Comedy & Movie Reviews 2009-1

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

28.06.09 : The Proposal - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada. RomCom with pretty people, what's not to like. Nice

24.06.09 : Hermann's Heroes Stand Up Comedy Fun : Hermann's Bar
A lot of newbies and first timers, not big on laughs unfortunately, but it is expected. Shame as the other 3 shows were good. Michael Hing was the best and the MC, Eric Hutton was OK when he got going.

23.06.09 : Land of the Lost - movie
Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi : Dr. Rick Marshall is sucked into a space-time vortex in to an alternate universe full of dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures. Only one good joke in the whole movie, so it's not that funny.

23.06.09 : Year One - movie
Adventure, Comedy : After being banished from their tribe, two hunter-gatherers encounter Biblical characters and eventually wind up in the city of Sodom. Not funny, and slightly boring.

21.06.09 : The Hangover - movie
Comedy : Three buddies wake up from a bachelor party in Las Vegas with no memory of the previous night, and the bachelor missing. I liked it because it was funny.

20.06.09 : A Regular One Night Stand : Roxbury Hotel - impro
The show ran amok again but it didn't matter as it's still very funny, it's like the impro is an add on and not the main show. The impro wasn't world class this time but it didn't matter as the killer scenes made up for it, kudos goes to the girls with their hard characters in their prisoner scene and the boys genre, accents roller-coaster. The boys make a late charge but the girls still won 210 to 200.

18.06.09 : Comedy : Laugh Garage
What a disappointing night, I don't know if it was the rain, the small crowd, the cheap entry price or what. It was a hard slog for the comics with not many people laughing so I think some gave up. Tom Oakley was just OK, Ray Badram struggled, Dave Jory tried hard and added some new material and was funny. I mainly came to see Keith Scott, I saw him on TV in the Dazz and Gazz show and he was hilarious, but tonight I didn't find him funny at all. Sure he can do great impressions, which he is famous for, but on TV he linked them to jokes which made them funny. I think he was phased by the young crowd because when he did a John Wayne impression he thought the crowd was too young to remember so he cut all the old character impressions. But to be fair to the crowd he didn't add a joke, now I see why impressionists put characters in different situations, as it adds a joke element. It's nights like this that make you wonder why you leave the house.

17.06.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Junior Tennis : Hermann's Bar - impro
As per usual teams of 2 did 13 minutes each. In the 1st half it was the new comer team that was the funniest, one with 2 performances and the other with only 1 previous performance. In the 2nd half it was the brothers Jordan and Steen Raskopoulos that did a 30 minute slot. Right from the start Jordan treated it like a contest, which Steen quickly realised, it was very similar to the 2003 Rumble series format at the Belvior. The Rumble series could get quite brutal and vindictive and the one scene that sticks in my mind involved Jordan also. It was his 1st year of impro on the big stage, Jordan was brilliant back then also, but he came up against Rebecca De Unamuno who cut him to shreds. Bek played a fish and Jordan played a Policeman, every time Jordan tried to talk to the fish, as fish can't talk, there was no reply just a little flapping of fins and some bloop type bubbles. This left Jordan on his own and he quickly got lost because he couldn't get a reaction to continue the scene, this made his character look awkward and Bek forcibly stole the scene. Jordan was never brutal in taking a scene, as he always leaves outs for the other player, but they have to be smart to use them. Jordan gauges how well he is doing by the laughs he gets and if he makes his opponent laugh it's the ultimate score. Steen was having trouble stealing a scene as Jordan would quickly come up with ridiculous characters and crazy scenarios to steal it back, that Christian Bale character was brilliant. It took 25 minutes before Steen came up with the flashbacks, (like the impro pair Snatch do with such precision), he would shout flashback and do a 360º spin and they would have to play the scene they were just talking about if it referenced a different time period. Jordan had to do some quick running around to keep up and had to concede that Steen's idea was very good even though Jordan was mainly in control. Good show tonight.

16.06.09 : Terminator Salvation - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. Not bad at all, so I don't know why the critics were whining.

12.06.09 : The Joke's On You - FBI benefit : Hermann's Bar
Unfortunately half the stand-ups were mild or just not than good, and it didn't help with half the crowd being stand offish and not even clapping. The good ones were, Tanveer Roowala who got good applause from us at the back. Dave Bloustien just turned up unbilled and did a very good set, see he is funny. Eric Hutton started slow but picked it up half way through his set, and Nik Sun did a usual dark and sometimes confronting humour that's not very main stream but was still funny. Just before the break the MC challenged Eric to a Rap Battle and talked himself up like he was the best, but unknown to us he didn't even know how to rap. He got 3 suggestions for words from the audience and let Eric start, and what a surprise when Eric slay-ed them, his wording and delivery were brilliant and to prove it wasn't a fluke he did it again later. Next was the MC, and just before he started he admitted he couldn't rap, so Tanveer gave it a shot and was good at the wording but his delivery was a bit disjointed, but he was still OK. The crowd was feeling a bit fatigued and sleepy by the time The Axis Of Awesome came on. You could tell from the audiences laughing that this was the first time viewing for most of the crowd and by the end of the first song they started sitting up paying more attention, by the 2nd song the crowd was cheering. The Axis delivered a tight concise show with all the best stuff and beautiful singing and harmonies. Their 4 chords song totally surprised and enthralled the newish crowd and they got thunderous applause and a encore request. I was wondering how they could top that but the encore was even more funny. Kudos to The Axis for kicking butt again.

10.06.09 : Make Way For Ducklings : Hermann's Bar
This is the 4th sketch show from the Ducklings. There was some brilliant skits, like the Winston Churchill send-up. There were even more far-out concepts this time. It was a bit more start stop compared to last time but this one was more extreme. Still good.

09.06.09 : TV Comedy All Stars : Comedy Store
Matt Okine was a bit subdued as MC as half the audience didn't arrive until the 2nd half. Jordan Paris tried hard but was not great. Brian Chandler, who I have seen 3 weeks in a row, was still funny. In the 2nd half the booked group finally turned up and fill the audience out. Sam Bowring did a good set and impressed the crowd. Josh Thomas was mild and only got chuckles, lucky for us Sam was very good.

09.06.09 : I love You Man - movie
Comedy, Romance : Friendless Peter Klaven goes on a series of man-dates to find a Best Man for his wedding. Was a lot of fun

04.06.09 : Week 12 Smoker's Concerts : UNSW
This is another Uni show, but at the UNSW, so I though it would be worth a shot. Not really knowing what to expect, as the advertisement is a bit vague. The reason became obvious as the acts can be so varied. The main show was stand-up comics but there was a skit and one unexpected act where there was a call and response between a drummer and a tap dancer, the tap dancer had to mimic the drummers sounds. You always learn something at a Uni show, as part of the Arts degree you have to do performances for exams, eg stand-up, etc, it explains why there are so many comics at these shows. Michael Hing from Project 52 was there trying some new serious political stuff, there was a girl doing a character complaining about lack of sex, which is the usual boy routine. The funniest spot was when a trio came on, they were introduced as a trio with a guy out front and 2 guys behind holding guitars. The guy at the front did a stand-up routine, we though as a warm up for the act, but he finished his set and they walked off with the guys at the back not doing a thing. That's when we realised it was a setup as they were just props for the front-man's routine. It's a good little friendly show.

03.06.09 : Festival Club Showcase : Comedy Store
Unfortunately for me I got Dave Jory and Brian Chandler again but At least Brian Mixed it up enough to keep me amused. Rodney Todd has an eccentric style of humour but unfortunately I didn't find him that funny. Jeff Green(UK) was the main comic everyone came to see, I have seen him on TV and thought he would be good. The first half he talked about kids and how pandered they have become compared to the old days, marriage, odd things about Australia. The second part was his usual good routine. I should of got a coffee before but I ran out of time, so I had trouble concentrating, but I still though Jeff was very good and so did the audience.

30.05.09 : Cabaret Merlot in Wagons Ho! : Roxbury Hotel
This is the 2nd instalment from the Cabaret Merlot troupe. This one was themed by the American Wild West and was bigger and better with 3 sassy call girls, 2 cowboys, and the piano player. The girls were stunning in their black dresses with lacy red corsets, and they sung beautifully. They covered some old classic songs like Should'na, Had'na, Ought'na,(don't know the real name), Oklahoma and others from western musicals and, I think, some made up ones. There was one that I think was called Slutty Whore that didn't sound contemporary for the era but was funny because it was rude. It was a nice little show that had some great vocal talent and was tight in execution. The subject matter was not really for the younger generations but I liked this genre more the second time around.

30.05.09 : GNW : ABC studio 22 Ultimo
Guests today were Wil Anderson, Kitty Flanagan, Wes Carr and very surprisingly Kelly Clarkson. Wil right from the start went into stand-up mode and was spitting out the jokes like a machine, and coupled with Kitty, it felt like a 2 hour stand-up show. Kitty live is very good and she was firing today, I hope they don't cut too much of her for the TV, like they usually do. In fact there were so many gags that a lot of good stuff will have to be cut to fit in the 1 hour that the show usually runs. Wes and Kelly were a bit quite, as you would expect, as they are out of their element. At least Kelly was delightful, as the crew enlighten her to new facts and risqué topics that is synonymous for this show. Good show even if you end up with crampy hands from clapping.

28.05.09 : Comedy : Randwick Rugby Club
Domenick O'Kieran MC'd and started slow, like most comics do when there is a small crowd. It seemed strange as there was a good crowd, but luckily they came to laugh so it didn't seem to make much difference. The end of his 2nd part he picked it up. Jeremy Ryan was just running out of material at the end of his spot but was still OK. Then Darren Sanders, who must relish fresh ears that haven't heard is stuff before, because he destroyed the room with a non stop delivery that impressed everyone. The crowd gave Darren extra applause for a top notch performance.

27.05.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Junior Tennis : Hermann's Bar - impro
This show was advertised as kind of an offshoot to the main show at the Roxbury. Similar long form impro but with 12 minute rounds which makes it possible to put in an extra team. The first 4 teams were in pairs and were supposedly new comes with low experience, one team débuted for the first time tonight. All I can say is, what are the pros doing if these are the armatures. The 1st team absolutely killed with their robot wars story. The 2nd team, 1st timers, were exceptional with their father and son baseball murder story. The 3rd team was OK with a man in love with a bus story. The 4th team with Ben Jenkins, and I think Carlo Ritiche, did a zoo keeper being murdered by weevils that was brilliant and technically well done. I felt I was watching the excellent professional team, Scratch, from Canada. In the 2nd half the younger pros came out and did a supposedly new game, I personally couldn't tell what was new except they started in a share-house situation. They had 3 stories running concurrently which meet at the end as in other shows. The older players are good at mime, which embellishes the story, but I always feel they do it to fill time, so that they can come up with ideas. They pros were good, but I have to give it to the younger players who were quicker at coming up with ideas that filled their slots to capacity and delivered fast paced hilarity.

26.05.09 : Festival Club Showcase : Comedy Store
Dave Jory did a great job of MC, as he usually does. Brian Chandler only used one joke from his routine and ad-libbed with the audience to great applause. Ray Badram was trying new material, which wasn't the funny part, his constant commenting on the poor quality of his jokes is what really cracked up the audience. The first half was good and we were expecting more from Steve Hughes, who was doing an extended season due to the his popularity. Steve is a little bit angry at times and does the political style of jokes, a style we are seeing a lot more of lately. The thing with the serious topics is there are lulls in the laughing due to the serious nature of the topic before the killer punchline is delivered, it's like good laughs punctuated by silence. You do notice the silence and wonder if the comic is raving too much at times, and the subject matter makes you upset at times. that's why I don't watch the news as it's upsetting. But overall the show was good even though I like the jokes that don't upset you more.

20.05.09 : Project 52 - Stand Up Comedy : Hermann's Bar
Usually when you see amateur comics they have one routine that they just reuse every time, which can get boring after many hearings. But tonight, even though there were some repeat comics, they had whole new routines. In the 3 hours there was not one repeat joke from last time, it's amazing because conventional comics on the usual circuits don't do it. I also find the jokes to be on a more intelligent level especially David Cunningham using ancient Greek facts. Ben Jenkins, who I have seen at impro, did a very clever, well sorted out, and calculated routine, very good. I have seen Jordan McClellan a couple of times and he came up with another new story about his life, how come he has so many at such a young age. I learnt a lot about politics and history and laughed and WTFed a lot, good show.

19.05.09 : Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - movie
Comedy, Fantasy, Romance : While attending his brother's wedding, a serial womanizer is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends. Not romantic, and not a comedy. Soulless and emotionless.

18.05.09 : Star Trek - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy, with Mr. Spock keeping him in check, as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time. I was expecting something monumental like Batman Begins, but it was still very good

16.05.09 : Impro 3 Shuffle : Factory Theatre - impro
If I have to watch long form impro this is the best format for it. There is 3 stories run concurrently, but playing one small section of each story at a time before switching to the next, until they all meet at the end. The same format most TV shows use when they run stories at the same time, they also split them into short sections as most peoples attention span is short. The ideas for the stories comes from an iPod set on shuffle. Tonight we had a farmer and his art-see son, a body builder and some loan sharks, and a art school owner and the head teacher. There was a top notch cast that did a very good job. Susie Youssef brought back her wise cracking condescending character, that has been missing for a while, yay. Daniel Cordeaux really went to town, as opposed to the limited characters he is forced to play on Thank God Your Here. Toby Truslove was not just there for eye candy, he was in some eligible bachelor competition, and brought his A game. Good show, much more easily digested for the masses compared to No Love Tennis.

16.05.09 : Felicity Ward - Ugly as a Child Variety Show : Factory Theatre
As Maxwell Smart would say "That's the 2nd most strangest thing I have ever seen", alluding too, that it is the strangest thing, but not admitting to it, and giving the impression of being worldly and sophisticated to have seen something stranger. I like Uni humour as you are constantly saying WTF at the punchlines, as they are so unexpected, but I bet Uni students would be going WTF at this show. It was strange right from the start, Felicity just walked on the stage with no intro and we didn't know if the show started or this was some prequel for what was to come. She started with some of the strange first names of some of her relatives, how could these people give their own babies such strange names. She covered the strange behaviour when she was drunk, weeing down a drain in the kitchen. She covered the strange things she did in school, like reciting a poem she wrote in front of her class, which got the predictable response from her classmates. She covered the strange behaviour of her father when the guy came to collect the shit bucket, no central sewage system in the country back in those days. She covered the thriftiness of her family, as they were a bit poor, like using carob as a chocolate substitute. Instead of being laughed out I was WTFed out, I have never said WTF so many times, but then again I have never heard so many strange, there is that word again, stories from one person. The full house must of had enjoyed it, as they gave good applause at the end.

On a side note some celebrities turned up to watch some shows, like Andrew Denton, Andrew O'Keefe and the fat bald guy who does the complaints in Swift and Shift Couriers on TV

15.05.09 : George Kapiniaris - Rock Star : Factory Theatre
I got a cheap ticket for George, so even if I didn't like it it wouldn't be a great loss, and it wasn't too bad after all. I was sitting there waiting for the show to start when someone started sweeping the mainly clean floor, I though it was some safety thing, even though I hadn't seen it before. I didn't take much notice as they swept past me and up the isle, but when they came back and got on stage I realized it was George in a old Greek lady disguise. George did the old Greek lady routine at the start, which had a lot of Greek references and not knowing many Greek words I didn't get most of it but I could tell there was swearing. After he changed back to George he explained how he wanted to be rock star but that now he was a parent all the dreams would have to die. Most of the show is about babies and parenting but the end had George doing some rock stuff by doing covers of rock songs but changing the lyrics. Near the end I felt this was a big show and we hadn't even got to the encore, it ended up running for over 1½ hours. The crowd, who must of had been mainly Greek, loved the show and even for us people who didn't get the Greek references and words still had a good time.

15.05.09 : Fiona O'Loughlin - Her Greatest Hits : Factory Theatre
Fiona said she was being lazy and not writing a new show but replaying some favourites. We entered to be greeted with a white-board with about 18 topic headings and we had to pick 4. The crowd picked Nicole Kidman(menopause), the pope, husband, and the liquorland, I had heard all of them before except the Nicole Kidman - Cate Blanchett story. Even though it was mainly a repeat, which it was billed as, it was still very good. The only gripe was that it ran less than 1 hour, we love to spend more time with Fiona.

12.05.09 : X-Men Origins, Wolverine - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : A look at Wolverine's early life, in particular his time with the government squad Team X and the impact it will have on his later years. Not brilliant, but good enough.

09.05.09 : Reginald D Hunter - No Country for Grown Men : Factory Theatre
After the mental workout from Reggie, it took me a bit of time to tune back to the conventional comedy of Reginald. The show mainly covered how men have lost there manliness in modern society, men no longer are the bread winner and head of the family and have to make allowances all the time now. It sounds like a serious subject but Reginald used his expertise to make it extremely funny. He cited a funny situation where children complained that their life was ruined because their fathers didn't spend time with them. Then he brought up Josef Fritzl, the guy who locked his daughter in the cellar for 27 years and had 7 kids with her as being way worse, and that they were just wingers. Near the end Reginald went on a bit of a rant that sounded a bit sexist but I think he did this to get a bigger effect at the punchline, I can understand his side of the rant though. He told a weird story about his father at the end. He tried to shock his father, as a joke, by saying he was a modern man and knew about modern life styles and asked his father if he had anal sex, as a joke. His father didn't even know what anal sex was. Even though Reginald isn't gay just knowing about something his father didn't made him feel superior. But it backfired as they drove further down the road when his father said he got paid to fart on some guys face while the guy wanked. Reginald was shocked and said how could you degrade yourself like that, to which he replied that when you are a black man living down south, back then, with kids to feed, and a house to pay off you have to make allowances. He said most people today don't have responsibilities and it's easy to criticise but when you have people relying on you, it was different. In the end it was Reginald that got shocked. A good show with laughs aplenty.

09.05.09 : Reggie Watts : Factory Theatre
Reggie Watts!, Watt the hell was going on. The show was like a surreal trip, everything you saw and heard was totally bizarre. The show went from the sublime to the ridiculous and everything in between. It was just totally unpredictable, you need to experience this show because it's such a different form of comedy. Right from the start you figure this is going to be different as Reggie fumbles behind the curtain to finally find the entrance to the stage and then spends 5 minutes adjusting the microphone stand to get it perfect and then finally takes the mic off the stand and uses it free hand, making the elaborate setting up a waste of time. This quirky behaviour lasts throughout the show but in different ways. Reggie does some songs, he has a keyboard and a separate sampling loop-back mixing desk. He lays down vocal background beats and accompanying vocal sounds which he loops and mixes while singing, if you can call it singing. Some songs he just made the sounds of the words without being able to tell what he was actually saying, sort of like slurring the words because you are too lazy to sing them but still making them sound the same. It still sounded good like it fit and the accompanying music made the songs sound elaborate and professional. Reggie has great vocal control and can sing high like an angel or sing lower than Barry White. His sex song, which you could understand, was brilliantly funny. Half the show was songs, half was spoken. Most of the spoken stuff was cut up sentences of an intellectual conversation linked together, so it sounded good but the meaning shot all over the place and was incomprehensible as a whole. There was one section where he told a conventional story that you could understand, about him and his friends getting high on cough syrup but even that ended strange. He would change accents between sections and also change tone mid sentence, I though he was English at the start. Bizarre but good show.

8.05.09 : Scratch : Factory Theatre
I saw these guys last year and they were great, so making the decision for a repeat wasn't hard. Everyone fills out a suggestion card before the start and they are collected and used in the show. Firstly they get 3 main suggestions from the audience, they were igloo, beach towel and Space Jam(movie) with a zombie proviso added. They start with 3 individual stories based on the suggestions, that end up meeting at the end. I though they were in trouble as the suggestions seemed a bit plain but they are so good that they made each story funny and entertaining through out. The 1st scene used a father and son in an igloo and the first suggestion card reading dungeon, but spelt wrong (dungon). Lesser improvisers would have taken the easy way out and just added a dungeon scene but these guys are so good they used the fact it was misspelt as a test for the son to see if he was a man, and yes he misspelt it the same as the card. It was very clever and funny, shame it was my suggestion, very embarrassing. Space Jam inspired a lesser known basketball playing singer and his coach. The beach towel inspired 2 lovers on a beach. They used the character names, Susie Youssef and Anthony Salame, which for people in the know knew Susie does impro(Impro 3 Shuffle) and Anthony is a comedian also doing a show next week. They milked the fact that Anthony last name is mispronounced as salami and started doing impressions, as a piss take of Anthony's show as he does them throughout. They sneakily added a plug in for Anthony's show during the performance, which was very funny. Unfortunately for Susie she didn't get off scot-free and was made fun of also, to bad she was in the audience. There was disapproving comments from Susie when the characters on stage suggested her and Anthony was getting married. Another point where the the guys are very good is when they mime, it's so accurate and precise you always know what they are portraying. Unlike the less experienced impro people that go through the motions that seem right in their heads but doesn't get transferred to the audience due to bad mining skills, so in the end the audience doesn't know what they are doing. The show is tight and clever and the players are of a very high calibre, good show again.

08.05.09 : The Paradoxical Adventures of Lawrence Leung & Andrew McClelland - Time Ninjas : Factory Theatre
This show has to tie for the best show of the festival, and to think I didn't even want to go. I watched Lawrence's TV show and it was OK but he purposely used the embarrassing situation act to get laughs, you laugh not because it's funny but because you feel embarrassed for the character and you laugh to ease the awkwardness you feel. It's a trick the Chaser uses and I hate it. I needed to fill the time waiting for Scratch and Andrew was in it so I though it might be tolerable, as Andrew did a good show about pirates a couple of years back and even though I didn't like his Mix Tape show last year I though I would give it a shot. The show was sold out, probably due to Lawrence's recent TV show, but it felt very Andrew McClelland influenced, it had that quirky Andrew feel and humour. The show is basically about the boys having a time machine and could travel in time to change history, got to love the time travel paradox stuff, but not in a conventional way, but a crazy you would have never of thought of way. Like not going back to kill Hitler before he started WWII but to get Andrew to seduce Hitler's mother and make her divorce Hitler's farther before he could be born. There was extensive use of Andrew's cheap cardboard puppets and costumes and it's the cheap look and clever design that is always a riot. The story was so clever in that every angle is laterally looked at to milk the most laughs and there was so many twists and turns, yet it still made perfect sense. It was tightly packed, non stop, crammed full of corny brilliance, must see.

06.05.09 : Hing & Magee: Illustrious Physicians of Romance : Hermann's Bar
Well the Project 52 boys did it again and deliver something funny again. The show is disorganized due to it's small lead time but it just makes it more funny. Hing & Magee initially look scientifically at love with a power-point presentation and later tell, one each, about their worst relationship story. At the end they ask if someone wants to get back together with an ex boyfriend, Magee's sister puts her hand up and comes on stage. To her shock they make her ring the ex boyfriend and repeat lines given to her through the power-point presentation, the phone was plugged in to the PA so we could hear everything, she got about 10 lines in when the song "Take That - I want you back" started playing. This was when we realised she was just repeating lines from the song, very funny. Lastly, Magee rang his girlfriend, which he said he broke up with that morning, we though it was a setup but when she started crying on the phone there were gasps from the audience. Whether it was true or not it got the desired reaction. Good show.

05.05.09 : Fast and Furious - movie
Action, Crime, Thriller : Brian O'Conner, back working for the FBI in Los Angeles, teams up with Dominic Toretto to bring down a heroin importer by infiltrating his operation. As you would expect, but with the lamest opening sequence.

05.05.09 : Fired Up - movie
Comedy, Sport : The two most popular guys in high school decide to ditch football camp for cheerleader camp. For the girls and for the glory. It's OK, and has plenty of pretty people.

03.05.09 : Are You Funnier Than A 12th Grader : Factory Theatre - impro
12th graders win

02.05.09 : Adam Hills - Inflatable : Enmore Theatre
Hillsey new show is so super excellent funny it's is in my top 3 of all time. His previous shows were sweet and nice, kind of funny but not super funny, but this one had the rude stuff, you know the jokes that are so disgusting that the audience groans instead of laughing. There was a section where someone upstairs in the lounge heckled Adam so he came upstairs and did a bit of the show there, which was a metre from where I was sitting. On a sad note Adam had lost 3 friends in the last year and called the show inflatable as tribute to them, as these people made you happy just to be with, which inflated you and kept you flying high. He finished with some stories from the disabled Olympics that were so super funny especially the one about the armless swimmer. This has to be the best show of the festival.

02.05.09 : Deanne Smith - Lacks Focus : Yalumba Bar Enmore
I really liked this show, it had that cutting edge rude humour that young people usually come up with, sort of like clever Uni humour. She compared the show to a relationship that will fail in the end, and split up and leave, just like when the show ends we will have to split up and leave, very clever. She did the inappropriate children jokes when she talked about being a nanny, which was excellent. When she got to the lesbian material the gay girls at the back kacked themselves. I think the audience liked it, even though they were a bit subdued, at least the lesbians and I enjoyed it. PS does it make me gay if I find Deanne attractive but she looks like a young boy, aka Harry Potterish.

01.05.09 : Heath Franklin's Chopper - The International Ambassador of Hard : Metro
I think Heath's audience is taking on Chopper traits, like being rude, aggressive and not listening to anything they don't want to listen to. Unfortunately Felicity Ward did a short section at the start but the audience didn't want to listen and just keep being rude and interrupted. She handled it well and continued but knew it was pointless and cut her set short. Chopper's show was very similar to the last one, I even remember lines from this show in the previous one. The annoying audience was also interrupting Heath but in the previous shows Heath used to shot them down in flames, which was the best part of the show, but this one he was more subdued. I think Heath had to tone it down as the audience might thing they are Chopper and may cause real violence. He may have taken it easy because of the late time slot and a less understanding city crowd, I wish I bought tickets for the Factory show instead where the crowd seems more intelligent. The show was good but not great, the constant heckling and bad venue may have caused it, I think I am going to give the Metro a wide berth from now on.

01.05.09 : Axis of Awesome Vs Bee : Metro
The first thing I noticed was the sound wasn't very good, I think this detracted from the show as it felt like the atmosphere was lost. The show was very similar to the cracker Roxbury 2nd year anniversary show they did a couple months back but with more stuff. They added a Bee section, that I didn't really understand, or maybe just couldn't hear because of the sound, but I think it didn't work that well. Poor Lee's Hotel California song is not that funny and now for me the third hearing is starting to wear thin. Unfortunately Lee can't sing as well as the other boys so they gave him this mainly speaking part, which is basically his only main bit. I think they have to write something better to highlight Lee's talent. They finished on their usual 4 chord song with added extras and brought the house down. The show was still good and the audience seemed to like it, but I liked their original band reforming show better.

30.04.09 : Sugar Sammy : Factory Theatre
Sammy perspective was from a younger view point, which is what I like. He covered a lot about relationships and turned around the traditional responses to try to simulate an equality between the sexes. Like at the end if the meal on the first date when the bill arrives, asking if they were going to have sex, or if not they would split the bill. This gave the usual response form the girls that the man should pay for the bill regardless. So he explained from the male view point, why are they paying for something they are not getting and why don't the women return their rights if they don't want things to be equal. It was only a routine to get a laugh but he made such a convincing argument that it made you think afterwards. He used his Indian heritage to great effect giving some of the typical stereotypes traits, and because of his looks, how he gets mistaken by the security at airports. Even though I was laughed out by Jeremy, Sammy was even funnier, he used more routine than ad-lib and his routine is very well scripted for maximum effect and somehow I relate to the younger material. Super good show.

30.04.09 : Jeremy Hotz : Factory Theatre
Jeremy is very engaging as he laughs all the time, which instantly puts you at ease. He does a lot of ad-lib audience participation, bad luck if your in the front row. I don't know if he was lucky or just knows how to find the odd balls but tonight he really picked them, you couldn't have written this stuff. One was a very tall guy, which prompted the tall jokes and how considerate he was by blocking the view of all behind by sitting in the front row. He hit a guy named Kim and had to ask what that was short for, Kimba was the reply, and that started a funny interaction. Also a guy meet his wife when she was a cage dancer and from the questioning by Jeremy we concluded it may have been the nasty type, as she said she made a lot of money. This revelation embarrassed her, which Jeremy used to his advantage all night. He mainly covered topics for his age group, over 40's, like how you fall apart, etc, and he doesn't use any topical material, just the little superfluous annoying stuff everyone experiences everyday, which is usually funnier. His seamless switching from ad-libbing to routine left me afterwards trying to recall what parts were his scripted routine, it didn't really matter as the whole show was very funny. Very good.

28.04.09 : Dave Bloustien - Social Contract : Factory Theatre
A beautifully constructed story that flowed so well it was compelling. The story is about how Dave got sued for not being funny. You got so drawn in that you had to find out what happened in the end. I liked it better than Beastly and Dave used his usual charm to make this story engaging as well, good show

28.04.09 : Jamie Kilstein - Let's Talk About Something Important Instead : Factory Theatre
As the title implies the subject matter was the serious stuff, sex, politics, and religion. Jamie seems like the affable New Yorker, like Arj Barker and Eddie Ifft, but covering the more serious subjects. That doesn't mean he wasn't funny, he was able to turn everything around no matter how serious and make it funny. He told some stories about the extreme views that some Americans hold, which I found disturbing, but put them in perspective and dismissed them with rational thinking. Not my favourite subject matter but still very funny, if disturbing.

27.04.09 : Alexis Dubus - A Bl**dy Brief History of Swearing : Roxbury Hotel
The show started well but by 10 minutes I was thinking, is he just going to repeat swear words all through the show. But soon he got to the technical facts behind swear words, which I found interesting. He explained how powerful the words and sounds they make are, even brain damaged people can remember swear words, even if they can't do much else. He covered the history of some words like, bastard wasn't a swear word when they named a King Edward the Bastard but now it is a swear word. He covered swearing phrases used in different countries, the worst was an African one that actually translated to, "You were born from your mothers back because the front was busy". Also the BBC has a list of words you can't use, which he displayed one at a time, saying that one comedian asked if he could use his paedophilia jokes and the BBC said "yes" so long as you don't use any words on the list, even though half of the words weren't that bad by today's standards. The show was OK, no big laughs, in fact only snigger's. It was more a lecture than a comedy show and at 2 hours was a bit long but entertaining enough.
27.04.09 : Marcel Lucont - Sexual Metro : Roxbury Hotel
I went for the double and stayed for Marcel. He came out and played the stereotypical arrogant French man brilliantly with subtle jokes that the crowd was slow to come to grips with, even though I got them straight away. He started by saying a French phrase and asked who understood it, 4 people put up their hands and then he said "At least we have 4 educated people in the audience" using the stereotype to the max. He explained that most French aren't arrogant only Parisians are. I though he was good, there was some jokes that didn't work but on the whole I liked it. The mainly girl crowd was a disappointed when he only did ½ an hour and tried to get him to stay longer, I think they were attracted to his Frenchy looks.

26.04.09 : Are You Funnier Than A 12th Grader : Factory Theatre - impro
There was a large pro 12th Grader audience tonight, which the Pros quickly found out. If the Pro's scene was only a little better than the 12th Grader's scene everybody voted for the young squad. Actually the Pro's scene had to be twice as good as the young peoples scene before they would win the vote. It all came to a head in the charades round, where the Pro's finished first but got the phrase slightly wrong and the crowd turned against Grant's ruling, so Grant made the last round worth 200 points. The Pro's scene was not better by a large enough margin so the bias crowd gave it to the young team and they won the night 430 to 150. I think the crowd makes it more fair by handicapping the Pro's, as they have a huge advantage right from the start.

25.04.09 : Red Card Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
I thought this would be a good thing to do on ANZAC day but I was wrong. I was driving to the show and was half way there and felt that I should turn around but didn't, stupid me. There was constant inane heckling from the back, Tommy Dean was limp and didn't control the show, so I left at the end of the first third. I think I am over Red Card Comedy, at least Paul Warne and Amanda Grey were good.

22.04.08 : Project 52 presents - Star Wars, in Summary : Hermann's Bar
My goodness it was chaotic ridiculous brilliance. The brief, Monday come up with the idea to replay the first 3 original Star Wars movies with about 100 scenes in 120 minutes and organize it in 2 days. Most of the cast saying it couldn't be done, with only 4 cast members, with no time to rehearse, no time or money to source serious props and one of the cast hadn't even see the 1st movie. A bet was made and the show was on. The tribulations were explained at the start and a board was displayed with all the scenes listed that they had to cover, and the scenes had to be crossed off as they were completed. The 1st of the time and cost problems was evident right from the start, there was no dialogue written on boards disappearing in the distance, as per the movies, but a person would narrate the opening with a person on either side waving their arms giving the illusion that the script was moving back and fading away. This set the standard of using inventiveness to simulate the original movie. Because they only had about 1 minute to do each scene, the first 2 movies were done like they were in fast forward. There was no time to put Darth Vader's mask on and off all the time so they quickly abandoned the props for the characters to save time, and just impersonated the characters voices so you knew who was who. There was also no time to use the same cast member for the same character, so the closest member had to play the role, they used 3 cast members for Chewbacca. The lack of props brought out some brilliant work arounds, like using a tan sleeping bag as Jabba The Hut with the inhabitant using his arm as a tongue, using a Mexican hat as the admiral of the fleets hat as they had nothing else, etc. There was some man on man lip kissing which the girls in the audience loved and egged them on to go further, see girls like it that way too, the guys just groaned. The cast had to come out occasionally and read the board as a prompt for the next scene, as it's easy to lose your place in that many scenes. Even though they used a lot of scenes and made them very detailed, due to the frenetic pace they were already in the 3rd movie by half time, which surprised the cast as they thought they wouldn't fit it all in the 2 hours allotted. So they slowed down, but finished 30 minutes short. So the audience suggested they do the 3 new movies which they accepted. They really stepped it up and it was amazing how many scenes that did in ½ an hour, by the end you could see they were spent and exhausted. What an amazing show, 5 stars for shear effort

21.04.08 : Heavy Petting Zoo : Hermann's Bar
Cast take on an animal characters and show their talents, eg singing, telling a story, poems, skits, musical parody band, etc

19.04.09 : Are You Funnier Than A 12th Grader : Factory Theatre - impro
They had to add 3 more rows of seats in the Fusebox theatre to alleviate the demand for the show, so the theatre was packed. I like it when Impro gets well supported, the players get to showcase their skills and feel more appreciated making for a better show, even though I am uncomfortable with large crowds. The format is the same as A Regular One Night Stand that was so popular it ran for 3 seasons. Instead of boys V's girls this show is pro players V's young school players with the audience voting with the cards provided, $ sign for the pros, heart sign for the schoolies. Grant Davies was the host and was brilliant, he tried to keep the show "G" rated for the children in the audience but the players kept pushing the boundaries in the 2nd half and Grant had to concede. The show got a little bit out of hand, like a disruptive class room, but it wasn't annoying it just added to the exuberance. It was always going to be a big ask for the young players to win with them not being familiar with the rules, getting easily distracted, and just lacking of experience, but the scores were fairly close, 170 to 190. Good show.

17.04.09 : Comedy Court : Star Bar
I saw an add in the gig guide for the Comedy Court, which had a list of names behind it that I hadn't heard of before and always looking for new comics I went down for a look. The 1st thing I noticed when entering was that things are a bit more elaborate compared to other clubs. I was given a wrist band and a remote keypad, which I surmised was for some sort of voting. The room was a small movie theatre holding about 60 people, it was new and elaborately decorated with modern movie seats that reclined, quite different to every other comedy venue. It had a DJ and a guy at the back on a computer who both interacted with the host. The room filled up, and keeping with the American Hip Hop theme the show started with a couple of street dancers with the appropriate music accompanying. The host, Donte D1 and the DJ sounded American so it's understandable where the influences came from. Donte, dressed as a barrister, explained that this show was a talent contest and we would have to vote, and was followed by the sales pitches. 4 constants performed, punctuated with 2 other comics, 1 was plain bad, 2 were OK and 1, Rachel Toyer, who I saw before, was good and won. The 2 other comics were good but not strong headliners as they are quite new as well. So what did I think about the show, well, it felt like what comedy would be like if it was corporatized, slick and safe, appealing to the majority of the masses. I think the lack of a strong headliner is a problem but this may be a one off as next week they have a good headliner. Donte talked a lot and is affable but didn't have enough jokes, you could count them on one hand. Even though the host doesn't have to be that funny you need a strong headliner at the end to give a good impression that sticks in the patrons minds so they associate the show with good thoughts and forget about the average stuff in the show. Just OK.

15.04.09 : Hermann's Heroes 2 : Hermann's Bar
This stand up show is for new comics, I think all 10 of them were Uni students. Jordan McClellan was the host and started with a funny story, Alice Fraser the only person I knew turned up and did a spot talking about violence, which explains why she used violence as a motivation for last nights story. I was quite surprised when she came out with a banjo and actually played it, insert banjo jokes here. David Cunningham was last and did a set mixing the usual comic routines with high intelligent facts, eg he did an impression of King Charles V talking to Martin Luther. The show was good, not super funny, which is understandable as they are new comics, but the ideas and concepts were amazing and very refreshing. Uni humour thinks laterally and that's what I like.

14.04.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Tennis : Roxbury Hotel - impro
It was a good night, Jonathan Briden & Emily Beale started 1st and did a nice conventional story with added jokes. Dave Callan & Alice Fraser did a very good job. Alice did a role reversal and acted as a female with male traits and Dave also swapped, and had female traits. Alice ran the scene with Dave having trouble keeping up, but the best bit was at the end with Alice's clever speech. The 2nd half was Cale Bain, Rebecca De Unamuno & Matt Foster doing a surreal scene that was very funny. The scene jumped from place to place based on the sound effects injected by the sound guy, similar to Puppy Fight. Bec added a lot of accents and was brilliant, Cale was very clever with his ideas and Matt did a great acting job while trying not to laugh.

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13.04.09 : Monday Night Comedy : The Fringe Bar
Stubby Valentine was the host for the night and must of done a few set at the Fringe before and used up his regular material, so he ad-libbed everything and was still good. Lap Phan did a longer set than he did last time I saw him, and was good this time. David Smiedt did a good set and the crowd liked him also. The 2nd half was all Wil Anderson, he was doing a full trial run of his new show Wilosophy and would be heading to Melbourne tomorrow to showcase it. The set was a huge one covering nearly 1½ hours and the crowd went nuts at the end. The material was a bit more serious, his early stuff was more about funny superfluous stuff and emotions but this one was more political, it's a sign that Wil is getting older and looking at the bigger picture like everyone does when they age. That's not saying it wasn't funny, I think it was one of his better shows. One joke that didn't work initially, compared the repeating plot in each episode of the TV show Two and a Half men with the TV show House, didn't get many laughs. I got it the first time around it's just the crowd was a bit slow. After he explained it, it worked, it wasn't Will fault that the crowd wasn't sharp, but knocking Australia's most popular comedy isn't going to find may sympathizers present. It was a tiring and uncomfortable night but I still enjoyed myself and so did the crowd and that's what counts.

11.04.09 : Saturday Rox Comedy Club : Roxbury Hotel
I sat waiting with trepidation, as the room was empty at 8:00 o'clock, A show with not many people is usually not as funny, but people turned up eventually,  they were just late, and we ended up with an OK crowd.
MC Wayne Dixon gave out his best, actually everyone did a good job. Toby Coleman was very good, Damian Smith, who is a new comer has added more material to his routine as was good also. Paul Warnes looked and acted like a pro, even though he has only been doing stand-up for 1 year. There was a special guest in the 2nd half by the black English comedian Amadeus Martin who was also good, but it was Mick Meredith that really stole the show. He did an extra long set and didn't stop throwing out the best material from start to finish, Kudos to Mick. A very good night.

10.04.09 : 17 Again - movie
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy : Mike O'Donnell is ungrateful for how his life turned out. He gets a chance to rewrite his life when he tried to save a janitor near a bridge and jumped after him into a time vortex. I liked this movie, and that Zac Efron is good looking. Is it me, or does he look like our Toby Truslove - he's in the new SoGood commercial with Delta Goodrem -.

08.04.09 : Intervarsity Theatre Sports : Hermann's Bar - impro
This is a competition between the universities, UNSW v's Macquarie v's Sydney. The format is the same as the Cranston Cup using the most of the standard competition games but there was a couple of extra ones added. Right from the start the Sydney Uni team stood out, and not just because it was a home team advantage, they were just better. Macquarie was coming 2nd by the break but dropped back by full time. Even with the small crowd the show was good and it makes me wonder what it was like when theatre sports was popular with many of the players moving from the uni comp to the main game at the Behaviour.

01.04.09 : Project 52 - Make Way for the Ducklings Rnd2 : Hermann's Bar
The show is a sketch comedy by Uni students. I thought with the low $5 price if only half of the skits are funny it would still be a bargain, and it was. The first half was 50 - 50 with some clever stuff, like Superman and Batman put in everyday situations. But the 2nd half was good start to finish. There was a scene where a French revolutionary repeating the famous Marie Antoinette phrase "Let them eat cake" with the peasants miss hearing the phrase and thinking she said "Let them eat cock". Very funny.

31.03.09 : Knowing - movie
Action, Drama, Mystery : M.I.T. professor John Koestler links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and future disasters and sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe. I liked it even though I hate Nicolas Cage. Some people complained about the weirdness near end, but for a SciFi that's OK. I think this was a remake of a Chinese movie, and we all know how their movies end, ie tragically, so that was understandable also.

27.03.09 : Sydney Comedy Festival Preview : Factory Theatre
This is a sampler for the Cracker Comedy Festival with no actual acts advertised, so it was a mystery who would be there. Jacques Barrett was the MC and did a good job trying to impress the usual, stand offish, "been there done that" Sydney crowd. Jim Jefferies covered some very controversial subjects, ie, rape, Catholics, etc, very confronting for some. The girl next to me crossed her arms and didn't laugh at all, but at the end of the set the rest of the audience gave the biggest applause, they must be as sick as me as I though he was brilliant, it's real kick in the nuts humour. Anthony Salame did his usual mild set. I didn't get the Cloud Girls and neither did the audience. Chris Radburn was good as usual and impressed. I saw Dave Jory 2 years ago at the Factory and because of the small crowd he didn't bring his "A" game. Then I saw him last month at the Comedy Store with a big crowd and he absolutely killed and he had a lot more material, tonight had a large crowd and he was also good. Deanne Smith started slow and I was thinking I made a mistake buying tickets for her show already, and then she delivered a killer punchline. This seems to be her style, trick people into a false sense that the story is going nowhere and put a killer at the end for maximum effect, it worked for the crowd, as she got good applause. Due to me sitting in the left side of the audience behind some tall people I couldn't see the left side of the stage and unfortunately every comic ignored the centre and right side of the stage so I only actually saw 10% of tonight's show. So when the Umbilical Brothers came on I didn't get it, as most of their show is visual gags. The crowd liked them a lot and from previous shows they should be good. Pulp did a short impro game, in the style of film noir, that always gets laughs and really impressed what seemed like a non impro crowd. I can tell they were new to impro as they didn't clap at the appropriate points to help the cast member who has to guess the facts of a fictitious crime. In using impro's best players, Jon and Marko I'm sure they will get more ticket sales after that good preview. I saw Felicity Ward live as a cast member in an early Chopper show at the Riverside theatre, and she upstaged Heath a couple of times even though she only had a bit part. Solo she was even better, she even surprised me and the crowd. Glad I have tickets already for her full show. Lastly was Jamie Killstein, what can I say but a typical fast talking New Yorker, very good and topical, I have tickets for him also. A good night which would have been better for me if I could see, it's all about location, location, location.

25.03.09 : The Delusionists - Bunker Five : Hermann's Bar
I was looking forward to this show, based on previous shows, and was lucky enough to find out about this last Sydney show (there promotion dept is rather poor). Unfortunately I got in late, as I was talking to some American students, and ended up at the back. This ended up being a problem as the cast spoke quite softly and with my poor hearing I missed a lot of dialogue. This show was different to the others it didn't have the clever and highly intelligent humour of the 1st show nor the non stop chaotic action of the 2nd, it was a essentially continuous play. The show was about 5 people stuck in a bunker after the holocaust. Going by the audiences reaction it wasn't as funny as the previous shows and that goes for me as well. I noticed some of the original cast were gone and this may have been the reason for the better earlier shows.

24.03.09 : Paul Blart - Mall Cop - movie
Action, Comedy, Crime : When a shopping mall is taken over by a gang of organized crooks, it's up to a mild-mannered security guard to save the day. Predictable and average.

22.03.09 : Puppy Fight : Roxbury Hotel - impro
The format is similar to long form impro in that there is a suggestion at the start and the scene is made up on the fly with no restrictions, except the suggestions come from a DJ. He plays a sample, be it a song, a speech, a sound, and the scene is made up from that. He can also stop the scene at any time by playing the "puppy" sample which stops that scene and starts another straight away. This continues for the whole show and some scenes established before can also be revisited by the players if they want to.
Just as when the younger players introduced long form impro 3 years ago, it took time to sort out the bugs to get a consistently entertaining show and this one seems similar. It felt a bit disjointed at the start as the DJ was stopping scenes after 30 seconds, but after a while he let the scenes run longer which gave more fluidity to the show. These were only trial shows and there was only 3 players and the DJ so the faults are understandable.

21.03.09 : Duplicity - movie
Comedy, Crime, Romance : Two ex-government agents turned rival industrial spies, have to be at the top of their game when one of their companies prepares to launch a major product. A bit too long and unsatisfying, and you work out what will happen before the end. Nothing special.

20.03.09 : BLANK the Musical : Roxbury Hotel - impro
Unfortunately the larger open room was picked for this show so the constant noise from the balcony above was drowning out the cast's voices. It was hard to hear and was distracting for us and the cast. You could see the players were trying to come up with ideas while thinking about the noise, this double thinking made the story a bit disjointed. Impro players are taught to project their voice so it wasn't a total loss as you heard nearly everything. It wasn't too bad, the crowd laughed through out the show.

20.03.09 : Dolls Cabaret : Roxbury Hotel - comedy/play
The poor dolls didn't fair as well, coupled with the noise and their soft voices it was nearly impossible for me to hear, I have partial industrial deafness making it hard to hear if there is a lot of background noise. They tried to use some microphones but because the were learning to use them on the fly, as they hadn't practised using them before as they didn't except so much noise, it ended taking half the show to get the correct technique going so that you could hear some of the dialogue. I can't tell you much as I heard only 10% of the show but the jist of the show seamed to be that the cast were playing girls toy dolls that you buy in shops. I only knew a few, Barbie, Cabbage Patch Kid, Bratz. They took up the personality of the dolls based on the way they were advertised. One part was when they used the anti-abortion rhetoric applied to the Cabbage Patch Kid saying all people that eat cabbage are murders as cabbages are baby Cabbage Patch Kids. The dolls were pretty and they sung well but I don't know what they said. I don't think I would have been bored if I saw this show in a quite room.

15.03.09 : Watchmen - movie
Action, Drama, Mystery : In 1985, where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation. A bit dark and dirty. It's OK, but a bit strange.

14.03.09 : Wicked Women : Roxbury Hotel
Kitty Flanagan MC'd the night, and right from the start she was brilliant. There was a lot of new material since I saw her last in Manly, she was still doing that UK TV comedy, and all of it was gold and the ad-libbing was killer. Amber Ray from New York, a burlesque stripper, was next which was a bit strange for the predominately female audience. It was funny when a female heckled during the strip "Take it off" to try to inject some interest from the quiet crowd. Jackie Loeb did her usual great set and kept the nudity to a minimum (thank god). She has added a new routine where she sings a medley of covers, some of the songs she sung only covered one line from the original, very good. Next was short sets from various comics. Dana Maray, Lila Tilman (Detroit) was interesting, Marie Helou, Elissa Hawke was just OK, Julia Clark (UK) I liked a lot, she was very clever and acidic. Lastly was deadpan Amanda Gray, at the start of last year I saw her in an amateur night and she was so good she started getting spots in main shows straight away and tonight was no exception. The crowd was totally surprised at how good she was for relative unknown comic and gave her the best applause for the night. Even Kitty was taken back when she saw her for the first time a couple of days before. Australia's Miss Sapphira was last doing more burlesque, again the 80% female audience was a bit quiet, and she did a little burlesque workshop type talent quest at the end. Kitty mistakenly announced tonight's show as the 1st but when was later told the show had been running for 3 years ad-libbed a very funny ending. Good show

13.03.09 : New in Town - movie
Comedy, Romance : A Miami businesswoman adjusts to her new life in a tiny Minnesota town. Entertaining enough.

07.03.09 : Storytelling : Roxbury Hotel
What a strange concept for a show, people come up and tell a story in their life, amazingly enough it worked very well. 3 people told stories with the last being Tommy Dean the comedian, as a special guest. The 1st guy was in a small 20 seat plane with his acting troupe when the pilot announced over the intercom that the co-pilot was sick and only he will be flying the plane today, but it was OK as they had autopilot. After the plane was airborne and flying steady the pilot came out of the cockpit and put a rubber band on the door to stop it self locking and went to the toilet. The storyteller was a bit concerned as there was no one flying the plane, when they hit some turbulence and the rubber band flicked off and the door shut. The stewardess saw this and quickly ran to the toilet and got the pilot. The pilot ran up the isle with his pants around his ankles and grabbed a axe and started smashing the door but due to the door having a steel liner inside he couldn't get through and soon had to stop from exhaustion. A passenger ran up and grabbed the axe and started bashing the wall and finally made a hole just big enough for a hand and reached in and finally unlocked the door. After a couple of minutes the pilot comes over on the com and announces that we have had a slight problem but it was nothing to worry about. That was a good story
The 2nd guy had a terrible job at a IT centre and finally got transferred to another job, after trying for ages. He quickly found out he loved this job and was there for only 7 days when he was forced to go to a farewell party for his boss, that he hardly knew. During the party the other employees started leaving and the boss saw this and latched on to the young storyteller as a drinking partner, as the night had ended too soon for him. The went on a drunken pub crawl and got kicked out of 3 pubs. 2 days later the young chap was summonsed to a meeting where he entered an empty room. A TV lowered from the roof and his boss appeared on the screen and fired him, it was the bosses last day and you would think he would let it slide as he started it. It was a bit of a sad story.
Tommy Dean was last and he told a story of when he was 7 years old and got a disease that paralysed his legs for 2 years and had to get around in a wheelchair and the adventures it caused. It brought back memories of when I got meningitis at 5 and was paralysed from the waist down. Tommy being a comedian made it funny all the way through, very good story.
I was a bit disappointed afterwards to find out the aeroplane story was a Urban Myth, I suppose some are just stories but at the time I was entertained.

04.03.09 : Impro in the Garage : Sydney Laugh Garage - impro
The format was very similar to the Explosive Minds show, and as most of the cast is from that show it's understandable. Top notch players produced a top notch night. City crowds are very "stand offish" but Grant Davis, Lisa Ricketts and Amanda Buckley can break any barrier. They even broke the visiting grumpy old English father who was accompanied by his family. Again like the EM shows there is a lot of audience participation, which is daunting for them, but they come around and never look foolish so no one gets embarrassed. They introduced a new game based on a director game, where the audience member had a iPhone and pressed the "yes" button which produced a ding sound, or pressed the "no" button for a buzz. The players ran a scene in his life and he had to press yes or no after each line of dialogue if it was truthful or not. It was ridiculously funny when we found out he thinks his sister is very average looking. Good show

29.02.09 : Saturday Night Comedy : Roxbury Hotel
I quickly rushed down the road after the GNW recording to Glebe and missed the first ½ hour and was surprised to find a smallish audience in attendance. Last year the shows was selling out, I think someone new is running the show and may not of advertised it as well and it doesn't help that the Axis of Awesome sold out the venue just last month maybe using up there audience then. The format is similar, MC warms the crowd, up and coming comics next and the headliners in the 2nd half. Tonight there was one less headliner and 3 new comics instead of 4. Usually when there is a small crowd the comics get disappointed and don't do a good show by holding back on their good material and that's what it looked like from Chris Radburn in the 1st half. The 1st "up and coming" comic, John Cruckshank, struggled with the small crowd. Amanda Grey was next and kicked the audience in the balls, she got the small crowd laughing like a pro. She has a good routine and it shows. Lap Phan was last and was disappointing, The Axis came on in the 2nd half and despite the small audience tore down the walls. They didn't sit back and take it easy, they did the best show they can regardless of the problems. They audience must of been new to the Axis and were surprised how good they were as they were laughing and clapping during the songs. Their usual last song was the 4 chords song but with even more sections added which totally killed and impressed everyone. Good on you Axis and Amanda for really stepping up, great show.

29.02.09 : Good News Week : ABC Studio Ultimo
I saw the 2nd last show GNW did in the last series so I might as well see another free show.
The studio audience has to participate by making a lot of noise and really getting involved, so it looks good for the TV. Our laughs also give an indication to the editors what's funny so they know what to cut out. I unfortunately I forgot how much you have to clap, I think I sprained my thumb. Guests were Frank Woodley, Amanda Palmer, Cal Wilson and Jimeoin. They introduced a new game where they have to throw news stories in the trash and explain why. It was entertaining even though you have to work by exaggerating every laugh. The 2½ hours went quickly, good show.

26.02.09 : Comedy : Sackville Hotel
Dave Williams was host and did his best stuff and won over the usual conservative crowd. The Nelson Twins shock people at first sight with their beards, so the crowd was a bit stand offish for about 3 minutes but quickly got over it with the twins excellent routine, oxygen deprivation comedy for me. Trevor Crook is a veteran and it shows with his good set. A great night overall.

25.02.09 : Quest for the Best : Roxbury Hotel
MC was Antti Hakala a Finnish comic who was OK. The headliner was Hannah Gadsby a Tasmanian lesbian who was very good, Paul Warne did a small slot. The 2nd half saw a competition for 6 young comics, unfortunately 5 were pretty average but the Indian Guy Tanveer Roowala was good.

22.02.09 : Transporter 3 - movie
Action, Crime, Thriller : Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukrainian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. Same as usual, OK.

21.02.09 : Judith Lucy's Not Getting Any Younger : SOH
I couldn't enjoy this show as I kept thinking about how I was ripped off at the box office with their stupid hidden transaction fee.
The crowd laughed so it must of been OK, I only laughed when Judith came in to the audience to question some young people, aged 19 and 23, about some Generation Y traits, but it ended up as a send up of the younger generation because they didn't know who some old actors were. Come on Judith I am 6 years older than you and I didn't know much about some of them either, and. it's 2009 and they are not really relevant anymore. The predominately older audience had a laugh at the young one's expense, even me. It wasn't Judith at fault this time, it was the SOH.

20.02.09 : Cabaret Merlot in Speakeasy : Roxbury Hotel
There wasn't much to go by in the advertisement but I think it was a Musical. There was just song after song with not much speaking in between. The songs seemed to have a theme but they didn't really tell a story. I can't say much because I don't know much about musicals.
I didn't recognize miss Keira Daily at first but she did a nice song about the character Tony. Tim De Sousa did a funny song called the masochism tango. Keira and Jacqui Greenfield did some small harmonies in 2 songs, I wish they did more as I'm a sucker for good harmonies. Time just seemed to fly so it must have been OK even though it's not my style of show.

19.02.09 : Zack and Miri Make a Porno - movie
Comedy, Romance : Lifelong platonic friends Zack and Miri look to solve their respective cash-flow problems by making an adult film together. Not great, ie, very average.

18.02.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
I think I am going to see more overseas comics as I have exhausted all the local comics by seeing them so much, so I went to this show.
Dave Jory was good with the long version of his routine, a lot of his stuff I hadn't heard before. Eddy Brimson(UK), was brilliant and stole the show. Owen O'Neill(IRE) was good but a bit mild, but he had a setup video with Mick Jagger which was different. The cheap price filled the place with people which is always better, overall a good show.

15.02.09 : He's Just Not That Into You - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : This Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behaviour. Very Good. Go the romantic comedies.

14.02.09 : Dave Hughes is Handy : Enmore Theatre
It should be called Dave Hughes is Exhausting, I find Dave's shows a physical endurance test. My poor brain is deprived of oxygen from laughing and I get dizzy and start seeing double, I ended up feeling like a jelly and just want to lie down. Dave is very good at ad-libbing and coming up with jokes on the spot, and not cheap ones but killer ones. When someone in the front tried to leave Dave would have to say something. A guy in the 3rd row got up and Dave said "What's the matter can't you hold it in, this is the best part" then "If you love me you'd stay a wet yourself. What's wrong, don't you love me" and then he got the heckle from the guy "I have Down Syndrome", Dave was stuck for a moment but he came back with his usual "Well good on you" as if there is nothing wrong with that, like it's a lifestyle choice. As the guy got half way up the isle Dave said "You better get that bladder looked at". It's the way he delivers lines that kills, typing these words can't do Dave justice. There aren't any lulls in the show so time just seems to fly, Dave is really in his element at live shows. In his live shows it actually seems like he is playing a slow simpleton character in a play which gives the impression he is like that in real life, but he can switch to a very quick and fast talking character like on the Footy show he does, which makes me think Dave in real life is a totally different person to the one we see live. There was just a few repeat jokes from previous shows but they seem better the 2nd time around. Great show, Dave for PM.

13.02.09 : Ghost Town - movie
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy : When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Good

12.02.09 : Comedy : Sackville Hotel
Steve Philp, Dave Eastgate, Adam Vincent

07.02.09 : Beaconsfield the Musical : Roxbury Hotel
I was a bit surprised at the whole complexity of the show with so many unexpected facets. Players appearing at the back and interacting with the audience and using them in the show. They even gave 3 people in the audience short scripts to act as reporters in a press conference, wow that's different. The songs were short and to the point, not laboured at all. The whole show was tight with no dead spots, just non stop entertainment. All the jokes were very clever and calculated for maximum effect.
Robbie McGregor surprised with his acting abilities, he's not just the voice over guy on TV. Dan Ilic was very funny with his impressions, so was Amanda Buckley and she brought her "A" game singing voice. Everyone did a good job even the musician had parts. I thought this show would be fairly good but it was even better than that. For the actual audience there was no complaints about going over the top but for the actual people involved it lampoon them pretty hard. The media deserved it for their disgusting behaviour, but the poor people that were trying to do their job were thrown into such a ridiculous circus that they were like fish out of water and ended up looking bad due to no fault of there own. Dan milked this part and that is probably why he got ridiculed. Non stop action show, very good.

06.02.09 : Music : Excelsior Glebe - music
Siobban Poynton, Stuart O'Connor

04.02.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Tennis : Roxbury Hotel - impro
The 1st 19min scene was OK with Charlie and Simon. The 2nd 19min was good with the Axis of Awesome's Jordan and Lee, with Jordan not worrying about the audience and just coming up with ridiculous stuff to make Lee laugh. In the last 38min section Jon Williams absolutely killed with plethora of charterers and story lines, Cale was good support and Dave was a little off tonight.

30.01.09 : Axis of Awesome 2 year Anniversary Show : Roxbury Hotel
Daniel Townes MC'd the night and loosened up a somewhat tight audience at the start. He did a very good job, as he did last night, and the laughs came freely. Next was Smart Casual, I have heard of them but hadn't seen them till tonight. They are a singing parody twosome, they seem kind of mild but they stick the punch lines, which is what counts, not bad. They made fun of the Axis's bird plane song and did a Benny Davis Eyes send up, which came back to bite them on the ass when the Axis did there stuff.
The Axis did a new routine for this show, their singing parody is always different and has extras you don't except, it's like a different level to the rest. Jordan Raskopoulos and Benny Davis do beautiful harmonies with Lee Niamo doing the side kick stuff while wearing a Scobby Doo outfit. Lee brought out the electric guitar this time and really Grunged it up, Jordan had a cowl and cape and adds his video game and Lord of the Rings extras, and Benny was a bit quite but did the beautiful 4 chords song with the others joining in. The Axis got payback when they sent up Smart Casual's Hawk Hawkins song between every song. It's a bit silly making fun at impro guys who are experts at making things up on the spot, poor Smart Casual. Good show

29.01.09 : Comedy : Sackville Hotel
Jim Rochford was kind of slowish but Clint Patterson really stepped up, then Daniel Townes did his full 08 Cracker routine and killed. Lastly Jimbo, rude as ever, started a bit mild before getting into the real dirty stuff, which works better with most crowds - he can start too hard at times which puts the crowd off side -. A really good night.

28.01.09 : Comedy : Oatley Hotel
The headliner didn't turn up so Dave Smiedt did a brilliant job and also with the very good Nelson Twins it was a good night for a change

27.01.09 : Seven Pounds - movie
Drama, Romance : A man with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers. Different, but not too bad. Kinda sad.

26.01.09 : Rocksong : Circular Quay - music
Cristine Anu, Coco's Lunch, Washington, Holly Throsby
Coco's Lunch a cappella, Washington was good

24.01.09 : The Estate : Excelsior Glebe - music

23.01.09 : Dave Barrie : Excelsior Glebe - music

21.01.09 : Comedy : Oatley Hotel
Rash Ryder, Jim Rochford, Dave Williams, Sam McCool

13.01.09 : Yes Man - movie
Comedy, Romance : A man challenges himself to say "yes" to everything for an entire year. Not too bad.

13.01.09 : Marley and Me - movie
Comedy, Drama, Family : A family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog. A bit sad, but still OK.

08.01.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
Brendon Burns, Micky Dee, Nick Sun, Harley Breen
Brendon Burns is like a X rated Will Anderson. I think the show would of been good except I was in a bad mood.

06.01.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Tennis : Roxbury Hotel - impro

03.01.09 : New Year Show : Laugh Garage Sydney
Darren Sanders, Elliott Tiney(UK), Darren Casey, Sally Kimpton, Tony Bailey

02.01.09 : Hooray for Everything : Club Rivers - music