0-Die Bastard : 1-Crap : 2-Rubbish(watchable) : 3-OK : 3.5-Nice : 4-Good : 4.5-Very Good : 5-WOW
28.10.11 : The Killjoys : Petersham Bowling Club
- I might have missed some at the start -
1 : Shifting Sands
2 : Michael Told Me
3 : Ladbroke Grove - new
4 : Ruby
5 : Drinking So Much It's coming out of My Eyes - new
6 : Stealing Horses
7 : Fall Around Me
8 : My Old Guitar - new
9 : Ghost - new
10 : Beauty & Danger
11 : On the Radio
encore
12 : Once I Dreamed
13 : Come around
A fairly reserved crowd tonight, but they were fairly old, but I enjoyed it. Crowd : 4. - Me : 4.25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJYrT-PQW84
MySpace Views (177)
27.10.11 : The Three Musketeers - movie
Action : The hot-headed young D'Artagnan joins the, now down and out, legendary 3 Musketeers to defeat the evil powers from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war. It's the basic story, but with a different circumstance. 50% is visually pleasing, with action and scenes with vivid rich colours against dull backgrounds, like the stunning black and red army in the 2002 film Hero. The action was fine, but not anything innovative, and the beautiful coloured contrasting scenes were good, but had been done before in Hero. The 50% of plain talking wasn't anything special, and may make it difficult for an audience to stay focused - I started yawning -. It's kind of like a Pirates of the Caribbean/Hero cross, but without the charm or plot of either - you are basically going only for the action -. It was ok, but you know what to expect. 3
26.10.11 : Full Body Contact No Love Junior Tennis Improv! : Hermann's Bar
That's one way to reduce the dull stuff in long form impro, put 9 people in a team - I hope everyone got a go -. It was one of those random individual scene shows rather than the continuous story type, so it's hard to report on what actually happened, but at least the room was packed - so anybody that mattered was there anyway -, and that means that I won't have to go into as much detail.
Team 1 : Bravery, Social Decorum : Opening stories - A girl verbally vomits when she meets a guy she likes. A primary school boy buys a teddy bear backpack for a girl he liked on her birthday. A poor bassoon player gets laughed at by nasty Hing during is story about his first gig, where he only ate food and ignored the band. A guy saves a hawk from a wolf. : Scenes - A guy ask his stupid mate to justify the lame teddy bear backpack he bought for Sandy on her birthday. He explains that it would be useful in a bear attack, because if you hold it hostage, the bear will think you have it's young and not attack you. Two girls are having a girl to girl chat about boys when the 'nervous near boys' one complains that her advice about taking the direct approach, of telling the boy how you feel by saying "I love you have my baby", didn't work for her. The other girl is a bit perplexed, because it worked for her 3 times before. A troupe solders are about to attack compound to rescue one of the soldier's father, Hawk, when he mistakes Danny for a terrorist, and shoots him dead. At a gig the nervous girl runs into a nervous boy, that each have a crush on, and she is given advice from her friends, who loudly whisper in their ears. But it all goes wrong when she blurts out that the boy reminds her of her father. A bear cries when they make back packs out of her children. The loud solders sneak into the Wolf lair, and rescue the Hawk from the Wolf. The nervous lovers then get the advice to be more like a dynamo and an actuator, and they fall in love. It was enjoyable, but not as technical as I would like - but then again no team was -, but it was fun. Nice
Team 2 : There once was a man from St Ives, and his 7 kids had how many toes : Some parents are discussing their child with 7 toes, when Morgan Freeman narrates the story of the peculiar, but special boy. The father takes him to see some doctors, and one eager to cut the extra toes off with scissors, and the other overrules him and won't do anything to such a peculiar boy. Poor Little Jimmy Johnston can't walk, because of his toes, and has to crawl everywhere, so his father abandons him to 3 clowns in a circus. The 3 clowns then realise this is like some 80's film about 3 men and a baby, so they raise him. After raising him to the age of 17, they realise he has no talents, except irritating people by telling them he was born in a circus. People then become irritated that the circus boy, with 7 toes, always wears sandals. The 3 clown fathers force him to stand, but he falls to the ground, and that's when it is revealed that one of the clowns can only stand when drinking alcohol. By accident the clown drops his glass, and falls to the ground, where Little Jimmy Johnston picks it up, takes one sip, and is able to walk. The father goes to see his son on stage, and hopes he is not too irritating, but the son goes mad. A news report comes on telling us that a 7 fingered boy is using his mind power to blow peoples heads off. The Father tries to stop him, but the abandonment makes him continue on his rampage. Morgan Freeman then narrates the moral, that not only do people kill people, but alcohol does as well. Nice also.
Team 3 : Lizard : A man is walking along when Ralfaldo the talking lizard starts a conversation, and they become friends. A bank robber is caught and threatens to take himself hostage and shoot himself, but he soon realises the problem with his logic. Mr T-Rex has lost his tail, so he asks the other animals to help find it. The man and lizard go to a German restaurant to find a wife for him, but because the man has trouble speaking to girls, the lizard does the talking for him. The tyrannical restaurant owner offers his daughter, Guten Tag, to him. A guy hi 5's his friend when he cracks a joke about his wife looking like a Kimono dragon. 2 German dragons are having a smoke, and discussing eating villagers. T-Rex finally finds his tail, and becomes very angry and kills everyone. Gutan Tag's father/restaurant owner tells her she must marry, so she goes on a date with the lizard and the man. Things aren't going too well, until the lizard jumps down between her boos, and arranges a Ménage à drei(German for three). Nice as well.
Awesome Team - Steen Raskopoulos, Carlo Ritchie, Michael Hing, Tom Walker, Jordan Raskopoulos : Egg : Opening stories - Jordan thinks he is allergic to eggs. Carlo's mum would scare the kids by telling them that there is dead birds in eggs. Carlo pronounces Doritos, dar-e-toss. When you breed 2 Pokémon together, to get the egg to hatch, you have to walk a lot, but it's quicker if you use a bicycle. : Scenes : A Russian box salesman sells a box to another satisfied customer, but Uri gets upset when he has forgotten to collect the money again. The salesman realises his mistake, and asks Uri if he should chase him for the money. Uri says he will only have a 50-50 chance to get the money, but the salesman replies, that's strong odds no matter which side you look at it from. He then sets on his way, grabbing the last box in the shop for provisions, but that again gets snatched by another nonpaying customer. Arriving at a sandwich shop, he asks for a sandwich without egg, because he is allergic to them, but the owner tells him this is an Egg sandwich shop, and all they have is slices of egg with bread in the middle. Various Pokémon start hatching. A shouting swearing cowboy starts calling a guy across the road, "hey big sh!t, big sh!tty ass, big brown ass, sit down take a sh!t you ass, hey ass sh!t face, hey sh!tty face ass, hey ass, over here you big sh!t head, hey ass, you suck, you suck ass, you make me sick, I got sick on my belt". A father nervously waits for his wife to give birth when a doctor enters, and tells him his wife didn't have a baby, but had an egg instead. He is confused, but the doctor gives him the egg, which they have named Bouncy, and tells him he must look after it. A man calls out "Bike gang friends assemble", and he is soon surrounded by his gang. Firstly he needs some help get his padding off, so a 1870's gang member on a penny farthing starts the long and arduous journey of climbing down his 60 incher. Unfortunately by the time he gets there the others have already removed the pads, so he starts the long journey back atop the crazy machine. The leader tells them the bullies are causing trouble, so the 1870's penny farthing man comes up with the solution of shooting a few of them, and hanging their bodies in a tree. The leader thinks this is a bit drastic, and says he will decide when they get to the lake. But the 1870's penny farthing man is unsure of the location, and asks if he means the Kill Lake, as it's known to him. The bullies come together, but they are so evil, that they box each other in the balls - the rest of the show was done with cupped groins -. A fast talking man swindles the father of out his son egg, and quickly swaps it with another man for a magic bean. In the breakaway Russia territory of Transnistria, the box salesman enters a bar. He is approached by a man looking for his father, and he describes his appearance as having a peg leg, a cat, and a big eye, and a half cut apple in his pocket. The salesman recognises the description, and the fact that he also knew what his father looked like before hand. He explains that he saw him 7 days ago in Svetkavica, a town on the border Transnistria and Georgia - somewhere in the water because they are on opposite sides of the Black Sea -, so they kiss, and depart. An actor is auditioning when he realises that there's no script, so the director tells him to have fun, and just improvise. The director shouts out instructions, and tells him to play a beautiful princes with a terrible secret. Then he tells him to grab a shovel, and pretend to be scared. Still thinking the directors are directing, an evil voice tells him to shove the shovel up ass, blade first. In the President office the President is about to make a speech, when the evil voice asks, "what's wrong with his skin". The President and his aid soon discover a very deep hole under his chair, were filthy comments emanate. So they drop a piano down the hole, then a 104 piece marching band, then an elephant, then an upside down volcano, and then they shit in the hole, all to try and kill the evil voice hobbit. The father is looking for his lost child/egg when he runs into the egg swindler. The swindler tells him that he sold the egg to Crazy Joe, just then two guys enter overhearing the conversation. They proclaim that they will solve mysteries for 25 cents a mystery, and are quickly on the case. At Crazy Joe's the mystery solvers pretend to have a delivery of shovels, when one quickly deduces that, fate rhymes with date, date is a type of fig dried, dried, Ryde, West Ryde train line, lion is alive, like an egg, so Crazy Joe must have the egg. So they slap his in the nuts, and take the closest egg. At the Box shop, Uri is having troubles when a man returns a box and wants compensation. Uri say he will do anything he wants, and will take anything he dishes out, but this calls his bluff, and he leaves. In a restaurant, the box seller is talking to a man about finding the Transnistrian's father, when he sees an apple in pocket. Just then the waiter asks for his order, so he gives him 5 fingers to the groin - Hing finally got his just reward for starting the nut slapping -. The waiter then sends a big security guard to deal with the sexual harassment. The box salesman finally makes a deal, that pays, with the Transnistrian father, and he returns to the box shop with the promise that he will tell his son where he is. The mystery solvers are unsure if they have the right egg, but return what they have to the father. He is quite anxious to hatch the egg so he takes it on a bike ride, where it hatches into a Pokémon. I was mainly a Carlo and Jordan show, in the laugh department, but it didn't have as much substance as a Pat and Carlo show - I think a lot of the substance was lost when everyone started hitting each other in the nuts -, but overall the laughs were at the same level. The nut slapping was initially funny - the novelty quickly wore off though -, but I prefer the parts with more substance, even if it's non nonsensical rambling, like Carlo's - Carlo has this impeccable timing of saying the wrong thing, at the right time -. It was good.
Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4
25.10.11 : TT3D: Closer to the Edge - movie
Documentary : A behind the scenes look a the riders at the legendary Isle of Man TT. Motor racing is dangerous, even more so for motor cycle racing, but the TT is on a level above that - I think only meth addiction is more dangerous than this -, because on average 2.2 competitors get killed per year. My opinion of the race is that the Isle of Man government push this race just for the tourist dollar, and that it's an anachronistic dinosaur that technology has left so far behind, that it should be closed down - technology has made machines so fast these days that only purpose built tracks with all their safety features are barely able to cope with them -. The track is practically a stone lined corridor that is so dangerous that no professional racer, that wants to make a living out of racing, will contest this race, yet when they interviewed a top rider(Guy Martian), his reply was "no one is putting a gun to my head. This year alone 7 people died, 3 competitors, and 4 sightseers riding the course too fast. As a racing enthusiast there are lot of negatives which make this race not that interesting to watch, ie, it is a time trial with a 10 sec gap between riders so there is hardly any actual dicing - the main attraction of racing -, the track is so long they can't put cameras all the way around, so you only get small sections at a time, and the deaths. As for the movie, I expecting a amazing 3D roller-coaster, but the film wasn't that, it was mainly interviews with riders and short snippet of racing - just like the actual coverage we get every year -, so 3D was practically waste of time. I think most of these motor racing movies are only for enthusiasts, but then again Margaret and David liked Senna, so I don't really know what the general public will say. I only have a passing interest in the TT, and don't watch it anymore because of the deaths - I stopped watching F1 when Senna died, and stopped watching Dakar when Andy Caldecott died -, but Guy Martin is cool - boy he looks like Carlo -, and I know all the references, so I thought it was ok. 3.75
25.10.11 : Midnight in Paris - movie
Comedy | Fantasy | Romance : A successful Hollywood screenwriter is smitten by Paris, but especially the 20's when the literary and artistic giants roamed the streets. I was expecting a RomCom, but I wasn't expecting this - and it explains why the trailer only had scenes from the first 15 minutes -, because it was more than just a RomCom - actually there isn't that much Rom, and only a few bits of Com, but they were good Com -. When I saw Woody Allen in the starting credits, I thought this was going to be another one of his talk fests about emotions, but even though it did have some intricate talking sessions, it was that clever opposite irony - like Owen's girlfriend hated Paris, but when an ex crush turns up, she loves Paris -. It was warm and fuzzy throughout, and I liked it, but you do have to accept the concepts. 3.75
20.10.11 : USYD Theatresports Grand Final : Manning Bar
Wow, didn't the crowd turn up in force, because it was packed to the max - I guess that Facebook 600 attending should have been an indication -. This year I thought I would get there early, to hopefully get a seat where I could hear what was going on - there tends to be a lot of talking at the back. But even thought I implemented the first part of the plan, the second part didn't work out because it was already packed when I got there, so much so, that I barely got in at the back. Tonight was a crowd I haven't seen here before, they were very attentive and quiet - which was quite extraordinary considering some of the scenes weren't that attention grabbing -. The whole crowd gave the performers the best possible shot at what they were doing, by giving them their full attention, and even if the scene didn't go to plan, they still gave them the benefit of the doubt by being very tolerant and accepting their best efforts - short form helps in that respect -. Now to the technical aspects of the night, the actual skill level wasn't monumental, which is quite understandable because no one really does short form anymore. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but all the Hermann's Bar/Project52 Impro shows are long form, so I suppose, that's all they practice. And even in the outside world there just isn't any regular shows anymore, so there is nowhere they can see the tricks veterans use to cover narratives that aren't that exciting. Things like, using an accent, or being a wacky character, if the story is dull. These days they are practically going to have to relearn everything again by trial and error. The average scores in Rounds 1,2 and 3, were 3's, 4's and 5's, in that order, which is par for the course these days, but a little generous compared to things from the past. That being said, things did pick up at the end of the first half, - just after a Tom Walker driven scene -, and it did get a bit more technical from then on. Steen hosted, and started with a heart felt tribute to Capt energetic, Jordan McClellan, that was well balanced, so as to not be too sad. The first half was mainly nice, with no team really taking the reins. It's was a bit like those big audience shows, like the Cranston Cup grand finals at the Enmore theatre, in that it's so overwhelming for the players, because the audience is so big, that it makes it hard for them to think.
The things that grabbed me in the first half was :- the xylophone mine, with human bouncing xylophone blocks, and the water slide mime, that was done in B&W Charlie Chaplain slap stick style. The serenade to Cheryl, that nearly got pterodactyl to rhyme. The lighthouse love, with an eject button that threw a girl over the 6ft high games board. The Laundromat epic, complete with spinning tumble dryers. The ballet about Daniel and the Pegasus. And the very funny Black exploitation drama called, A needle in an urban haystack.
Jordan's brother Ben came up to award the Jordan McClellan Memorial Trophy to Maddie Parker for best new improviser of 2011, complete with a speech that was humorous but sobering, and a well timed reminder to stay safe - it's a reminder we sorely need.
The second half started with a farewell video tribute to Steen for all his work over the years doing impro for here.
All the scenes starting from the 3rd round on where at a higher level to the early ones, but the ones that grabbed me in the second half were :- the crazy Jeeves character in the scene where the players took on pulled faces from the audience members. The film noir/fantasy hybrid switch. And the death star Mexican love story. But the one that stole the night was the plagiarism scene, that used callbacks from all the other scenes of the night.
The winner on the night was The Funk Buddies (Friends with Benefunks) - Carlo Ritchie, Maddie Parker, Tom Walker, Matt McLaren. For the me it was Tom Walker that stood out as doing the most, with Bridie Connell close as well.
It was a big night that was the second best skill level show here, but the best audience show here. Crowd : 5 - Me : 4
Mr J-Mac in action
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=165003464784
A Bridie Connellan tribute - link is broken
19.10.11 : A Series of Tactical Errors Resulting in a Stand Up Comedy : Hermann's Bar
I was going to see a preview of a new movie today, but when I glanced at the line-up for this show and saw Rhys Nicholson - I actually should have read the list better because there was heaps of pros -, I thought it should be worth the trek, because I can always see that movie when it's officially released. I was initially worried when the room was empty by start time, and thought it was that end of year lull that happens when there is no classes, and it's not convenient for the crowd to drop in when they are not nearby. But the crowd eventually filtered in late, and we did end up with a decent half room audience - which ended up being plenty big enough -. Hermann's Heroes was a bit hit and miss in the past, but now there always seems to be a pro headliner, so for the last half of the year the shows have been worth coming to. And tonight was no exception, because it was nearly a full pro line-up like you see in the big clubs. Michael Hing was in optimistic mode, and doing story based material, something similar to Story Club. I think tonight's theme was intelligent comedy, because James Colley gave us some serious computational fluid laughonics - the concepts were so complicated that it took me time to link things together, and that delayed my laugh until I worked it out -. Rodney Todd was simple, but effective, and with a bit more material he could be quite good - is it just me or does Rodney Todd remind you of Reggie Watts -. Sam Bowring kept the intellectual theme going with more thinking persons comedy, and with another new routine that was excellent again. I kind of always like Bruce Griffiths, there is just something about the dead pan delivered lateral thinking puns he does, and it was a bit weird when his new stuff did better than the old, guaranteed to work, stuff - it was like the crowd had seen him before and knew the old stuff -. It didn't make much difference, because he was good anyway. Rhys Nicholson did about 50% of stuff from his new show, and 50% guaranteed killer old stuff, and it was kind of weird because the crowd didn't laugh as loudly as that material warranted. So much so, that Rhys actually cut his tampon joke short, because he thought it wasn't working. But at the end of the routine, the crowd must have loved him, because they gave him the equal biggest cheer of the night. Luke Heggie got the other biggest cheer. And John Cruckshank also did well. It actually turned out to be a good night. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
18.10.11 : Tom Ballard - Since 1989 : Belvoir Theatre
Look, I'm not a Tom Ballard fan, and that's mainly because there is all this hype that he will be good, but most of the time he is far from it, and that produces disappointment - actually I'm telling a lie, because the set he did at Hermann's was very funny, and the OAF one wasn't too bad -. So with the low hit rate of, one out of five, I'm a bit indifferent toward him. Tonight I wanted to see the show after this one, but because I had to get there so early, in case it sold out, I had so much time to kill that I bought a ticket for Tom's, just as a time filler. I wasn't expecting much, and thought the show was going to be pretty mild - like Hanna Gadsby's show here -, because 1 hour of Tom sounded like it was going to be tough, based on past performances. Boy was I wrong, because this show is great, and very funny. This show is basically the story of the major points in Tom's life, be it that he's only 21 years old, and it started with his birth. Tom's mother was one of those new age mothers, because she keep a diary of Tom's progress to give to him on his 21st birthday. Now that all sounds good and well, until you read some of the entries, and that's when you realise that a half arsed diary, is worst than not keeping one at all. Tom then covered a bit about his career, like his new talk-back radio job, but the biggest part was the relationship he had with Josh Thomas - and that included the break-up, for all the nosy people -. The break-up was a big deal for Tom, because Josh was the first person he really fell in love with, and for that reason it was covered in great detail. Other stuff Tom covered was, old people, the differences between Sydney and Melbourne, his 21st birthday, drugs, and double rainbows. His add-libbing with the audience was really good, in that kind of insulting/roasting way that every comic uses. But the funniest part was when he made the mistake, at the start of the show, that Josef Fritzl was Swiss, not Austrian, and this fact bit him in the ass at the end. At the end of the night Tom tried to setup a joke about Russell Peters, by stating he's Black - actually meaning he is dark skinned -, but an audience member miss-took this as another mistake, and corrected him by saying he's Indian. Now Tom knew this, and was trying to direct us in another direction, before zinging us with the Indian punchline, and it was this pre-emptive interruption that wrecked the whole joke, causing Tom to cut the joke before it started. But what happened next, was the funny part, because he jokingly chastised the person so hard, that the roasting was probably funnier that the actually joke. The audience interruptions continued with Jing, who turned up late because she was passing a lamppost in the toilet, and then to add further insult to injury, she latter opened a lolly, with a very noisy crinkly wrapper, right in the middle of the show. I usually only give 4.5's when I see occasional spots, but I found this so entertaining, and especially funny, that I'm awarding it an honorary 4.5. I would say make the effort to see this. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5
18.10.11 : Claudia O'Doherty - What is Soil Erosion? : Belvoir Theatre
I wanted to like this, and I can see the potential with Claudia because she is quite nice, pretty animated and shows energy, but overall it's not laugh out loud funny but more a occasional smile show, and for that reason I didn't have much to do. This show is structured like a text book and delivered in chapters, about 50 of them, which most get skipped, and each topic has some stunt or hook or audio visual element so the technical dialogue doesn't get too dull. This is Claudia's second show - I missed her first show because it was sold out -, and I wonder if this is one of those difficult second shows, or it's just her style of humour. The show started with a mock argument with the sound person, and it was funny for a few seconds, but when it went on too long, you get that uneasy feeling that maybe this is real - it's like that Andy Kaufman style humour, in that it's only funny to the person doing it because they get why it should be funny -, so for us it was one chuckle, then tension, then the realization it was a gag, and then understanding why it should be funny after the fact, and this type of process makes it not that funny. After the initial tension the show was nice, but the humour is an ironic form of comedy - dry -. It's like, lets make a comedy about the least funny thing we can think of, ie the totally humourless subject of soil erosion. In theory you can see why it should be funny, because it's that exact opposite of comedy, but it's only logical humour after the fact, and not actually humour. I read a few reviews afterwards, and they were positive, and even for me I though the show was alright, but the lack of laughing does reduce the entertainment value for seasoned audiences. I can see an how an interesting subject, like Monster of the Deep 3D, would be something more substantial than this 1 hour ironic pun, so I shouldn't judge Claudia just on this show. At least we learned that soil isn't soil without plant matter.
Crowd : 4. - Me : 3
This is funnier than the show I saw, probably because of the audience laughing, something that was missing on the night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4CVDK-3Zo4
18.10.11 : What's Your Number - movie
Rom-Com : When a young woman finds out that having more than 20 lovers may result in being single for the rest of your life, she chases up old lovers so as to not exceed the magical number. I think the critics weren't kind to this film, but I don't see why. It travels along charmingly, and has laughs, and not by lowering itself to toilet humour. I liked it 3.75
14.10.11 : Wild Women of Comedy : Paddington RSL
For me, it was fine. With the 3 big hitters of Bev Killick, Amanda Gray, and Amelia Jane Hunter, I would've expected more, but it was only Amanda that made me laugh. The others were amusing, even Sarah Levett, who started with jokes that seam a bit simple for me now - she did pick it up latter -. The crowd, on the other hand, loved Bev, with Amanda close behind. Bev did a super long set at the end with her mainstream "M" rated stuff - unlike that time when see did a "X" rated routine at Jimbo's Late Night Show involving cake mix in the panties -, and that was because the crowd didn't want her to leave. So to fill time, she asked what the people in the audience did for a job. And it turned out that most were from the TV industry, with some even being famous actors, like Lynda Stoner(Prisoner, Cop Shop). So she got them together to do some impromptu acting, in a scene that they made up on the spot. It was fine, it's just that I wanted to laugh more - but that may be due to wearing ear plugs, because the sound was so loud, and not being able to hear the crowd -. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5
12.10.11 : Would You Rather : Hermann's Bar
It was interesting enough to be a "thing", and quite alright. A couple of months ago I was thinking of other things Project 52 could do, but they seem to have all the bases covered with the 4 alternating different styles of comedy - Story Club, Impro, stand-up, and sketch - already. So all I came up with was some sort of theatresport's impro stuff, like "movie in a minute", but longer - basically short versions of their "Star Wars in summery" -, and coupled to that, prequels, sequels, and parallel universe - like Spiderman living in Mortein city -. Then a couple of weeks ago we got a hint of this new show, and straight away I thought, panel discussion show. I was wondering if a panel show would work with young people - usually the panellists have to have worldly experience to make it work -, but when I saw it in action, I realised that this was the perfect age group for this, because of the crazy questions and popular culture references. The way it worked was that a question was asked, the panel discussed it - which was mainly further questions clarifying the situation -, then the audience gets to ask even more questions. Then after all the clarifications, the panel has to personally vote for a preference, after which the audience votes, and it's their decision that becomes the final verdict. Points are then awarded to the panellists that cite with the audience, and then their scores are tallied at the end of the night to find a winner. As an example, the first question of the night was "Would you rather loose a finger, or wear a cape for the rest of your life" - this was a bit of a gimme because one was a bad thing, and one was a good thing(who wouldn't want to be Frank Costanza's lawyer) -. Now the question may sound simple, and you could answer it on the spot, but only when the pros and cons are delved into, that the question becomes more complicated. Like what could possibly go wrong with wearing a cape. Well you would probably never get a job, and it could get caught and drag you to your death if you weren't always vigilant - something that wouldn't be that hard to overcome -. As for loosing a finger, there would be no positives, but it would be removed painlessly, but it was the most important one you have - this made this option even less attractive -. This one was a bit of a fore gone conclusion, because the crowd took the cape, but the others were more difficult.
Other questions were :-
Would you rather have a isolated conversation in a time bubble with anyone from history for 5 minutes, or go to the real Jurassic park - historical person won -. Would you rather be the Balrog, or be the Toad of Toad Hall, but you don't have your hall - this one had me lost for a while because I didn't know what a Balrog was, but after it was explained I remembered -. The Balrog won.
Would you rather have a pet emu that you can ride around, and be your best friend, or compete in a real life cup of Mario kart - this one had the biggest reaction with the crowd, because both options were good things. Mario won.
Would you rather drink only lemonade for the rest of your life, or bath only in lemonade. The drink won.
Would you rather live in Tolkin universe, or live in George Lucas's universe. George won.
Would you rather have the ability to make people want to read certain books, or have an encyclopaedic knowledge of, and be familiar with, every song ever written. Books won.
Would you rather have the ability to fly 5 ft off the ground, or be invisible for 60 seconds at a time. Invisible won.
Would you rather have a hidden extending light sabre in your pants that would shoot up your ass randomly 30 times in one month - when some random person pressed a button -, or go to the zoo during the school holidays, break into an enclosure, and make an animal cum - Benny summed it up as being sodomised, or known world wide as a animal wanker. Wanking won.
There actually is a lot of humour in this show - way more than an ordinary panel show -, just more in the chuckle area. And when it wasn't funny, it was still interesting, so it ended up being entertaining all the way. Currently, if I was to put it in context with the 4 other styles of shows they do here, I would put it close to the top 2, and would like to see more of these. The problems on the night, that weren't real problems, was that the audience chatted during the show, making it hard to hear on a couple of occasions - actually, I should be the biggest whinger in this dept because I have hearing damage and can't hear words if there is background noises, like talking, yet I didn't find it that troublesome -. Unfortunately one of the panellists chastised someone for talking - which probably wasn't right -, because the structure of the show is to get the audience involved by ask questions, so they were probably discussing the question before hand - probably so they don't look like a tools when asking more questions -, rather than talking about their weekend - maybe a reminder for the audience to use their inside voices next time. I thought Ben controlled the night pretty well, so it wasn't that shambolic in the end.
Audience suggestions that didn't make to cut were :-
Would you rather fight a rabid bear, or get thrown into a pit of sword wielding snakes.
Would you rather rather be deaf, or blind.
Would you rather be in crutches for one year, or Ben Jenkins argues with everything you say for 6 months.
Would you rather kick a horse to death with steel capped boots in order to allow a prison of your choice to release all the innocent people in it, but if you don't complete the deed in 15 minutes the horse will run away and not allow the innocent to be freed, or your best friend being in a coma for 2 years.
Would you rather be any character from any movie ever, or have a fully functioning sentient/saline gummy bear butler.
Would you rather, if the panel was in a circle, marry the person to the left, or to the right.
Would you rather be able to move small objects with your mind, or control the mind of every being in the universe
I liked it, and would be happy if it replaced some of the other styles of show here. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75
11.10.11 : The Sorcerer and the White Snake - movie
Asian | Romance | Fantasy | Action : A monk's job is to hunt down daemons, but when he finds one that isn't that evil, he questions his task. Visually it's very vivid and quite good, but there is something about it that doesn't make it great. I think the problem was that fight scenes were spectacular, but they concluded simply. There was also quite a bit of love story element, especially at the end, that created lulls after big action scenes. The end was "go big, or go home", in the CGI dept, because it was huge. What's not to like about 2 sexy hot lesbian half girl half snake sister daemons in a big CGI video game type movie, I liked it. 3.75
11.10.11 : Real Steel - movie
Action : A down and out robot fighter controller is left with a kid to look after. Pretty predictable and has those annoying cliché scenes, but it has enough visual stimulus to be fine. 3.5
07.10.11 : Pablo Francisco - They Put it Out There - Enmore Theatre
He was good, but I don't think you can walk in off the street expecting to laugh, you actually have to be a Pablo fan, because in this show I didn't laugh at all. I've been wanting to see Pablo for years - not that I knew who he was, nor even researched him - , but because I assumed that he was going to be an oldish American stand-up comic - who are always very funny -. Unfortunately he wasn't what I was expecting. He may look oldish, but he acts like a kid, so he's nothing like a straight stand-up comic - I was expecting someone like Dom Irrera -. I really should have researched him before hand, because I certainly had time, like 3 years, and because of that fact that this is what I regard as an expensive show for my budget, so I should have really watched my money more carefully. On the plus side, he is always very animated and exciting, with him constantly running all over the stage for the full 1 hour keeping the energy up, and always producing something to look at. His main stick is impressions - he actually has so many that he could do all the characters in a animated TV show, like the Simpsons -, he also does heaps of sound effects, dances, and does heaps of exaggerated over the top visual miming. It was always very exciting, yet I didn't laugh, and the main reason I think is because that all the character's dialogue wasn't written as jokes, but just banter, in the hope that the impression would be enough to make people laugh. Look, I wasn't disappointed, I mainly felt sad for myself that I didn't find it that funny. Actually a lot of people were laughing, but when I looked around in the second half, not that many in my area, so maybe I have a point. I will give Pablo the benefit of the doubt, but look at YouTube before you go, just in case this isn't for you. Pablo has done a few different shows in Australia, and I really should have gone to the first one years ago - because first shows are usually the funniest -, so because this is probably the third show he has written, I'm probably not seeing him at his best, so his earlier stuff may be more appealing to me. Also on the bill was another American comic, Ashley Fils-Aime, who was mild, and Anthony Salame, who killed it with another new routine - the only actual funny part of the night for me -. Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.5
06.10.11 : In the Air Tonight : Old Fitzroy Hotel
With 2 comedians in the cast I would have thought it would've been funnier, but a comedy play is fore most a play, and a comedy second, and that usually only produces smiles. I'm not really a play person, and everything about this blog is laugh based, so for me it wasn't that funny. The audience on the other hand looked like play people, because they were smiling at everything, and actually chuckling in places. The story revolves around Australia sending 2 astronauts to the furthest planet in the solar system, to prove that Australia is the leading space power. Unfortunately because they were sent in 1988, they became forgotten in time, and no one on earth even knows they are up there. There wasn't actually anything exceptional about this show, except for the dance number, so it was a pretty standard affair. The only thing I found funny - and I was the only one who laughed -, was Eliza. After we sold our Apple II - because of Apples expensive draconian closed computing model, which nearly sent them broke -, that had games with graphics, and bought the new open computing model - similar to how Apps have taken off on phones, because it is an open system - of the first IBM based PCs. The PC was so new back them, that there were NO games for it, except text based ones. You had to buy a book with the code, and you had to hand type the code to the computer - transferring files with floppy's was in it's infancy, and still expensive -, and the result was simple text based games. And the one game I copied over was the pseudo psychiatrist therapist program Eliza. Eliza would ask you questions, based on the few programmed questions in the code, and you would type your answer to it. Then when it ran out of questions, it would ask these half questions, and copy and paste the end of your last response to the end of it, in some ridiculous bad grammar new question. The show didn't grab me, not enough laughs, but then again I'm hard to make laugh because of all the comedy I see, so I leave this to the play people, as something that is closer to what they expect. Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.25
06.10.11 : Monte Carlo - movie
Rom-Com : Some girls plan a once in a life time trip to Paris, but it all goes wrong until one is mistaken for someone famous. The trailer gave the impression that this was simplistic crap, but it wasn't, at least not for me. Lots of pretty people falling in love makes this a very attractive film. Not a laugh comedy, but a fuzzy and warm inside comedy. For girls. and the girlie boys - that's why I liked it a lot -. Sweet 3.75
05.10.11 : Make Way For Ducklings - Men In Black, too! (They're also in White) : Hermann's Bar
No bit really stood out as extraordinary, but it flowed along, and it was humorous. The main crux of the night was that Pat would interview the cast one by one - like a talk show host - so we could learn about the people behind the show. But when they came out, they played characters that were bat-sh!t crazy motherfu*kers, so it ended up funny enough. All the sketches were pretty equal - in the 3.5 zone -, but the ones that were a touch above for me was the, staple salesman, Gordian Knot V's Alexander the Great - mainly because I watch Time Team and the Roman mosaics have them -, X-ray glasses, the no asshole - because it was crude -, spelling Professor Minerva McGonagall - because of the over acting -, the computer smashing - because I like fixing stuff, and it's shocking when things get thrown away so violently -, Superman's father not having the forethought to build a bigger spaceship for the whole family, sex bartender, sawn-off shotgun - because the sound guy wasn't on the ball, and Pat chased him -, people role playing as Michael Hing while having sex *** buy Red Bull *** - even though it's a blatant advertisement, we have to support the advertisers that actually put the money up to help this night -. Nothing that spectacular, but there was no sketch I hated, so it was fine. Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.5
04.10.11 : Crazy Stupid Love - movie
Rom-Com : After a man is suddenly divorced by his wife he starts hanging out in bars, where he runs into a gigolo that teaches him the way of women. This movie is basically lots of backfiring love triangles. Look for the girl from the movie Easy A(Emma Stone), which was a movie based on The Scarlet Letter, and in the movie the kid has to do a report on The Scarlet Letter for school. I liked it, it has 3 big laughs, and is probably a 4, but it travels too slow to be an actual 4 so I give it a 3.75
04.10.11 : Submarine - movie
Comedy | Drama : Not only does a boy have to deal with his own age/school related problems, but also his parents problems, and to cap all that off, he also has to deal with his girlfriend's family problems. I was hesitant about going to an English movie, because they can be bleak, but even though this did look a bit dreary - mainly because it's always raining in England -, the visuals didn't have much to do with what is a sweet charming little film. The movie is delivered in 3 parts, and the first uses that quick fire quirkiness that makes it delightful - like the boys actions are somewhat predictable, but the girls actions are totally unpredictable -. The second part does get a little more serious, but still quite intriguing, and the 3rd gets a bit more serious still. Generally it's a happy film with conflicts for tension, so this wasn't a downer at all. I liked it, sweet 3.75
03.10.11 : Monday Night Comedy : Fringe Bar
If you account for the usually quiet audience they get here, the show was fine. I don't know what happened tonight, because I usually don't have a problem hearing the show, but tonight I missed quite a lot - it's like the treble has been turned down on the PA, making it sound a bit muffled -. Last time I saw Michael Connell he was good, but because of the audience, it took the first half MC-ing to get them on side. But by the second half he had them under control, and laughing loudly. I didn't find Rob Hunter that funny - but he did speak very softly, and I did miss heaps of what he said -, and the crowd were also a bit quiet. Mandy Nolan is in that dirty auntie category, with Bev Killick, and she won the crowd over straight away, because they laughed at everything. I couldn't actually hear all of her stuff, but I think she was in the good area. Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.5
02.10.11 : Laura Davis - Notes From Birds : Newtown Theatre
If I was to throw out the superlatives of, cute, charming, adorable and delightful, you will surmise that it's not so much laugh out loud funny, but more in the joy to watch category. Laura's delivery is always enthusiastic and happy, but the biggest thing you will notice, is she talks fast, and says a lot. There are actually so many words tightly packed in this one show, it's like you're getting double your monies worth. This show is weaved around the basic story of Laura's journey to Melbourne, to do her comedy festival show. Now you may think that there isn't going to be much to it, but when you have a fervent imagination, and the worlds fickle finger of fate to guide you, a lot does happen - by the end of the show, you feel like you've covered a lot of miles, even though you haven't travelled far -. Laura was stuck in a run down hotel room, all alone, with depression taking control - actually with Laura it's happy depression, so it's not a downer for the audience -. So she picked herself up, and dusted herself off, and went into the world looking for a solution. In the real world, she would walk around and look for signs to guide in the right direction, like notes from birds. What the hell could you garner from notes from birds, well if you have an imagination, and know a bit about music, the clue is obvious. The first half is a well crafted retelling of the facts, and the second half is like a detective searching for clues story. I liked it. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75
30.09.11 : Gary Bradbury : Laugh Garage Syd
Holly cow, that was one weird crowd. This big crowd was very lively, but for some reason wasn't big on clapping, yet still laughed at everything. It was like they just came from happy hour, because they were talking and heckling throughout. But that didn't seam to matter, because the comics worked around it. If there was any comments, they just when along with it, if they had time, by doing a bit of banter, and then just restarting the gag. Or if they didn't have time, they just used the PA to talk over them. There has been a format change, gone is the 3 main comics doing 1 hour total, and now there was 6 comics doing over 2 hours. Paul Warnes was our host, and he got enough control to do some of his routine, which was good - especially if you haven't heard it before -. I can't remember the name of the first woman, but she was nice. Jarred Keane was next, and he was nice. I've only seen Jonas Holt a couple of times in the last decade - those few times he wasn't as good as the old Bridge Hotel days -, but tonight he was a a lot closer to his usual good form. His routine is like a comedy on speed, because it feels like fast gags on the fly. Imagine going through stations on the radio, where you get a comment from each station as you pass through - which was a very funny routine Jonas used to do on the guitar -. This one didn't have as much substance as the old days - loved that radio routine -, but it was a return to his usual form. His routine feels like it has no script, but is just random things he makes up on the spot from observations of the crowd. And he thinks so fast, and is constantly talking, that the business of it makes it good. The high points was his crazy South African and New Zealand accents, using stereotypes from the races to roast them, and his Austen Tayshus sent up of Australian suburbs, that killed so hard that he got a big cheer at the end - possibly the biggest of the night -. Matthew Wakefield was also nice. Dane Hiser was ok, but he covered so well he ended up also being nice. And Christina Van Look was also nice. At the start of the night it was "who's this Gary Bradbury", but by the end of his routine it was "this Gary Bradbury is good". I think Gary is very good - he's the reason I came out -, but for me he wasn't as funny as last time. That aside it still only drops him to good, so there is nothing to complain about. The audience on the other hand liked him a lot, and were probably a touch over, very good. His first routine was about his gay buck stud from his goat farming days - which I thought was good -, but the the last time I saw him he had a new routine, that was killer excellent. This time there was a lot more of the baby stuff, and I don't think there was anything wrong with it, it's just that the previous routine was so super funny. All this is a mute point, because the audience on the night gave a big cheer at the end - which is exceptional when you consider that didn't like clapping much -. Usually there is a dud comic when you have so many, but tonight no one was crap, so it turned out to be quite a good night. The crowd were a bit hard to read, because they made only noise to the value of 4, but I think they were actually higher. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25
29.09.11 : Johnny English - movie
Comedy : The first Johnny English was utter crap, this one is better done utter crap. This should be "G" rated, because the jokes only appeal to kids. Mainly Slapstick with barely any verbal humour. Bit of a yawn fest. 1
28.09.11 : Full Body Contact Junior Improv Tennis Academy : Hermann's Bar
The fist half wasn't as strong as it usually is, usually each team gets progressively funnier, but tonight everyone was in the nice area, and pretty equal. Actually scoring the first half isn't really appropriate, because everyone is new comers to impro, but overall it was still nice, and the second half kicked it up a notch anyway.
Team 1 - Always put the handbrake on your car : This was a bit like the cult film they were mocking - Death Race 2000(1975) -, in that there wasn't as much substance, as killings. A uncle teaches his nephew how to drive by making him drive down the wrong side of the road on a busy freeway. The nephew is so scared that he stops, but a cop tells him he can't stop here because it's a parking violation, so he continues running over people. At home the father isn't happy with the uncles teachings, and looks for a new driving instructor. He realises the son will never be a safe driver, so he needs one that isn't afraid to die, but also one that will teach him to drive fast and furious, so he gets Vin Diesel. A news reader reports the deaths of the people, and a wallaby, when the son and the uncle drive into the studio and run him over. At a wallaby sanctuary, they again run over everybody. At a graveyard a son is putting flowers on his mothers grave, but he is tortured and the laments of his loss, because it was he who killed her when he gave her flowers that she was allergic to. He tries to blame his father for sending him to agricultural school, but the father only sent him there because he was bad at maths, and this places him in a prison of his own self making. Vin finds the rampaging duo, and kicks the doors off the car, and then proceeds to kick the uncle out. The uncle then warns him that he will get the Rock to defeat him. Soon Vin and the son is upside down on the side of the road, when a framer recognizes Vin, because he helped him with a cow problem, so he gets them out of the wreck. The uncle finally finds the Rock, and sends him to defeat Vin. A fight then ensues and Vin pounds the Rock down to Dwayne Johnston, but the feeble Rock recovers, and rips Vin's arm off and wins.
Team 2 - Back-flip : A man is making an egg-flip when he evicts his flatmate because he has no money. His other flatmate Arron then notifies him that he had to use his identity on a medical report, because he had no money. Dr Pain then rings for the money, so the man invites him over for some macaroni and cheese. At the North pole, a woman tells Santa that to make ends meet, he will have to take another job evicting people. This initially makes him very sad, but she gees him up, and he reluctantly agrees. The first flatmate then appears and applies for a job as Santa's slave reindeer with arms. Dr Pain arrives at house, but there is no mac and cheese, only egg-flips. Santa then flies over to the egg-flipper's house, and with much joy for the fake reindeer, he evicts him. The real reindeer then go on a rampage, and start eating peoples arms off. The egg-flipper then arrives at the North Pole looking for revenge, but when he see that the fake reindeer isn't happy because the other reindeer won't play with someone without hoofs, and that Santa is very sad evicting people, he agrees to become the new Santa, thereby making the others happy again.
Team 3 - Leprechaun hat, Black cat : A man visits the grave of his usually lucky friend Jim, where we find out his lucky hat was cancelled out by a black cat when he slept with his wife. Another man visits the grave of a dead character from a video game. Another man is on a mobile phone to his girls grave, but becomes upset when she can't talk back, leaving his only human interaction as watching a bearded homeless guy mopping over her grave. A crap Medium is talking to a man's dead Leslie/Mary, but is getting everything wrong. The original guy is not happy that Jim is dead, and wants revenge for his adultery, so he curses the sky and warns him that he is going to come up there, and fu*k him in the ass. An Irishman, with an alternating Irish Scottish accent, sells a girl a hat, in the hope that it brings her luck, and her husband back after she slept with his best friend. A butler drinks out of his employers mug, and the Lord is very angry. The butler then explains that it's opposite day, and this confuses him because he has to state the opposite to get what he wants. A pair of Irish Chinamen meet on a road, but a man sweeps them, and their racism away. The Lord is so annoyed he fires Jeeves, but when he is reminded that it's opposite day, Jeeves keeps drinking. The girl goes back to see the lucky leprechaun hat salesman, because the hat he sold her gives her nothing but bad luck. He then realises he gave her the green hat, rather than the red one and exchanges it. We switch to a news report that tells us the Venga bus has overturned, in a very well choreographed crash. Cut to a farm and the ex wife Claudia finds her husband, and proclaims that she wants him back. Unfortunately the husband has already married Bessie. He then realises that maybe marring a cow isn't that legal, he agrees to take her back. And that is when the girls bad luck returns, and a big crow carries her off and kills her husband. In Heaven the husband finds his friend Jim and gives him a rogering he richly deserves - a bit of poetic licence because I didn't hear the bit about something something Gryffindor hat -.
Pat Magee, Carlo Ritchie, Michael Hing, Steen Raskopoulos - Steen-farming dogs, Carlo-Jamaican, Michael-Lindsay Lohan, Pat-not actually British : A dog breeder is riding his faithful dog Rover, when he comes across a man planting dogs in a field. He explains to the man that you don't bread dogs that way, but that you get a boy dog, to kiss a girl dog, that will eventually produce more. In a restaurant in Jamaica, two Jamaicans are have an accent contest after one pronounces Kingston as Kingstown. The Welsh Jamaican then presses the other to name a traditional Jamaican dish, but he only comes up with Jamaican chicken, and loses. A man is waiting for a hot date with Narleen, a woman he won in a charity auction, but is surprised when a transsexual turns up, so he takes it to a Jamaican restaurant. An English Alice N' Chains Johnny Bacolas, and an English Charles de Gaulle, are having a chat about the war, while Omar from Egypt listens on. When the English Charles de Gaulle reveals that Charles de Gaulle is his cousin, English Johnny shoves him in the chest in surprise - like Elaine does in Seinfeld -, and this reduces English Charles's lung capacity by 60%. But when Charles mentions the Nazis, Johnny then questions the time period, because he is wearing an English helmet from WWI, and this sends them on a time warp until Charles tells him that the same helmet was used in both wars, making his whole time warp a mute point. Johnny is still confused, and asks if Lebanese Omar from Egypt was on the English side, in whatever war this is, because there was a message from HQ that said that there's a spy in their midst. In England, King Richard the XVII(17th) knights Omar, and makes him the King. A couple of racist cowboys have an argument in a bar about hats, eating spider wives, and fu*ks, so they arrange a duel. Just before noon the place is deserted, except for a Steen shaped tumble-weed tumbling across the road, when everyone arrives early. Their posturing and rambling type soliloquy metaphor arguing continues to the point that Old Farmer Whittaker just want them to shut-up, and starts shooting at them from the clock-tower. Now with a common enemy the two cowboys join together and shoot dead Whittaker in a massive slow motion conclusion that brought too much heightened excitement for the middle of the show. King Omar is told by his footman he has a meeting with the King and Queen of France, and when they enter they communicate in fake French gibberish accents. Charles and Johnny are still looking for the Egyptian spy, when some Euro trash Nazis appear with mixed up accents that turn them into Scottish Germans. This then turns English Johnny, into German Johnny, for a few minutes, and this is where we find out the the Germans are also looking for the Egyptian spy. Lindsay Lohan asks her Welsh farmer assistant how she can portray her making-out with her DJ girlfriend Samantha Ronson as real love, and not just a publicity stunt, when the time police appear with a cocaine cake, and take her back to WWII. Lindsey is then transported to a farm where she tells the farmer he is a "sick fu*k" for planting dogs, and that he should "suck her pussy". A Jamaican then notices that she has upset the farmer, and recognises her as the King of France. So he sends her to see King Omar, where he kills her thinking she was the King of France. English Charles and Johnny then appears catching out Omar as the spy when they substituted Lindsey for the King of France. The Germans then appear and find Omar, their spy, and a big fight ensues to rival the big shoot-out in the middle of the show, therefore enabling the show to on a big finish.
This ended up another Pat and Carlo show - but that's usually the case with Pat always starting things off, and being in everything -, and then when Carlo tries to do a small bit part, he gets sucked into the moment, and these two just go off in some synergistic ball of show, collecting more laughs as they go. I also like how they "Fudge the facts", in that they know a some of the details of history, but not all, so they mash fact with fiction. Like Hing's King Richard the XVII(17th) during WWII. The highest number I remember is Henry the 8th, so to exaggerate it to 17, was extra funny. And also from the movie The Kings Speech, I remember it being George something during WWII, so that was funny again substituting Richard. It's that general knowing, but being incorrect on purpose that makes it funny. This half was very good, but unfortunately this is Pat's last impro show, because he is moving to England, and because he always drives most of these shows, he will be sorely missed
Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4
MySpace Views (254)
27.09.11 : Abduction - movie
Thriller : A student uncovers some information while doing a school project that has the baddies chasing him across the country. I must be a glutton for punishment, because all the critic panned this, yet I didn't mind it at all. This film could have used a better director and a better story, so it's not the best thriller, but it keeps moving along at a brisk pace, and that keeps it entertaining. A couple of spots are clichéd and clunky, but I've seen worst, and if you realise why this was made - to cash in on Taylor Lautner's popularity -, there isn't going to be many complaints. It's also good for anyone with an eyebrow fetish - like me -. 3.25
24.09.11 : You people pushed this to Most Popular Blog today, give yourselves a clap.
23.09.11 : Daniel Townes - This Could Go Either Way : Factory Theatre
From the blurb I thought this was going to be an, improvise with the audience and see where it goes session - like Adam Hills now does because he doesn't want to write actual jokes -. But, evidently, because Daniel recorded all his old stuff on DVD, he said he will never do any of that material again - similar to what Wil Anderson did a couple of years ago -, so he is working on a totally new routine. And that is basically what this show is about, a trial to find out what works, and what doesn't. Daniel is a bit of a pro, and has some killer stories, like his South African and US customs ones - these shows were actually what attracted me to this unknown back then -. Unfortunately this show doesn't actually have that much in it, at least not for me. Sure there was new stuff, but the best of the new stuff was stuff that has has already trialled quite a few times at comedy nights recently - and known to work -, and when you take that away from tonight's material, there wasn't much left, expect a new story about being drunk at school that was pretty good. There was a one-liner gag section, but most of the laughs came from the "recovering from a bad joke trick" - if you acknowledge a bad joke, it makes it funny -. It may have been tonight's audience, because by the sound of it, last night's was pretty good, but tonight it wasn't that good - it probably should have stayed at the $10 level like it was originally advertised, rather than the $15 they charged on the night -. I drifted out during this show. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3
23.09.11 : Nikki Britton - Flaw Plan : Factory Theatre
Because Fiona O'Loughlin - I think she's cool - said it was good, and coupled with the vibe this show was gathering, I went. After the first 5 minutes I thought I made a big mistake - the jokes felt too simple -, but then things picked up, and mainly because the humour got rude - go figure, I don't like simple, but I like toilet -. There is a weird phenomena when guys hear female toilet humour, it puts them off if they aren't used to it - it happened to me initially, but now I'm so used to it that the more disgusting it is, the more I like it -, and the way Nikki got around this was to slap a giant penis with a hand - very funny -. She did special things, like an interpretive dance to a song, an accent roller-coaster - for me I seen a lot of these, but it was still fine -, she did a song using the audience like instruments - again something I have seen before, because Steen does it at Theatresports shows -. As you would expect, because I get around, it wasn't really the special bits that grabbed me - they did break up things and add variety -, but it was the straight out comedy of the show. It can be a bit up and down for the comedy experts, but the average public won't notice, with most of it being good - only a few small spots annoyed me, but nothing serious -, overall the crowd loved it. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75
22.09.11 : Steen Raskopoulos & Susie Youssef - Nice Kicks : Factory Theatre
Right from the start this comes at you hard in the laugh department, and even the small drops in extreme laughing still had that extra extra nice level. For the last couple of years you could easily come to the conclusion sketch is dead, but this one changes that trend, because it's genuinely funny. The biggest surprise for me was that Steen was so sharp, who would have thought acting so serious was that funny, and his mines were super clear, so you could work out what was going on instantly, even in the one sketch I didn't get - I got he was a surgeon operating on a patient, but not why he became an warrior fighting orks and goblins, at least the miming was so good and clear that I knew what, just not why -. I like it when Susie plays the nasty condescending negative bossy character, and she did it on numerous occasions tonight. They answered the big questions like, why the hell are we waiting for Godot. There was a very funny typewriter/narrated story that embarrassed a girl from the audience, a shock resignation, a beautiful love scene that went too far, why streamers mean so much to some people, problems when interviewing for flat mates, the danger of garden goblins, what can go wrong when 2 people play charades, executing criminals, and what happens when 2 couples meet their old lovers, when you only have 2 people in the cast. I haven't see Lady Nerd in this actual festival - I saw the preview - but Nice Kicks has got to be in the running for the best show at the Fringe, either way you should go see both, and you might as well throw in Rhys Nicholson as well, because they are all very funny. No one will be disappointed with this, because it was mainly in the 4.5/4.25 range, and even the lower ones were not lower than 3.75. Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4.25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X_1T85MmK4
22.09.11 : Rhys Nicholson - Social Liability : Factory Theatre
I find Rhys very funny, with the only thing negating the extreme laughing being the familiarity of the jokes due to repeat viewings. So when the prospect of a new show came along, I had to jump at the opportunity. Overall, it's a well constructed new story about his life built around his best old gags. Rhys's humour is very inappropriate, and if I was to sum it up, I would say "sophisticated crude". It's actually so over the top in the rude department, that you are not only laughing at the joke, but also the thought that someone could say something so crude in public - which is the biggest appeal -. With Rhys it's not just the jokes, but the journey, and he does this with timing - pauses for effect -, and these overly exaggerated mimes that leave no doubt of the crude image he wants to leave in your mind. Rhys's jokes will tear you a new laugh hole, or probably fist your laugh hole, because he covers rape, sodomy, fisting, dyke's, ending someone, and every other socially unacceptable subject - see what I mean about inappropriate -. Even though I knew all the punchlines for the old stuff, I found his new life story well constructed and delivered, like all his stuff, and the most interesting part of the show. I think there was a lot of Rhys fans tonight, because most of the crowd was quieter than I would have expected for a fresh crowd, but the guy next to me must have been new, because he was cracking up at everything like a first timer. This will probably be the best stand-up show at the Fringe. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25
22.09.11 : Ray Badran & John Cruckshank - The Cruckshank Ray Badran : Factory Theatre
I kind of figured that Ray wouldn't let me down, and he didn't, but it was John who I laughed the most at. The show started with a cute little set-up sketch, and then it was basically the 2 comics doing stand-up. Now, I find John can be pretty unpredictable - like a shopping trolley with a bent wheel -, because sometimes he is funny, but most of the time not so much - to be fair he is always mixing it up and trialling things, rather than just using a scripted routine with guaranteed laughs, something he does have - . Tonight was the scripted guaranteed stuff with a lot of new stuff - I only remembered a few gags punctuated throughout -, so for me it was good. Ray basically used his usual routine - which I had just heard last month -, so it was no surprise for me, but if I was to look at it technically, it felt faster than usual and kind-of rushed, and because it didn't have the usual pregnant pauses for effect, it did make it a touch less funny - it's weird how timing works -. Overall I think the crowd went the other way and liked Ray better, because his applause was louder, but to be fair John ended on a sketch that justified Ray coming on stage, which made his set end strangely, and that produced less time for applause. Pretty good. Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.75
17.09.11 : The Hummingbirds : Manning Bar
After seeing the reforming of the Clouds and the Falling Joys I think this reunion thing is loosing it's novelty for me, because tonight's vibe wasn't as cosy and charming as the Falling Joys gig - it was close to the Clouds though, but more about that when I see them latter this year -. The visual differences was that Robyn St. Clare was missing, and replaced by a chap, and the usually cool looking Simon Holmes was larger than usual - that didn't really matter, because he sounded exactly the same -. I usually prepare by listening to their CD's the day before the gig, so I can remember the songs on the night, - I rarely ever listen to anybodies CD's, because I'm used to seeing them live -, but on that day things went astray and I didn't have time to prepare fully. For me it took a while to get into the mood, and I think it was because the first 3 songs were so old from their Sydney Uni days, that I didn't actually know them. There was also a fault on my part, because I actually wasted so much time getting memento pictures, I forgot to listen. And unfortunately when I gave up on that idea, there was so many people up front that I couldn't get into the thick of it, and get the full effect. But after the songs that I knew came around, I slowly got into it. I was initially disappointed about the 3 unknown songs, because it ate into the time for the songs I knew, but that did matter in the end, because they did a huge 100 minutes, so you still got all the songs necessary.
- set list -
?
Dragged over the coals
G Spot
- next was practically all but one song from Love Buzz -
Blush
She Knows
Elvis - Love me Tender
Hollow Inside
Tuesday
Word Gets Around
House Taken Over
Get on Down
Alimony
Barbarian
Three in the Morning
Michelle as Well
If you Leave
- encore -
? Rainy Days Rain
Eyes Grow Feet
If a Vow
Two weeks with a Good Man in Niagara Falls
Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
The encore was kind of weird, not ending on their best stuff, and they only used 3 songs from their album Va Va Voom, which I regard as equally good as Love Buzz. Overall it was good, just not exactly how I envisaged it, but half of that was my fault. 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooWfYQWBMmw&feature=related
17.09.11 : Scientist or Comedian : 99 York St
I could start with all the problems in this show, of which there were many, but for me that didn't matter, because I liked it a lot. Firstly Tim isn't the most effervescent person you'll see, but what scientist is, and his "joke jokes" aren't that good - these jokes punctuate the science based comedy so it doesn't get too monotonous for non science based audiences -. But the biggest problem on the night was the small crowd - it was only 6:00 o'clock, so it's was understandable -, and because there was only 20 people, AND the lights were on, everyone felt a bit reserved when laughing, and that made it hard to let yourself go. The pluses was that Tim doesn't have an ego, or is needy for attention, because the small number of the crowd didn't matter to him at all, and he was actually very happy just to be Australia. The other big plus was the comedic science based slide show. He would state a scientific phenomena, then explain the real world application, and then make up a crazy explanation that could be applied to our everyday lives. Example :- He started with molecular bonds, and explained the weak bond between water and ammonia, and then the strong covalent bonds in diamonds, but then went one further with his new discovery, the super covalent bond. We were told that this is the strongest bond in the known universe, and it the bond between soap and your room mates pubic hair. Some rare parts were actually initially confusing and took some quick thinking - it actually felt like precious time was being wasted trying to work it out, and this might make you feel like you're going to get lost if you don't work it out in time -. But that was only a feeling, because Tim delivers it slow enough that you never got lost. And when all is said and done, the comedic explanations make it clear. Overall it was a fairly dry delivery, and some bits may only produce smiles, but for me it didn't matter because I liked it a lot. My audience volume score may seam low, but I'm sure the crowd liked it a lot also, I'm just trying to explain that the laughs maybe a bit low during. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 4
16.09.11 : Heath Franklin vs Chopper Live Show : Factory Theatre
This is definitely a work in progress. Heath is trying to branch out with more than just the Chopper character, so he is trying others like Matt Preston, Bear Grylls, Julia Gillard, Tod Foxx the motivational money maker, Yanni de Villiers from the South Africa tourist board, and Greg Smug the news reader. The show has a media element, with sound effects and prepared humorous video clips, of which the latter was used between characters for the costume changes. Basically most of the characters didn't work that well, Julia Gillard got annoying after a while, Matt Preston was initially funny, by just imitating his mannerisms, but the construction of the sketch was a little confusing for me. The sketch entailed Matt doing his taste test and opinion, but with the TV director making him re-do it numerous times in different styles. Tod Foxx is not famous, so it looses the exaggerated imitation angle, and has to totally rely on the writing. Same with Greg Smug. Yanni de Villiers was pretty good, even though he harped on only one idea throughout. And Bear Grylls was good, but probably not because of the actual character, but because of the stunt during the sketch of getting 5 people on stage to pass the Bear Grylls tests. Heath also did the obligatory Chopper character, and there just is a synergy with the two because he seams very comfortable and very quick thinking when he does him. This show is a bit like Ronnie Johns, in that it has good sketches and bad, so it's a bit up and down, but because there is always something happening it never goes that low. I can understand Heath branching out, because even though Chopper is still good he isn't as funny as before, and I can understand him doing famous people, because exaggerating their mannerism adds easy laughs, and in that department this show makes sense, it's just that it's not as funny as early Chopper. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25
16.09.11 : Matt Okine in Bullets & Bearsuits : Factory Theatre
Matt is very good, but I think I was expecting too much. I was actually asking too much expecting Matt to come up with a totally new killer routine, like his recent food and fish one, especially without trailing it somewhere to work out the laughs. And by that very fact, I probably would have seen it by now, and that would've spoiled the surprise anyway. The show it about fears, so he got parts of his routine that has guaranteed laughs, and have a fear element, like his jellyfish on the face, and walking home late at night through a deserted park, to start and finish the show. The biggest part of this show is the middle bit, which is mainly about life stories that including Bullets & Bearsuits, and these stories makes the laugh level lower than his usual high hit rate set stuff. For me it was 50-50 new old, and none of it was bad, it's just that the new stuff is mainly chuckles. And because there was something I haven't heard before - a first time listen usually makes if better -, I actually didn't mind. If you don't see comedy all the time, it's fine, but if you have seen him before, expect a more nice level of laughs. Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.5
15.09.11 : Pat Magee - Do Not Trust the Following Animals : Factory Theatre
This was basically what every Fringe comedy show is like, not super funny, but nice enough - at least it doesn't pretend to be a comedy, but isn't a comedy, like that show last year called Coffee -. We started with Alex Lee doing a small spot, and she was nice, followed by Pat's main part about Aesop's fables. Now Aesop has some good fables, but what most people don't know is that he has some totally crap ones, and that was the theme of this show. Some of these fables are so short, that it feels like they were an idea that Aesop jotted down, to latter expand on in a complete fable. Thing like, Mr Fox invited a bunch of chickens to his birthday party, and they chicken went because nothing bad ever happens at birthday parties, even with mortal enemies -this example is about the actual length of the fables -. Along the way, of reading the fables and making comical observations about how ludicrous they are, he asked for audience suggestions for characters, which he would draw, and then combined them into a fable of his own. Overall the show did feel a bit spread out, but that was probably because of the time it took to do the drawings, and really that is not that unusual for a Fringe show - even Matt Okine's show felt the same -. Think in the nice area of delightful and charming. Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.5
15.09.11 : Michael Hing: I'm Only Doing This Because They Won't Let Me Be A Rapper : Factory Theatre
Tonight it was high energy mode, and why wouldn't it be, because the place was packed - now I know why not many people turned up to Story Club -. Michael has two modes, the excited energetic delivery, and the depressed delivery - something similar to a mental patient with bi-polar disorder -. Both can be good, but it's the excited delivery that seams to work every time - I did like the depressed delivery once at Club Central, but not at other times -. I have also seen this show before, but in segments at other shows. He used the routine from the 08.09.11 : The Best Damn Comedy Show Ever, but because that had the depressed delivery, it wasn't as good as tonight's enthusiastic delivery. The second half of the show was Michael recounting mistakes in his life while waiting in a hospital with a suspected heart attack - now you may laugh, because he is pretty young, but I know 2 young people that had heart attacks, one aged 21, and one aged 34 -. The main part in this section was a story that he told in Story Club, about being a drug mule. At the time I didn't want to write about the details, because of legal reasons - just in case -, but this could very well just be a story with comedic license - at least that's what I'm telling myself -. It is an interesting story - even more so to the authorities -, but to be safe I would end on a comedic caveat that dispels blame, like how he ends his Dad story with the ages of the kids he bashed being only 12 years old. And also whimsically referring to the ½ kilo of grade A China White, as a ½ a kilo of sherbet, and then winking. It's actually getting to the stage that I see so much stuff that I practically have to rule out my opinion, because everything is a repeat for me, so my score will probably be lower than others, but to be fair he did have a lot of very vocal friends in the audience, so for an outsider just split the scores in the middle. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75
15.09.11 : Wil Anderson MAN VS WIL : Comedy Store
That was a surprise, because I have already seen this show. I can't remember where, but it's probably because I get around so much, and because of that, I must have seen most of the parts before it was put together. He started with some American observations, and then a story about his horse phobia, but the main theme of the the show was that "every fear becomes a phobia, every phobia becomes a prejudice". This is typical Wil, in that it's good, but not super brilliant - at least for me -, so because this is always a know quantity, you will always like it. Sorry I can say more, but for me it's old news. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4
14.09.11 : Story Club: Going Down Swinging : Hermann's Bar
It looks like everyone went to opening night of the Fringe Festival, because the crowd was a little thin, ie 30, and that changed the atmosphere somewhat. I think there is also a trend lately to bring in new story tellers, and because most of them were older, there is a different feel to the stories, like they are more sophisticated and elaborate. The usual story tellers have that simple innocent charm that is quite funny, and is the style that has the most appeal for me, but the new story tellers different and bring more variety. It's not good or bad, it's just different, and because there is so much more variety, some gel with me, and some don't.
Ben Jenkins : I hope the recounting of this story is cathartic to the healing processes, because it's pretty embarrassing. For some reason this one felt familiar after the fact, but that is a mute point, because at the time it felt fresh. The story was good, but maybe too good, because you felt sad for the character.
To make ends meet Ben does bar work, and the best payers are the bar jobs at music festivals. So having lined up a job at a festival, he arrived at the bar to find his name wasn't on the list. The guy in charge didn't worry too much about it, and soon put him to work at the bar. But after making a mistake, and then being corrected, Ben made the exact mistake again, and he was relegated to carting slabs from the back to the bar in front. After 2 days of lugging heavy box she sat down for a break, and started talking to one of the bar staff. After a while it became apparent that this bartender was different from the usual bartender, because it was obvious that he had a mental disability. Quickly putting two and two together, he realised the person in charge was told that there was a disabled person that will be working at his bar, but not who it actually was. And that's when Ben realised his two concurrent similar mistakes, had made him look like the person with the mental disability. I won't spoil the ending for the podcast listeners, where ever it is.
Erin Gough : The title of the story was "Going down swinging, and things that rhyme with it", or "How Anabel from the suburbs lost her gay virginity in a warehouse apartment on the other side of the world", with the actual story being mainly the latter, but with subtle rhyming bits. It's basically about a normal average staunch heterosexual girl, that does things she doesn't realise that hint she's gay. Like she chases boys, but likes women's prison dramas. This story was good because of the way it was constructed, by emphatically using the ruse that she is straight, but then adding bits that said she definitely wasn't, or at least didn't realise at the time.
Bambina Borracha : I'm assuming this is Cait Harris, based on the unaccounted person on the list. I wasn't really expecting this, because it was more like a character/performance that told a weird surreal Dali-esque story. Bambina has a heavy Mexican/Central America/Upper South American accent, and because of the accent, or maybe because everyone was laughing so much, I couldn't really tune into the words that well and couldn't hear all of it. The story started with her recounting a story from a long long long time ago, last summer, when she was in prison. There they used to dangle meat near their asses, and so they could hit the tape worms on the head when they came out to investigate. I think the story was something about tape worms, because at the end when she was being bashed by a guy, a tape worm came out of her mouth. There was also a bit where a guy had his tongue hanging out of a car window, when a semi passed-by and chopped it off. The crowd liked this one a lot.
Nick Marland : This was mainly a list from the fictitious book "Notable persons never born due to contraception". I suppose the whole point to this is that there could be famous people who never got born for one reason or another. This list was delivered in a formulaic fashion, by stating the persons name, their date of birth, their death date, their most notable feat, and then concluded by the reason they were never born. Like, Dr Roger Edward Nattel, born 1949 in Durban South Africa, died 2015 in the USA. In 2011 he discovered a way to stop cancer growing by adding a simple chemical to normal water supplies, but he wasn't born due to his parents using the condom as a contraception method. There were some humours ones, but mainly it was nice
Geoff Lemon : This one was written in a similar style as most of the usual student stories we get here, and because of that I liked it. It's that charming but sad story of a boy who is 18 but has never been kissed - actually boys don't do charming, so it was actually about being 18 and never having sex -. It's the old virginity desperation story that guys get, but unlike the normal scenario of it never getting fulfilled, this one ended with one of his close female friend helping his desperation by actually teaching him to have sex by repetitive practice on the job. It may have been sad initially, but he was given the greatest gift of actual practice, which is the only way to get better at it, so he ended up being the luckiest boy on the planet. Overall story was constructed in such a cute and charming manner, that it made it delightful and quite funny. Good
Adam Norris : This one was constructed like a real story in a book, in that it was so descriptive and detailed, that it kind of lost all it's charm for me - my poor brain can only absorb the simple stuff -. I think the literary experts in the audience would have liked it. In an old manor house the master of the house, Dyson, is conversing with his old friend Oliver, when he changes the subject to spirits and hauntings. Oliver then recounts the story of his friend that went to Africa on a hunting expedition, where he shot dead an elephant. When he returned home with the head as trophy, it was like the elephants spirit returned with it, because the hunter was found trampled to death in a locked room. Dyson didn't actually believe in spirits, until all of his 5 daughters committed suicide by hanging, even the youngest one who was only 4. Not my cup of tea, but it was ok.
Zoe Norton Lodge : Zoe was only 10, and happily dreaming, when Captain Cook appeared and defecated on her floor. She thought it was odd that you could smell your dreams, but that's what she was smelling. When she awoke next mourning her room smelt like sh!t, and she thought she was still dreaming, but the smell wouldn't go away. She checked her pants, but the smell was still there, and that's when she discovered possums living in her chimney - the only chimney that her father failed to block because he had run out of pants to stuff in it -. The problem was that the possums had an faeces orgy all over her room, so she quickly grabbed her things, packed her school bag, and headed to school. At school she handed in her dinosaur project, but when her teacher opened it she soon left the classroom. When Zoe finally got home her mum told her that her teacher had rung, because when she opened it, she found actual sh!t on it - something she thought Zoe had placed there on purpose -. Good as usual
Crowd : 4. - Me : 3.75
13.09.11 : HaHa on the Harbor : Cargo Bar
I must have been crazy going out tonight, because I already have 3 shows to go to this week, and that was before I knew the Fringe started this week. The changes from last time is that the show is now free, and that produced a bigger crowd, and the drink prices are normal - the ridiculous price last time must have been a mistake -. I was a big fan of Fiona O'Loughlin, but not that much anymore - mainly because there isn't that many big laughs for the big bucks she charges -, so because this night was cheap, I made the effort. Our MC was Joel Creasey, and he mainly does the 'bitch about celebrities' routine. I'm not a fan of the 'insult famous children stuff', light ribbing or picking on adults is ok, but children, that could have self esteem issues, I don't like - it kind of explains why he is being sued by Bindi Irwin -. Other than that, he was fine. Clint Paddison connected with the office crowd, and did very well, mainly because of his new office jokes. I overheard some people say he was really good. What can I say about Jon Dore(CAN), he started so slow and badly that he nearly killed the night. He picked it up a little, but it was like he was struggling to fill 30 minutes, because he was fart-arsing around with the audience doing nothing but ordering drinks. There was a point where he asked the audience why they weren't laughing, and a guy behind me said 'because you're sh*t'. Fiona O'Loughlin was good as usual, so the crowd liked her, but for me it was mainly repeats - it looks like you only get the new stuff if you pay the big bucks -, but she was still fine. 3.25
13.09.11 : The Change Up - movie
Comedy : 2 friends, one a go-getter lawyer with family, and one a playboy waster, have their bodies switched. It always takes time for the audience to get acclimatized with the switch, but most of these type of movies are good. It has some very crude humour, like when the baby sh*tted on the guys head - I was at the Mums and Bubs session, and the mothers didn't laugh at that bit, but I did, and that made it extra funny for me, because they probably had experienced the same thing -. It drifts from 3.5 to 4, but because I liked it I will give it a 4.
10.09.11 : 2011 Fuchs Australian Nationals : Sydney Dragway
08.09.11 : The Best Damn Comedy Show Ever : Manning Bar Sydney Uni
It was one of those laid-back lackadaisical type shows. The crowd was about half of what we had yesterday, and they seamed talkative, so maybe the pro comics thought they weren't paying that much attention, so they went for the 'mucking around' set, rather than a controlled one. Matt Okine MC-ed the night, and even though he mucked around a little bit, he still did his controlled sets from his routine, which were so good, that the crowd quickly perked up at all his stuff - he kind of proved that if you throw out the good stuff, you will get people's attention -. On the way out I overheard some girls say Matt was the best on the night, to which I agree. Gen Fricker and Michael Hing are regulars around here, so you would expect a more subdued reaction from the crowd, but overall they were nice. I'm not a fan of Jon Dore(Conan, How I Met Your Mother, Comedy Central Presents Jon Dore, The Jon Dore Television Show), and if I were to sum him up, I would say "sparse". Basically his routine doesn't have many 'gags per minute' - actually a minute is too short a time span, it should be 'gags per hour' -, because out of the 6 gags he did, I knew 2, and the rest were just mucking around. Luckily he is new to this crowd, he probably seamed a bit exotic to them, so they actually liked him - I personally wouldn't pay the big bucks to see his full show, there's just not enough in it to justify the money -. I though it was a big risk trying to get Greg Fleet back here - he didn't turn up last time he was booked here -, but when he's "on", he's good. Tonight he wasn't fully "on", but overall he was still fine - he should have turned up last time, because the crowd was double back then, and that would have produced more atmosphere -. Overall the show was fine, even though it was a bit subdued. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5
07.09.11 : Theatresports: Old School Vs. New School : Manning Bar Sydney Uni
This was probably the best Theatresports show in the last couple of years. There was skills - which is a surprise because no one really does this type of Impro these days -, there was laughs, and there was high scores. Unfortunately I can't actually confirm any of it, because basically, I couldn't hear a thing, and because I didn't know what was being said, I don't really know what happened. It usually takes me about 20 minutes to tune into the words, but when that didn't eventuate, I moved near the stage, right in front of the speaker. But the odd thing was that it didn't make any difference, and I still couldn't hear, but now my Tinnitus was painful - it sucks when you can't handle loud noises, yet you can't hear properly -. Overall I could hear the microphone stuff but not any of what was said on stage, unless it was shouted - like Carlo doing his impression of the movie 300. Things I did hear, and liked, was the Rapping. Rapping is basically like the old rhyming games where you have to do a song or poem and rhyme it on the fly - it's something that you just don't see anymore -. It's kind-of strange, because it seams like the young people don't like the rhyming games, yet they like rapping, go figure -. When I see it now it seams even more special, because of it's rarity, but mainly because of the skill that it takes to do it seams amazing. The last scene was a crime endowments scene, and it reminded me how good Theatresports can be for an audience. Because even though it wasn't executed perfectly, you could see the audience willing the suspect on to try and guess the 3 endowments from clues that were so obvious to the crowd - because they knew what they were -, to someone that didn't - it's that get the crowd involved part that keeps the people on the edge of their seats -. Overall I heard about 10% of the show, so I was mainly sitting there a bit like a hearing impaired person, except for my new seating position, where I now couldn't even see most of the show. Sorry I can't give you more information about the show, but when I was leaving, I did overhear some people say the show was brilliant - it's weird how my ears get very sensitive just after they have been damaged, now if only I could get rid of the pain part -.Crowd : 5 - Me : N/A
06.09.11 : Sometimes You Wish You Had Amnesia by Carlo Ritchie : Cellar Theatre Syd Uni
I would have thought, Amnesia + Carlo = random funny rant, and it was, and it wasn't. I was expecting a comedy with a Grandpa Simpson type character, which Carlo is prone to do often, and produces hilarious results, but this leaned a little more toward a Fringe type show, at least at the end, rather than a full-on comedy show. It did have laughs in the first 2/3, and I reckon that it could easily be modified for a lot more, but because of the way it got a bit serious at the end, I think it was designed to be that way. It was actually the end bit that gave me time to think about what was going on, or what was trying to be put across. The show had an old man recounting very short segments from his memory, then the lights would go out - to signify that we have moved to another point in his time -, and then the lights came back on, where he would continue talking about something totally different - these short stories, or statements, could be random, or segmented parts of a continuing story -. It was only after the humorous section, that I figured that it was an old man with Dementia or Alzheimer's, and that's when the serious bit at the end came in, because at the end he lost all ability to put together cognitive thought together, and struggled to say any words at all. When you saw the old man in such a lost state, you kind-of empathized with people in late stage Alzheimer's. I'm not really the person to judge this, because everything on this blog is usually laugh based, but I thought it was nice. It's strange how the sad bit at the end dominated your whole impression of the show, and kind of made you forget the humorous bit before, like the mention of the famous "wheel of cheese" - but unfortunately no mention of a "trout". This could be a poignant work of art, but I'm too dumb to know, so I will score is based on laugh level. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5
06.09.11 : Chalet Girl - movie
Rom-Com : Pretty tomboy Kim Matthews, 19, used to be a champion skateboarder - but now she's stuck in a dead end job trying to support her Dad. Opportunity comes knocking in the form of a catering job in the one of the most exclusive chalets in the Alps. The English don't really do the fluffy lite romcoms, so it has a bit of the serious/sad to it. It's the fish out of water(rich/poor scenario), over coming challenges(uplifting sporting triumph), and love story rolled into one. It's more sweet than anything else, and probably more for girls - or girlie men -. I liked it. 3.75
06.09.11 : One Day - movie
Drama | Romance : Two people meet on the 15th of July and become good friends. Over the next twenty years, key moments of their relationship are revealed on the same day – July 15th – of each year. Probably more a drama relationship film, with romance added. Through the years you see their lived get screwed up, and you kind of wonder, if pretty people can't get their lives to work, what chance do us normal people have. It does get serious quite often "The English don't really do the fluffy lite romcoms", so it's confrontational and sad in places. This one is sadder and more serious than Chalet Girl, so pick it if you want a more uplifting experience, but it is more professionally done, so looks more feasible. Either way I liked it. 3.75
01.09.11 : Story Club and See Me After Class : Verge Tent Syd Uni
Even though the title suggests it's stories about getting in trouble at school, the school part was optional.
Paul Ayre : Some parts sounded vaguely familiar, maybe he used snippets in some of his other stuff, but either way, it was good.
Paul came from a school in Girraween, that is in the somewhat rural setting of halfway between Parramatta and Blacktown, where student pranks were conceptually interesting, but of a rural nature. Things like putting a cow on the second floor, and not knowing that cows can only walk up stairs, and not down. And bricking up the teachers staffroom door at 2am in the morning, before school. This was merely a prelude to a story about the PMS anger ball that was the librarian. This draconian psycho librarian ran her library like a gulag, with her actions being not of an adult, but more like a whining spoilt 4 year old child in a sand pit that controls all it's inhabitants by overacting to everything. This psycho bitch went nut-so over every pedantic non existent offence that was never perpetuated, and screamed blue murder even when blatantly wrong. Like the time she wrongly accused a boy of hacking her program, making him cry, because he accidentally clicked a link that was a non protected back-door to a badly written program. Unfortunately the ever polite, do-gooder Paul stood up for him, and all injustices in the world, and promptly got ejected in one of her screaming fits. It was days later when he was able to enter and retrieve his books and continue studying for the HSC, but by this point all the students were treading on egg shells so as to not set-off this hysterical mental patient. Unfortunately when a friend asked to borrow a pen, Paul refused - because he didn't want to let the librarian see him in any sort of protracted conversation that might set her off -. But alas that was enough, because she did see the 10 second conversation, and thusly exploded in some sort of raving hyper shouting rant. Not being confrontational, Paul was pushed to the edge, but his civilised upbringing had him civilly and politely putting her down in such a controlled and succinct manner, that it highlighted her poor life choices in a very articulate manner.
Alex Lee : Alex hosted the night, but somehow ended up second, in a story that was better than nice. I think I get around too much, because this one also sounded vaguely familiar.
If you think about the logic of atheist parents sending their daughter to a Christian school, weird, then the notion of that girl then wanting to do well in Christian Studies, seamed even more foreign. Alex was a grade A student in all except Maths and Christian Studies - maths had too many squiggly lines -, but it was Christian Studies that peeved her off the most, because she always came second to one girl. As you can imagine, an atheist striving for inner enlightenment was no motivation for coming first in this class, but the prospect of personal satisfaction in beating the number one holiest person in the class with pure logic, rather than any sort of love of god, did. So with motivation, she set about writing the most contrived over the top overly ingratiating tribute to the Lord, in what was more a revenge tribute to the biggest brown-noser in that class. Unfortunately the authorities were a bit thick when they didn't read it the way it was intended - a piece condescending over stated tripe -, but as more of an actual tribute to God. This Oscar winning moment of the religious literary world, had too much effect, and it was soon adopted it into the doctrine, and repeated everyday at mourning assembly.
Bridie Connell : This was a story we have hear before, but it was still nice. - repeated from previous blogs -
16.06.10 : Bridie Connell was about a class of misfits who would gang together to play tricks on their teacher, until one day when everything changed. It was a nice story that was a lot of fun, even though there was a shock in the middle.
07.05.11 : This previous review is a bit sparse, so I will add more details - Class 9PA would play practical jokes on their teachers, to the point that teachers would ask to be transferred after a short time, and they accomplish this by working as a collective group. Unfortunately one day a new teacher was pranked so far, that he scolded a boy in the corridor, and then right in front of the class, to the point that it scared the other students. The teacher then continued the lesson, with the student sobbing in the corner. But at the end of the lesson he turned around and hi-5-ed the student, for the prank they pulled on the rest of the class. This took the wind out of the sails of the pranksters, and expunged all the charm that pranks produced from then on.
Patrick Magee : Strangely this was not a tale of a crazy bastard of a relative, but the actual article. Good
Mr Magee has a problem, and it's his 2 year younger sister. Now everyone has that love/hate, but mainly hate, for their sibling, but Pat had a bigger one. Because not only did she get half of all the attention, probably more because she's the favourite, but she has the same birth day as Pat. In a stroke of genius Pat's parents realised that if all their kids have their birthday on the same date, they can save money by only having one party and split/share everything in it, either that or they were conceived on one of their parents birthdays, and nothing makes a child feel less wanted then finding out their birthday is 9 months latter than their parents - boo hoo for me -. Now you might think that doesn't sound that bad, but remember all the birthday parties will be shared, and because everything is shared, it's the 'kill 2 birds with one stone' scenario that produces things like the hybrid sharing cake, a Batman/Fairy themed conglomerate for this one. There were some small fights, like the time she punched his eye out making him blind in one eye, and the time she bit a chunk out of his arse when he was farting on her face. They also shared the same school, James Ruse agricultural, complete with cesspool of a dam - which was to become the stage for a prank -. Pat knew his sister had a crush on a boy, because she had put a knife at his throat for a kiss, so he staged the ruse that her lover would be at the dam, waiting for said kiss. At the dam they constructed a slide leading to the water, and concealed it with sticks and grass like a bear trap. They then set a facsimile boy of the same ethnicity - the actual boy did a runner at the prospect of kissing her - near the trap, as a type sacrificial human goat. Unfortunately when he got stuck in the mud, the principle ran to his rescue, and promptly fell for the trap and slide into the water. Strangely enough the perpetrators got in trouble, but in a weird way.
Steen Raskopoulos : I pretty sure I had heard this one before, but I can't remember where. Good
In 2003 at the tender age of 15 years, and nearly 12 months, Steen was selected to represent his school in the first 11's cricket team against England, with the problem being, that it was in the actual England. In England he got billeted with a boy, that started by taking Steen on a simple dinner, but ended with them returning at 6:45am all liquored up. So with 45 minutes to prepare before the game, Steen got his sh*t together, and bowled out the "to-be" current captain of the English one day team. The stereotypical Greek coach, that plays cricket, was very proud of his new protégé's potential, and treated him as special. The night before the big match was Steen's birthday, so the coach gave him and his mates special dispensation to go out and celebrate, but with the proviso that they return before 10:00pm. As you can imagine time was not relative in this situation, so when they saw it was 12:30 on their Nokia 3310's, they high tailed it back to the dorm not really expecting that their minor 2½ hour lateness would be that much of a problem. When they arrived they found they were locked out, and it suddenly did look like a problem. 2 doors were locked, but luckily the third wasn't. Unfortunately when the opened it, it set off the fire alarm, and the whole dorm was evacuated. Their shock soon turned to relief, when they just blended into the throng, presumably covering their tracks. Upon returning to their rooms the coach was waiting, and knew it was them, so he sent them to bed with the warning that this will be dealt with in the morning. Steen entered his room but couldn't find the light switch, and while fumbling in the dark found a slender woman with slightly damp hair. The light suddenly came on, and the coach shouted "get out of the broom closet, and leave that mop alone".
David Cunningham : What a ridiculously funny self deprecating piece of construction. Sad but sweet, and very funny. Very good.
When you describe yourself as having "swelled into a tweed-ie story toad", the penchant of falling over due to uncoordination seamed quite normal. Then to add another point to emphasize this, we were told of the story where his mother used an ice cream container for his lunch box, because it's easy to open when you're weak and uncoordinated. One day in the playground while D Davy Doubles was struggling with another feisty ice cream container, a bully poked his tongue out at him. This drive-by tonguing infuriated Double D, and he walked quickly for the nearest teacher. Unfortunately those little uncoordinated feet were told not to run on the asphalt - speed limits on hard surface was a necessity to stop the plethora of knee grazing's -, making the bully, with scant regard for the rules, reach the teacher first. It hadn't occurred to this rather inattentive teacher that this boy had just broke the rules, and that his moral code should have had been questioned, because he lied and lied and lied. The rulings in our justice system may be questionable, but how does arriving first give more credence in the eyes of the law. This scoundrel over dramatized the non-existent event, of poor DD punching him in the stomach, and this had the D-ster sent down death row and to the naughty chair, for a crime he didn't commit, where he cried and cried and cried. PE was not the forte of this mental gargantuan, because the teacher had to assisted him in forward rolls while the class looked on - how embarrassment -. D's mum noticed that PE was a problem, so she had to make up excuses for the fact that "PE makes my son sad", with notes to exclude him from the activities. The excuses started with legitimate constructs, that were technically correct in the eyes of the law, then fictitious ones, and then not even bothering to make any claim of illness, but just asking him to be excused for no reason. After a while the PE teacher got sick of the notes, and became a d!ck, because even thought the D-ster had notes to excuse him, it didn't excuse him from having the correct uniform, so he was sent to detention where he cried and cried and cried, at the age of 15. At the big cricket match D was sent out to field catches, but when a ball passed by without him noticing, the teacher, who was a cross between a primary school teacher and a Hell's Angel, became furious. He banned him to the outskirts, and condemned him to write a 3 page story, very much like the one just told.
Nick Coyle : You can feel this is a differently written story to the usual, similar to recognising different peoples hand writing, but it was still nice. I think the crowd like it more than me.
While Nick was visiting Africa with his parents, they contracted the Ebola virus and exploded. Upon returning home he bulldozed the family vineyards and opened a puppy training school. His customer Chong was have trouble with his golden retriever Morgan, who was going against his breed but seaming acting stupid, so Nick, the Puppy Wizard, sprang into action and took Morgan aside. During a mundane sit exercise Morgan spoke and told him to meet him after class. The Wizard was shaken, but made up an excuse to keep Morgan overnight. That night he took Morgan into his room where he found out Morgan was time travelling scientist from the future, that got bounced through the internet into a dogs body when something went wrong. They then set about to try and get him back
Benita Collings : For me this story was a bit of a let down, and not because of the story, but from what happened last year. Last year Benita told us of her life story, but halfway, just when we were falling off our seats, it stopped. We were left hanging pretty badly, but were told that it would be continued at a latter date. So after waiting a year, and no appearances at the regular Story Club, I assumed that this was going to be the time. Unfortunately it wasn't, so it was a disappointment for me, but the replacement story was still nice.
It was a story of some young adults from a different country visiting Disneyland for the first time, and being caught going into the bushes for a funny cigarette.
It's kind of weird how distorted my re-telling of these stories are, it kind of makes you wonder about a bible that was written 300 years after the fact, but you should have really been there, if you wanted to know the details. It didn't turn out how I envisaged, probably due to me remembering some stories, or maybe I was a bit b-polar at the time - it felt like it -, or I was expecting something else, but either way it was still good.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
MySpace Views (379)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.