.24 : Dragon Friends - No Dice! : ITS(Redfern)

It's very different from the old days, like I remember Susie Youssef doing a campfire scene in 21.09.08 : Cranston Cup 2008 - Series : Newtown Theatre, and it was a very funny 5min scene related to Western campfire. Where as now, it's this very short, quick-fire, non related/flowing, gags, ie, different gag and scene every 60sec. It was plenty fine, but in the last quarter the audience could shout "scene change", where the cast had to stop and and do something different, and their predilection was for slightly longer scenes. Basically when these guys do something more continuous and relatable, eg, a send-up of the soap-opera General Hospital, it just feels funner because you know what is being sent-up, because know what the scene probably was like in the original. Something different and funny enough that I liked it. [Crowd : 4.25- Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$7]

26.07.24 : Woman's Comedy Showcase : iD Comedy Club(Kinselas Darlinghurst)

It was nice. I see a lot of multi comic nights with repeat comics, so there isn't going to be many mentions, but Bec Charlwood was solid with a well sorted routine, and I like how Jess Fuchs is so fast/quick. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$6 + C$0]

Bec Melrose(MC), Jess Fuchs, ?, Concetta Caristo, Bec Charlwood

26.07.24 : Encore Festival Showcase : Carousel(Darlinghurst)

It was crazy that there was only one third of a crowd, I thought for sure it would sellout. It was the same multi comics doing short sets, just with a higher level of comic, and because there wasn't many people, ie, maybe 30, there wasn't that much of a crowd generated laugh-track because they were a bit stand-off-ish/low-key, ie, they should've been better for the comedy level. It's crazy that I haven't seen Andrew Wolfe before - I've got a vague recollection -, because he has a similar style to Dan Rath, ie, lateral craziness/UNI style randomness, which I like a lot. It wasn't Aleks Milinkovic best set, but he is so fluid because he talks to you like he's known you for decades, ie, gift-of-the-gab, that he was still impressive. Dane Simpson and Tom Witcombe had new stuff, which is good when you see a lot of repeats - lol -. Rory Lowe was solid, and Jess Fuchs was fast-talking again. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$6]

Rory Lowe(MC), Aleks Milinkovic, Jess Fuchs, Dane Simpson, Tom Witcombe, Andrew Wolfe

25.07.24 : The Erko Comedy Club : The Erko(Erskineville)

Jake Howie(MC), Chloe Maddren, Kiyanosh Sahebi, Jamal Abdul, Simon Kennedy

That was one tough room. Sure they listened, but they didn't react much, and half left at halfway when there wasn't that many to begin with, ie, a decent amount booked ahead, but then didn't turn up. Basically it felt like the crowd was a music demographic, in that they don't know how to behave in a comedy night because they only do serious, ie, they were old/middle aged. It was ok, but the ded crowd made the thing feel worse. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$17 + C$6]

There was no spotlight for the comics so all the pics were trash

24.07.24 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King(Newtown)

There's just something sad about going to the same show 2nd week in a row, ie, no enthusiasm because it's more of the same, so it didn't feel as good. Basically it kind-of died in the 2nd half, which can happen in when no one is getting paid and it's a free show. Them's the breaks - lol -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$6]

22.07.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

It was good, it's just that the crowd was very ded in places. Basically all the comics got adequate laughs, if not fitting for the comedy level, except Sam, who practically only got silence - they didn't hate him, ie, they listened, but for some reason hardly laughed -. We got Bad Moms Nikki Valentine, and from the routine it feels like WA has a way bigger meth problem that I thought - lol -. Hammo was headliner, and it felt like he did his whole solo show, it was that long - lol -, ie, the crowd got way more than they deserved. The crowd probably clapped 3.75, but I'm bumping it to a 4 because it deserved more. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$19 + C$6]

Sam Bowden(MC), Julia Wilson, Jake Howie, Nikki Valentine, Andrew Hamilton

21.07.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

It was good, it's just that the crowd could've been better, ie, they clapped/laughed, just not as loud as they should have. When I saw Daniel Muggleton I instinctively bought a ticket, but afterwards I remembered this place sometimes gets drunk f-wits. Thankfully there wasn't any, and that made the show good. The plumber from Sweeney's that I liked(Chris Saffie? can't find spelling) did another good set. I don't know why Freddie McManus slowed down his set, ie, it hits harder at the faster speed, but he was plenty good. Danielle Walker was doing new stuff which was good. John Cruckshank only did a short set, which was still good. And Daniel Muggleton was good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$13 + F-$11 + C$6]

Sam Bowden(MC), Kiyanosh Sahebi, Chris Saffie?, Freddie McManus, Danielle Walker, John Cruckshank, Daniel Muggleton

20.07.24 : Tom Walker-My Treasures My Beautiful Treasures : iD Comedy Club(Kinselas Darlinghurst)

Tom Walker 3 times in one week is perfectly fine, isn't it? - lol -. I wasn't expecting this!. Like I was expecting the same material I just saw him do peppered with his usual slap-stick sketches, but about 75% of it was all new to me. And to top that off it was crazy weird stuff, ie, him following weirdos on weird forums, eg, self-suck and little d!ck forums. I didn't laugh 4, but it was so weird/new it was worth a 4. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$22 + F-$12 + C$6]

19.07.24 : Shad and Pete Save the World : iD Comedy Club(Kinselas Darlinghurst)

I was sitting there during the long break before the show got going - there's a lot of waiting while people write down problems -, still feeling tired from the last show thinking that doing 3 shows in a row was a bad idea, but as soon as it started that all went away because it was quite funny, ie, that woke me up. I was only 1 of 3 that had seen this show before, and still found it pretty funny, but there were people next to me that were dying from laughing - I think one was Bryce Lavery-Jacko lol -. A chaotic mess that doesn't go anywhere, but sure is fun coming along for the ride. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$0]
Shad Wicka, Nick Cody, Luke Heggie, Peter James

19.07.24 : Midflight Brawl - Live : Carousel(Darlinghurst)

To tell the truth I wasn't that keen on this - I only find it mildly amusing -, but went because I didn't want to stand outside in the cold for 2 hours waiting for the next show to start. The second problem was they pumped smoke into the room and that pushed the oxygen out, which had me yawing and fatigued, ie, felt out-of-it. The crowd seemed to like it, and maybe without the smoke I would've felt good enough to concentrate. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 2.5] [T-$27 + F-$0 + C$0]
Luke Heggie & Nick Cody

19.07.24 : Damien Power - Not so Funny Now is it? : Carousel(Darlinghurst)

Power is always good. Even though he does some political stuff - don't like political political because it winds up feeling like a lecture -, his political stuff ends silly, so it winds up being good/fun. He kind-of says his just a lonely builder, ie, not highly intelligent, but you can tell his mind races all the time, and that makes some of the stuff quite high-brow intelligent. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$37 + F-$0 + C$6]

18.07.24 : Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis(Leichhardt)

We didn't have the fun group that made the laugh-track last time so it didn't have as much atmosphere, but it was fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$6]

Jack Gow(MC), Kimberley Snow, ?, Bryce Lavery-Jacko, Guneet Kaur, Jackson Stewart

17.07.24 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King(Newtown)

Who would've thought you can have a good time with an audience of only 7, but the comics were good, and the crowd was friendly and made good sounds. It kind-of reminded me of the last time I was 20.06.24 : Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis where the good audience made the show better. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$6]
Laura Coleman(MC), David Woodhead, Amelia Navascues, Andrew Hastings, Jack Gow, Mandy Scotney, Eric Hutton

16.07.24 : Hot Department : PACT Centre for Emerging Artists(Erskineville)

I remember reading some blurb on this and decided it wasn't for me, ie, not fond of sketch comedy, but since that was free I thought I might as well go to fill the time, and save $s - lol -. Well it was good right from the get-go. It fast paced, quirky, fun, but more importantly it was funny. A sketch near the end gets a bit confronting, ie, could've done without the holes in the nude-suit, and the two sketches after that were a bit too weird for me. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]

16.07.24 : Alex Hines - Putting On A Show : PACT Centre for Emerging Artists(Erskineville)

I didn't find it delightful/charming, but it was nice enough. What it does have is a fair amount of production, eg, costume changes, lighting, sound cues, media clips, dancing, singing, and it travels at a decent pace so you won't be bored. The last 15min gets weird, and that's the part that grabbed me because weird/unusual/surreal is my thang, ie, it makes you think/imagine stuff. Nice. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]

15.07.24 : Fitz of Laughter : The Old Fitzroy Hotel(Woolloomooloo)

This turned up late in the afternoon while I was organising a different show, and I figured since it's free, ie, I've been churning through $s lately, it would be the better option, and it was. Everyone was good, and Hing got his new stuff worked out better so it was good this time, plus he did his big "Is that racist" story. I must be racist because I always mix up Doherty and D'Arcy - lol -. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]

PS:It's been about a decade(2012) since I was last here - lol -.

Pat Doherty(MC), Billy D'Arcy, Tom Walker, Alex Jae, Michael Hing

15.07.24 : Twisters - movie

Action - Adventure - Thriller: A retired tornado-chaser and meteorologist is persuaded to return to Oklahoma to work with a new team and new technologies.

Twister(1996) was quick-fire and fun, this is slower, more serious, and un-fun, and that makes the lame bits standout more. Basically you can have lame/corny if it makes you laugh, but this had no humour at all. I was able to keep focus throughout, ie, not super bored, but I wasn't impressed by it, ie, it's par for the course for most PG-13 stuff. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

13.07.24 : Free To A Good Home - podcast taping : ITS(Redfern)

This is always good for a change from standup. This time they did a personal problem, eg, a woman wanted to change her name and add her dead fathers name, and he wanted to cheat as compensation. Things for sale were corpse water, a $800K paddle wheel river boat - insert obligatory Wild Wild West(1999) gags here lol -, etc. Probably laughed about 3.5, but because it's different/new I liked it around 3.75. Plus I listened to the edit of the last ep and it was better than the recording, so it will probably be better than my laugh-level suggests. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$5 + C$7]

Hosts: Ben Jenkins, Michael Hing - Guests: Tom Cardy, Stephanie Broadbridge, Bridie Jabour

12.07.24 : Broken Bay Brewing Co - Comedy Night : Broken Bay Brewing Co(Brookvale)

It was half the crowd size of last night at Miranda, but they made twice the noise, and that always makes the show better, ie, an enthusiastic crowd that wanted to have fun. AL Del Bene(USA) smashed as the headliner, but he missed a roast when a guy trampled on his "lost 68lb" weight-loss punchline and nobody heard it. He's pretty abrasive with crowd-work so I was surprised he did repeat "I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS IN CELICUS" again, but instead gave the 31.7kg conversion. The guy before AL - sorry didn't catch the name - did super well, and Shash Kapur was also good. Super crowd made the arduous trek worth it. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$20 + F-$10 + C$6]

11.07.24 : Comedy On Kingsway : Miranda Hotel

It was good, it's just when you get this far out of the city the crowds get dumb/bogan. Basically they don't know, nor wanted to know, stuff, so started talking when the subjects got boring, eg, inner-city comedy stuff. Eg: even though Michael Hing is from the area, and did a few bits about that, he was too city-fied for some here so a group at the back started talking loudly during. Also they don't know they are supposed to react, ie, not be timid and hold it in, so it took time before they started laughing. Thankfully Andrew Hamilton was first with stuff that was their demographic, and that got them loosened up somewhat. Billy D'Arcy, and especially John Cruickshank who killed, were also relatable with the crowd, so did very well. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4] [T-$27 + F-$10 + C$7]

10.07.24 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King(Newtown)

I don't know why but it's always fun when Jack Wright is MC - maybe he's like Hughesy, ie, his voice is naturally comedic lol -. The funniest on the night was Alex White, because he mainly did his strong stuff from his set routine - most trial new material that might not be funny, where as this was solid material -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$6]

09.07.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

I went because Ben Kochan was on, but there were also others that were good. There was this fresh/new plumber guy(3rd pic) that was good, and a teacher guy at the end(8th) - sorry didn't catch their names -. This can sometimes become a sad sate of affairs, which is par for the course for free, but this one felt good. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$6]

08.07.24 : Comedy Night @ Taffy's Bar (April) : Taffy's Bar(Neutral Bay)

Marty Bright(MC), Jacques Barrett, Fady Kassab, Julia Wilson

I was thinking of skipping because most are heavy repeats, but I went because I don't see Jacques very often, and he's super good. Plus what else am I going to do - lol -. This was another one of those north-side audiences where the comedy was way higher that the laugh level in some places. Like I thought Jacques was super, but the audience didn't agree in the laugh dept - he still did fairly well -. Fady switched his routine around so it was less family friendly/PC - the guy next to me though he was too political -, but he was still good enough to get the usual good response. I wasn't looking forward to Julia because I know her routine so well, but she smashed, and the extra crowd laughing made it good for me also. At my stage the audience is important for proving the laugh-track, so I kind-of chase these large crowd rooms to make it funnier for me. Super. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4.25] [T-$15 + F-$19 + C$6]

07.07.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

I wasn't planing on going, but in the morning I saw Tom Walker's face on the ad so I had to see what this maniac was up to - lol -. He still does that quirky Uni comedy that I like, ie, it's different to the norm, but I found some of the subjects a bit strong, eg, snatching a cops gun, like what if some knuckle thinks it a thing and tries it for a joke. We found out form Luka Muller what a sick perverted fuk Hing is, ie, who hides a wedding ring in a drawer of adult toys, and than asks a stranger to rummage through it while his fiancé is watching. We had the obligatory drunk that usually turns up here, and even though he seemed nice enough, when they are that drunk they don't realise how loud and disruptive they are, so the only option is to kick them out, ie, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It was ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$13 + F-$11 + C$6]

06.07.24 : The Grand Masters of Comedy @ Easts Leagues : Easts Bondi Junction

David Smiedt(MC), Daniel Townes, The Stevenson Experience, Jackie Loeb, AL Del Bene(USA)

Super good, it's just that the massive crowd, that was double last year, were a bunch of lazy SOBs and didn't clap enough. Jackie absolutely smashed. AL killed. Smiedt is always good even when he tried new material especially for me - lol -. The girl next to me liked Townes, despite his low energy delivery. The Stevenson Experience did an extra song at the end that they didn't do at 02.07.24 : Northies Comedy Club : Northies Cronulla Hotel, and I wondering why they don't lead with that one because it was way funnier than the obligatory 3 songs they always do. High level comedy. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4.25] [T-$30 + F-$4 + C$6]
Doh!, forgot to get The Stevenson Experience

05.07.24 : Minskys - Friday Night Comedy : Minskys Hotel(Cremorne)

The first half didn't go to plan, but the second half did recover enough that everyone probably left on a high. There was nothing wrong with the acts in the first bracket, it's just that they didn't click with the audience so there was much laughing. Thankfully Rory Lowe hit their funny-bone and did get decent laughs, so hopefully that will stick in their minds so they come back. What I notice here is the audience like to talk back during the crowd-work, ie, smart-arse answers, yet this time there wasn't much crowd-work at all, so that might be why they didn't get going at the start. As a mention, I like Amelia Navascues's fast talking style, it's like Jess Fuchs and she is always good. It was ok, but I wished it would've gone better, ie, more laughing. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25] [T-$25 + F-$11 + C$6]

04.07.24 : Good Vibes Comedy : Forrester's(Surry Hills)

This was another cold wet wintry night were no-one turned up, ie, there was 3 paying customers, with 2 leaving before it started for some reason. I kind-of needed it to be good because all the shows this week have been grim, but like the others the level was proportional to the crowd size - even I had trouble reacting amongst the disappointment -.. No pics because it's hard being inconspicuous when you are the only outsider amongst a crowd of 5 comics, plus the lady nights don't like it. It was ok, it's just that I wasn't in the mood. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75] [T-$12 + F-$7 + C$6]

PS: as an aside, 3 rooms closed last week, and the most tragic was the very pretty Kirribilli Club - good cappuccinos - where the whole club went into receivership.

03.07.24 : Charo’s Comedy Club : Charing Cross Hotel(Waverley)

Mitch Garling(MC), Shash Kapur, Alex White, Ruven Govender, Peter Meisel

I took a risk by not booking and was hoping there would be less people in winter so I can get a seat in front and actually hear. Unfortunately that plan kind-of worked too well, sure I found a table without a booking ticket, but there was so many no-shows there was only a half crowd. Basically there was enough people in the first half to make a laugh-track, but by the mid break so many left it really hampered Peter Meisel's headliner slot. Another "me" problem was that half the comics were from last night - ouch! -, and two other were regular repeats - double ouch! -. Even though it was a tiny bit better than last night, it still had the empty feeling of last night because of the small laugh-track/crowd. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$15 + C$6]

02.07.24 : Northies Comedy Club : Northies Cronulla Hotel

Cam Knight, Shash Kapur, Alex White, Rash Ryder, The Stevenson Experience

Last month had the biggest crowd I've seen here, but this month it was the smallest, ie, 15 people. Maybe it's because it was a cold and wet night, maybe it's because they only posted the event 4 days prior, but all I know was when I got there the main bar was so packed I had trouble finding a seat for the obligatory cappuccino, yet by the time I left they were already packing up the main bar up because there was not a single person in it. As for the show, it was a bit tough going because there was no laugh-track, ie, I was the single laugh-track - lol -. This is a regular crowd so that won't laugh much at repeats because they know the material, and I think Cam Knight was here recently, but they lack of laughing continued to the others, ie, small crowd syndrome. I don't find the The Stevenson Experience as anything special, and that made me wonder what happened to all the good 2 person musical acts, eg, Smart Casual, Big Brother Little Brother. It was a thing. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3] [T-$19 + F-$15 + C$9]

01.07.24 : RatKorp - Rat Klub Comedy : Moshpit Bar(Erskineville)

It was fine, it's just that not many people turned up on a cold wet wintry night. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25] [T-$10 + F-$10 + C$6]
PS: there wasn't a theme for the show, eg, corporate resort spa, etc

28.06.24 : Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee - S01E05 : ABC(Ultimo)

Guests: Tom Ballard, Luke McGregor, Nikki Britton, Wil Anderson
I think the editors have their work cut out for them to make this show compelling. I always worry when a bit stalls and gets drawn out, because I wonder how an non-invested free-to-air TV audience will react. Like will they switch channels, or will they be patient and wait for the payout at the end. Lets hope the edit keeps the energy/interest up so people don't turn off. This one was kind-of between the other two, ie, it was just ok except for a dull drawn-out laboured section. To me the whole series feels more like a Sat afternoon Patriot Brains level, than anything people will chase because it's must-see TV. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]

PS: Saw a NZ ep and it's was amusing enough that I liked it, it's now just a matter if it's going to be funny enough for a TV, ie will it grab them enough to keep them watching.

27.06.24 : Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee - S01E03 : ABC(Ultimo)

Guests: Cameron James, Jenny Tian, Tim Minchin, Nazeem Hussain(winner carries over to next ep)

Even though I wasn't impressed, I went again because it's an easy show to go to, ie, ends early and is free. Plus only the first show is a disappointment when it doesn't live up to expectations, after that you know what to expect so are less disappointed, ie, you can relax and get into it more. Well this recording was better. Evidently they change the games for between episodes, like they have the same theme for segments but are a different version. As an example, yesterday the panel had to pick and audience member and try to spell their name, where as today they were introduced to a member of the crew an hour previously and had to remember their name and spell it - it didn't go well lol -. There was a horse racing game where every time they spelt a word correctly their horse would move forward on the track, but the thing was that they could bet points on who they thought would win and that got crazy because no one understood how to bet - lol -. Another good thing is this production isn't pedantic like usual shows, like in Question Everything they will re-record sections if it was hard to hear someone or if the wording needs to change, where as here they just record sections and trust the editor to fix stuff in post because there is going to be a ton of stuff to work with that will never make the cut. Not super laughs, but I did like this one. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]

26.06.24 : Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee - S01E01 : ABC(Ultimo)
Guests: Urzila Carlson, Nazeem Hussain, Danielle Walker, Tom Gleeson - Assistant: Aaron Chen

I've been told that this is very good and a must see by the Free to a Good Home/Project52 guys who came up with a brilliant version of a Spelling Bee, but I don't see it. In Project52's version the premise was that the judges try to FU the constants so they can't spell the words, ie, they miss pronounce words, give stupid uses of the words, etc, and in this one it had something similar, just a lot milder. Pretty much Urzila stole the show/was the life of the party with clever quips, with the crowd being hyper like they knew the show and were already fans. It kind-of feels like Win the Week, ie, nothing special but ok to watch, and that was so hated it was bumped to a latter time slot after a few weeks because it was killing the viewing audience for the shows scheduled after it. There was also no monitors to show small stuff, so the audience didn't react to any tiny visual cleverness because they couldn't see it. I guess we will have to see what they do in the edit, but with this being a 1hr show I don't see that it's good enough. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]

26.06.24 : IF - movie

Animation - Comedy - Drama : A young girl who goes through a difficult experience begins to see everyone's imaginary friends who have been left behind as their real-life friends have grown up.

I don't do animation/CGI, especially if it's PG, because nearly all of them are not intelligent enough for adults. But since there has been such a drought of movies lately, and this kind-of looked acceptable, I took a risk. Basically I could watch it, and it was better than Clifford the Big Red Dog(2021), though not by much, but for most of it I was drifting and thinking about other stuff simply because it didn't captivate - the other person in the cinema left at halfway -. I really should've skipped and saved the $10. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]

25.06.24 : Get On Up Comedy : Hustle & Flow Bar(Redfern)

I don't usually do open-mic shows because I need comics to be a decent level due to seeing too much comedy, ie, I need people who produce laughs, but other stuff was either sold-out(Yeah The Girls-Lady Laughs), ho-hum(Sweeneys), or repeats(Running Joke), on this night, ie, it's boring doing nothing. I knew it was a risk because there will be a lot of raw comics, but I was kind-of hoping it will be like 05.06.24 : Comedy Arcade : Astro's Arcade Bar where there was a decent amount of semi-pros doing new material. Unfortunately it was nearly all raw comics with only 2 semi-pros, so it was on the lower laugh level. I can kind-of stick out the lower laugh level stuff, but being the odd one out in a room full of comics, ie, the general public, you get picked on a lot. This is where Comedy Arcade was better, because there are seats further away so you don't get targeted all the time. It is what it is, ie, a hard slog for all parties(comics & crowd), but at least it was better than TV. Comics don't clap other comics well, so even the crowd was low - lol -. [Crowd : 2 - Me : 2] [T-$0 + F-$7 + C$7]

24.06.24 : Comedy Riot - Jugs & Jaffles : Enmore Hotel

Rory Lowe(MC), Jess Fuchs, Ben Kochan, Jenny Tian, Dan Rath

It was one of those typical inner city Newtown crowds, ie, they do listen, but don't make much noise, and even though the listening is good, the lack of a laugh-track kind-of kills the comic's performance. Like Jenny Tian's routine got good laughs at 13.06.24 : Manly Comedy Club : Shark Bar - New Brighton Hotel, but here there was so little it felt a bit like she was bombing - I hope it's because they follow her on her successful online socials and know the jokes already -. Ben Kochan was the funniest on the night, and Jess Fuchs would've probably been equal funny, but she was trialling some new stuff that broke the flow of her usual killer routine. I think I have to blame the crowd for the night not living up to what it should've been, ie, probably should've gone to RatKorp's 3rd birthday instead - lol -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$6]
PS: I think I'm getting the Dan Rath repeat blues, because this guy has been everywhere lately - lol -.

22.06.24 : Free To A Good Home - podcast taping : ITS(Redfern)

It was good, but the subjects were a bit plain, ie, ghosts, Norovirus/diarrhoea & vomiting - 3 comics and their families got it -. Basically it's rare if they do/riff on actual classifieds anymore, so it was more about what was happening with the cast. At least it's something different to the constant standup, ie, last night was brilliant but it's routines that I've heard maybe 10 times each just this year - lol -. I would prefer they got back to classifieds because they were more funny, but maybe they are hard to find, or maybe the cast is out of practice with thinking quick because they don't do many shows a year, ie, Project52 they had to think/make a show every week and that exercises the brain. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$7]
PS: just listened to the podcast and I found it a lot funnier than the recording, ie, 4 stars.
Hosts: Ben Jenkins, Michael Hing - Guests: Dave Woodhead, Alex Lee, Danielle Walker

21.06.24 : 7 Grand Masters of Comedy One Night, Infinite Laughs : Forest Hotel(Frenchs Forest)

Rebecca De Unamuno(MC), Fady Kassab, Fiona Cox, Gary Eck, Simon Kennedy, Dan Rath, AL Del Bene

When I saw the strong lineup I was thinking it should be good if I went, but when I saw Bek De Unamuno as the bonus I kind-of had to go even though it was another PITA venue to get to - anything over the Bridge sux-balls - lol -, ie, it's far and I don't know the areas. Basically it was high-level laughs, and the crowd was good with lots of laughing, the only hiccup was that Dan's material is for a young crowd and this crowd was mainly old, ie, wrong demographic - he got enough laughs in the end that it didn't matter -. Super good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25] [T-$30 + F-$4 + C$6]

PS: I think I was sitting next to Bek at the bus stop and didn't notice because I don't look at people's faces, ie, used to be called shyness, now it's autism - lol -.

20.06.24 : Super Chill Comedy Club : Otis(Leichhardt)

It's always a risk with a free show because no one payed so nobody is invested in doing anything like clapping, laughing, etc. Thankfully we had a good audience that actually laughed all the time and did clap, and that made all the difference because it was quite fun. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$6]

New Fuel Calc is the same as the old, ie 10l/100km = $2/10km

19.06.24 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King(Newtown)

Because of the circumstances this was teetering, but they did just enough to keep it afloat. Basically it was another half-hearted small crowd that didn't do much, ie, there was only one person making an effort and clapping, but at least it wasn't as bad as last night where I got depressed I wanted to quit comedy - it's not like I don't have a hundred other jobs that need doing -. It looked like Jackson Stewart first time at MC, so it was a bit hard going from short set to BS-ing/crowd-work for the whole night. Dan Rath turned up again to workout new material, and this time he did well again, like what usually happens when he's on. He had some new RSL stuff, that I've been saying for years, ie, 100 points of ID to get into a stupid club that can't keep my info safe - lol -. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$11 + C$3]

18.06.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

It wasn't very good, but at least everyone was somewhat tolerant. Basically it was a crowd problem, sure the regulars wanted to be there, did listen, and tolerated the low laugh-level, but they didn't do anything, ie, laugh or applaud much, and that kind-of killed the night. Like last night we had less people, but they knew the situation and laughed and applauded vigorously, and that enthusiasm, be it exaggerated/fake - lol -, made the show fun. Where as this one had big dead silent spots, and that made everyone feel awkward, eg, Dan Rath did well last night, but with the exact same routine he died here because it wasn't a real comedy crowd, ie, they support whatever, where as these guys only do the minimum and never boost the show with effort. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$3]

PS: thankfully Cameron Duggan didn't attack anyone or embarrass them, so he was ok tonight.

17.06.24 : RatKorp - Rat Klub Comedy : Moshpit Bar(Erskineville)

This time it was RatKorp's annual employee evaluation party, ie, we were the employees being told off for bad performance - lol -. It was small, but it was kind-of nice. Basically the small crowd knew what to do and clapped enthusiastically at everyone - more so than some big crowds I've seen lately -, and that made the thing quite cosy and fun. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$10 + F-$10 + C$3]

Middle management passive aggressively firing us due to poor performance - lol -.

14.06.24 : Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase 2024! : Hornsby RSL

Fady Kassab, Andrew Barnett, Jackie Loeb, Billy D'arcy, Jess Fuchs, Patrick Golamco, Frankie Rowsthorn

I went especially early because I couldn't afford to waste such an expensive ticket, and then the trains f-ed me over. The train broke down and when they told us to switch platforms the board said Hornsby - I checked 10 times - but the train went to Parramatta. By the time I got back to the start and on the correct train I got there near the end of the first half. And because I was late my chair was gone and I had to sit behind the speakers and could not hear/understand any words being said so I gave up and left. Then the train back was late and I missed my bus - DOH! -. Looks like I blew $125 this week on bad/skipped/ruined shows and waste of time karts. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$40 + F-$0 + C$3]

14.06.24 : Hyper Karting : The Entertainment Quarter(Moore Park)

Looks like I'm not doing Fridays anymore. I got the second session as per usual, but they never sprayed the track with traction compound the session before, ie, it was a slide-fest. Sure it's less work and more fun, but the lap time is so bad(33.9sec) it feels like a waste of time. Basically you achieve something if you go faster, but with a slippery track it's more like toy skid karts, ie, not serious racing. The guys in the previous session seamed to be driving pretty straight - their times weren't shown so I don't know if they were good -, but I've done that processional non sliding driving and it's pretty boring. I don't know if it's worth it if you're serious about racing when the lap times are dependant on the track grip on the day, ie, it's a lottery. Felt like a waste of $25. [Crowd : na - Me : 2.5] [T-$19 + F-$3 + C$3]

13.06.24 : Manly Comedy Club : Shark Bar - New Brighton Hotel(Manly)

Sean Woodland(MC), Brett Nichols, Sarah Gaul, Anthony Locascio, Jenny Tian, Luke Heggie

The comedy was a above average, but the crowd wasn't. Usually there is usually someone in this crowd that thinks they are comedians and shout stuff out, and in small doses it's fine, but tonight we had a bunch of idiot friends thinking they were the best part of the show and kept interrupting and killing punchlines. I must-of had a premonition - lol -, because I was sitting there waiting for the show and I suddenly got the "ick" and wanted to go home before it started. The lineup was unusually high-level so everyone was good, at least the ones that didn't get interrupted, but it was Luke's fast start that flummoxed them - lol -. He goes into routine straight away and talks very fast, so it took a while for the crowd to catch up and realise how funny he was, ie, I was the only one laughing at the start - lol -. It probably would've been a 4, but the crowd dragged it down to a 3.5, ie, they didn't laugh at the level they got. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$31 + F-$5 + C$3]

12.06.24 : Broken Bay Brewing Co - Comedy Night : Broken Bay Brewing Co(Brookvale)

Skipped. I've got big toe problems from all the running - I yanked the nail - lol -, and I didn't feel like hobbling around for 6hrs with a shoe filling up with red liquid - lol -. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$0]

11.06.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

I wasn't intending on going because by the end of last week I was at the point of exhaustion - the karts started it, but so many late shows in a row made it worse -, but then I remembered it was a short show that ends early, so I thought might as well go because if I sit down too much I lose fitness fast. There's not must to say, ie, it's free so it's rarely going to be high level, but overall it's plenty fine. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$3]

11.06.24 : Bad Boys: Ride or Die - movie

Action - Adventure - Comedy : This Summer, the world's favorite Bad Boys are back with their iconic mix of edge-of-your seat action and outrageous comedy but this time with a twist: Miami's finest are now on the run.

At least it was better than that last POS nostalgia money grab, ie, Bad Boys for Life(2020) - Rotten Tomatoes said it was better but I didn't like it -. I could've done without that silly banter between the two that is supposed to bring levity, simply because it wasn't funny. It's ok. [3] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
PS: I don't really see the appeal of the Bad Boys franchise, to me they feel like a cheap knock-off of Lethal Weapon, ie, they try to make it like feel it has cult status, but in reality they are average buddy cops films.

08.06.24 : Comedy For A Cause : Cronulla RSL

Simon Kennedy(MC), Mat Wakefield, David Williams, Peter Burner

Doh! they only released the lineup the day before the show, ie, I didn't know it was Burner again when I bought the ticket - ouch! -. The comics were fine even with Burner being a multiple repeat for me, ie, I still found him the funniest one, it was more a problem that the crowd didn't laugh much. The crowd did drag the night down somewhat or else I would've laughed more, ie, not a large enough laugh-track for the level of the comedy. It was ok, plus it's another new venue I can tick-off - lol . [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$43 + F-$6 + C$3]

07.06.24 : Minskys - Friday Night Comedy : Minskys Hotel(Cremorne)

Lewis Holt(MC), Nick Bartlett, ?, Andrew Barnett, Alex Choi, Al Del Bene

I don't know how they are going to top that, because that was top-notch. And it was just because there was 2 pro headliners, most of the support comics killed as well. It also helped that the crowd was a bit lively and there was a lot of crowd-work, ie, they went along with it. The one that stood-out to me was Nick Bartlett. I knew he was good when he did the not so good 15.03.24 : The Nick Bartlett Show : Gasoline Pony, because he was so sharp and quick at crowd-work. Tonight he was brilliant, ie, it's like he's been doing crowd-work all his life he's so fluid at it. Al Del Bene and Andrew Barnett are always headliner good. Alex Choi was good, despite seeing him a few days back, ie, a repeat. Lewis was good/better this time - he seamed a bit stifled at 28.05.24 : Stand Up Comedy Night : The Hayberry Diner & Bar but was very free and flowing tonight -. The only tense spot was when Al went too hard on an Irish guy and he tried to heckle back, ie, it felt tense because the guy was more very unfunny and a bit vindictive. Al did eventually turn it around, so it killed the butt clenching tension. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$25 + F-$10 + C$3]
PS: I felt a bit out of place here because it's a bit fancy/posh, ie, there was a grand piano at the entrance.

PPS: Sorry I don't remember names but I don't follow any comics, and even though I remember them I sometimes don't know/remember their name, ie, I would make a lousy teacher because I would never remember the student's names - lol -..

06.06.24 : Kirribilli Club Comedy Night : Kirribilli Club

It was fine, it's just that someone heckled in Dan's set and I kind-of hate it because it makes me tense, ie, it feels like something bad will kick-off. The crowd on the other hand don't seem to mind, because when I got outside I overheard a guy say to his friend "That last guy was good(Dan), thanks for suggesting coming to this show, that was great". Probably Daniel Muggleton was best, ie, a proper headliner, with mentions of Rory Lowe and Shash Kapur, but overall all were good. A bit better than average. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$21 + F-$5 + C$3]

06.06.24 : Hyper Karting : The Entertainment Quarter(Moore Park)

LOL, 31.9sec. I think know the trick to a fast time, you go right after a pro race because they put a line of traction compound down on the track before each corner and that carries over to the next session. What also helped was that a faster guy over-took me and I watched his lines. Basically you have to get the slow 3 hairpin corners correct because they are followed by long straights, ie, if you don't have max speed coming on the straights it will not carry to the end. Basically I was coming in hot and scrubbing/sliding off all my speed coming on the straights. In the end I was the fastest of our 4 person session by 0.1sec - lol, I beat the fast guy -. I could tell I was going faster because it was so much more effort that I was"cooked" by 2/3 distance and wanted to get off - I was still breathing heavily 1hr later when I got off the train -. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.5] [T-$19 + F-$3 + C$3]

Still 2sec off the pro race just before with the "grip drip" extra grip track

05.06.24 : Comedy Arcade : Astro's Arcade Bar(Newtown)

It said it was pros doing new material, and it was, but the majority was open mic-ers. The first half was actually good because of the experienced guys, and because everyone only got 4min it was fast and tight, ie, the entertainment kept coming. The 2nd half was nearly all noobs, and they weren't too bad, but the 4min sets make sure you don't get bored if some don't hit. There was so many comics - it felt like 30 lol but was probably 20 -, that I had to split 3 from the end and run to catch the last train/bus, ie, if I miss it it's a 30min walk home at midnight. I reckon it was 3.5 in the 1st half, and maybe 2.75 in the second. [Crowd : na - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$15 + C$3]

PS: I reckon I run more now trying to catch the last bus then when I actually used to run - lol -

PPS: Back in 2000 Newtown became a hot spot for bands, now it 2024 I think this is comedy venue number 10 - lol

PPSS: I think I'm getting the Freya Reviews blues - lol -, ie, I get her every week as MC. Thankfully she nearly does all riffing crowd-work so it's always new to me, unlike some regular venue MCs that mainly do different versions of their same routine, ie, repeats.
There is no way I'm going to take pictures of that many comics - lol -

04.06.24 : Northies Comedy Club : Northies Cronulla Hotel

Imaan Hadchiti(MC), Alex Choi, Henry Zhu, Chris Knight, Peter Meisel, Luke Heggie

I've never seen that many people here before, ie, it felt like it was double the usual. We had Imaan Hadchiti as MC, and I remember when I first saw him at the Oatley Hotel maybe a decade ago he was a bit intense/angry, but now he's so smooth he is always a lot of fun/superb. I don't know how you pick it because all were extra good, maybe Imaan, Meisel, Heggie, but the others did their best deliveries so everyone was outstanding. Well worth the 2hrs there and 2hrs back by train. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$19 + F-$15 + C$3]

04.06.24 : Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - movie

Action - Adventure - Sci-Fi : The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max.

I guess it was a bit too far-fetched to think it would be as good as Mad Max: Fury Road(2015), but it being a little closer would've helped. Basically Fury Road has no story but has amazingly tense action throughout, ie, super entertaining, where as this is mainly story, but stories we already know, eg, looking for/controlling gasoline, but a different version of that. I was going to give it a 3.5, but it was so long and slow without anything that stood-out, I'm only giving it a 3. [3] [T-$1 + F-$0 + C$0]
PS: it's been a lean month for movies, and I could've gone to a few because I had a minor interest, but that interest was so low I know I would've resented sitting there through the whole movie.

01.06.24 : Grand Masters of Comedy : Windsor RSL

David Smiedt(MC), Jackie Loeb, AL Del Bene(USA), Chris Radburn, Tommy Dean

I was planing on staying home but I did that habitual thing of spending 30min every day opening 100 browser tabs to see if anything is happening - it's hard to find stuff now that everyone left Eventbrite - and found this buried in there somewhere. It was a sunny day in the morning so I got a ticket, but by the afternoon it was a miserable rainy day and I regretted it, ie, it was 4 hours trudging through the rain to get there and back by train. As for the show, it was that typical RSL crowd who are stupid/lazy that don't know you have to put effort in if you want the show to be good. Basically all night they barely applauded/LOL-ed at anything, eg, AL Del Bene was killing but you couldn't tell because they were dying quietly, ie, you could see them dying in their faces but their sound/laugh level low. It was ok, but the lazy crowd kind-of killed the night for me, ie, I would've laughed more with a crowd laugh-track. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$35 + F-$6 + C$6]

31.05.24 : Hyper Karting : The Entertainment Quarter(Moore Park)

LOL, I got worse. At least there were no pros doing 30.9s so my 34.9 didn't look as bad against the others 32,9s - found out the pro races use griper tyres so 32.9 is closer to normal -. I don't know if they changed the back corner or my memory is shot, but I came out of the pits and turned where I thought the corner was and nearly drove into a wall - lol -. I remembered every other corner, but I don't remember that corner being such a tight cut-back "S" - maybe I did go faster because the track layout is slower -. These things are big heavy and agricultural - they're strong so there's no maintenance in a crash -, and I find it a lot of work - my kart was light and nimble -, and even though I made the full 10min without dying, I was pretty wasted trying to walk away at the end - lets hope it's not 3 days to recover - lol -. The lap timer wasn't working - the guy told me 34.9sec - so I can't analyse the different techniques I tried, but I really need to follow someone fast to figure out the trick because it's going to take ages to work it out because the track surface doesn't have any feel to gauge when you are going fast - the G's in a real kart tell you you are at the limit in a corner where as these slide and you don't feel much. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.5] [T-$19 + F-$3 + C$3]

forgot to take a photo because I was wasted at the end - lol -, so here is the old track

30.05.24 : The Great Comedy Club : Yia Yia's Dive Bar & Kitchen(Marrickville)

It was a lot of repeats for me - lol -, but it was still good. Probably Gerard McGowan and Laura Hughes were the best, with mentions of David Turong and Jamal Abdul, but really all were fine. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$17 + C$4]

29.05.24 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co(Camperdown)

Freya Reviews(MC), Sam Wade, Ian Mu, Sam Brewer, Andy Procopis, Jenny Tian, Billy Darcy, Alexandra Hudson

It started very quiet/dead, and I wasn't feeling that friendly vibe, and because I was feeling run-down/tired all week I was thinking of splitting at half time, but I toughed it out and the second half got better. Freya's investigation/crowd-work uncovered a mystery that made me perk up, ie, where's the mystery ex-wife, but it was Jenny Tian with a totally new routine that finally made it good/fun for me, ie, I pretty much remembered everyone else's routine so they didn't standout. It was fine. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.25] [T-$16 + F-$14 + C$6]

28.05.24 : Stand Up Comedy Night : The Hayberry Diner & Bar(Crows Nest)

It's fine, it's just that it has the small room thing. Basically in a large crowd you are anonymous if you make a noise, but with a small crowd people are afraid to lol because everyone else in the room knows who made the sound. Overall it was a bit quiet in the first half, but they loosened up and laughed in the second. Jack Gow got laughs, but it was EJ Rovedi that was very smooth in the headliner spot, ie, he talks to the crowd like he knows everyone and that makes him instantly likeable, ie, everyone hung off the stories even in quiet bits before the punchline. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$10 + C$3]

27.05.24 : Just found out David James Young got the Guinness record for attending 257 gigs in a year, and was looking at his band list, so I got my band list book and made my own(600-ish) - Band Blog -

26.05.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

Sam Bowden(MC), Laura Coleman, Freddie McManus, AJ Lamarque, Dan Muggleton, Chloe Maddren, Nabil Abdulrashid(UK), Luke Heggie

It was good, it's just that they had 2 drop-ins and it ended very late, ie, usually 9:30pm but this was 10:10pm - I missed the last bus -. Basically the crowd was good in the first half, but I think they got tired in the second, ie, they still listened but didn't seem to have the energy to LOL. Like there were a lot of heavy-hitters, ie, McManus, Muggleton, Heggie, but they didn't really get the reactions they deserved - the guy in front of me was dying but wasn't making any sound -. AJ Lamarque is good now, but it was Nabil that was the most interesting/funny for me because he's new and from OS. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$13 + F-$16 + C$3]

25.05.24 : Quakers Hat Brewing Stand-up Comedy : Quakers Hat Brewing(Manly Vale)

Freya Morton(MC), Maddie Dockrill, Shash Kapur, Kurt Sterling, Kimberley Snow, Patrick Golamco

This has been the trend lately, ie, if the people won't come to the show bring the show to the people, ie, a lot of pop-up/new comedy places opening. Basically if a place is a bit isolated and has good patronship people will turn up because it's easy when it's around the corner. At the time I was branching out, ie, if it's always the same comics why not try different venues for a change, so that's why I'm doing places further away and quiet inconvenient by bus/train. Even though the place is a micro brewery, ie, a bit industrial, it's the crowd that matters, and they were pretty good. Basically they listened and were supportive when it was mild, but did actually laugh a decent amount when things got funny. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$28 + F-$13 + C$3]

No photos because there is no stage to lift the comics above the heads of the quite packed room

24.05.24 : Ronnie Neville - All Irish Storytelling : Kinselas(Darlinghurst)

It's good but done in a seat-of-the-pants style, ie, no construction or planing - some stories had attempted punchlines but most just ended abruptly -. Basically it's like your friend telling you a crazy story. Even though the stories are current/modern, he delivered it in an old-timey fashion, and even some of the stories from his childhood seem like from the old days with the ducks and donkey. Plenty good enough to be fun. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$27 + F-$5 + C$3]

23.05.24 : The Escape Room : Flight Plan Theatre Addison Road Community Centre(Marrickville)

This turned up in the email, and even though I don't do theatre there was a bunch of comics in it so I gave it a shot in case it's funny. I recognised Annie Boyle, but my prosopagnosia is so stupid I didn't recognise Kate Dolan until the end, ie, she changed her hair so I didn't know who she was, and only figured it out by the accent when the play was nearly over - lol -. If you want to know if it's good you have to ask a theatre expert, because it was more a light-hearted play than a comedy, ie, don't know about theatre plays. For me it had that first time novelty value, so I didn't find it boring, it's just that it's not really for me because it's only amusingly mild laugh-wise. [Crowd : 4 - Me : na] [T-$32 + F-$0 + C$6]
PS: I've been here before, but it was so long ago it pre-dates this diary, ie, no notes.

23.05.24 : Hyper Karting : The Entertainment Quarter(Moore Park)

That certainly wakes you up at 7am. Last time I was here I was annoyed that they changed stuff around so you couldn't sit and watch while waiting for the Store's cattle yard to empty, but then I saw they changed the track and opened it up so it wasn't as dinky as before - sharp left right left corners in a row sux because there is no flow -. Basically I couldn't sleep so I went so as to see how close it is to real Karts. Well first time down the straight and it was pretty slow, and I don't know if they power limit noobs or I wasn't using the boost button properly, but after a few laps it got pretty good compared to a gasoline powered kart. My laps times aren't great, ie, 3sec off the pace, but I don't do smooth because it's boring. Basically I man-handle it and come in screaming hot, snap over-steer the rear to point it around the corner, then just tramp it because it's already heading in the right direction. The fast flat-out corners remind me of Oran Park over the bridge where the kart is drift cornering before it heads down the drop - a drop like Mt Panorama's Dipper-. The only problem is the steering is heavy and I'm unfit, so by halfway I had enough and was just in cruse mode. Basically at Oran Park we did big blocks of 33-ish laps of a 860m track, so to save energy you go into cruse-mode, ie, minimum input and effort, and that still produces identical lap times. I was the only one on the track, and don't think I would like it in a pack because it's grip-limited and hard to be accurate, ie, over-take, so I recommend you do early starts when it's empty and only $19 per session. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.75] [T-$19 + F-$3 + C$3]

22.05.24 : The Laugh Inn : The Newtown Hotel

It was ok, and as you would expect Peter Meisel(USA) was the best. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$0 + C$3]
Can't take photos here but sneaked a quick Miesel

21.05.24 : Roundhouse Comedy Night : Roundhouse UNSW(Kensington)

Billy D'Arcy(MC), Jess Fuchs, Jamal Abdul, Ruven Govender, Stella Wu, Elliot McLaren, Rory Lowe(UK),

I thought I would try something different, ie, not the comics, more the venue, but even that wasn't different because I did this all before about a decade ago(2011 & earlier). Really the only thing that can be different when you see 200+ shows per year is the crowd, so you kind-of rely on them being good to boost the night. Well the crowd were pretty quiet, and that gave the impression that everyone is hating it, ie, it makes me question why I do this, but at the end Rory finished his set, looked at his watch, and said "F-it, I'd do another 10min", and the crowd erupted with cheers, ie, they did like it, it's just that they didn't show it. Probably the best, ie, most laughs, was Rory and Jess. It was ok, just it is depressing on cold and bleak nights when the crowd is bit quiet. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$12 + F-$3 + C$3]

19.05.24 : Dan Rath - Pariah Carey : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Good as always, it's just that I now remember major blocks of his routine so it doesn't hit as hard as usual, ie, it would've been a higher score if it was new to me. He did have new crowd-work stuff which was fun/good, and he did do good 'recovery jokes', ie, if you admit a joke didn't get big laughs it gets bigger laughs, but Dan didn't do it in the simplistic way, but in a very clever convoluted way, ie, stuff that makes you think gets bigger laughs. The crowd on the other hand were a bit weird/sh!t, like they didn't give much applause at the start, laughed a decent amount during the show, but didn't really applaud enough at the end compared to their laughs, ie, they shouldn't have been so lazy - he did end weird with a straight walk-off, so that could explain it -. On the way out I overheard a guy say "that was very good", but the way he said it, ie, emotionless, was like he didn't expect it to be good so he wasn't prepared to put any energy back into the show. That's what the whole crowd felt like, ie, lazy, if that makes any sense. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4] [T-$28 + F-$0 + C$6]

18.05.24 : Tom Ballard - Good Point Well Made : Comedy Store(EQ-Moore Park)

I probably should've skipped because when you feel crook it kills the mood, ie, take my opinion with a grain of salt, but it felt too edgy political for me, at least compared to his old stuff. Basically his old stuff had edgy political, but it was padded-out with a lot of silly fun stuff, this one felt like it was nearly all political, and all on the YES vote referendum. Tom has an vested interest because his BF is a real Australian, and I don't blame him for being mad because I was pretty dumbfounded/disgusted that NO won, ie, there was no reason to vote no except stupidity, and because it was a bit too close to home for me it wasn't going to get peek laughs out of me. Basically ignore what I said because the crowd seemed to like it, and that's all that matters. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$24 + F-$0 + C$6]

16.05.24 : Sporties Comedy Club : Moorebank Sports Club(Hammondville)

Chris Radburn(MC), Brett Nichols, Peter Berner

Doh! Looks like when I bought tickets weeks apart I didn't think the shows will wind up being days apart with the same comics, ie, recent repeats. I had to skip, ie, I'm sick with the flu and it was only a $10 loss, plus couldn't really stomach another Peter Berner only 3 days latter. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

15.05.24 : Alexandra Hudson - Making Lemonade : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It's alway going to be a low-key delivery because of the disability, but it's sweet and funny for the first half. The second half gets a bit real-world, ie, serious-ish, but it's all delivered in a light manner, ie, less laughs but ok, with a funny finish. Nice/charming. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]
PS: couldn't got to another last minute planned show because I woman coughed on me a couple days ago and gave me the flu, ie, feeling sick.

14.05.24 : Best of the Fest International : Manning Bar(Camperdown)

Jess Fuchs(MC), Micky Bartlett, Mat Ewins, Kemah Bob, Josh Pugh
I was wondering which OS comics are still here because most are gone by the end of the 2nd week, and as the comics were reviled I realised I accidentally saw this last year when I walked into wrong room - lol -. Micky was the best, Jess was sharp/fast, and the rest were fine. Ok. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$39 + F-$5 + C$3]

13.05.24 : Comedy Night @ Taffy's Bar (April) : Taffy's Bar(Neutral Bay)

Andrew Barnett(MC), Christina Van Look, Dahn Rozario, Rohan Arneil, Peter Berner

It was a bit long, ie, probably could've done without the amateur or Burner doing a super long set, but it was still pretty pro/good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$19 + C$3]

12.05.24 : Shad & Pete Save the World : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It's the usual thing where people write down problems and put them in a basket for the panel to answer, and you will find the show good even if you don't laugh hard because it's always fun and sometimes shocking, eg, "I faked orgasms more than once with my now boyfriend", who was sitting next to her - lol -. I got one problem in, ie, My cat never looks me in the eye, has it got Asperger? - lol -. It's still fun even a second time. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$0]

PS: I was going to write a BS problem, ie, "I had sex in a park and a worm crawled in my pussy, can I be pregnant?", but I didn't notice Bec Charlwood was one of the panellists and it is one of her jokes, ie, dodged a bullet - lol -.

Guest - Bec Charlwood Guest - Kate Dolan

12.05.24 : Mat Ewins(UK) - Screen Time : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

This is where I find out I've been Catch 22-ing myself - lol -. I don't read show blurbs so as not to spoil the surprise, but if you don't read the blurb you never know if an unknown is doing something you might be interested in. Basically I was looking for a 'time-filler', and it was only after reading the blurb, ie, this looked cool, that I realised I FU-ed - lol -. What it is is Mat showing little bizarre/crazy vids that he edited/created, eg, he would show a soccer goal but remove the ball, so all you see is people falling down and smashing into each other - lol -. There are bits that are a bit Monte Python/Terry Gilliam, eg, he cuts arms/legs out of pics and makes them move, but it's not as abstract and bizarre as MP, eg, a giant foot squashing people. The guy is very affable and friendly, and the first half is quite strong, but it does taper at halfway, ie, still ok-ish. It was a Sunday crowd, ie, a bit dead, and it ended weird, so don't go by the 3.5 crowd score. Something different, I liked it, ie, would go again. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$6]

11.05.24 : Nath Valvo - Anyway, Back To Me : Comedy Store(EQ-Moore Park)

I remember seeing glimpses of Nathan Valvo on community Channel 31(Sydney) around 2004ish in a show called The Shambles with Sos, Valvo & Lynchy. The show wasn't particularly funny, except for Nathan Valvo. Fast forward to now and he super good, and a 'must-see' these days if you want big laughs. Excellent. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25] [T-$24 + F-$3 + C$3]

10.05.24 : Annie Boyle Annie Are You OK? : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I thought I goofed when I requesting a ticket, but it was beautiful. I actually remember seeing this - 02.09.23 : Annie Boyle - Annie, Are You Ok? : Factory Theatre -, but it's so vague I don't remember much, or it being like this - from the notes I got there late and was flustered so didn't absorb much, ie, 2nd time's the charm -. What I think it was was Annie's trip to the UK to see Delta Goodram as a coping mechanism for the recent passing of her mother - all you really can do is keep busy or it becomes overwhelming -. There's this bit in the show at the end where she thinks she sees her mother in the club, but it's delivered so poignantly and beautiful you can't not get emotional - I'm tearing up just writing about it -. I'm making the whole show sound sad, but it's nothing like that, it's mainly funny because it's a kind-of a fish-out-of-water, country girl in a big city, type thing, ie, country people don't show much emotion so it's seems out of place elsewhere. There something about Annie's deadpan delivery that I find unusually good. [Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4.25] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]

10.05.24 : Lucy Henderson - Comedy Cluedo : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It's based on Cluedo - I don't think you can use that name - lol -, where supposedly Lucy is killed and we have to workout the details, but all the people, places, and weapons, come with a Lucy personal story. She gives out clues to work it out, and tells you at the end how it was perpetrated, but the logic was way over my head so I couldn't even guess anything. Some stories were new, but most were from her routine, ie, repeats for me, and that kind-of dulls my score. It also ended strangely, so you can't really tell what the crowd thought because they were a bit confused. It's ok/good if you haven't seen her before - lol -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$5 + C$6]

09.05.24 : Shad & Pete Save the World : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

This is like one of those late night festival shows, loose but good, and it works on the premise that people anonymously - lol - write problems on papers and they improvise/makeup a solution. As an example, one guy shakily wrote that he has Parkinson's and can't NUT properly anymore, all the time with his son sitting next to him - lol -. I remembered the next day that there are Rub-n-Tugs, where the girls do it for you - lol -. It's plenty fun, and you can go many times because the show will always be different because there will be always have different problems. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$30 + F-$0 + C$0]

1st Guest - Cameron James

2nd Guest - Connor Burns

09.05.24 : Greg Larsen - Revolting : Enmore Theatre

It wasn't as funny as 2 years back - 12.05.22 : Greg Larsen - We All Have Bloody Thoughts : Factory Theatre -, but it was still plenty ok. The first time I saw Greg was on TV, and because of his quirky oddball stuff I found him instantly funny. This show doesn't have that quirky stuff, but is more his life story, ie, being a Goth in a rural QLD school, a Goth Trans punk singer in a band, smoking pot with his music teacher for the whole music course, being a webcam girl, etc. I had to skip the ending to make my next show, so no crowd reaction score. As usual you can trust Enmore's scheduling so the show ran long, and instead of the stated 20min to get to the Factory Theatre I had to run the 1.2km in 5min for the next show. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.75] [T-$24 + F-$5 + C$6]

08.05.24 : Connor Burns - Vertigo : Manning Bar(Camperdown)

I missed the start of his show last year, and it seemed pretty good, so I thought I would go see the whole show this year. Basically I went to the wrong show in the previous session and realised so late that I watched that instead. I also couldn't get out from where I was without creating a scene. The problem was that it ran late so I couldn't get to Connor's show in time. There were two bit I remembered, maybe 20% of the show, with most of the rest being experiences in Australia - the best parts for us because it's relatable -. He did bits about doing shows in Melb, Perth, Sydney, what the crowds and people are like, eg , Perth is very meth-ie, staying in Newtown and questioning his gender - lol -, etc. Very good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$31 + F-$4 + C$3]

08.05.24 : Boy Kills World - movie

Action - Crime - Thriller : A fever dream action film that follows Boy, a deaf person with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, he is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death.

It's done in the style of an anime or old video game, ie, funny corny narration over the action, and because it quite different/quirky/cool/funny/fun, I liked it. I didn't drift in this one, ie, I usually drift in the slow parts in movies, ie, seen too many - lol -, but this one held my attention all the way. I found it fun and full of action, hence no time to be bored. Good [3.75] [T-$13 + F-$4 + C$3]

07.05.24 : Northies Comedy Club : Northies Cronulla Hotel

Billy D’Arcy(MC), Kiyanosh Sahebi, Nathan Chin, Lauren Bonner, Chris Radburn

The only indoor show that gets rained out - lol -. The people around here don't go out if the weather is rainy or cold, which it was again - lol -, so only 30 people turned up - even the main bar was a bit dead -, and that made it one of those quiet ones. I don't mind - I kind-of like the place -, and the crowd don't seen to mind, but I feel it affects the comics, ie, they don't try to force something to happen and do a subdued delivery. Lauren Bonner and Nathan Chin - now I know who the lawyer was in the show below lol - were extra good. Chris Radburn was going ok, even though it was a bit subdued, but he lost his place at the end and kind-of killed any energy in the room. It was fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$19 + F-$15 + C$3]

PS: Gary Eck roasted the venue so hard about their lobster pots nailed to the ceiling last month, that they were missing this week - lol -.

05.05.24 : Australia's funniest Lawyers : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Nathan Chin(MC), Gavin Sempel, Stella Wu, ?
I was thinking if I should see another show after, but this was so good I thought I would do a Costanza and leave on a high - lol -, ie, I didn't think any other show will be better. Most were from Melb so a lot was new/fresh, and because they were lawyers the level was a little sharper/clever/faster than you usually get. As for the crowd, they had the "Andrew Hamilton Conundrum", ie, lawyers don't laugh, and there was a lot of lawyers, ie, the laughs/claps should've been better. Excellent. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 4] [T-$30 + F-$5 + C$3]

04.05.24 : Meg Jager - Wrong Answers Only : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Not particularly funny, but because I'm sick of straight standup due to watching so many in a row, the change to a different type of comedy, something that is missing in SYD these days, made it interesting for me, ie, I kind-of liked it. They way it works is three constants are asked questions about history by the host and they have to make-up/improvise a stupid answer, ie, wrong answers only. The thing is, everyone was curious to what the real answer was, but Meg would never give it. I kind-of think you need the answer so you can judge how stupid the wrong answer is, so fortunately the constants would try to work that out first. I finally find out who Slug Girl is - lol -. I saw her at The Comedy Store and she was good/funny, and that's because she was something different/quirky. Would go again. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$0]

04.05.24 : Lawrence Mooney - Pigeonhole : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

He's sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, and very non-PC, and that's why it was psycho funny. The non-PC stuff was only at the start and a tiny bit at the end, and was delivered ironically, and that made it crazy funny, but the major part was the story of how he nearly killed himself getting drunk and hitting his head - I think some of this was in his last show -, and this part was not as crazy funny as the first 15min. Sometimes Mooney is killer, sometimes he's only good, but I would say this was in the upper range of funny. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25] [T-$35 + F-$0 + C$0]

04.05.24 : Felicity Ward - I'm Exhausting : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

She's kind-of switched to conventional storytelling comedy, and it's nice enough, but it's not as funny/quirky as the old stuff. Ever since Century Venues screwed my perfect record of seeing every Felicity show she's written when a show was moved 2 days earlier - if ringing isn't working, and voice mail isn't set up, SEND A TXT fuk-wits. I'm not bitter lol -, I kind-of lost the will to see every show, but I kind-of remember the early stuff being blistering, hence me going to every written show. I think I'm seeing too many shows because they are all blurring together, but it was still ok for me. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$43 + F-$11 + C$6]

03.05.24 : Andrew Maxwell(IRE) - Live in Sydney : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I think I better put Andrew on my list of favourites with David O'Doherty, ie, the ones that I see every time they are here, because that was super funny. Andrew has to be the most Aussie Irish person in the world, because he's been coming here nearly every year for 30 years and loves. Plus the way he drops so many C-bombs - even I thought it was a bit much and I'm from here lol - makes him a true Aussie. About 2/3 of it was about AUS and NZ, complete with accents and mannerisms, and that is instantly funny to us because it's instantly relatable. Basically the stuff about us is usually the best part of OS comic's routine, and in this one it was most of the show. I laughed more than with David O'Doherty, but because Andrew is more edgy, and David O'Doherty is shear joyous fun, I would say David is slightly more fun. Very good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25] [T-$45 + F-$0 + C$0]

03.05.24 : Larry Dean(SCO) - Dodger @ Factory Theatre : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

When I saw Larry the first time he came to AUS - 04.05.17 : Larry Dean (SCO) - Farcissist : The Factory Theatre -, he said something that put me off, ie, a deal breaker - gee I'm petty lol -, so I've been avoiding his shows ever since. Then I saw him somewhere on TV recently and he was very good, so I last minuted this as a kind-of 50/50 time filler for the next show and a curiosity in case he got super good, and it turned out this guy is good. As a gauge I probably laughed about a 3.75, but because it felt better than that I gave it a 4. No crowd score, because even though they assured me I would make the tight fit to the next show, this show ran long and I had to leave early to make the next more important show - I made it with minutes so spare -. Good even if it's not super laughs all the way. [Crowd : na - Me : 4] [T-$38 + F-$0 + C$6]

03.05.24 : The Fall Guy - movie

Action - Comedy - Drama : A down-and-out stuntman must find the missing star of his ex-girlfriend's blockbuster film.

It's not funny or fun like the trailer suggests. Most of it is this 'on and off again' relation between Gosling and Blunt, and this is uninteresting because there is no comedy in it. It only get watchable at halfway when they add some action due to the side story of the missing actor. But even then the movie only gets interesting in the last quarter when it's all action. I've got no idea how this is getting 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. Watchable, but a bit clunky/lame in production and writing. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

PS: Alex Lee(Dragon Friends) makes a small appearance at the end. Also David Collins(Umbilical Brothers)

02.05.24 : Demi Lardner & David Correos : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

So I'm heading home and I made the snap decision to go to this one, because it's practically on the way with a only a slight detour. The reason was that when I went to 21.09.22 : Demi Lardner & David Correos : Factory Theatre it was pretty much ruined by the laptop F-ing up, ie, they practically just danced around filling time, so I thought I'd try again and see it without the problems. Well I was walking and got halfway to The Factory from Sydenham, and realised that David Correos is probably just going to do the stunts I saw him do 1 week ago at his solo show, so I made a snap decision to NOT go and turned around. So I'm on the train from Redfern and didn't notice Sam Campbell is sitting opposite me, and He recognises me - so much for trying to be incognito lol -. You know when you see someone famous and you try to have a conservation but your brain falls out, well I bored him with a Dan Rath joke about "numb discharges" that only old people on medication will know - lol -. I remembered he was on UK TV, but was thinking of 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and totally forgot about Taskmaster - lol -. Halfway home the abacus starts shifting and I remember the TM scene when Greg asks how he feels about the girls double crossing him and naming him, And without a flinch he goes " I'm just happy my name is getting out there". I died because it was such an internal industry joke. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]

02.05.24 : Danielle Walker - The Lady Upstairs! : Comedy Store(Moore Park)

Welcome to my teen diary where I talk more about my feeling than the shows I'm supposed to talking about * insert feelings here * - lol -. I wasn't that interested because I thought I had seen half this show already at another comedy night, plus I'm getting sick of so many solo shows in a row, ie, one person talking for 1 hour, so was planing on going to a quick-change multi comic night. But then I thought I'm churning through a ton of $s this month, and this is cheap, so I figured I'll save the $s go anyway. Well I should've paid, because it was so good it deserved something. I was kind-of getting to used to her old routine, ie, I remember it, but this was all new and quite delightful. And because it had a media element with pics and vids, it broke up the standard straight talking for 1 hour that is a solo show. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]

PS; someone should've called child services with all the bad haircuts she got when she was a kid - lol -.

01.05.24 : Andrew Hamilton - Sh*T Bloke : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

After buying a ticket I was thinking to myself that I'm crazy going to this show so soon after seeing his solo show already, but I figured that the last show was so crazy good that even if this is a repeat it would still be good, eg, a 4. Well it was better than that - lol -. You know when an OS comic comes to AUS for the first time they start with the weird way we do stuff - it's is usually the best part because it's relatable -, well Hammo ad-libed/riffed about how weird the SCF situation is, ie, in an industrial area in a shipping container with a rare soldout Wed audience, but it was delivered so fast and naturally even I was kind-of taken-aback at how quick/smooth he came up with something so funny on the spot. Half the stuff was new stuff, and boy does this guy get into trouble all the time - lol -. This time he got tricked by a girl to pay go to her friend's bondage dungeon, and because I've been to bondage nights I totally cracked-up because it's exactly as he described, ie, bigger and bigger whips, studded paddle, hot wax, ice, clamps, and the wristie - lol -. Then to top that off Alan Fang did warmup, and that was funny because I was at Hotel Sweeney's when The Fang quipped to Andrew while on stage that he'll do warmup for his festival shows, with Andrew saying sure. The crowd was a bit weird because they didn't make enough noise as to how funny it actually was, but he did say he gets weird audiences, ie, people that don't usually go to comedy or laugh, eg, cops, lawyers, etc, so maybe it was a YeahMad crowd that only watch stuff online and never go to live comedy. Either way, on the way out I heard someone say "That was soooooo good", so that was the vibe. It was funnier than Rhys Nicholson, and close to David O'Doherty, so it was pretty good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4.25] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$3]

01.05.24 : Emma Holland - Here Comes Mr. Forehead : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I wasn't expecting to go because I was planing on doing the 45min walk to Enmore to get a cappuccino - go the Cow and the Moon lol -, but when it started raining hard I figured I better do this show so as not to get wet waiting the 1¾ hours between shows. Well I forgot how quirky her stuff is, and it's the unconventional stuff that grabs me. Basically a punchline is usually something unexpected but related, but quirky so far left field it would have never entered your mind, ie, unpredictable/crazy, and it's that lateral thinking/unexpected that is good. Emma is a utter delight, and if I hadn't remembered stuff it would've been a 4. It ended weird so the crowd were probably higher than the clapping they gave. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$28 + F-$0 + C$3]

01.05.24 : Steen Raskopoulos - Friendly Stranger : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

This latter stuff isn't as intense as his early stuff, but at least it's something very different to someone talking for one straight hour. The old stuff used to come at you pretty fast, had more group audience participation, and used to hit harder, where this is more drawn/spread out, eg, a skit might run for a couple minutes before getting to the punchline. In Improv they use group audience participation to loosen up the crowd, and even though no one likes it - doing stuff is ok, but interacting with strangers next to you sux -, it's kind-of a necessary evil to get them to react more. Steen uses a lot of individual audience participation, which is even more hated - lol -, but when people find out most of the work is done for them, ie, no one is put on the spot to come up with stuff, everyone got used to it and played along with increasing craziness - I won't tell you what happens at the end lol -. It's plenty fine. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$24 + F-$0 + C$3]

30.04.24 : Elf Lyons - Horses(WIP) : ITS(Redfern)

There's slim pickings on a Tue, but this popped up so I went - gee going to a late show in the dark and cold is depressing - lol -. The conceit is that she plays as different horses, not as Elf, ie, kind-of comedy method acting - lol -. The first half is rock solid, clever, and super funny - more than her Raven show -, and has funny audience participation and clever 'saying one thing and meaning the opposite' sarcastic ironic stuff. The middle is famous horses through history, and is where it slows down a bit. The last quarter is very WIP experimental with a lot of miming, which kind-of lost me - I don't know if it was me not paying attention or it wasn't succinct enough to work out what was going on -. The end did have a super funny audience member dealing with an old horse sketch - lol -. Basically for me half of it was 4.25 with it tapering as I tuned-out. There were a lot of improvisers/performers in the audience, so maybe they thought it was fine. It did end weird, ie, very haphazard, which may explain why there was less clapping than even I expected, ie, it was better than their score showed. Half good - lol -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$3]

29.04.24 : Gillian Cosgriff - Actually, Good : The Grand Electric(Surry Hills)

Because this place is now up-market it pretty much priced me out, plus it practically only does one cabaret show all year, ie, no comedy. But when it does those rare comedy shows, sometimes they send me a discount code, and that makes it viable to take a risk on an unknown quantity. It's kind-of 1/3 musical comedy - not my fav but this one wasn't bad -, and 1/3 audience participation game, ie, 10 things I like questions. With the last third being a homage to her comic friend Dave who passed away - this part was a bit sad but upbeat, and caught my attention -. It's plenty good enough, and for the occasional show viewer it's good, hence the 4.5 applause at the end, but for someone who does this ad nauseam like me - lol -, things don't standout that much unless I laugh, which was my situation. Basically it was not so much funny, more on the nice side. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$24 + F-$0 + C$3]

28.04.24 : Elf Lyons(UK) - Raven : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

She's good, and that's despite coming from Gaulier - lol -. Of course I didn't research it - lol -, so I was expecting just a UK comic. But when I saw her doing shows at ITS I thought it was going to be impro. But when I got there and she greeted us in a horror makeup/costume with the show called Raven, I was thinking this is going to be some arty theatrical thing, ie, one of those sad things like Michael Workman used to do. And yes it was theatrical and a bit arty, but she put so many gags in it it was actually quite good. I think it was bits about her life, mainly as a kid, but delivered in a horror motif, ie, she said her mother made her skip school to watch horror films with her, so maybe that was the inspiration. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$30 + F-$0 + C$0]

PS: it wasn't a good idea doing 3 shows in a row, because they kind-of meld together and make the latter shows less impact-full.

28.04.24 : John Glover - Microsoft Orifice : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It actually didn't have much to do about MS, more the office lifestyle, or more the troubles John encounters in his real office job. To tell the truth I only bought this ticket as a time-filler because my next show was bumped back to a latter time and I needed to kill 1½ hours. It's not sensational, but John is pretty good, so it was plenty fine. Ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$0]

28.04.24 : Catherine Bohart(IRE) - Again, With Feelings : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

She's brilliant. It was the same subjects as Rhys Nicholson, ie, a gay couple thinking of kids, so long as it's not her giving birth - lol -, and just as funny if not more so. That might be due to it being a new/1st time listen, but if it ran on novelty value only it would've of run out of steam by halfway and the laughs would've died, which it did not, ie, just as funny all the way through. Excellent. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25] [T-$35 + F-$0 + C$6]

27.04.24 : Rhys Nicholson - Huge Big Party Congratulations : Enmore Theatre

This was another ticket I wished I didn't have so I could go to Sarah Keyworth(UK) instead, but probably was actually better. Rhys is still as good as ever. He started with his usual sharp tongued back-handed comments, but settled into more domestic subjects for the rest, eg, getting married, having a wedding here in this theatre, living with his partner, and relatives pushing him to have kids. Good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25] [T-$48 + F-$6 + C$0]

27.04.24 : Ray O'Leary(NZ) - Your Laughter Is Just Making Me Stronger : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I liked it a lot, even with the low-key delivery. The subdued delivery did get to me in the last quarter, but I got so much from the rest it didn't really matter. The crowd on the other hand were a bit weird, like he started with some clever cerebral thinking stuff, that I got but the crowd didn't, ie, they didn't react, but when Ray got to the simple stuff and they started laughing. Basically it started a clever 4, 3.75 good for most of it, and a small section of 3 at the end. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$35 + F-$0 + C$6]

PS: I overheard Kirsty Webeck say Helen Bauer(UK) was great, and that is why these writings are BS - lol -, ie, reviews are demographic dependant.

26.04.24 : David O'Doherty - Ready, Steady, David O'Doherty : Enmore Theatre

The laugh level was about 4, but because David is so much fun it made the score higher. I've seen David 6 times and I never looked at the technical side, but I was sitting there thinking, man he has a lot of material, talks/delivers stuff fast, and is clever how he words stuff, and I think I didn't notice that before because he delivers stuff so naturally that it feels like he is making it up on the spot, ie, your friend is telling you stories rather than he actually wrote the show - lol -. Killer funny and a lot of fun every time, and the crowd agreed with crazy clapping at the end. [Crowd : 5 - Me : 4.5] [T-$51 + F-$0 + C$3]

25.04.24 : Adrian Bliss - Inside Everyone : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

The crowd loved it, but for me I've kind-of seen it before, ie, I know too much - lol -. This type of show was pretty common when I used to go to the Sydney Festival, ie, more a drama festival than comedy festival, and it's basically a kids show for adults, ie, not super dumbed-down simplistic, but neither high-level super intelligent/clever. As an example he played Van Gogh's ear, which was more a sight-gag than having any clever verbal comedic prose. Basically it more theatrical than comedy. The premise is of an atom hitching a ride on a asteroid to Earth and witnessing history go by, with Adrian doing short skits at historical points. It's plenty nice, just for me it's not super funny, and because I do this so much I don't really feel anything unless it's super funny. Nice, but more a visual treat than a laugh treat. [Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$40 + F-$0 + C$0]
I don't want to show all the wacky costumes because it will spoil it if you go

25.04.24 : Helen Bauer(UK) - Grand Supreme Darling Princess : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

It's good enough, it's just that it's only chuckles. For me I had a hard time with the room because they left the house lights on, and that made my eyes burn because they shone in my face, ie, I was distracted for most of the show, hence my opinion is probably trash - lol -. The other problem for me is that I'm not really in this demographic, ie, some things are a bit specific to young girls, 2 things I don't know about - lol -. Even though I get a bit disappointed when I don't laugh much, there is nothing wrong with it, and because Helen has a fast energetic delivery there is no places that it's boring. I'm probably being over critical, and it did suffer from the 'unknown comic during an unpopular part of the week' small crowd problem , ie not much of a laugh-track to get people laughing along. It's ok. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : na] [T-$30 + F-$0 + C$6]

24.04.24 : David Correos(NZ) - I Can't Stop Vibrating : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

I so wanted to toss this ticket to go to Sarah Keyworth(UK) instead - found out too late and had other tickets -, but I couldn't waste the $30, ie, $s are tight. Thankfully it was was fu*ked-up good, ie, probably better than going to Sarah - lol -. It's half comedy stories and half physical comedy, but the modern physical stuff, ie, kind-of like Jackass, but more bizarre than crude/off-putting. Weird and quirky out-there comedy is my thing if it's good, because it's unexpected, ie, a punchline to a joke mainly runs on the unexpected, and David being high energy amplified it even more, ie, the people in front of me were dying from laughing. I can't tell you what happened because it will spoil the surprise if you go, but I was coughing up cinnamon dust from one of the stunts when I got home because I sat too close - lol -. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$28 + F-$0 + C$0]

24.04.24 : Viggo Venn(UK) - British Comedian : Factory Theatre(Marrickville)

Because I'm going to so many shows at the SCF and it's a big drain of funds, I'm prioritising new stuff I haven't seen before, so I'm picking OS comics, ie, new is good even if it's not high laughs, and locals that get high laughs. I picked this one because it said UK, ie, the UK is one of the better comedy countries, but if I read the blurb, ie, Norwegian clown, I probably wouldn't have gone. Basically he does physical comedy, but not the modern stuff, more the old type Gaulier clown school type - lol, just found out he did go to Gaulier -. He's affable enough, but basically it was a bit too simplistic for me, eg, repeat restarting the show 3 times is pretty well worn with me, because a lot of comics have done it. Because most of it is improvised mucking-around, not carefully written/planed, even he said "can you believe this won Britain's Got Talent 2023", so even he knows it's not high-brow/intelligent stuff. Because it finished weird nobody knew it ended, so there wasn't much applause - maybe 3.5-ish -, but from all the smiles and enthusiasm meeting him outside for pics, I would say they liked it - maybe 4-ish -. If you like unconventional/unexpected, you will probably like it. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$40 + F-$0 + C$6]

22.04.24 : Harry's Comedy - Mondays : Harry's & Hotel Harry(Surry Hills)

The crowd was low energy as per usual, but it was ok. Eric Hutton is always good, as was a US/CAN comic - maybe Renee Patterson? -, even though she a iPhone wanker - lol -, ie, they don't realise the closed ecosystem is designed to rip customers off, hence all the recent litigations and laws against Apple. For me it was one of those things were you are enthusiastic in the morning, so buy a ticket, but by the night you wished you didn't have to go. Then the low energy crowd coupled with the 'start of winter' cold bleak night makes it feel a bit depressing. Oh well, them's the breaks - lol -. [Crowd : 3 - Me : na] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$3]

18.04.24 : Comedy Night - 4 Pines Newport : Block's Bar Manly

I didn't think this room was running anymore because there were no more ads in the usual places, then by a dumb-luck search I find out it's still going, just that they only advertise on the cannedlaughter.com.au site. Basically you would've had to been there to see the plaque they hold up, or by luck find it online. This is another 'where are they now' shows like last night - lol -, and it was a lot better. This time the crowd were into it, ie, not reticent like last time, and that made it feel more uplifting. The ones that got the most laughs were Gerard McGowan and Jacob Perry, with the rest all being pretty nice. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$9 + C$3]

17.04.24 : Best Comedy Night In Marrickville on Lvl 1 : Lazybones Lounge Restaurant & Bar

We're trying this place again to see if the crowd got better, ie, a real comedy crowd or the bad music crowd from downstairs, and they were better, just still a bit quiet - but not for the reason you think -. It's hard to explain, but I don't think I've seen such a patient listening crowd that wanted to have a good time, in the face of a show that wasn't super funny, ie, they didn't have much to laugh at but WILLED themselves to have a good time. Sam Kissajukian killed as per usual, and Tom Orr was ok, but it felt like they saw him here before, ie, knew the material/repeat stuff. Most of the other guys were way out of left field with highly non-PC and very dark stuff, and even though they did get many laughs, no one really complained. Even though I come from the non-PC era, I find that stuff out-of-place these days, but so long as it's very funny/clever - usually an ironic take on it -, I will still oooh/laugh it, ie, I know it's inappropriate, but it is still funny. By halfway I was feeling flat/tired and wanted to leave, and when the last guy said he wasn't going to do any material, ie, he just critiqued his bad lineup choice for the night, I thought I might as well go because there was nothing to laugh at. I don't think anyone minded that it wasn't high laughs, so I doubt it was a problem. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2.75] [T-$23 + F-$5 + C$4]

16.04.24 : Dr Karl’s Great Moments in Science : Seymour Centre(Chippendale)

It was good this year, because 100% of it was all new. Every year Dr Karl writes a new show, the problem is that 30% of it is a repeat from form the previous year, so in effect you are only getting maybe 30min of interesting if you know about the repeat.
This year it had some AI, and how it can mimic anything, and how that mimicking can scam people. Eg, they setup an online video meeting with the finical officer of a big company, where the other 3 people in the meeting were his bosses faked by AI, and in that meeting they got him to transfer $43,000,000 to their account. Yes they got away with all the money. He himself is also being mimicked in videos selling artery cleaning tables, and the next subject was about how Social Media will not stop putting those ads on their sites so long as they are being paid by the advertisers, ie, he can't get them stopped even though he put a complaint into Meta. He told us where the "Flat Earth" BS came from. Basically it came from a modern book about Christopher Columbus where the author wrote some BS that other sailors were scared to sail far because they thought they would fall off the edge of a flat Earth. Well the truth is that many ancient civilisations independently proved the Earth was spherical 2500 years before that book using basic measurements, measurement that anyone can do today except for "Flat Earthers", so in effect no one was scared of sailing off the edge in Columbus's time. Dr Karl produced a picture of off-shore wind farms, and you can see the curve because half the towers have dropped behind the sea level. He also produced a pic of models that "Flat Earthers" produced, and Antarctica is a snow ring around the outside of a plate, ie, it's beyond FKed-up stupid.
I didn't stay for the Q and A at the end because it's usual kids asking questions, ie, not that interesting. Can't tell what the crowd was thinking with the applause, because Dr Karl ended it so abruptly that everyone was stunned and didn't clap much. [Crowd : na - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$5 + C$3]

14.04.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

Bec Charlwood(MC), Sarah Gaul, Eric Hutton, Jen Carnovale, Sam Kissajukian, John Cruckshank

Jen AGAIN! - lol -. I keep buying tickets without looking at the lineups properly, because all I saw was John Cruckshank, and because he always 'kills', I kinda had to go - lol -. I also didn't realise Eric Hutton and Sam Kissajukian was also on the bill - lol -, and they were a bonus surprise, ie, they are extra good also. As for the show, it started a bit quiet, but by the middle of the first half they found more people for the crowd and that made it a little better. It was pretty good, it's just that if the crowd level was better, ie, more laughs/noise, it would've been a 3.75 just from the talent/quality level. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$13 + F-$16 + C$3]

13.04.24 : The Great Comedy Club : Yia Yia's Dive Bar & Kitchen(Marrickville)

I didn't realise this switched to a Sat, and I'm really not a fan of going out on the weekend, but this is one of those friendly/nice rooms so I kind-of have to go - lol -. This room runs the 'many comics short set' format, and that covers up if any comic is flat, ie, you soon forget because it chances so fast, but they didn't really need it because everyone was exceptional. It also had a good crowd that wanted to be there, ie, were enthusiastic, and did respond with laughs. This is the point where I run out of things to say so I pad-it-out with mentions - lol -. Dane Hiser is from the old days, ie, Bridge Hotel in the 90s, and I wonder what happened to his 'Salisbury State Secondary School Sausage Sizzle On Consecutive Sundays' gag, ie, he has a lisp, and saying "S"s could get people in the front row sprayed - lol -. I remember when Jen Carnovale started, and how I had trouble with Carnovale & Culp - The Cloud Girls abstract/alternative style, but now that she's gone conventional she's rather good at it. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$17 + F-$17 + C$4]

12.04.24 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo

Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Tommy Dean, Rebecca de Unamuno, Tahir - Music: Gregg Arthur

I only go for the high laugh percentages of these shows, so when I saw Tahir I had to go. And even though Tahir was good, it was Bek that was the standout. I was watching and thinking how sharp Bek still is from when I first saw her at Belvoir in the early 90s, and how un-sharp Wil Anderson got in that same amount time - in the TV recordings that I can't mention, lol , he just didn't have any come-backs anymore -. In the 90s there was a Theatresports series called Boys Vs Girls, and it was girls against the likes of Wil Anderson, Adam Spenser, etc. Those guys were as sharp as a tack in those days, and it was really only Bek that could toe-to-toe with them. I think you have to blame Wil's doctor, because he said to smoke the herbs instead of getting the hip joint replacement - he cited that it might only last 20 years so he should wait until he's older so he will only need one -. The problem is giving someone permission to self-medicate is the most stupidest thing you can do, because they think 1 is good, but 2 is better, and now Wil's mind has turned to mush. One of the better ones. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]

11.04.24 : Manly Comedy Club : New Brighton Hotel - Shark Bar

Marty Bright(MC), Ruven Govender, Bec Melrose, Carolyn Swindell, Al Del Bene

Pretty much everybody killed. The younger comics 'crushed', but it was the older comics that absolutely destroyed. Basically they were the same demographic as most of the crowd, ie, older, and because they all related to the subjects people were dying on the floor - they had to stop so an old guy could recover, lol -. Super good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$31 + F-$5 + C$3]

27.12.23 : Magic Mic Comedy - Wednesdays : Potts Point Hotel

It was ok, just pretty low-key. This was last minute, ie, had nothing planned so did something, and none of the other options looked that good, ie, repeats from the last week, so I took a chance, ie, this place can be a bit hit-n-miss, and chose this one because I haven't been here since last year. Nothing really to note, maybe that it was odd that Ryan didn't get many laughs, and that Alan didn't bring his older set that did well at The Great Comedy Club, ie, he was trying new material, other than that everyone else was fine. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$22 + F-$8 + C$3]

09.04.24 : Northies Comedy Club : Northies Cronulla Hotel

Simon Kennedy(MC), Kurt Sterling, Tom Whitecombe, Eric Hutton, Gary Eck

Yeah I know, Gary two days in a row - lol -. You buy a ticket a month ago and forget the lineup, then you buy another this week for a different room and totally forget you've got Gary 2 days in a row. This place is weird, like this is the second time a bunch of people paid for tickets and didn't turn up - probably because it was a bit cold and rainy -. At $20 I'm definitely turning up - lol -. This place doesn't have a big-laugh crowd, and with the diminished crowd it was even quieter, and as for what it was like, basically only Eric got the crowd truly laughing with his quirky/strange/out-there material - lol -. What was even weirder was that Gary didn't do that well noise-wise, ie, he only got chuckles and smiles. His set was practically all crowd-work, as opposed to last night that was all set material, and because crowd-work is milder than set jokes, I think the crowd's attention wasn't grabbed at the start - it was like the crowd didn't even hear, or wasn't paying attention, because the few set jokes that always get laughs got dead silence -. The quiet crowd didn't help, but I don't think they care if it's not super laughs, they just like to be out of the house somewhere close/ local, ie, no effort entertainment. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$19 + F-$4 + C$8]

08.04.24 : Comedy Night @ Taffy's Bar (April) : Taffy's Bar(Neutral Bay)

Marty Bright(MC), Patrick Golamco, Bec Charlwood, Rory Lowe, ?, Gary Eck

It was a high level of comedy, but as usual the rich areas don't make the level of noise equivalent to that level, ie, they should've been louder. Pat had new stuff and was 'fire'. I think that was the best delivery Bek has does of her routine, ie, it was delivered with emphasis that made the sections more powerful. I haven't seen Rory's set before, but it's very strong. I was a bit surprised that Gary mainly did his set routine, because usually most of his sets are ad-lib crowd work. But if you think about it, this is a new room so no one would know his set routine, so there was no need to mix it up with crowd-work to avoid the dreaded 'no laugh repeats due to the crowd knowing the material' problem. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4] [T-$15 + F-$5 + C$3]

04.04.24 : Kirribilli Club Comedy Night : Kirribilli Club

I don't know what happened, but they said the sold 92 tickets, yet 1/3 didn't bother turning up. But that wasn't the biggest problem, it was that the lineup wasn't strong. You would think you could blame the diminished, but still sizeable crowd, for being on the quiet side, but they wanted to be there when one Indian comic got them laughing, meaning you can't really blame them when there wasn't much to laugh at. When they told us who the headliner was, ie, a young comic, I knew it wasn't going to end strong, so I left to avoid disappointment. You can get away with a weak first half if you have a strong finish/headliner, ie, they forget the start when people leave in a good frame of mind, and when you have such a big room, ie, 60-70 people, it's always advisable to finish strong so people come back. Apart from the Indian comic the MC was ok, but he's a regular, so all the regulars already know his stuff, ie, repeats at the same venue isn't great because people don't laugh after they know the material. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.5] [T-$21 + F-$5 + C$3]
At least the sights and cappuccinos are good - lol -.

04.04.24 : Monkey Man - movie

Action - Thriller : An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless.

It's not specifically one of those sadistic type films, but it does lean toward the realistic drama than fun action film. Basically it has a lot of ambience and story reveal, ie, it doesn't travel very fast, and the hero is no skilled killer type, ie, ordinary action, so it's not very exceptional until the end where it does get a bit John Wick fun. Overall it was ok but felt long - this could be just me because always doing shows means I get impatient for the next bit -. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]

03.04.24 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King(Newtown)

It was a bit of a quiet one, ie, 6 people in the crowd, but it was ok. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3] [T-$16 + F-$10 + C$3]

02.04.24 : Aaron Chen - Secret Show : Kinselas(Darlinghurst)

I guess everyone had the same idea as me, ie, can't afford his big State Theatre shows but this is so cheap we have to go - lol -, because it was packed/soldout. About 3/4 or 2/3 was from his 16.08.22 : Arron Chen - Special taping: Comedy Store : Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.25, which was ok, but now with his new 'moving to America' material it's a lot better/stronger. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$17 + F-$3 + C$3]

31.03.24 : Easter Sun Cappuccino : Circular Quay, Newtown
The queue for the Manly ferry was too packed so I walked around the SOH and had a coffee in Newtown. [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

31.03.24 : Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - movie

Action - Adventure - Sci-Fi : Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries.

The originals were boring simplistic one-line stories, this one is 50 one-line stories - lol -. It was better than I expected, not that it's brilliant, more that something was always happening so there wasn't any time to get bored. It starts with that non-serious feel, that this is a ridiculous film so lets have some fun, but after that there is less of that over-the-top fun dialogue, ie, they start taking the ridiculous premise more seriously - lol -. It's kind-of like Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire(2024), in that it's nothing significant, but ok to watch. [3.25] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

30.03.24 : Ron Josol - Award Winning Canadian Filipino Comedian : Kirribilli Club

If I had to sum up Ron, not super funny, even though he did have some top-notch laughs, but more on the interesting side because of the novelty of hearing new weird stories from somewhere different, ie, new is good even if it's not high laughs. I thought it was weird having a solo show by diverse comics in a predominantly rich white old demographic area, ie, maybe it won't be popular here, but it was pretty much the most full I've seen it here - a lot of Filipinos turned up -. Plus it wasn't actually a solo show because there were support comics in first half, with Ron doing the whole second half - basically it was like the once a month Thur show -. Ron is pretty lively, a bit rude, and with the stories being mainly being about his life growing up, Filipinos achievements, eg, comedian Joy Koy, and Filipino customs, eg, eating balut, which is embryo birds boiled in their shell. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$28 + F-$6 + C$3]

29.03.24 : iD Comedy Club - Friday : Kinselas Hotel(Darlinghurst)

Last night I said I wasn't going to go shows that end late anymore because I get too FU if I get home after midnight, then the very next day I buy a ticket to a show that is specifically a late show - lol -. Thankfully it was a non-stop one-block short show that ended early, so in fact I didn't get home any latter than any other normal show. As for the show the crowd was too quiet, so if a comic didn't have strong jokes they absolutely tanked to dead silence, as some comics found out. I don't think the audience was upset if a joke wasn't great, it's just that it sounded, or un-sounded - lol -, worse than it was. It was ok. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$28 + F-$4 + C$3]

29.03.24 : Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - movie

Adventure - Comedy - Fantasy : When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.

There is nothing particularly funny in it, yet alone any of the clever sarcastic stuff from the original, and it's not really a 'Must See', but they put enough story in it that I wasn't bored. It's ok as a time filler. [3] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

28.03.24 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel

Andrew Barnett(MC), Bonnie Tangey, Umit Bali, Sam Bowring, Jen Carnovale, ?, Dave Henning, Jacques Barrett

It started good, but then a comic attacked a couple and that put a bad taste in my mouth.She was fed-up always being the person starting the clapping - I try to clap first because it sux clapping on your own -, and was talking to her friend about it, but instead of apologising he told them off. They were filming for anti-socials, ie, they needed it quiet, but it's not like they were drunk and being disruptive, ie, they were being supportive and helping out with the clapping, but after the sixth comic it was too much. The night did recover somewhat with Jacques Barrett, but coupled with the late finish/long night is was a bit sh!t for me, ie, I remember the bad more than the good parts. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$21 + F-$11 + C$3]

27.03.24 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co(Camperdown)

Freya Reviews(MC), Laura Hughes, Kirsty Carr, Ian Mu, Brendan Hancock, Mandy Scotney, Bec De Unamuno

On the way out I overheard, "that last girl was good", 3 times, and that girl was headliner Bec De Unamuno, ie, she killed. Actually everyone was good, Freya was MC-ing it up, Mandy went away from the usual scripted stuff - new is good for me -, Ian always seams to change it up, ie, not repetitive, and Laura and Kisty were solid. Brendan can be in your face at times, but tonight she was ok. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$16 + F-$14 + C$6]

25.03.24 : Comedy Riot - Jugs & Jaffles : Enmore Hotel

Jess Fucks(MC), Jen Carnovale, Micky Bartlett(IRL), Daniel Muggleton, Frenchy

Best/funnest on the night was Micky, Dan, and the fast talking MC Jess - it's pretty impressive how quick she is -. I haven't seen the Frenchy before, and I don't know why I don't see him around the traps. I'm not sure if I missed one comic - looking at the poster the next day it shows 6 comics -, but I left half way through Frenchy so as to not miss the last bus, because I thought he was last. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$3]

24.03.24 : Valley Heights Rail Museum : Valley Heights

I kind-of figured that it was going to be on the small side - 7 locos and maybe 7 carriages, of which half were plain freight, but if you squeeze it you can get a morning out of it, ie, I did 3 laps of the exhibits, train ride, and turntable demo, and finished just after lunch. The train ride is about 500m so they go up and back, twice, ie, 2km. There is also a model train layout, some larger models, and other paraphernalia. [Crowd : na - Me : 3] [T-$16 + F-$0 + C$3]

22.03.24 : Taskmaster AUS S03E09 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney Eveleigh

All week they've been lining us up in the order we check-in, so I waited until the line was approx 60 long before joining so as to get the good side of the room. But this time they didn't bother putting us in order so I ended up on the bad side of the room. Thankfully I was on an isle seat and had no heads in front of me, but all I saw was the cast's ear-holes. The PA was working for the recordings this time, but they turned it off for the banter between takes so I couldn't hear any gossip between the cast. It looks like they figured-out they record 3x the footage that they could possibly use, and weren't as pedantic, and that made it end the quickest of all the recordings I've been to, ie, 6:55pm. It was ok considering the position I got. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

PS: I was last so had no time to sneak a pic, ie, the recording started straight away.

21.03.24 : Taskmaster AUS S03E07 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney Eveleigh

I think it was ok/good, but I don't know because I couldn't see or hear. I got the bad seat block against the far wall so I was behind the contestants, where all you can see is that back of their heads. Then there was a tall guy in front of me(see pic), that not only blocked out most of the set/cast, but also the large video screen they use to playback the pre-recorded tasks. Basically all I could see was Tom Gleeson through a gap - you can see his chair behind the stagehand -. Then to make it worse the audience PA died early on so you had to try hear what was being said directly from the set, and when the constants are facing the other way you just can't hear every word, ie, it gets tedious when you are not part of the show. I got some stuff out of it, but it was pretty much a write-off. [Crowd : na - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

20.03.24 : Taskmaster AUS S03E05 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney Eveleigh

This one wasn't tedious at all, and it wasn't because it ended at a reasonable time, ie, 7:00 compared to 7:20 and 7:45. This time we had Steve Philp, and he kept the crowd going for the full record so that everyone had fun. The crowd still isn't at series 1 level, which will probably never happen again, but this was the best recording so far. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

19.03.24 : Taskmaster AUS S03E03 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney Eveleigh

Well Tom Gleeson confirmed series 2, which is coming out soon - someone mentioned May-ish -, and was moved to Melb because there were no studios available in SYD.

It was fine, but basically it's too long a recording. Like the first 2hrs is fun, but that last hour gets so tedious that the crowd don't even want to clap anymore, ie, they only made an effort for the recording stuff and pretty much ignore Jake Howie's attempts to join into stuff to entertain them - I think they would've just preferred to hear the unimportant small talk between the cast -. Also when the mystery 'must be kept a secret' cast was introduced, the middle aged couple next to me said they didn't know who they were. In the UK there is lots of comedy panel/games shows where comics get known, but here we only have Have You Been Paying Attention, and possibly the very limited comedy cast in The Hundred with Andy Lee, and that means no one knows half the comedians. They also didn't add a common entertainer/non-comedian to the cast for the public recognise, like in series 1 they had Jimmy Rees, who is more known as a performer than a comedian. The crowd also isn't as good as series 1, and that's the way the producers want it. The crowd was so hyper fangirling for series 1, ie, laughing, oohing and aahing, they had uninformed/stupid people saying a laugh/reaction track was added. So they got Jake Howie, a milder warmup guy compared to Steve Philp who can get any crowd hyper, and that kind-of kills the room vibe, ie, not as fun. It's free, so it is what it is. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$20 + C$0]

19.03.24 : NSW Festival Comedy Show 2024 : Sydney Town Hall

Jean Kittson(MC), Cam Knight, He Huang, Sarah Gaul, Bruce Griffiths, Tommy Dean, Peter Berner

It was a bit of a mild one, and I think it was mainly due to the crowd being mild, ie, they didn't react/laugh much. It also didn't help that quite a few seat were empty, ie, it was soldout, and they kept sending you notifications that you could return tickets for reallocation, but because tickets are free people were too lazy to return them leaving seats empty. Also because it was free, people from other interests came, ie, no exposure/interest to current comedy - the older lady next to me was a music goer, and she said she didn't get the jokes -. Also people were old and the comics were youngish, so some couldn't relate. It was fine, but Penrith was better. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$3]

18.03.24 : Taskmaster AUS S03E01 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney Eveleigh

I don't know what happened, but this is the third recording, yet series 2 hasn't been on TV yet, if ever - lol -. Series 1 was late 2022, ie, 05.12.22 : Taskmaster AUS S01E01 - live recording : NEP Studios Sydney Eveleigh, and I got emails for the next studio audience around mid 2023(July?), but they were in Docklands Melbourne. I was pissed I couldn't afford to go to Melb, and assumed the recording was switched to accommodate a larger studio audience, ie, it was over subscribed and sold-out in days - Tom Gleisner said they had to record the recent Thank God You're Here at Docklands because they needed a bigger studio for the large crowd -. Then latter I was at 19.10.23 : Sporties Comedy Club : Moorebank Sports Club and Steve Philp sees me and comes over for a chat - Sporties is in the middle of woop woop, ie, Hammondville, and it was only me and another girl that he recognised, so were the only other people he could talk too. So I asked about Melb Taskmater, ie, a bigger studio, and he said it had the same sized crowd as SYD, and that they moved it there because all the studios in SYD were booked. Now they are recording another Taskmaster, ie, series 3, and yet I haven't heard a word of the Melb series 2.
This is all None Disclosure stuff - they said the NDA is so people are surprised by the cast, yet they will be promoting it for a month beforehand spoiling their own surprise - lol -, so I can't say much, but I can tell you what it was like. There were some annoyances, ie, Tom Gleeson overly questioning one contestant, and pushing false logic to justify rulings, but overall it was good, just very long. Basically they allow the comics to keep talking in the hopes of something funny being said, and that made the approx finish time of 6:30-ish balloon out to 7:45, ie, 3hrs of material for a 45min show - ouch! -. [Crowd : na - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

17.03.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

Sam Bowden(MC), Gen Fricker, Daniel Muggleton, ?, Dan Rath, Micky Bartlett(IRL)

Basically I was tired from 14 days straight of night shift comedy - lol - and wanted to stay home, but the lineup was so strong I had to go - lol -. On Sat I went to 15.03.24 : The Nick Bartlett Show : Gasoline Pony(Marrickville), but the other option for that night was Micky Bartlett(IRL)@Comedy Store. Basically due to that being expensive($35), and it had other comics I had just seen days before, I went to The Nick Bartlett Show, so now I'm doing this as a cheap version of that gig - lol -. Sam Bowden had new historical material, which I liked a lot. Gen Fricker was smooth. Daniel Muggleton was good. ? was nice. Dan Rath was 'fire'. Even though I remembered most of Micky Bartlett's set, he was also good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$13 + F-$21 + C$3]

16.03.24 : Free To A Good Home - podcast taping : ITS - Improv Theatre Sydney(Redfern)

It wasn't a blistering one, but it was better/funnier/more interesting that the last show, and what makes it even better for me is that's it's not another standup show, ie, it's something different in comedy. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$5 + C$3]
PS: We found out Dragon Friends is as good as dead - I've seen this coming for the last couple of years because the quality went downhill -. Basically it's still running, but the people that made it good left due to now having real jobs, and when they did it on Twitch without all the important people it was very unfunny and unwatchable.

Guests: Gen Fricker, Hum, Dave Harmon - Hosts: Ben Jenkins, Michael Hing

15.03.24 : The Nick Bartlett Show : Gasoline Pony(Marrickville)

From the blurb on the event it didn't look that good, and there were better options for tonight, the problem was the better options were comics I saw last week and even last night - lol -, so I went with something different. What it was was Nick doing some sort of talk show, ie, after each act the performers were asked questions from the audience suggestion box. There was free/long form Impro, which wasn't done very well, ie, they didn't know the tricks to make a boring story entertaining - when you've seen the best it's hard to watch beginners -. There was very short standup slots, ie 3min. There was a roast where the contestants forgot to roast each other and roasted Nick instead - lol -. It was basically Scary Strangers show. There was also people from the Yeah Mad Youtube channel doing small appearances. Overall it was pretty lose, ie, it was a shemozzle, but because it was my first time it had novelty/new experience energy, so it was ok to watch for a one off, ie, I wouldn't like to go on a regular basis because the shambles would get tedious quickly. Not many laughs - Nick was the best part -, but at least it was something new. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.5] [T-$17 + F-$3 + C$3]
Improv Standup

Yeah Mad Talent show Roast

14.03.24 : Manly Comedy Club : New Brighton Hotel - Shark Bar

Marty Bright(MC), Billy Darcy, He Huang, Daniel Muggleton, Michael Vincent, Julia Wilson

Because the comedy is never that good over here in Manly, ie, the crowds are dead, I'm starting to think I only go for the scenic ferry ride - lol -. Tonight was totally different, there was a big crowd, and they were very alive with laughing and clapping, ie, they made a great laugh-track, which made it even more funny. Everyone pretty much killed it, so that when Marty gave out a discount code for next month it looks like it sold out that night, ie, I don't have an internet mob - I'm still on 3G lol - and when I got home at 12:30am is said ticket sales are closed - ouch! -. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$31 + F-$10 + C$3]
PS: There is tickets now.

13.03.24 : Sydney Tramway Museum : (Loftus)

All I can say is that the Light Rail to Randwick isn't much better than a 112 year old 1911 tram, ie, they both rattle, shake, and are noisy - lol -. At the Sydney Heritage Fleet Shipyard they mentioned this tram museum, and because I was bored last night I looked it up and it's only open today Wed and Sun. So I quickly organised myself, ie, scrambled in the morning - lol -, and went. There were steam trams and electric. Trams from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, San Fran Cisco, Germany. There was even trolley buses, ie, buses converted to run on electricity and with an aerial that runs on overhead wires. As far as what's like, the NSW Rail Museum is better, but it's ok if you are into this sort of stuff or want to kill 1½hr. I actually liked the 10.03.24 : Kanangra - The last of Sydney's K Class double-ended ferries : Sydney Heritage Fleet Shipyard(Rozelle) better, because it's a tour where they explain stuff, where as here there is no tour so you just walk around and read stuff, ie, no behind the scenes stories. They were fixing the tracks so we only got a short ride of a couple of hundred metres. It's Ok. [Crowd : na - Me : 3] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$3]
1911 ride-on tram Balmain tram later used in a rifle range

San Fran Cisco tram Trolley bus

12.03.24 : Penrith Comedy Gala : The Joan - Penrith Performing & Visual Arts

Simon Kennedy, Sarah Gaul, He Huang, Gary Eck

Gary was told to keep it clean, but when talking to an older woman said her husband was a "pussy hunter", because her last name was Hunter and he hunted her - lol -. Simon and Gary were killer. He Huang wasn't as good as she usually is - she had to do a long set which is delivered slower -, but she still was plenty good enough to get the crowd laughing. And Sarah was nice - some songs weren't as relatable to such an old crowd, eg, the recycling song, but the last song was relatable -. Very good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$5 + C$3]

11.03.24 : RatKorp - Rat Klub Comedy : Moshpit Bar(Newtown)

So it wasn't a fluke that so many people turned up last week, because a decent sized crowd turned up tonight also. The crowd was weird - so what's new lol -, because they liked it, but didn't want to make any noise, ie, barely any clapping but they listened intently. Quite a few repeats - so what's new lol -, but they made me laugh so all were fine. Freddie McManus again stepped up with dynamic delivery, mixing things up, and new material. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$10 + F-$14 + C$3]

RatKorp still shredding documents - lol -

10.03.24 : Kanangra - The last of Sydney's K Class double-ended ferries : Sydney Heritage Fleet Shipyard(Rozelle)

For something different, I went to a ferry restoration tour - lol -. I think I was the only one with an engineering and metal fabrication background, because everyone else said they had a ferry/maritime interest. A bit of info:- 'double-ended ferries', ie, a prop on both ends with controls on both ends, is an Australian invention, which got copied by other countries, eg, Hong Kong, Singapore. They have way more stuff than a railway museum - I was jealous of all the lathes, mills, etc -, but maritime stuff isn't as popular as trains, ie, it's harder for them to get funding. They replace one hull plate at a time, by removing it, making templates of the plate's curvature, roll it dead flat, use the old plate as a template to cut and drill a new one, bend the curves back, and rivet it back on. Even though marine isn't my thing, it had all the metal trades I'm interested in, eg, casting, machining, fabrication, engines, so I found it pretty interesting.

To tell the truth I didn't come for the boat, I came for the box it's floating on - lol -. I worked for the company that built that floating dock in Homebush Bay, and did make a few internal bulkheads, so I thought I would walk on it's deck again after nearly 100 years - lol -. The way it works is they put the floating dock in a dry dock, drain the dry dock, open hatches on the floating dock, refill the dry dock thereby sinking the box, float the boat over the top, drain the dry dock again so the boat lands on the box, and refit it's hatches. Then it's just refill the dry dock and that floats everything. The reason they went with commissioning a floating dock is because the boats are restored by voluntary labour that takes way way longer to do, so commissioning/building this floating dock was way way cheaper than hiring a dry dock for decades, ie, it was built to restore the James Craig and that took 20 years - lol -. He said the dry dock costs $44K/hr, ouch! -. From memory it's 300 tonnes, 20m wide, 60m long, and I can't remember if it's 2.5m or 2.75m high - it's probably 3m high lol -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$3]

Photo from - Kanangra 1912 - Saving the last of Sydney's famous 'K' Class Ferries

09.03.24 : Free To A Good Home - podcast taping : ITS - Improv Theatre Sydney(Redfern)

Because I couldn't hear last time at the back, ie, it was frustrating and isolating not knowing why people were laughing and having a good time, I made a push for the front, and it was way way better when you can hear what is going on. As far as material it wasn't one of the exceptional ones, but because I could hear and concentrate I was engaged all the way through, and that made up for the material, ie, material 3-ish, enjoyment 3.75-ish. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$5 + C$3]
Guests: Alexei Toliopoulos and Maddie Parker - Hosts: Ben Jenkins, Michael Hing

08.03.24 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo

Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Gary Eck, Jennifer Wong, Tommy Dean - Music: Victor Valdes

These recordings are rarely high level laughing, and it's only when it gets a good guest is it worth going, which is why I'm only targeting shows where the guest are a known quantity, ie, good. The problem is, even though they have been good in that past, it doesn't mean they are going to be good for this show. Like Gary has been very good every time he's been here, but tonight he didn't do much, and that makes the show reliant on Tommy Dean. And even though Tommy Dean is good, he's only been good 50% of the time here. Unfortunately tonight it wasn't one of those 50%s. Basically it was all a dull affair, ie, bordering on tedious. You can't tell the crowd's score because they are trained to over exaggerate the applause, but not even the crowd laughed much, ie, it kind-of confirms it wasn't a good show. [Crowd : 4? - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]

07.03.24 : Kirribilli Club Comedy Night : Kirribilli Club

Everyone was nice, but it was the heavy hitters, ie Peter Green and Sean Woodland, that got the biggest laughs. Peter Green has done some unconventional comedy, ie, hid in a black garbage bag on stage for 2 hours with his head wrapped in bubble wrap and aluminium foil just for a surprise reveal joke - lol -, but I have never heard a joke as unconventional as getting to his sheep joke - lol -. It went along the lines of, "there's two sheep in a field, and they walk off", and it would end there, then 10min latter we're back to the sheep, which again ends abruptly, then finally at the end we get the sheep joke, ie, it all made sense then - lol -. You don't need me to tell you what Sean Woodland is like, there's plenty of posts here about him, lets just say he has an old time comic style that is always a hit. Sometimes I feel like I only come here for the cappuccino and the view - lol -, but tonight the laughs were good also. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$21 + F-$5 + C$3]

06.03.24 : Joke Off Comedy Competition - Grand Final : Kelly's on King(Newtown)

It was a long show, but a good one. From the crowd it felt like every contestant was 4 stars laughs, ie a high level, with Peter Meisel a 4.5 laugh level. For me, because 'I've seen stuff man' - lol -, it was 3.75 and 4, ie, above average to good, ie, still very funny. Dave Woodhead was excellent as MC, Tom Cashman was good as support, and Lochlann McAllister was good as ex champion from 2023. I wasn't actually going to go because of it's early stated start time, ie, I had something else to do, but since I was in the area I took a risk that it would start later, which it did, and it was very worth it. Good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$35 + F-$9 + C$3] [extras $12]
Contestants

Winner-Stella Wu, Runner Up-?, Judges choice-Maddie Dockrill, MC-Dave, Tom, Lochlann

05.03.24 : Northies Comedy Club : Northies Cronulla Hotel

Daniel Townes(MC), Rohan Arneil, Tom Orr, Fiona Cox, Mick Meredith

It was a decent sized crowd, and they did want to be there, it's just that they didn't laugh much, and that's when I started wondering if this is another Oatley Hotel situation. Basically at Oatley it was always the same people in the audience, and when a comic came back, which was often because the room ran so long, they remembered/knew their routine and didn't laugh. Even though I don't know how long this room has been running, it seams to have a lot of tables with women every time, and because Tom Orr was here a couple months back, and he got the quietest response, it kind-of feels like repeat syndrome - lol -. Mick obviously got the most laughs with Fiona the second best response, but everyone was fine. On a side note, Oatley is how Gary Eck got so good, and that's because people stopped laughing when he returned there so he started riffing with the audience, and now that's the best part of his set - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$18 + F-$15 + C$3]

PS: at 2hrs travelling in each direction, I don't think it was a good idea to take the train, ie, a long night.

04.03.24 : RatKorp - Rat Klub Comedy : Moshpit Bar(Newtown)

It's never going to be a big night here because it's kind-of a new material night, which is actually better for me because there is less repeats. I was wondering why there was all this RatKrop stuff on the Facey page, and it's because it's a kind-of mock corporation skit by Ryan Sim, ie, they are not weapons dealers - lol -. Best on the night was Dan Rath, Ian Mu, with mentions to Jen Carnovale - did new material -, Laura Hughes, Jack Wright, Kevin Jin, Concetta Caristo. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$7 + F-$4 + C$3]

Guy Pearce and his secretary shredding documents at RatKorp - lol -.

03.03.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

Sam Bowden(MC), Aaron Gocs, Danielle Walker, Andrew Hamilton, Bec Charlwood, Joe Daymond(NZ)

The crowd was quiet right from the start, but when some people keep talking and had to be kicked-out, it kind-of killed the night, ie, even less laughs. Not even Hamilton could get the crowd going - now I'm wondering if this is the same crowd as at 26.02.24 : Comedy Riot : Enmore Hotel just up the road, ie, repeats, or maybe they were spooked by his gaol(jail) like appearance -, but right at the end headliner Joe Daymond(NZ) did break them and get the place going. I think Danielle Walker popped in to do a guest spot, and even though half her set was trying to control more talking people, she did bring some new material. I haven't seen this Bec Charlwood before - lol -, but the first half of her set was new material. When someone changes their hair I have trouble recognising them, and even now I can't remember her face, ie, I remember her 2nd half repeat material more than her face. Not as fun as last time, plus I missed my bus and had to do the long walk home, ie, made the night even more sad. The crowd were 3-ish clapping all night, but Joe got the room 4s at the end, ie, it averaged 3.75 total. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2.75] [T-$13 + F-$16 + C$3]

29.02.24 : Pyrmont Comedy Club : Pyrmont Bridge Hotel

Dan Muggleton, Tom Witcombe, Steph Broadbridge, Fady Kassab, Sean Woodland

It was a strong linup so it was always going to be good, it's just that the crowd was a bit rambunctious at times and talked over the comics. You are going to expect comments with Sean, because his view point on some stuff it a bit non-PC, but they even drowned out Dan at times, who is an expert on controlling unruly crowds because his room in Kings Cross can get rabble-ly. It was only those two, but it was a bit annoying. Dan was good with his 'ideal group size' routine. Tom is very smooth in delivery now. Steph forgot her "living the dream!" line, but at the very end when Dan was getting individual applause for each comic - probably after all the first half comics left -, she got equal applause and woo-ing(4.25) as Dan and Tom. Faddy and Sean got a bit extra applause(4.5), with Faddy absolutely killing it, and Sean doing very well. I would've given it a 4 if it wasn't for the crowd talking. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$5 + C$3]

28.02.24 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co(Camperdown)

Freya Morton(MC), Pat Golamco, Jen Carnovale, Loz Booth, Tom Cashman, Wandi Cao, Ian Mu, Nikki Britton

This has happened here before, but only half an audience turned up, ie, not much of a laugh-track, and them sitting at the back didn't help. Even though it didn't feel as warm and fuzzy as it usual is here, the crowd felt like it understood it wasn't a big night so probably weren't put-off by it, ie, they will probably come back again. Freya was doing MC duties again, and this time came up with 2 new games to play with the audience, ie, think of an opening line for her dating profile, and a test to see how rich or poor you are by asking you what type of fridge you own, eg, water dispenser builtin, rich, freezer on top, poor - lol -. Pat Golamco, Jen Carnovale, Tom Cashman - thankfully no d!ck measuring stuff lol -, all had solid new material. There was a visual disconnect with Wandi when she started talking about 'passing a lamppost', ie, taking massive sh!ts, but after that she was good. Ian Mu did his full set without the tragic part, and it was rather good. Loz was Loz. I don't know if it's because I haven't see Nikki for such a long time, ie, I forgot her material, but I think that was the best set I've seen her do, ie, it was good. If the crowd were better/louder it would've been a 3.75 - 4 is a must see show -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$10 + C$6]

27.02.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

Unfortunately only 5 people turned up, and even though it's not a deal breaker for me, the 'dead air' does affect the show. Even though there wasn't a crowd generated laugh-track, things can get bad if the comics give up, ie, deliver nothing. Thankfully everyone delivered something, and because it was mainly new stuff - new is good even if it's not particularly funny, because I haven't heard it before -, it was good enough for me. Andrew Hamilton was the best on the night, because he threw-out his new material in his usual big, affable, friendly way, like nothing was wrong, ie, no crowd. The theme for the night was new stuff, and Andrew Hamilton, Maddie Dockrill, Amelia Navascues, and Tom Orr were all good in that respect. I couldn't get over the tragic situation Ian Mu is in, but I liked him too. I've been to a shows where I was the only paying customer, so it's not like it was off-putting, ie, never come again stuff, and the few other guys here were regulars that keep coming back, ie, they've seen this before, so it's not likely that it was a deal breaker for them either. Them's the breaks - lol -. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$3]

27.02.24 : Drive-Away Dolls - movie

Action - Comedy - Thriller : Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.

It's nice enough to watch, it's just that it doesn't illicit any emotion in you, ie, it's not particularly funny, yet not unfunny, it's not sweet, yet not harsh, it's not compelling, nor not uninteresting, etc. Basically you would think it's some adorable/sweet type movie because of the two girls, but in actual fact it doesn't charm or captivate, it's just a nice movie. I didn't regret seeing it, but it didn't make me cry - lol -. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$5 + C$3]

26.02.24 : Comedy Riot : Enmore Hotel

Freya Morton(MC), Andrew Hamilton, Sam Bowden, John Cruckshank, Steph Broadbridge, Dan Rath

They had 3 of the 4 heavy hitters - no Luke Heggie -. Cruckshank instantly killed and got super laughs from the crowd. It took a minute before the crowd warmed to Hamilton, but then he killed the rest. I think people get scared when he says he just got out of gaol(jail), and looked like it too - lol -, but when they find out it was only shrooms, they get into the crazy story of what happened. It took a while before the crowd got into Rath, but they came around near the end of the set. He has the odd style of quick comments where you need to hear every word, and I think the crowd had a problem hearing all the nuances and sharp comments because the sound wasn't great. I had trouble with the sound all they way, ie, missing words, and that was because it was a bit muffled, ie, it wasn't sharp/treble-ly. What was weird with the crowd was that the room was packed, but at the second interval half f-ed-off. It was like they saw it was late and had to go home because they had work tomorrow. Steph was next after the exodus, and you would think it would kill her set, but the remaining people got into it and laughed quite a bit. Freya was nice, but being MC reduces the effectiveness of your material because it has to be spread-out in long MC duties. Sam was also nice, but he is rarely a heavy hitter. It would've got a higher score if I could hear, but it was still pretty good, and it was hard to gauge the crowd after half left. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$10 + C$3]

24.02.24 : The 7 Comedians Show : The Juniors(Maroubra)

Peter Meisel(MC), Thao Thanh Cao, Christina Zheng, Kieran Daughton, Christina Van Look, Sean Morahan, Richard Lindesay

The room isn't as comfy as Roseville Cinemas - it was striped for renovations lol -, but at least the show was funnier. The crowd was the same as Roseville, in that they wanted to be there and listened, but were a bit quiet, ie, I think they were happy with what they got. Peter Meisel was best on the night, and that was with MC duties - you can't beat the old-timers with the one-liners -. Thao, Kerian, and Christina Van were good, and because Richard was doing a tight 10min rather than the stretched out MC gig, he was much funnier. The downside, due to being old - lol -, is that it starts late and ends late, and when buses quit here at 11pm it's the long way home plus a 30min walk - left 11pm got home 12:30pm -. Also there is a lot of preamble/admin talking, and the first time it makes you feel like you are part of the family, but by the second time it felt like it slows down the show, hence the long show late finish - 2:30hr long -. Pretty good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$26 + F-$5 + C$3]

22.02.24 : Banana Peel Comedy : The Long Goodbye(Darlinghurst)

It was that weird but good crowd. They wanted to be there, ie, no one walked out, and they listened intently, ie, liked it, it's just that they didn't make much noise, and coupled to that fact I wasn't in the mood to laugh - 3 buses forgot to turn up so I was late -, it was a bit of a quiet night. All this cr@p didn't matter, because you can tell the crowd was pretty satisfied. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$12 + C$3]

18.02.24 : Comedy Knock Knock : The Trocadero Room(Enmore)

Sam Bowden(MC), Steph Broadbridge, Tom Cashman, John Cruckshank

Everyone is a heavy repeat for me, so I'm not going to say much, but the packed audience seemed to like it a lot, ie, they got into it and made noise. It's always worth it with John Cruckshank, even with the repeats, because he kills it and I always find him super funny. Steph brought the ukulele, and I vaguely remember seeing it from what feels like a decade ago. Now I'm wondering if I saw her when she started - my memory is shot, hence why I still laugh a repeat jokes because I forget stuff and get surprised by the punchlines lol -. It was fine. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$13 + F-$16 + C$3]

17.02.24 : Lunar New Year Comedy Festival : The Concourse(Chatswood)

Jason Leong(MC), Diana Nguyen, Henry Yan, Ting Lim, Kevin Jin, Chris Nguyen, Harry Jun, Annie Louey

After I bought a ticket I thought this might not be a good idea because half the lineup was the same as last year, but what are you gunna do - lol -. Well it was sufficiently different that it was fine, considering the conservative/quiet-ish crowd that usually turns up here - the few white people laughed more than the predominantly Asian crowd -. Harry Jun was the best on the night, ie, 4 woofs, with Annie Louey next. Chris Nguyen didn't get as many laughs as Lidcombe last week, but was still good enough to get third. I just realised Kevin Jin has been doing a new routine, which is not as good as the old one, ie probably the reason of not doing well at Lidcombe, but tonight he was good enough to get a decent response. Diana Nguyen had a new routine compared to last years MC-ing, and new is fresh/interesting. Henry Yan and Ting Lim did shorter sets, but were nice also. And Jason Leong as pretty nice as MC. There was adequate laughing, but it wasn't as much as you would expect from a crowd this size, and I don't really know if it was the crowd or the comics - I didn't laugh as much as Lidcombe so maybe it just wasn't as funny -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$44 + F-$4 + C$3]

16.02.24 : The 7 Comedians Show : Roseville Cinemas

Richard Lindesay(MC), Thao Thanh Cao, David Poltorak, Fiona Cox, Dane Hiser, Sean Morahan, Joe Comino

By the time I was umming-and-ahing at going to 16.02.24 : Chinatown Comedy Club : The six:twelve (Harbour City Cinema),ie, expensive $38 and recent repeat comics, it soldout - doh! -, so I switched to a place I've never been to that cost nearly the same($36) - lol -. I've been meaning to go to a 7 Comedians Show for a long time but the price kind-of put me off, ie, stuff over $30 is getting on the rich side for me, but because of my 'see different places' motif I sucked-it-up - lol -. It's got that family-run friendly vibe, ie, they treat you like they know you, and a lot of people turned up, ie, maybe 70-ish, and they try to do their best, it's just that most of it was on the mild side. This didn't phase the audience at all, it's like they knew what level it was going to be so were happy with it, but for me the lack of a laugh track was noticeable. On the bright side Joe Comino absolutely smashed it, with Fiona Cox next best. Richard Lindesay, Thao Thanh Cao, David Poltorak, were notable, just not high laugh comics. The friendly vibe, the comfortable venue, and the large crowd made it worth it, it's just that I needed a stronger lineup to make me happy - these first impression reviews are a bit disingenuous because it's a sample of only one show and could be an oddity -. It would've been around 3.25, but Joe Comino was so good he bumped it to ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$36 + F-$0 + C$3]

PS: I timed the end of the show perfectly so as to make the last bus, but 3 trains got cancelled, and because I had no alternative options from isolated Roseville, I had to wait. A train did turn up 1 hour late, but because the only route back was a long one it took 2½ hours, ie, got home 12:30am.

15.02.24 : Birchgrove Comedy Night : The Riverview Hotel(Balmain)

Andrew Barnett, Jacques Barrett

I've got my new manifesto, ie, seen every comic a hundred times so might as well see every comedy venue I can find, and this has to be the oddest/unconventional comedy room I've been to. First of all it's a restaurant, and a not very big one, ie, maybe 30 seats, and a not very big crowd turned up, ie, maybe 20, and crowd were all old, ie, only old people can afford a rich area like Balmain, but all of that wasn't a problem because they were friendly and enthusiastic and responsive, ie, gave good response to any half decent joke. This is pro comics, so it was a level above, but there are only 2 comics, and because it's a restaurant that only serves meals when the comics are not performing, it has a late start and a decent sized break so there is time to serve meals. What was even more odd for me is that it's a restaurant, and that I was hogging a table by not buying dinner - everyone else in the room ate -, and that made me feel weird/uncomfortable. Andrew Barnett was good and the best on the night. Jacques Barrett had a lot of new stuff, and was fine, but I reckon if he did his old material, ie, mispronouncing words, the Ivy, etc, he would've done better, ie, would've been best on the night. I would say the comedy/crowd was good, ie, 3.75, and would come again, it's just the weird situation/feeling is hard to over look, ie, my reduction in woofs. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$30 + F-$16 + C$6]

PS: Jonas Holt - seen him 100s of times at the Bridge Hotel 20 years ago lol - did setup/roadie stuff, and I kind-of wished he did a spot because he's good.

15.02.24 : Madame Web - movie

Action - Adventure - Sci-Fi : Cassandra Webb develops the power to see the future. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women bound for powerful destinies, if they can all survive a deadly present.

The trailer looked like another crappy 'see future deaths' horror film - I don't do horror -, but when I read the description it said Marvel, which is my cup of tea. I like stuff that has bigger story lines, plus seeing the future adds extra mystery, it's just that parts don't look big budget compared to other Marvel stuff. The weird/cheap stuff didn't really bother me, eg, how did she cross so many borders when she was wanted by the police - lol -, and I was entertained all the way through, so I liked it. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

14.02.23 : Friendlyjordies - A Call To Neck Beards(Trial) : Carousel Bar(Darlinghurst)

I saw this show advertised a couple of weeks ago at a big Penrith venue, and before reading the blurb - I thought Neck Beards was about another loser subset, eg, Hipster - lol - I saw it was $50 and had to pass. Then this turns up for only $20, so I actually read the description, and it said conspiracy theories, which I hate - saying stuff without proof is just another religion - lol -, but I read further and it said Byzantine Empire. I quickly guessed this was some sort of history based comedy, something we don't get enough off - I've only ever seen 3 -, so I quickly snapped a ticket because that's my thang, ie, thinking stuff. Well it's scattered but thought out, clever but simple, chaotic but controlled, ie, it switches all over the place. Basically he gives a bit of history, then quickly cuts to exaggerated modern visual metaphor, reference, or side comment, as a kind-of explanation - these are very loose/crazy/insane references, so are pretty funny -. Whether his take on this history is correct I don't know, because I never looked into the Byzantine Empire, ie, I came here to learn - lol -, so only David Cunningham(Project52) would know - lol -. My gut feeling is that he seems a bit self-righteous/opinionated, so may lean in a different direction than what is historical correct, but maybe his take looks into it with more depth, because he added a lot of interference by other empires. Either way it's not so much history but more a comedy, and the constant switching between his historical facts and the comedy kind-of makes you lose track with what happened in his telling of the Byzantine Empire. It's kind-of an intellectual comedy, but delivered by a kind-of common man/Bogan, that is fully packed and delivered quite fast, ie, no time to be bored. Basically if I could see it again on the cheap I would definitely go, because he is very good and I liked it a lot. Excellent. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$3]

13.02.24 : Jean Kittson - Live(Trial) : Harold Park Hotel(Forest Lodge)

There was nothing "Trial" about that, that was a fully packed show. You know how young comics mainly talk about dating, the next older about having kids, the next about divorce, well Jean is the next next older group, so there was material about getting old, eg, taking care of ageing parents, etc. It wasn't all old stuff, it was from being a kid to now, and all the embarrassing stories due to her not knowing stuff at the time, eg, she worked in a chemist as a teen, and when a guy asked for "gossamer"(condoms) she gave him Gossamer hair spray, asking if he wanted 'firm hold' - lol -. She still pretty animated and excitable, just like she was on The Big Gig(1989-1991), so nothing has changed even though she's 70 now. It was all pretty top-notch except for the sad story of taking her nan from Sydney to Melbourne - she was young and didn't know how bad dementia/alzheimer is -, but that was just me because I've seen relatives with it, and it's a bit harrowing. Halfway through I was thinking to myself, this is a Pro comic because this is so packed with material and delivered quite fast, and that's something I don't see often these days with solo shows. This show was well worth going to, because it was very good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75 ] [T-$21 + F-$4 + C$6]

09.02.24 : Year of the Dragon Comedy Showcase : Lidcombe Community Centre

Harry Jun(MC), Kevin Jin, Chris Nguyen, Pat Golamco, Christina Zheng, Jenny Tian

I wasn't planning on doing anything, but this free, not too far, show turned up on Eventbrite in the afternoon, so I said fook it, grabbed a coffee and got going. You can imagine what the crowd was like for a free comedy show in a local festival, that was not well attended, in a place not known for comedy - some had never been to a comedy show, the decent sized crowd was a bit stand-off-ish/unresponsive. And even though they were quiet/unresponsive, that was only at the start, because the comics got them to loosen up, and by the end they got into it and applauded quite well. The best on the night were Chris Nguyen and Pat Golamco, ie, most laughing, but Harry Jun and Jenny Tian were so close they were all pretty high level. Christina Zheng wasn't far away, with Kevin Jin probably with the least laughs, which is weird because he is usually the best. Really they were all good to get a non-comedy crowd to have a good time, so mission accomplished. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$2]

08.02.24 : Banana Peel Comedy : The Long Goodbye(Darlinghurst)

It had a massive 14 comics, ie, fast intense sets gave no time to be bored, and the big friendly crowd added to the fun, and that made it quite good. The problem with walk-in free comedy is that people walk in with no real interest in the comedy and can be disruptive, but with this book-ahead free comedy you kind-of know that the people want to be there and will give the comics a chance. There is going to be a cop-out here, and that's that I don't remember faces that well, ie, prosopagnosia. I'm also not going to remember names even if I could hear them being pronounced. What I do remember is gags, so I going to know the repeat routine before the face - lol -, ie, sorry if I don't mention some names. Lochlann McAllister - thank you The Laugh Inn for posting everyone's name and pic for reference - was the best on the night. I was just saying last week that you don't see Stella Wu much, and she turns up here with with a good headliner set. MC Jacob ? - didn't hear the name and don't think I've seen him before -, was equally as good as Stella. The French guy(pic 11) was good/interesting, simply because it was a different style of comedy. Alan Fang had moves like Jagger, and I don't mean like a dying fish on a riverbank™(Jack Wright) - lol -, more that he is unpredictable, ie, what I like. This time he didn't go for the easy/obvious stuff, ie, big boy stuff, and he even did some good crowd work that cock-blocked one poor guy - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$5 + C$3]

08.02.24 : The Holdovers - movie

Comedy - Drama : A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go and a grieving cook.

Finally something good. I wasn't going to go because it said Comedy-Drama, which usually means all drama NO comedy, and even though it's not high level comedy, it is still pretty nice. It's about people set in their ways trapped together and finding out there is a lot more to each other than their external jerk persona's suggest, and because they are good characters with interesting back-ground stories it made it very engaging. There is nothing serious serious, ie, nothing off-putting, so I found it nice all the way through. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

07.02.24 : Argylle - movie

Action - Thriller : A reclusive author who writes espionage novels about a secret agent and a global spy syndicate realizes the plot of the new book she's writing starts to mirror real-world events, in real time.

There's just something about it that makes it not super interesting, ie, I found it hard to pay attention all the way through and was writing this review in my head rather than watching it - lol -. It's also a bit of a mishmash, it has silly action comedy, it's a bit serious in places, it has a some clever plot points/concepts, and sometimes it's stupid, ie, it's doesn't seam to know what it is. It's watchable, and the 2nd half has enough happening that I could pay attention, but I'm only giving it a bit over a pass mark. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

06.02.24 : Northies Comedy Club : Northies Cronulla Hotel

Jack Wright(MC), Michael Vincent, Laura Coleman, Chris Radburn, Cameron James

To set the mood we have to start with the room/crowd, and they were reserved but wanted to listen, which is a dichotomy because they don't make as much noise as they should. What is a bigger dichotomy is, they don't mind not having a big laugh track and still have a good time. Basically it's only me that I notices something missing. What surprised me was how much material Jack Wright has, ie, enough for a solo show - I guess I'm used to the short set nights lol -. Last minute replacement Chris Radburn and headliner Cameron James were pretty equal on laughs, but I guess I would give it to Cameron because of his long headliner set. Laura Coleman was next funniest, ie, gelled with the crowd, and I wished Michael Vincent did a longer set because he was interesting as a real Australian. Good, just wished for a bigger laugh track. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$18 + F-$4 + C$9]

03.02.24 : Free To A Good Home - podcast taping : ITS - Improv Theatre Sydney(Redfern)

I wasn't feeling it, but there was extenuating circumstances so it was probably me. Basically I should not have done 4 days in row, ie, fatigue, plus it was packed and I got a bad seat at the back, ie, you are isolated and removed from the show and I also couldn't hear that well, ie, missed the zingers. The thing is I thought last show was good, but when I listened to the podcast it was even funnier, so even though I didn't dig this show - the crowd seamed to laugh enough for a good show - it could be good on a re-listen. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$3]
PS: Listening to the podcast it wasn't as good a show as last time, but the podcast was better than being there live - understandable considering the problems -.

Guests: Demi Lardner, Edan Lacey, Alex Lee - Hosts: Ben Jenkins, Michael Hing

02.02.24 : Beachside Comedy Club- Friday Night Showcase : Bondi Liquor Co

Freddie McManus(MC), Ryan Sim, Stella Wu, Ben Kochan, Billy D'Arcy

It was a bit of a quiet one, but it was fine. Freddie McManus was good as MC - I wonder what welders he sells lol -. Stella Wu has a bit of a scripted routine, which can be a problem with repeats, but you hardly ever see her around, and it is good, so it wasn't stale. Ben Kochan is always fun. And Billy D'Arcy came up with a totally new set, which was good because I'm starting to remember his other stuff, ie, repeats. The problem was that I transferred my cancelled ticket to this show and thought I would be ok doing 4 days in a row, but come the day I felt a bit tired - still not fit from the 2 week flu - and would've really liked to take the day off. Either way I tuned-out at the start and only started paying attention at half way, ie, my score might be a bit low. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$21 + F-$5 + C$3]

01.02.24 : Comedy & Cocktails at Cardea : Cardea(Barangaroo)

Cam Knight(MC), Julia Wilson, Tahir

This place is too posh for goblins like me - lol -. It was a pro lineup, and they were all good, it's just that it's one of those posh ded crowd places, eg, Manly, Kirribilli, The Beresford, etc, where the crowd just don't react that much. It's probably an age thing, ie, only older people can afford posh places, and old are more reserved, ie, too uptight to laugh. If you look at Bondi it's kind-of posh, but because Beachside Comedy Club gets a young crowd it's fun. That being said, the crowd did loosen-up/got drunk - lol - in the second half, so they did get better. As for the comedy, you're are getting a pro lineup show, ie, a higher level, but the big bonus was that you get Tahir. Tahir is always worth it because he is one of those super fun comics, and because he doesn't do many gigs - he does some solo shows but hardly any lineup shows -, he is well worth chasing down even if the venue is weird - lol -. Also I missed him at Thursday Night Comedy Show : The Riverview Hotel recently so I jumped at this show. Tahir did the usual improv, but his crowd participation, ie, getting a girl to propose - lol -, had the crowd loosen up, ie, they become less inhibited when they do something crazy, like a standing ovation for the groom leaving the bathroom - lol -. It was plenty good, you just have to live with a smaller laugh-track, ie, would've been a 4 with a better crowd. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$30 + F-$7 + C$3]

31.01.24 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co(Camperdown)

Freya Reviews(MC), Jack Wright, Tom Elphick, Fiona Cox, Steph Broadbridge, Lauren Rowe, Marcel Blanch-de Wilt, Luke Heggie

The place got popular again because it was packed, and the show was very good especially the first half. Freya Reviews 'crushed' with her crowd work. Jack Wright's new bib-lay(bible) - lol - material hit the mark - he did a sendup of the Virgin Mary for a Xmas show and now has a routine out of it lol -. Fiona Cox is always adorable. Steph Broadbridge brought her strong set, with her 'getting old/dry' material resonating with the older ladies in the 2nd row - lol -. Lauren Rowe's story makes me sad, but she is nice enough that you accept it somewhat, ie, you laugh cry. Somehow Luke Heggie wrote a full 1 hour solo show in the Xmas break, and again it was a killer. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$16 + F-$3 + C$6]

26.01.24 : Beachside Comedy Club- Friday Night Showcase : Bondi Liquor Co

Cancelled. I don't know what happened because there is other shows on Australia Day, eg, The Laugh Inn, iD Comedy Club, etc, but it looks like the guys wanted to take that day off. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]

25.01.24 : The Great Comedy Club : Yia Yia's Dive Bar & Kitchen(Marrickville)

Mandy Scotney(MC), Freya Reviews, Alan Fang, Andrew Hastings, Kurt Sterling, Divya Murthy, Jarred Keane, Kiyanosh Sahebi, Chris Ryan

It's still got that friendly, supportive, wants to listen, crowd, and that makes all the difference between an average show and a nice/good show. You know when you see someone too many times, even if they are good, you don't find them funny anymore, but then if you see them after a long break they are suddenly good again, well that's why I found Chris Ryan the best on the night. Jarred Keane was pretty close, and Alan Fang was good even though he went with the lowest common denominator stuff, ie, fat jokes, but his job is to make people laugh and he did that very well. To tell the truth I found everyone good, but Divya Murthy and Freya Reviews also stood out to me. Very good and a nice friendly room. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$12 + F-$10 + C$4]

24.01.24 : The Boys in the Boat - movie

Biography - Drama - Sport : A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

It was never going to be high energy because it's designed to be an emotional historical piece, ie, it's slow and moody, but at least it isn't that slow that it becomes tedious. Basically it's a simple story that you already know from the trailer, so the emotional personal feeling parts can feel a bit like filler rather than anything significant, ie, there are some parts you would like to be faster - that could just be me lol -. It's ok to watch. [3] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$3]

23.01.24 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney(Town Hall)

The crowd was better than usual, ie, they wanted to listen, so that was a good thing - a comic did attack 2 groups for talking, so it was lucky that it didn't put people off-side -. Nick Capper was the best, but Alex White had some new/good stuff about being the middle man between his hyper woke SYD friends and his very un-PC school friends from his home town of Newcastle. Laura Coleman also had new stuff - new is good when you know everyone's routine lol -. Nick Sun thankfully didn't do any Ayahuasca drug material, ie, I've heard it too many times. Steph Broadbridge's new stuff wasn't connecting that well. Oddly it felt too fast, which is weird because I like fast, so it felt like the concepts didn't gel in the mind - I could be talking cr@p because I don't know what the crowd was thinking, ie, fast may be good for them - lol -. By the end of the night I think the crowd got tired, because they got a bit quiet - it's not a long show, but I think because there is no break it might make it feel long -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]

20.01.24 : Free To A Good Home - podcast taping : ITS - Improv Theatre Sydney(Redfern)

Hosts: Michael Hing - Guests: Tom Walker, Ben Elwood, Nikki Britton

There is not really much comedy in SYD other than standup, and that why things like this are a nice change. Hing is kind-of like a young version of Dave Hughes, in that he does anything and everything, and he is really the only person from Project52 that still tries to do weird/alternative shows - there is Dragon Friends, but they've been dying a slow death -. The surprise was Ben Elwood turning up, because, as per usual, he stole the show with craziness. The first half was crazy funny, with the second calming down somewhat. Very good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$3]
PS: The show was very good, but listening to the podcast was even funnier.
Ep. 192: Funny Knees - Recorded Live at Improv Theatre Sydney with Tom Walker, Nikki Britton and Ben Ellwood

18.01.24 : Wonka - movie

Adventure - Comedy - Family : With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.

To tell the truth I didn't have any interest in going to the film, I only went for the exercise because my legs are jelly from being bedridden for a week. For me it was too simplistic, and that made it quite boring. Plus it's mainly a musical, and I don't like those. Unremarkable for my demographic. [1.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

16.01.24 : Dream Scenario - movie

Comedy - Horror : A hapless family man finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. When his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom.

I didn't like it at all. I was expecting some sort of intriguing mystery SciFi, but it's this slow cautionary tale on how Social Media can destroy people. It's another one of those unsatisfactory movies where sh!t happens for no rhyme or reason and without any satisfying conclusion. Also it's a fake "Comedy", ie, they use a comedy genre to get more sales even though there isn't a skerrick of comedy in it. [1] [T-$11 + F-$0 + C$0]

15.01.24 : The Beekeeper - movie

Action - Thriller : One man's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as "Beekeepers".

This is a long the lines of the revenge type movies, eg, The Enforcer, etc, and we all like to see that bad guys get what they deserve. Good. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

12.01.24 : Mean Girls - movie

Comedy - Musical : Cady Heron is a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

I should've researched it, because what it was was 100% musical with 0% comedy. I'll watch anything outside my interests so long as it's funny, but when you don't laugh once it becomes boring. Also by what felt like the 15th song I was pretty cooked and wanted to leave. There were a couple of tween's in the audience that clapped at the end, but even they didn't laugh at anything. Probably only for young girls. [1.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]

11.01.24 : Kirribilli Club Comedy Night : Kirribilli Club

Sikpped, too sick. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$21 + F-$0 + C$0]

10.01.24 : Buddy's Comedy : Buddy's Bar(Newtown)

Had to skip because too sick with flu. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$21 + F-$0 + C$0]

04.01.24 : Good Vibes Comedy : Forrester's(Surry Hills)

It looks like Good Vibes Comedy found a new home, and took the good Meraki crowd with it - lol -. In the past it was certain death doing a show in Jan because everyone was out of town, but I guess everyone is broke and stayed in SYD because the room was practically full. It was only after I edited the photos that I noticed, holy c@rp that was a lot of comics, and that means there is no time to get bored with so many switch-outs - lol -. No one really stoodout - I'm not actually going to notice when I've seen everyone at least a dozen times lol -, but everyone was good/fine. The room/crowd had a friendly vibe, so it's worth coming again. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$6 + C$3]

01.01.24 : Next Goal Wins - movie

Comedy - Drama - Sport : The story of the infamously terrible American Samoa soccer team, known for a brutal 2001 FIFA match they lost 31-0.

You don't really need for me to tell you it's a bit simple and formulaic, because most films of this type are - lol -, but what it is is an amusing fun little film. Not Taika Waititi funniest one, but it's amusing enough that it's fun. [3.5] [T-$11 + F-$5 + C$2]

Sidney Critic

Tuesday, 2 January 2024

Comedy & Movie Diary 2024