Comedy & Movie Reviews 2008

Woof-o-meter :-
0-Die Bastard : 1-Crap : 2-Rubbish(watchable) : 3-OK : 3.5-Nice : 4-Good : 4.5-Very Good : 5-WOW

31.12.08 : New Year's Eve Show : Laugh Garage Sydney
Darren Sanders, Gary Who, Gary Bradbury, Sally Kimpton, Tony Bailey, Oliver Phommavanh

27.12.08 : After Parties Christmas Party : Rose of Australia - music

26.12.08 : Top Fuel Showdown - Scott Kalitta Memorial : WSID
This meeting is solely promoted as the pinnacle of Top Fuel racing, with Australia V's USA, and all other categories are given 2nd rate status as a kind of fill in between the fuellers. Even though Top Fuel is spectacular to watch the actual racing in this country is a total DUD. Only 9 cars turned up, one crashed in the 1st round and one pulled out after the 2nd round. Only 1 car could get all the way down the track under power doing a sort of OK 4.7sec. Even though they had 3 goes at qualifying all the rest were over 5sec except for one other 4.9sec, the Top Alcohol cars would have qualified in front of some of the 8000hp fuellers. What was strange was the US team with Hillary Will driving and Crew Chief Jim Oberhofer, who does the actual tuning work to get the car down the track, couldn't work out the conditions even though he has decades of experience and his car does about 100 runs a year in the US under extreme conditions, you would have been disappointed as a $50 a ticket paying spectator. Nearly every run the fuellers make there was a delay to clean the track from blowups. I have have come up with a slogan for the class 'Top Fuel, never fail to disappoint'
Kudos to Amanda Sheppard the excitable 19 year old female that always has a word for the mic, she's young but she exudes enthusiasm, always good value.
Sport Compact put on a good show with a lot of cars doing good numbers, Supercharged Outlaws were even better and Top Alcohol was down on numbers but were very fast. Save your money for the full category meets

24.12.08 : Xmas Show : Laugh Garage Sydney
Darren Sanders, Sally Kimpton, Tony Bailey

23.12.09 : Twilight - movie
Drama, Fantasy, Romance : Bella Swan moves to Forks and encounters Edward Cullen, a gorgeous boy with a secret. I liked it

19.12.08 : Carpenters from Kempsey Christmas Show - music covers with linked comedy
Due to being a Christmas Show they added Christmas songs, to the distraction of some. There is something about the hit songs and the absolutely beautiful singing by Susie Dunn, that the jokes and the Christmas songs became a distraction for some. All they want is the hits and I'm in that boat as well. Most of the crowd mustn't have seen the Carpenters from Kempsey before as they laughed at the jokes and were quick to sing along. The night seem to go rather quickly but all the big hits were sung. Special mention to Susie's wardrobe and that beautiful long flowing yellow dress, a copy of one Karen used to wear and Darren Mapes's nice vocal accompaniment. Good show.

18.12.08 : Scared Scriptless Christmas Show : Harold Park Hotel - impro

16.12.08 : Full Body Contact No Love Tennis : Roxbury Hotel - impro
The format has changed a bit but is still long form impro, each team has 19 minutes to do whatever they like, it's basically free form impro based on a couple of suggestions from the audience. Teams can do a couple of stories or one big one, limited by the 19 minutes. I'm not a fan of long form, as it's hard to keep concentration in one big lump, even TV shows have breaks. Most of the long form I have seen meanders to fill in time and is not funny. The old format was, they do 3 stories and the total time was 19 minutes for all 3, a bit easier for people with short attention spans. There was 4, 2 person teams, 2 teams play in each half and then come together for a final short 4 person story.
The show is run by UNI students so there was a lot of students mixed in with the pros. The packed audience got their monies worth as every story was good and funny all the way through. Then we come to the last team for the night, Marko Mustac and Dave Callan. The scene started slow, which was about painting a ceiling, when Dave did a voice-over of the ceiling talking, so Marko ran with it and made it into a total surreal scene. A suggestion is made by one player and other has to accept it and come up with a characters to supplement the story and make it flow. So Marko makes a suggestion and Dave responds with characters but  Marko tries to stuff up Dave by calling him the name of a different character, so Dave has to justify the switch. Poor Dave never knew who he was at any given moment and was constantly back footing and making new characters and just when he thinks he has it worked out Marko changes it again. Most of the audience didn't get it as it wasn't an A to B story but myself and the other players liked it a lot. It reminded me of when I was young and we used to play a similar surreal inventions games to out do each other. Good show.
Bad player award has to go to Marko and his awkward suggestions involving some sort of sexual content. It looks awkward for the players and is awkward for people watching. I wish it was a one off but it's in nearly every show he does.

13.12.08 : Dollshay : Oatley Hotel - music

11.12.08 : A Regular One Night Stand : Roxbury Hotel - impro
They really stepped up an already good show tonight. Grant Davis added extra rudeness, I personally think too much for the 2 young audience members. Everyone was having a go at each other, teams against teams, against audience, against host, against time keeper, against musician. I felt sad for the boys with declining hairlines as the girls kind of stepped over the line on that one. The girl team was the Pyjama Party team from the Cranston Cup and they went back to their good form, shame they didn't have it one week ago. The boys were a bit disjointed with Dave Callan constantly trying to steal laughs but the boys were good. The night was a bit chaotic with talking in the background and constant interruptions but was still very funny. Girls win 219 to 209 and win the series 2 to 1

07.12.08 : Kosher Cup 2008 : Bondi Pavilion - impro
There was a lot of players I have never seem before and a lot of them were new to theatresports, in fact I only recognised 2 players out of the 20 or so. I was exhausted from all the shows I saw recently and was not in a laughing mood, and with so may new comers and the restrictive format in the 1st half, the show was just not funny. I was going to leave but I though I may a well stick around for the 2nd half, and the show did pick up and was OK when the teams were able to run free.

06.12.08 : Cranston Cup 2008 Grand Final : Enmore Theatre - impro
I think the night could be summed up by a patron who was talking to his friends while exiting after the show 'Not all (impro) shows are good shows'. Ewan Campbell, the host, just seemed tired trying to Gee Up another unresponsive crowd. The crowds are not as gun-ho as the old days and seem distant now, and Ewan looked like he didn't want to upset people so there was not as much audience interaction. The players looked relaxed and enthusiastic but just did not come up with ideas, it looked like the pressure of the Grand Final and the size of the crowd stifled inventive thought. This is what happened in the first Grand Final I saw which put me off Grand Finals until 2007, where I took a risk, and was totally surprised how good the players and show was. Based on that good show I decided to see the 2008 show, but it looks like this show was the same as the 1st one I saw. Some may of been disappointed but the show wasn't bad, it was kind of OK but not great like 2007.
I think the High School team that won the Schools Comp were a bit disappointed to come last, even though they are fairly technically accurate. They were a bit flat, but so was every team. The scoring seem all over the place and may not have correctly defined the place getters but they did pick the team that were the best on the night. The Man Raven team took a big risk by doing a Backwards scene and actually made quite a few mistakes but it was the best scene of the night and it was that and another scene that got them across the line. The strange thing was last years winners Super Love Ultimate Team did a truth scene that didn't work too well in the Semi's, but they tried it again tonight and it still didn't work. They kind of shot themselves in the foot while they were level pegging for the lead. The Pyjama Party, my favourite team, were leading by half time and even with Amanda Buckley trying hard and Lisa Ricketts stepping up somewhat, just couldn't click and dropped to 3rd. To be fair hardly any team clicked, even veterans with a lot experience could not get it together. Only a couple of scenes made me laugh, it was a high pressure night that had teams tripping over their own feet leaving one team to stumble through. But remember it's the same for all teams and if thats what it takes to win in a pressure cooker, it's still a win.

05.12.08 : Dollshay : 3 Weeds Rozelle - music

30.11.08 : Jimeoin on Ice : S.O.H.
I saw a bit of his TV show and thought it's not for me, but Jimeoin has a big reputation, so I thought, live should be OK, and it was. I made an attempt to see him at the start of the year but missed out and tonight's performance was sold out except for 4 seats kept for special guests, which myself and a nice Canadian girl got after waiting to just before curtain call. Jimeoin's humour is simple and clever, he has some of those brain teaser jokes that need a lot of thought to figure out, which is what I like, and simple everyday tasks that can lead to problems. His tea cup saga was a touch long but still funny, he covered the crazy behaviour of washing machines, dancing, wanting to form a band, and sexual attraction using body language. His body language sections are a bit like Carl Baron but more sophisticated and clever. He does this lateral thinking thats very clever, like drummers should face backwards so you can see all the drums being hit when going full tilt, which is usually obscured by the drum kit, and then he does a mime demo. But he says, there is a problem when the drummer just plays slowly on one drum and then he demonstrates back to us and it looks like someone masturbating. This was a good show and now I'm kind of sorry I didn't see earlier shows that could have had even more cleverer material.

27.11.08 : A Regular One Night Stand : Roxbury Hotel - impro
The first half started a bit slow due to so many new players to A Regular One Night Stand format, but because they are good players they really ripped up the 2nd half. Boys won tonight 240 to 190

21.11.08 : Tribute to Mel : Rose of Australia - music
Fundraiser for beyond blue - a year since the death of Mel Ford (Fordie)
Sections from Genevieve Maynard's blog :-
05.02.08 - A sad time too, with the suicide of Melanie Ford, a real music fan who passionately supported many local artists, who lost her battle with depression . I hope at some stage to have the time to produce an album of some of Mel's favourite artists to raise awareness and funds for mental health
26.10.08 - It's been a year since the suicide of Mel Ford. Mel is much missed and was a staunch and passionate supporter of many artists in the Sydney music scene, and beyond, and to mark the anniversary of her death a bunch of us are doing a gig at the Rose of Australia in Erskineville on the 21st of next month. As a fundraiser there is a limited edition compilation CD being made to be sold on the night at the gig. The artists have donated their songs for this pressing and all proceeds are going to Beyond Blue. Apart from the Tallboys there are songs being donated by Perry Keyes, Bernie Hayes, Cindy Ryan, Bow Campbell, Pinky Beecroft, The Dead Marines and possibly others, so it'll be a nice CD to have.

18.11.08 : Sex Drive - movie
Adventure, Comedy, Romance : A high school senior drives cross-country with his best friends to hook up with a babe he met online. Good

04.11.08 : Max Payne - movie
Action, Crime, Drama : Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin out to avenge her sister's death. OK, but I wish Max was more dominating

13.11.08 : A Regular One Night Stand : Roxbury Hotel - impro
Wow, it's been a long time since this show was last run, I think it was 2004, and boy did the memories come flooding back. It's basically boys V's girls with the audience voting on who won the round by displaying a pink card for the girls or a blue card for the boys. There is a special double or nothing card given to each team in each half. If the round is won after playing the card the winning team scores double points. The obligatory rivalry is really ramped up with constant taunts between the teams and even from friends of the players baiting the opposing teams. Tonight the girls team were veterans while the boys were new comers to this format but long time players. Over the years the style of impro has changed, the old style of attention to detail and technically accurate to a freer style with less details, the 2 teams are exponents of each style of play so you got a taste of both. By half time the teams were equal but in the second half the girls won every round and won 301 to 90. The old series had the girls winning overall in the first year in a fair fight, but every year after the boys would clean up so they had to prop up the girls score to make it closer by constantly penalising the boys, but the boys still won. The old series had a special guest added to each team which made it even harder for the girls as the strong boys team was supplemented with ring ins like Wil Anderson, Adam Spencer. etc.It was a good night and it brought back a style of play I haven't seen for a while and some good memories.

08.11.08 : Pulp : Factory Theatre - impro/play
On the second visit I found out the stories have a base script, but with room for improvisation. I didn't find the first half as amusing as last time and I thought it was because I knew the stories, but even the crowd didn't laugh as much. Then we get to the second half and it's killer with al-ibiing and excitement, the players must like the second half because they really go to town here. Again the second half was very funny and left a good impression with the almost sold out crowd.

07.11.08 : Carpenters from Kempsey : Vanguard - music covers linked with comedy
I was thinking of leaving during the first jazz act, as I wasn't in a good mindset but it was all worth it in the end. The Carpenters from Kempsey really brightened up my day. Beautiful songs performed beautifully. The scripted storyline come banter was not as invisible the second time round because of my familiarity with it, but the songs transported you back to a more innocent less complicated time.. Even the Vanguard crowd came to sing and after 2 hours they still wanted more. Just a wonderful show

31.10.08 : Saturday Night Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
Wayne Dixon did a good MC job. Eric Hutton, who go hammered yesterday, did a good job using the exact same routine. See it has a lot to do with the audience, and a paying one is more receptive. There are usually 4 up and coming comics, tonight was Oliver Phommavanh, Billy Freeman, Josh and Ben and they were all good.
But everyone came to see Wil Anderson, he used his best routines from his shows and it's always solid. Even though his voice was failing and going horse he put up an energetic show to a sold out audience. He actually kept going on so long it ended up a 1½ hour show of just Wil, a bonus for us as his big shows run that long. A long but good night.

30.10.08 : Comedy : Sackville Hotel
It's strange when you go to a show that's free, if the audience doesn't listen and keeps talking they don't loose anything because they haven't invested anything. Unfortunately everyone else suffers as they can't hear and the comics have trouble working. The audiences are very harsh at the Sackville, if you aren't funny straight away and all the way through and have trouble keeping their attention and they will crucify you, kind of like Red Card Comedy. Everyone on the night came to see Steady, so the other comics had trouble. Steve Philp just barely kept them under control, he's been here before and the crowd know his routine so it's always going to be a struggle. Poor Eric Hutton lost them early and paid dearly, not his type of crowd.
Finally Steady Eddy came on and he was good, not super sonic but still good. He took a 7 year break to get over his cocaine and alcohol addictions. His routine was more for the common man about his car, getting arrested, life problems, etc. The audience hung on every word and he killed every heckler dead with a blunt acidic reply, especially Eric, who said something to insult Eddy when he was grappling to get the audience on side. Eddy has a good routine and is well thought out for effect.

21.10.08 : Body of Lies - movie
Action, Drama, Thriller : A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence. I hate terrorist and political based stories

18.10.08 : Pulp : Factory Theatre - impro/play
So what is Pulp fiction, Plup were cheap novels published from 1920 through the 1950s. They were fiction and covered a number of styles, eg Science Fiction, Adventure, Western etc.
This set up the style of the improvised sketches, and a large screen and narration conveyed the theme. The first half had 4 stories. The 1st story was a crime style story with Bec de Unamuno narrating at the start, which set up the story, while also asking for suggestions, unfortunately the narration was so good and the asking for suggestion was so subtle it took some milking of the audience before they realised they have to participate. The 2nd was a Sci-Fi which had a simplistic story line. The 3rd was a Western and the 4th was a Adventure. All the stories were good except for the Sci-Fi one, but it was still OK.
The 2nd half just had one long Film Noir story that was excellent. Jon Williams narrated from the side and his ad lib style is very funny, it just feels very spontaneous. He was a bit more abrupt with the asking for suggestions, which got the audience more involved. It had everything, the Private Dick, the Femme Fatale, a murder, a mysterious object(audience suggested Transylvania bulldog clip), the bad guy and his side kick(suggested stutterer with turrets), a car chase and a final gunning down of the baddie by the police. This story felt very improvised, which is what I like, but there must of been some underling story to guide the players, the same as most impro games, just a bit longer. The start of the 1st half felt more play than impro but this last story just felt freer and looser so the players could run amok. If you just saw the 2nd half you would of got your moneys worth, the 1st half was just a bonus. Good show, great players that stepped up even more in the 2nd half

18.10.08 : Burn After Reading - movie
Comedy, Crime, Drama : A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it. Weird but good

14.10.08 : My Best Friend's Girl - movie
Comedy, Romance : Tank faces the ultimate test of friendship when his best friend hires him to take his ex-girlfriend out on a lousy date in order to make her realize how great her former boyfriend is. Good

07.10.08 : Journey to Centre of the Earth - movie
Action, Adventure, Family : On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the centre of the earth. Average

03.10.08 : Saturday Night Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
Jacques Barrett was the host and was very good, I can't believe how much material he has. I have seen him before and tonight he used about 10 minutes of his usual material and the rest of the night was new stuff.
The 3 up and coming comics killed, the 1st guy who was young and name I forgot, Brian Chandler and Shamus McAlery
Dave Bloustien was mild but interesting.
Tonight a special guest turned up. Sometimes big name comics turn up to small clubs to try out new material, I have seen Will Anderson turn up at Balmain and Glebe, even Chris Rock turned up at the Roxbury one night while he was doing shows in Sydney. Tonight Carl Baron turned up and did an impromptu appearance trying out some new material, and he was very good.
Peter Burner was last, I haven't seen him in about 8 years and it was at this very venue. He was trying out stand up again after a long absence. Peter in stand up mode is very different to his TV and radio stuff, a bit dark and gritty,  His jokes start off confronting and not very PC, it feels very serious, and then he pulls out a killer line that cracks everybody up. The first time I saw him he killed but tonight it seemed a bit more serious, I think Peter has changed a bit and the crowd was a bit subdued so It didn't feel super killer. I have seen Peter 3 times at the Roxbury and he would change each show so they felt totally different, not using any material from the previous ones. Tonight I recognised some of his show from the first time I saw him. I think Peter was testing the waters because of his comeback but was still good.

26.09.08 : The Mummy - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : The son of famed mummy fighters unearths the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin, a shape-shifting entity cursed by a witch centuries ago.OK

21.09.08 : Cranston Cup 2008 - Series : Newtown Theatre - impro
The Cranston Cup is a competition for improvisers in Sydney. Improvisers form teams, battle it out, and are awarded points from the 3 judges. They try to progress to the Grand final and win the huge Cranston Cup trophy. This year sees a return of the games board, giving a sense of more formality, which was more evident in the first half. The first game was stricter this year, 2 teams compete at a time and the winner of the toss picks the challenge, but this year both teams had to do the same game, where's before you could do a slightly different game in the same game group. The judging was stricter also with the hanging judge awarding low points for running over time.
Usually each night there is 2 good teams and 2 average teams, any more than 2 good teams is a bonus. Tonight had 4 good teams, maybe due to opening night. These shows usually start slow due to the restrictive games at the beginning and the players warming up, but the teams that step forward here usually get a good head start. There are 3 rounds in the 1st half of games picked off the board that are progressively longer and more freer to allow the improvisers more room to ad-lib. In the 2nd half, the 4th round allows the teams to challenge each other. Most of the time the other team puts out a kind of fair challenge, but sometime if a team wants to put pressure on the other team, the challenging team will give them nothing to work with. This is where the good teams shine by making something out of nothing. The 5th round eliminates the 2 lowest scoring teams and the 2 higher scoring teams face off in a round where the teams pick their own challenge and this produces the highest scoring team who becomes the overall winner for the night. Good show
28.09.08 Miss Amanda Buckley did a brilliant job in her all girl team. The scene involved a slumber party in the style of a Broadway Musical, it elevated her team to equal first in the last scene of the night. There was a team from Sydney Uni that were very good but the other teams were super good. At least the scoring seemed fair this time as opposed to previous years that purposely scored the Uni teams down. Good show again
05.10.08
12.10.08
19.10.08
26.10.08 Miss Amanda Buckley again stepped up and leapt full throttle into the scene. It was like she was doing the scene just to please herself regardless of anyone's opinion .She just ripped into the scene with accents and a story line before her team mates knew what was happening. She should get a MVP award for really throwing herself into the show with such gusto.
02.11.08
09.11.08 Jordan Raskopoulos's Super Love Ultimate Team's high scoring last game put doubt as to the final winner for the night. Jon Williams and his North Sho' Pimps team were surprised to find out they beat last years Cranston Cup winners by 1 point ending their undefeated winning streak starting at the 2007 Cranston Cup running up to tonight.
16.11.08 The surprising young schools team, Arabian Disko Knights, put up a good display and won the night with German Kraftwerk looking, Man/Raven team coming 2nd.
23.11.08 The repêchage was sudden death for 2 teams and cemented the final 2 positions in the Grand Final. The Pyjama Party's, all girls team, looked in trouble at the beginning due to a slow start but again Miss Amanda Buckley's high energy inspired the team to come from behind and take overall victory for the night. On a sad note Grant Davis's team, Obese People Can Be Healthy : Study, unfortunately got eliminated. Grant doesn't seem to have much luck with the Cranston

19.09.08 : Saturday Night Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
Simon Kennedy, Nick Sun, Desh

18.09.08 : Scared Scriptless Cranston qualifier : Harold Park Hotel - impro

16.09.08 : Hellboy - The Golden Army - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so Hellboy and his team must save the world from the rebellious creatures. Entertaining enough

11.09.08 : Comedy : Sackville Hotel
Brendan Lovechild, Anthony Salame, Tommy Dean
I wasn't looking forward to seeing Anthony, as I'm not a fan of Lebanese humour, but someone said he was good so I though I better check him out. He acted totally different from the stereotypical Lebanese character and with his thick glasses he didn't even look like a stereotype. His humour was mild but he does good impersonations. Brendan hosted and he was mild as well. Then Tommy came on a did a routine based on terrorism, as that was the theme for the night, but it wasn't funny. A mild night.

09.09.08 : Comedy : Harold Park Hotel
Jimbo, Nick Sun, Brian Chandler
What a dead crowd, even I didn't feel like laughing. The sickos that stayed to the end got a good laugh from Jimbo

05.09.08 : Saturday Night Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
David Smiedt, Sam Bowring, Gary Eck

02.09.08 : Tropic Thunder - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying. Bad

30.08.08 : Red Card Comedy : Roxbury Hotel

29.08.08 : Directors Mind : Newtown Theatre - impro
A lot better this time, much more laughs

23.08.08 : Blank The Musical : Roxbury Hotel - impro
I wasn't looking forward to this show as I have a hate hate relationship with musicals, there's something about watching a story and people suddenly busting into song that seems ludicrous to me. I have been putting this off for too long so I bit the bullet and checked it out, and it wasn't as bad as I imagined. The show started a bit slow but I knew Jon Williams would spice it up, but it was Brydie Lee-Kennedy that really stepped up. Miss Keria Daily really showed remarkable vocal control, even though the lyrics were kind of serious, I like the funny stuff. She could of released those songs for a proper album. OK for a musical

22.08.08 : Directors Mind : Newtown Theatre - impro
The format is kind of a Spoon River game, in that there are three separate stories that meet at the end, but it's directed. There is only one audience suggestion in each half and the players give small monologues starting with the suggestion while the director takes notes and writes the three stories to be played on the spot. The director gives the selected players their story and the players start their interpretation of the story, the director can can add input to the scene or cut it and start another story. The show was OK, not real big on laughs. It seems the director wrote the stories too well, in that the story had so many details the players didn't have to improvise as much stuff as they usually do. Or it may have been the lack of audience participation, you don't feel as involved if you sit there passively. It may be me but the director style play seems restrictive and I find most of them not as funny. The show was good enough that I will be going back, but then again I'm a fan of impro

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19.08.08 : Wanted - movie
Action, Crime, Fantasy : A frustrated office worker learns that he is the son of a professional assassin and that he shares his father's superhuman killing abilities. Good but ridiculous

12.08.08 : The Dark Knight - movie
Action, Crime, Drama : When the menace known as the Joker emerges from his mysterious past, he wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham. OK, but not as good as the 1st in this series

05.08.08 : X-Files, I Want to Believe - movie
Drama, Horror, Mystery : Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent. OK, typical X-Files

02.08.08 : Saturday Night Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
Chris Strickland, Peter Egner, Nick Sun

01.08.08 : Comedy : Carlingford Bowling Club
Jimbo, Matt Okine, Lehmo

29.07.08 : Forbidden Kingdom - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : A discovery made by a kung fu obsessed American teen sends him on an adventure to China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King. More action than a Jackie Chan comedy, good.

26.07.08 : Red Card Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
When I paid at the door the guy gave me a small bag with some lollies and a couple of whistles in it and I thought, that's different, and that kinda sums up the night, very funny and different. The whole premise for the show is that the comics would be up against the judges in a life and death struggle to advance to the next level, but what happened was the comics were against everyone in the room, being thrown to the lions was a picnic compared to this show.
Rash Ryder was the referee and ad-libbed all night, which he's excellent at. He picked 3 judges from the audience and gave them red cards, if 2 judges hold up a red card the comic gets gonged off, but what actually happened was that the judges could gong you off, Rash could gong you off, the audience could gong you off, the sound lady could gong you off, the guy near the cymbal could gong you off. Rash encouraged the audience to get involved by cheering and booing which the crowd really took to heart and ended up commenting after ever punch line, which was even more than Rash anticipated.
There was 15 comics doing 5 min each, which I though could be tedious. I've seen a lot of RAW comedy shows and 12 comics a night ends up too much, but with the gong factor it's great. The comics come up one by one and it's brutal but very funny. The 3 judges sit behind the comic and they are doing things behind their backs, which the audience can see and react too but the comic can't see. This puts the comics off, so they are constantly turning around, very disconcerting for the comic. It's like being in a circle and being punched from all angles. Some comics stood sideways so they could see the audience, judges and Rash all at the same time. After the 1st round 5 comics advance to the final 3 min round and the final 3 are judged by the audience to find a winner.
Kudos has to go to the audience, every time Rash interacted with the audience members they always made some funny wise crack remark, which I think even made Rash step back as it was always funny. The audience reactions to every punch line was funny as well, bet they were sorry they gave the audience whistles. A really fun night.

23.07.08 : Stephen K Amos - Gets Next to You : Enmore Theatre
The show was good, not super sonic but still good. Stephen covered a little bit about his life and his twin sister and funnily enough I can't remember much else. There wasn't that much meaty type stories that stick in your mind like from most comics, on reflection it felt like an improvised fill in type show. The show wasn't bad, the crowd liked it, but it didn't have that sore jaw type laughing. I think Stephen has done a show in Sydney before and used up his good material in that show and this was the second show with less solid material. Actually I laughed more at Dave Williams warm up part then Stephen's show, love those snail jokes. Stephen was funny enough and that's what counted.

22.07.08 : Meet Dave - movie
Adventure, Comedy, Family : A crew of miniature aliens operate a spaceship that has a human form. A lot better than I was expecting

22.07.08 : Hancock - movie
Action, Drama, Fantasy : Hancock is a superhero whose ill considered behavior regularly causes damage in the millions. Kinda not too bad

19.07.08 : Julia Morris, Jackie Loeb : Revesby Workers
First on was Jackie Loeb, I've always like her show and this was no exception. She did a long 1 hour set, which is more than she normally does, but she has so much material she easily filled it in, there was no dead time filling spots. I notice at big clubs and RSL's the audience is a bit reluctant to laugh at unknowns so the laughs were a bit slow at the start, but she won them over. No matter how many times I've seen her I still get shocked when she displays her body, just the shock valve is still funny and the audience agreed. Jackie has a beautiful singing voice and her routine is well though out for maximum effect. Very good.
I have seen Julia once before a long time ago and she was good but this time she was even better. For me I have trouble finding female comics super funny as I'm a male and like male humour, so it's special when a female really makes me laugh. She compensates for the male part of the audience but giving explanations and setups so the men can relate, and she didn't harp on the female issues that much anyway , which men find not that funny as they can't relate, so both sexes were catered for. Julia also has a very well though out routine and is action packed through out, I couldn't believe how easily she filled 1½ hours. She finished with a killer story of when she was on New Faces at the age of 17 years which capped off a great night. Great show.

18.07.08 : Pellfire @ The Hellfire Club : The Gaff
After my Hellfire blog I thought I should go and see what's changed.
I headed up to Oxford street and got to the Gaff, the doorman said the Hellfire is around the back down the dark alley. It looked bad but when you enter the club it's a whole different story. Unlike the Blackmarket club, which was run down, the new club is great, it's kinda dungeony but new dungeony. One side of the club has sandstone walls that look like the were chiselled out by convicts, but were blasted clean and looked new, and coupled with the subdued lighting it looked the part. There was a sunken central dance floor with a hand rail circling the perimeter, there was some smaller rooms like alcoves but were fairly open so they didn't feel isolated like the Blackmarket rooms.
I got there early at 9.30pm and it was fairly empty so I grabbed a drink and lent against the wall at the back, and straight away sister Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation from the Order of Perpetual Indulgence comes up and has a chat. She had a neat red brown beard, a nose ring and a stud in his lip, and was dressed in a nuns habit. The night was called Pellfire as a reply to World Youth Day so hence the religious theme. Some people from the Wicked Doll Transformations Parlour started setting up tables nearby, they do face marking and prosthetic body part gluing, one guy got metal studs glued to his back in a diamond shape.
I sat down on a bench opposite the main bar and watched the fashion show pass by, to enter you have to be in fetish clothing, and WOW what fashions. A couple in there mid to late 30's stood at the bar opposite me, he had a bit of a gut with a tight red shirt and the tightest pair of black shorts, she had covering her nice body red lingerie and a red corset. I was sitting down so my eye level was crotch height so I had her bare arse in my face for the next hour but I wasn't complaining. Then one scantily clad middle aged man walked past, he had a see through scrotal pouch in his G-string displaying his furry gooseberries and now I was complaining. I love the fashions, the girls were in tight bondage, Gothic, medieval, nuns, school girl, nurse, some had very sexy short skirts some had mid length more conservative dresses but were in leather so were still hot. One had a fishnet top and no bra so she was practically topless. As matter of fact 95% of the girls looked beautiful, and especially the larger ones with their tight fitting corsets which pushed their bust up. I only saw one unattractive girl and due to the poor light I found out latter was a guy in a dress. The fashions was worth the entry price alone. After seeing so many pretty girls I looked around and couldn't see much eye candy for the girls, most of the men were covered up and the ones exposing flesh were too old and had beer guts and should of been covered up. Latter on  younger guys turned up and there usual outfit was black leather pants and shirtless, so there was something for the girls. Even one girl copied the boys and went around topless.
At 11:00pm an announcement was made that there was shows at 11:30pm and 1:30am but now the members of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence would make a speech to start the evening. So we huddled around the dance floor that had a small stage at the back, as the club was quickly filling it was a bit hard to see but you saw enough. Come 11:30 two people come out on stage dressed as bishops, the music starts and they start dancing around, after a while they take their hats off and reveal two girls with Sinead O'Connor type black stubble hair cuts and painted on moustaches. They dance some more and remove their robes and expose their topless bodies with strap-ons, the grab their cocks and remove the condoms and start playing with them. Next they drop to the ground and splash fake blood over each other from a bowl placed on the stage. They finished off with simulated sex in different positions.
Thinking the B&D was the main show I headed to the small section where the restraint frame was setup and took a prime location opposite. I was wondering how they were going to put a show on in such a small location as the old Hellfire show needed a lot of room. A girl came up to the frame and the guy running the B&D tied her up and started giving her some small slaps and then got a cane and gave her a couple of light whacks and untied her. The same thing happened with the next girl. I was wondering what was going on as this used to be the main show at the old Hellfire. Then a girl came up and dropped the front of her dress, always facing back to us, and I thought now the serious stuff would start, but the guy gave her some slapping up and down her bare back. Then her boyfriend came up and tongue kissed her while the master gave her some hits with the cane. This is when I realised the B&D was just a side show sampler for any audience member who wanted a slight taste of B&D. To me this was not even mild B&D compared to the old club and was just a gimmick to follow the theme of the club.
While the topless girl was on stage an attractive couple came up to where I was leaning against the bar, obscuring my view some what and practically rubbing against me. They started their tonsil hockey session and were wearing shiny black plastic cloths, the bad thing about black was the contrast of a pale white hand fingering each others crotches making it pretty obvious. The funny thing was she was looking at me like she wanted me to join in. After a while the boy went to the bathroom, and a short while later a friend of the girl walked passed and recognised her and then they started tongue wrestling. I then turned to the left and another couple had their hands on each others genitalia, I guess thats just what they do here. It was getting late and the place was getting packed and I thought the 1:30am show would be more of the same so I left.
The only thing the old Hellfire has in common with the new one is the name, it has become more a dance type night club with a fetish theme. The actual B&D that was the main show in the past has been turned in to a novelty side show relegated to the back. Still you have to love the clothing and fashions which was not in the old club.
Full Blog - http://sidneycritic.blogspot.com.au/2009/11/b-d-something-sexy-to-start-with.html

12.07.08 : Dollshay : Town Hall Hotel Balmain - music

10.07.08 : The Hampdens : Will & Toby's - music
Lovers Electric, Polaroid Flame, Gin Wigmore

08.07.08 : Get Smart - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : Maxwell Smart, a highly intellectual but bumbling spy working for the CONTROL agency, is tasked with preventing a terrorist attack from rival spy agency KAOS. Bad

05.7.08 : Saturday Night Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
Matt Okine, Justin Hamilton

01.7.08 : Full Body Contact No Love Tennis : Roxbury Hotel - impro
I have see a couple of these shows before and they were OK, but tonight they were brilliant. Jon Williams was the host and he absolutely killed, boy was he funny with his ad libbing. His talking up of the ludicrous prizes he gave out for suggestions was magic, this is why I regard him so highly. Marco Mustac and Murray Fahey were in one team and was super good. Steve Lynch and Matt Foster in another, they were brilliant and should of won. And Neal Downward and a guy I don't know, who must of been new as he was a bit awkward at first and got good by the end. Even though Neal's friend was awkward, which was funny in it's self, they won overall. Very good night. And coupled with watching Don't Mess With The Zohan, very funny, earlier in the day, it was a great day off.

28.06.08 : Comedy Store Parramatta Gala night : Parramatta
This was a big night with a lot of acts, I wasn't laugh out by the end only because I seen nearly all of the acts before, but was still pretty good. Lindsay Webb MC'ed the night, he quickly and effectively improvised to any occasion during the audience questioning part and was very good. Claire Hooper was one I hadn't seen before and was OK. Next came two up and comers, Brian Chandler, who the audience loved and Evin Donahoe, not so good. Tahir was better than I remembered. Men Choir was 10 guys singing acappella covers, a bit average. There was some impro guys and a comic I've seen before in the choir. Eddie Ifft gave a good show that the crowd liked even though this routine is not as good as the first routine he brought to Australia. Wil Anderson always comes up with new ideas with a spin off from his TV show about advertising and there was parts from his other theatre shows, good set. Finally Axis of Awesome killed with Benny's, how to write a pop song medley. The thing that struck me was how Jordan's singing got even better, he was great the first time and now is brilliant, beautiful harmonies between Benny and Jordan. Poor Lee played the butt of the jokes guy as usual.

25.06.08 : Comedy : Oatley Hotel
Adam Vincent, Julia Wilson, Rash

22.06.08 : Explosive Minds : Comedy Store Sydney : impro
The Explosive Minds came out with all guns blazing and impressed the crowd. There are some small impro troupes doing pubs lately and they just can't capture the laughs of the large theatre shows, but this one does. A big part of it's success has to be attributed to the veteran players. Grant Davis who sets the mood and softens up the audience so quickly. There are only 4 cast members but they are top notch and not lacking. Lisa Ricketts co-compares, Dave Callan, funny as ever and Amanda Buckley who has a beautiful voice. They have set games but there is a lot of audience participation which mixes it up even more than usual. The majority of the audience don't seem to have seen impro before so they were a bit awkward with some tasks but that just made it even more funny. With the show being so entertaining and the time restraints of the venue 11:00-12:00, with everyone out in good time, the show seemed a bit short, nobody wanted to leave after the lights went on. Hopefully the crew will be able to finagle an earlier start and get the 10 minutes back. Very funny

20.06.08 : 2008 Melb Comedy Festival Roadshow : Enmore Theatre
I like the large selection of comics in one show, as you could find a comic that really appeals to you. There were some well known names ie, Colin Lane(Host), Corinne Grant, Greg Fleet, Paul McDermott's GUD and some not well known. The show was good, mainly mild, but some stand outs. Hannah Gadsby stole the show and got the applause to prove it. She talked about being a lesbian in Tasmania, she didn't just talk about her life but put in killer punch lines aiming for the maximum effect which absolutely killed. I think it was Asher Treleaven(Sorry already forgot the name), that read a page of a Mills & Boon book and did the accompanying visualisations and acting that really killed, very funny. And GUD, I have seen GUD before and they were OK, but this time I really enjoyed it. Paul did a send up of Allan Seale, Allan Seale had a ABC gardening show and whenever he spoke he whistled when the had to pounce a 'S', so Paul milked this whistle by telling a story using words starting with 'S' as much as possible. After 10 minutes I was dying form laughing and that's when I noticed only about 20% of the audience was really cracking up, the other 80% were too young to remember Allan, which was a shame for them, but really killed us old timers. The rest of GUD's performance was their usual good confronting rudeness. The others weren't super hilarious but funny enough. Overall the show was good.

18.06.08 : Comedy : Oatley Hotel
Eddie Ifft, Desh, Tom Oakley, Jason Chong

14.06.08 : Frank Woodley - Possessed : SOH
I think a lot of people wanted to see if Frank could cut it on his own without Colin. He easily exceeded everyone's expectations. The lights went down and Frank comes out from behind the curtain playing an Italian seafarer, we thought he was doing a fill in to allow for the late comers but he set the story up with a monologue. The curtain rolls back and there is an elaborate set depicting the inside of a house. Lano and Woodley's earlier stuff had hardly any props, the later stuff had some, but this one was set up like a proper play. The story goes that Louie(Frank) is possessed by Phoebe a 200 year old Irish girl that died tragically. The story has everything, it's heart warming, sad, tragic, it even had a blues singer, I don't know how Frank squeezed him into the plot but it was seamless.
Frank was amazing, he played four characters, the switching between Frank and the ghost was a little strange at first but you got used to it. I don't like physical comedy as it's a bit predictable, so with trepidation I expected some, as Frank is a very physical comic, but it was so unpredictable it was great. Some stunts will freak you out. It's only when you get half way through you realise this is a big complicated play and a very big job for Frank but he did it so well he made it look simple. He was so captivating I didn't notice the show was 1½ hours long. I think one of Colin's big gripes with Frank was that he didn't help much with the writing so I think Frank had to get some help which he acknowledged at the end.  This show was like the next evolution for Frank and is a must see for all.

13.06.08 : Legends of Aust Comedy : Burwood RSL
I thought this show could be good because of the big names. Even though they were oldish they did not disappoint.
Ross Daniels was good as host, you don't want the host too funny.
Gary Who gave his usual routine and killed, even though I nearly know it of by heart it's still top shelf.
Elliot Goblet had a problem with timing and was only good. The two times I saw him before he absolutely killed, maybe he was a bit out of practise as this was the first show of the tour.
George Smilovici killed, a great set that I hadn't heard for a while, it was like it was fresh again.
Austen Tayshus, the couple of times I saw him before in pubs he had some good material but was generally just OK, but tonight he was brilliant and stole the show. He started a monologue and after 20 min I was hoping he would stop because I couldn't  breath from laughing. Luckily a heckler slowed him down so I could catch my breath. All around a great show

10.06.08 : Off The Cuff : The Gaelic - impro
There was 3 veteran players, Rebecca de Unamuno, Murry Fahey, Marco Mustac and a special invited guest Jay Lagaaia, which they tormented a little by putting him in awkward spots. There was variations on regular games and some new games, they used tabloid and news stories as a basis with some audience suggestions. There were bits I liked and some not as funny. Pubs are a harsh environment for a theatre show, what with the talking at the back and distractions, and using political stories as a basis for a scene is hard to work with. The players worked hard but the show ended up mild with some highlights

08.06.08 : Indiana Jones(4) and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : In 1957, archaeologist and adventurer Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. is called back into action and becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls. What you would expect, ie good enough.

05.6.08 : Gorilla Theatre : Roxbury Hotel - impro
This show is a director style format, the director directs the scene while it' s being played out, they also have to come up with the story in this one, so it's kind of a direct and write job. The audience judges the director and the director either gets a banana or a forfeit(penalty). The person with the most bananas wins
The thing with the director format is, sometimes the director can over direct and spoil a scene, but with this one, it didn't happen. Stand out was Dave Callan

03.06.08 : Harold Park Hotel Comedy Club Turns 1 : Harold Park Hotel
There was 9 comics doing short sets, which is a format I like, because if one is not so good it's not boring as the set is so short, its the same format at the old Bridge Hotel that I used to go to a lot. There were comics I see a lot of, some I haven't seen for a while, and some new ones, I like new new ones because they have jokes I haven't heard before. There was Peter Green, trying new material, Peter Meisel, doing a slow set, and a young up and coming comic who was a regular at the Sandringham Hotel comedy night, can't remember his name but he was very good. Lastly was Jimbo and it's his usual WHACK!, cricket bat to the face style, the audience always reels back and says to themselves 'can he say that in public'. It was a nice mix for the night.

31.05.08 : Dave Bloustein - Beastly : Old Fitzroy Theatre
Dave started out very funny trying to put the audience to ease, not a easy feat in the inner city, but he pulled it off . He covered some of his life starting out in South Australia and progressed to his trip to Africa with his wife, we always like the travel stories, and keeping with the Africa theme covered charities that tried to help Africa but failed. Dave's humour is mild but captivating, he came up with some disturbing facts, not funny, but the audience was mesmerised and listened  intently. I must of been enthralled because the time just flew by. He put some stuff in from the previous show and produced some pictures from his trip with some funny observations and facts. All in all I have a soft spot for Dave, it's just the way he portrays himself, even the early days when he was in the Impro team for the Cranston Cup, Mimes of Passion, that gentle good natured persona shines through. This show also shows some of his serious side but he keep the audience entranced. I liked it.

31.05.08 : The Jinglists : Old Fitzroy Theatre
I only went to see this show because I had time to kill before Beastly and boy was I surprised. The show was tight, and the way the actors played their parts was amazing, their movements were sharp, kinda exaggerated but not over done, great forceful delivery, every line took centre stage. The whole style of delivery and the actors great portrayals make this instantly appealing
The story is off two half brothers who were abandoned by their mother and live their lives in one apartment. To pay the bills they become jingle writers and very good ones at that. Of course living in one room makes them quite eccentric and removed from the world until there's a knock on the door by a female which turns their world upside down
The story was good and the actors were absolutely fantastic, even the jingles were great and sung so well that I was temped to buy lozenges. There was great gags, ie the umbilical cord, and the old cracker joke which always works a treat. This show was such a surprise and I liked it a lot.

28.05.08 : The Delusionists : Hermann's Bar
Boy was this one different. The first show I saw in 2007 required a lot of concentration, as the jokes were so clever, and was very calculated. The jokes were expertly setup to get the maximum effect at the punch line, kinda like being in a gun fight, you know it's coming then it blows your head off. This new show, The Delusionists Make History Up, was like being in a pitch black room with 6 guys swinging baseball bats, your getting hit all over the place but dammed if you know where it's coming from. You can not even imagine these scenarios in your wildest dreams they were so out there, each scene was more different than the one before, everything was totally unpredictable in joke, in style, in execution, everything.
Along with the style change was some different cast members, Steen just looks crazed and unpredictable with his short hair and thats the character he played, Susie milked every line for effect, the regulars were good. The whole show is uncategoriseable, something like skits but skits like you've never seen before. So live outside the cube and see something different.

22.05.08 : Comedy : Marlborough Hotel
Barry McLeod, Dave Jory, Paul Brash

20.05.08 : What Happens in Vegas - movie
Comedy, Romance : A man and a woman are compelled, for legal reasons, to live life as a couple for a limited period of time. At stake is a large amount of money. Good

13.05.08 : Iron Man - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armour to fight evil. Good enough

09.05.08 : The Rude Show : Factory Theatre

09.05.08 : Axis of Awesome : Fusebox, Factory Theatre
The Axis was awesome, Jordan, Lee and Benny put a set show together of mainly funny songs, which is different to their usual impro duties where everything is done on the fly. Benny plays the straight guy and has a very good voice, Jordan has this strange sense of humour which is evident with his song Bird Plane and his rambling Harry Potter references, and Lee with his funny banter and guitar playing, I didn't know Lee could play. Good show, smart writing and something quite different.

08.05.08 : Mark Watson : Factory Theatre
I don't know about Mark, most Aussie comics have a routine, carefully worked out joke, to get the best effect, followed by a laugh, then repeat. Some of the overseas comics I have seen lately don't appear to have a controlled set out routine, it feels like it done on the fly, maybe that's the trend overseas now. Because the jokes aren't worked for best effect they don't seem as funny, not like Danny Buoy who worked on his jokes and exaggerated them to get the best result. One thing about the show that made me feel uneasy about Mark was that he kicked a man, which gave me the impression, he is bit evil, which is not a good impression to have about someone that is supposed to be funny and happy all the time. Still Mark wasn't that bad that I would say avoid this show,  it was funny enough to be OK.

08.05.08 : Andrew Stanley : Fusebox, Factory Theatre
Andrew was OK but I was kinda expecting more. You would think that comics that travel would have exciting travel stories but Andrew didn't have many, maybe he just doesn't get into trouble like some do. The 1st half was quite good when he interacted with the audience but the 2nd was a bit quieter, Andrew seem quite a affable, easy going, friendly chap, which makes you feel good.

06.05.08 : Made of Honour - movie
Comedy, Romance : A guy in love with an engaged woman tries to win her over after she asks him to be her maid of honor. Good

03.05.08 : Al Pitcher : Yalumba Wine Bar, Enmore
I heard a few whispers that Al would be good and so must have the rest of the audience as the room was full. His energetic, fast delivery, seems like your getting more bang for the buck, and his improvising, a style that always appeals to me, makes this show worth it. His speed at making up stuff when questioning the audience is great. Very good.

02.05.08 : The Rude Show : Factory Theatre
There has been a name change since I last saw this show years ago, it used to be called The Big Night Out and now the more aptly named The Rude Show, which describes the show better. The thing about this show, if you don't know about Jimbo's previous show, is the level of rudeness, it's way ,way, way, way more rude than you could imagine, even the support acts, except Bev Killick, were taken aback. Jimbo improvises based on the people in the audience, he singled out a group of three girls and stereotyped them as lesbians, trying to entice one to come on the stage and do a hand stand in the nude, filling up her box with JB and coke, while the other two girls sip on the cocktail with straws and a cocktail umbrella hanging out of her ass. Did I mention the show was rude. The first act(I think was Brett Nicoles) was so perplexed, after Jimbo's usual rude intro, he just had nowhere to go. His rudest joke was like a cute fluffy kitten to Jimbo's utter filth masturbating dead horse. Bev was next, she is one rude old bird, but that's what her usual routine is anyway. How rude you ask, well she explained how a girls undies gets a cake mix like discharge stuck to the inside with the edges drying out to form a Laminton like look, if you didn't wash them often. Next was Eddie from the U.K., he said 'I thought I was rude till I meet Jimbo', he stepped up his act and pulled it off. Lastly was Nik Sun , who started out a bit lost but improvised the most filthy disgusting depraved thing he could think of, and it worked even though his set was a bit short. Jimbo is up to his usual best, but be prepared to be shocked.

02.05.08 : Busting Out : Factory Theatre
I'm not one for physical humour, for me it's like a cheap cover up for lack of material, but I was in the bar the day before and just listening from behind the curtain and the show sounded OK so I took a risk. I knew we would have to endure a few tit puns but the girls took it to another level, an example was when they demonstrated a tit powered washing machine called the Brestinghouse. There was songs, Emma Powell's voice is quite amazing in her send up of old covers, there was great shadow tit puppetry, a great send up of an ABBA song, Bev Killick doing her usual rude, energetic, entertaining humour, audience participation, etc. This show was a lot better than I excepted and it had a lot more than I could of imagined, very good.

01.05.08 : Sally Kimpton : Fusebox, Factory Theatre
I remember Sally with affection when she first started comedy, she was quite good and had a good routine, so I was eager to see her new show. Sally covered new material about her jobs as an extra and actor, some revelations were quite interesting, as in how the main actors in Superman Returns were weird and promiscuous. Unfortunately the humour was mild and the small crowd didn't help. Her guest was Davo, who was very good, kinda stealing the show.

29.04.08 : Forgetting Sarah Marshall - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : Devastated Peter takes a Hawaiian vacation in order to deal with the recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know, Sarah's travelling to the same resort as her ex - and she's bringing along her new boyfriend. OK, not too bad

25.04.08 : Chopper - Make Deadshits History : Enmore Theatre
Heath Franklin sometimes makes rare appearances in The Cranston Cup(Impro) to help his buddy Jordan Raskopoulos(Ronnie Johns, Axis of Awesome), Heath is a natural at impro, so I though I would try his Chopper Bingo show at the start of the year. Not excepting much I was floored by how good it was and his new show was no exception. For what seem like a relative new comer he never fails to surprise. In tonight's show I think Chopper didn't fail to insult every minority on the planet, much to the audiences amusement, the end entailed a set up TV pilot with the obligatory praising of the Chopper character. The whole show was good, Heath spontaneous improvising, the writing, the comedy timing, the consistently good shows puts some seasoned acts to shame. Chopper can do no wrong.

24.04.08 : Andrew McClelland : Yalumba Wine Bar, Enmore
Yes I have a Bachelor of Piratology (BaP) from Prof A McClelland, from the 2005 Somewhat Accurate University of Piratology. This show, that Andrew did in 2005, was a little diamond in the rough, so I was wondering how his new show 'Mix Tape' would fair. Andrew style is a bit eccentric and quirky, which is what made his Pirate show good but unfortunately this show was lacking. It was like he was using slap stick to cover the sparse parts in the show, it was definitely mild humour.

24.04.08 : Anh Do : Enmore Theatre
I got to Newtown early and realised I could make Anh Do, which was good as I hadn't see him for a while. Anh's jokes are always solid, he still uses the old tried and trusted routine which has been polished over the years, but there was extras. A story of his family and how they came to Australia, even with all the hardships, Anh's parents felt they were privileged to be alive and in Australia. It's a touching and remarkable story with twists and hard times but they keep optimistic through all the adversities and were blessed with good fortune at times. Quite remarkable.

22.04.08 : Spiderwick Chronicles - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures. Good

19.04.08 : Scratch : Fusebox, Factory Theatre - impro
I am totally exhausted, I feel like I've been to the moon and back. Theatresports is a participation sport, you don't just sit there and passively watch a story unfold, you have to imagine things, you have to keep track of characters, plot, stories, it's takes work by the audience to make it good and this show works you to the limit, which is what is appealing for me as I have to be constantly thinking. The format is basically three stories, from audience suggestions, that meet at the end. Imagine a professor and a time machine, his wife and a robot shifting in time to meet a farmer, his son, a cow and Lassie, which meets 2 vampires, victims and their boyfriends. With about 20 characters played by 2 guys with flashbacks makes you realise that it's a very high work load for the cast and audience. This show was good and a glimpse of how the other side of the globe does theatresports, and remember tomorrow it will be totally different story again.

19.04.08 : Julia Wilson : Fusebox, Factory Theatre
I don't think it is possible to say that many words in one hour even if you repeated the word 'the' for 60 minutes. To say Julia speaks very fast is an understatement, which is how I like it. Most female comics cover female situations but Julia is like a man in a woman's body, she's predatory, aggressive and likes sex, totally out of the ordinary and very different, it's quite refreshing to hear a different view point. I think the mainly female audience was a bit stunned with the frankness, but I liked it.

18.04.08 : Tabloid Musical : Newtown Theatre - impro
Not a big fan of the musical side of theatresport, I gave this a shot and realised it's not my cup of tea. The players are top notch and really worked hard, I had to remind myself they were making it up on the fly, so polished was the story. I like comedy and it was not the usual high LPM(Laughs per minute) and coupled to my short attention span's liking of short stories, didn't really make it appealing for me. I think the format has changed from the flyer as there was no mention of tabloid news stories, tonight's audience suggestion was 'beer',  maybe it was changed for the older audience for the night. The players were good, I think the format didn't suit me

17.04.08 : Daniel Townes : Yalumba Wine Bar, Enmore
After Daniel gets started he works hard through the show with non stop stories, which are quite captivating, not super funny, just a nice ride through one miss fortunate event after another. This guy should have been locked up with the number of times hes run into the law and he has a penchant for putting his foot in his mouth.

15.04.08 : Superhero Movie - movie
Action, Comedy : Orphaned high school student Rick Riker is bitten by a radioactive dragonfly, develops super powers (except for the ability to fly), and becomes a hero. OK, has enough funny stuff

13.04.08 : Prequels & Sequels : Newtown Theatre - impro
Prequels & Sequels is turning out to be one of the best formats invented. The Imprano series used to be my favourite and Boys Vs Girls before that, but now I think Prequels & Sequels is exceeding it. One scene is a dinner party where 4 celebrities arrive but the host doesn't know who they are, as the audience picks them while the host is out of the room, and he has to work it out. Another one is when the are given a distorted movie title, eg Top Gnu instead of Top Gun, and they have to change the story to suit. And one where the lead actors are changed for someone else, eg instead of Al Pacino in Scarface it becomes Britney Spears in Scarface. I hope they run this format again it's great.
They brought out the heavy hitters for this one, Grant Davies, Lisa Rickets, Steve Walsh, Nigel Sutton etc, and the full house wasn't disappointed. Grant ran amok all night and won the Oscar. A great show ,thoroughly recommended. If you miss this series your a bloody idiot.

15.03.08 : Wil Anderson, BeWILdered : SOH
Wil Anderson, you either love him or hate him. Most guys that I know hate him and most women I know love him, seems to be a pattern forming. Even I have a love hate relation with Wil. I hate most of his radio shows but I loved him in The Glass House and I like his comedy shows, even though they are not usually super funny.
I have seen four shows, Kill Wil, Wil Communication, Wil of God, and BeWILdered. I liked, Wil of God best with Wil Communication and Kill Wil equal 2nd and closely followed by BeWILdered. Even though I rated it last, it is still good
There was a sad note in the show for Wil, as his girlfriend of 6 years left him 6 months ago, even most of the subject matter was a bit on the serious side, but his usual high energy delivery and good writing cuts the serious things in life to pieces.
I find most of his shows chucklely, is that a word, and not jaw aching funny. All the shows I have seen were worth it and I would recommend this one also and coupled with my favourite venue the Sydney Opera House makes it even better

08.03.08 : Dave Hughes - Hughesy Goes Bananas : Enmore Theatre
Boy did Hughesy go bananas or what. In the second half the jokes were absolutely relentless with no respite, the ferocity of the attack throttled the air from my brain, I just wanted to lie down in the isle. This is not to say the first half was bad, it was the normal very good Dave Hughes, but in the second half he clicked it up to eleven. I have seen Hughesy a few times and he hasn't disappointed but this show was extra special. A must see, but bring an oxygen bottle

24.02.08 : Daniel Kitson : The Factory
Went to see Daniel Kitson, I found his humour mild but interesting. There is a caveat, in that, I might not of been in a good frame of mind to really enjoy the show. I arrived 1 hour early, the usual opening of all theatres, only to find the box office closed and had to wait for 20 minutes to get my ticket, which in turn did not leave me enough time to get into Newtown to get a coffee. Whats the importance of coffee, you have to be very sharp to enjoy comedy, if your slow and can't concentrate you won't enjoy yourself
So back to the show, Daniel hit some subjects that were a sore point for me(man's inhumanity to man) and instantly my mind raced off in different directions, which was a coincidence as the subject for his next joke(observation) was how you don't have a single thought, every thought quickly branches to different thoughts. I had to knuckle down and concentrate.
Another coincidence was went he talked about memories. Just the day before I was trying to remember memories of Europe when I was 6 years old, and did I remember the actual trip or the photos of the trip that I still have, which was the subject of one of Daniels observations
As my laugh-o-meter wasn't working too well I'll have to gauge the performance based on the audience response, there was mild laughing in the first half but more in the second half. There was even a familiar laugh of Buckers(see BAAM blog) in the audience somewhere. There was no side splitting humour, mainly interesting stories. Would I see him again, No. Was I happy to see him once, Yes. The show was not really my cup of tea, but was an OK night out

22.02.08 : Carpenters from Kempsey : Will & Toby's - music covers with linked comedy
WOW!. Start with the dramas, looked up the address, 134 Oxford Street, the problem is that there are two 134 Oxford Streets. Luckily I found a Drum Media at The Fringe Hotel and found out Will and Toby's is down the road at the Oxford Hotel.
The story is basically about two Aussies from near Kempsey that listened to there parents Carpenters records and thought they could be the Carpenters. The show consists of a mild comedy story of there lives with all the hit Carpenter songs in between.
I don't remember actually listening to any Carpenter's songs in my life but I knew all but two, I was born in the era of the Carpenters so I must of absorbed the songs
So they get to the first song and BAM,  Lisa Adam's voice was so close to Karen Carpenter it was amazing, I had to pick my jaw off the ground, and by the response of the audience they had the same experience. I loved this show and would recommend it to anyone old enough to remember The Carpenters
Check out the show reel http://www.carpentersfromkempsey.com/showreel.html

26.01.08:The Laugh Garage opening : Riverside Theatre

15.01.08 : I am Legend - movie
Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi : Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure. So-so compared to the originals like, The Last Man on Earth(1964) and The Omega Man(1971)

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