0-Die Bastard : 1-Crap : 2-Rubbish(watchable) : 3-OK : 3.5-Nice : 4-Good : 4.5-Very Good : 5-WOW
31.12.09 : New Years Eve Show : Laugh Garage
Weird one also. I think there was too many regulars in the audience that have heard the routines, or they were very reserved, as they were fairly quiet. Like the Nelson Twins, there was only light chuckles through out and it looked like the audience wasn't into them but at the end of their set they got the biggest cheer like the crowd really liked them. Others that got this strange treatment with the large applause was Sally Kimpton, Jacques Barrett and Mikey Mileos. Maybe more build up from the host even if they are repeats would be better as there were some people that hadn't heard the regular jokes before.
30.12.09 : Comedy : Oatley Hotel
I haven't been here for ages and was bored so with the cheap price I gave it a crack, and it was the same as usual. The crowd here is a bit thin and fairly quiet nowadays, unlike when comedy started at this venue. I think so many repeats of the same comedians have made the crowd jaded, as they probably know all the routines, so they became quieter and quieter and less impressed. We started with Mark Williamson as MC but he didn't actually do much material. Jarred Keene didn't get loud laughs but kept the professional attitude and continued regardless and stayed up beat. This is the first time I have heard his full routine and it's pretty good. Dave Eastgate was last and with his high energy singing parodies he won the crowd over and got good applause. OK night.
30.12.09 : Sherlock Holmes - movie
Action, Adventure, Crime : After solving his last case Holmes is out of work, when a mysterious event puts him back on the case. Holmes tries to use logical reasoning in the solving of illogical occult happenings while a mysterious 3rd party watches on. I liked the characters of Holmes and Watson, and they were well acted by Downey and Law. The logical thinking explanations with flashbacks were especially good. Good movie overall.
29.12.09 : Old Dogs - movie
Comedy, Family : A one night stand turns out 9 years latter to have produced twins which suddenly appear during a big business deal. Every cheesy and corny gag was taken advantage of throughout. The jokes were lame for older people, but the young ones loved them as they haven't see them before. The gags were tightly packed so the older crowd didn't get bored. OK.
24.12.09 : Christmas Eve Show : Laugh Garage
It was a weird one, Mild.
23.12.09 : Stand Up Get Down, Happy Gift of Comedy Gala Celebration! : World Bar
This was a bit of a weird one. The comics were complaining all night about the disruptive audience which really wasn't a problem. Sure there was loud music coming in from next door every time the door was opened and people were talking at the back but because the PA was so loud(my ears are still ringing 3 days later) it drowned out the noise and everyone in the front sitting down was quite and paying attention. Even the 2 hecklers shut up quickly when they were put down. The big mistake was when the comics thought there was a problem and winged and attacked the audience rather than tell jokes, and because no one was telling jokes there was no reason why anyone should listen. Eric Hutton complained all night and didn't tell a joke and he complained that no one was listening, what do you expect. The comics that came out and did their routine were great and got great applause, see people were listening. Emma Zammit killed and Ray Badran was good as soon as he discovered that the audience wasn't hostile at all and did his normal routine. Nick Capper(see HAHA comedy below) blitzed it and when he came to his bad jokes that weren't working he stopped and left the stage, which is the right thing to do as it doesn't bore the audience, and the audience appreciated it and forgot the last bad joke and only remembered the killer stuff and gave him the biggest cheer of the night. Due to the DVD player not working the Shenanigans sketch show was pushed back after the comedy and it was getting late so I left before it started.
22.12.09 : Storm Warriors II (Fung wan II) - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : Ruthless Lord Godless kills innocents in his bid to conquer China. Cloud and Wind seek help from Lord Wicked but he can only guide Wind to stronger powers by making him absorb pure evil. Cloud is trained by Nameless to form a new sword style. A fight ensues when Lord Godless discovers the Dragon Bone but Wind is overcome by evil and goes berserk. Lots of fantasy action fighting and CGI with hardly any breaks. If you have an open mind it will entertain, but you need a scorecard for the goofy names. OK movie, but the ridiculously loud cinema was distracting.
20.12.09 : Shaun Micallef & Stephen Curry in Good Evening : SOH
Got free tickets so I gave it another crack and it was better a 2nd time. I was at the very 1st preview show and was wondering what would be different in the last show. They added a bit more add-lib but not as much as I thought they would because it was very successful on the preview night. There was a lot more animated acting by some of the characters. Shaun Micallef played this to the hilt with arms and legs flailing to the max in places, so much in fact that people were laughing so loudly it was hard to hear the actual funny dialogue. I liked the first half better in this viewing as opposed to last time where the second half seemed better. Nice show
19.12.09 : Impro Unwrapped : Sidetrack theatre - impro
The format is as last time with 3 stories in 3 rounds that converge at the end. In the first round presents are unwrapped in 3 stories. In the second round the items and audience suggestions are used as inspiration for this round of stories. The final round is where the items and previous stories are mixed up by the director, and come to a final conclusion. I don't know what happened but the audience didn't turn up. It seemed to effect the younger players, as I have seen them do better, but with the older players it didn't effect them at all. Jon Williams and Simon Grainer went about business as usual and were the best. Gee, hasn't Simon been doing this a long time it must be 8 years since he and Charlie Garber brought that innovative UNI style to the Belvior Theatre. The show was sort of long form impro that I'm not a big fan of because I'm always looking for a new high and with long form there can be long passages of story with no humour, which is what happen tonight. Unfortunately not much of a buzz tonight.
18.12.09 : Xmas Special : Laugh Garage
It was advertised as a big Xmas Show Special and boy was it. There was some late changes in the line-up but it didn't matter as nearly everyone ripped it up in front of a large enthusiastic crowd, it's always better with a good crowd. Darren Sanders was the host and killed it with his new divorce and house hunting routine. It's weird as it wasn't that long ago he add-libbed half a show at the now defunct Sackville Hotel about his wife being Italian with the usual Mafia and wife send-ups. Peter Meisel was next and he stepped it up when he went back to his old fast delivery style that worked so well at the 2nd Bobby C fund raising night, and that magic one he did at the Bridge Hotel where some of his ex students turned up. Peter got one of his students to come up on stage to ridicule how dumb they were, but the kid was too smart and got back a peter by coming on stage and bending over like peter was supposed to enter him like the old days. Peter cracked up but had the usual come back that the judge said that he wasn't allow to do that anymore. I even heard him use a Ray Badran line thrown in from the tribute night about him pausing at contemplate a career move. I haven't seen JJ Mullard before but he was ripping out the wife jokes and puns so fast it was killer. Paul Warnes was also ripping out the wife jokes, which seems to be a theme for the older comics, but it doesn't matter as it's that style of jokes that are the funniest. Garry Who was killing with his familiar, to me, but not the audience routine. He is always funny and at least he added a new bit for the regulars. I hadn't seen Jacques Barrett for a while so I forgot his face but I remembered his jokes and they flew out thick fast and funny. If you haven't seen the Nelson Twins where have you been. They are super funny with their special gimmick of being twins and hairy. They must get a lot of hecklers, because of their appearance, but they are experts at putting down hecklers and at such a young age. There was so many hard hitters that got the crowd going early that the new comics seemed mild in comparison, but it didn't matter as they were still good. Maybe it's better to get the crowd going early. The show ended with a high with Derren closing. There has been a running gag with Darren's name lately, listen for it. Killer show.
18.12.09 : Avatar - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : Unscrupulous humans invade the planet of Pandora to steal resources for their dying planet, the only obstacle is the indigenous population who have to be removed by what ever means to the point the humans manufacture clones of the indigenous population controlled by remote control. The CGI has been taken to the next level in this one, the whole CGI was very vivid and with lots of glowing art. The graphic artists really went to town on this one in design and detail. Usually extreme detail can cause confusion by overloading the viewer, but in this one it fitted perfectly. Yes its' good even with the lame dialogue in a few places. Action all the way and even though it's a long film it was entertaining throughout.
17.12.09 : The Axis of Awesome live album recording : Vanguard
This also was a recording show that had a similar feel as last night(see below). When Lee came out without his Scobby Doo outfit you could tell they didn't want any distractions or mistakes so that the show gets recorded properly, it was a shame after all that prep Lee's solo didn't work out. In actual fact everyone made a mistake but they'll fix it in post. You could also tell they were speaking very clearly so no words were lost. Even though it wasn't their usual shorter total bombardment of the audience in to laughing submission it was a big show with a lot of material. We started with their inter-band argument send up with band members being threatened to be replaced, but not by people but cardboard cutouts of the Twilight stars Edward and Jacob. They did a quick pole of who had seen them before and most of the crowd were repeat viewers which explained why the newer songs got a bigger cheer than the stuff they had heard before. Being that the venue is a music venue the music was very loud so I have to wear earplugs, this gives you the ability to hear everything accurately. Hats off to Benny Davis who never sings a dud note. Out of the thousands of bands I have heard you couldn't say that about most of those singers. The harmonies between Benny and Jordan are beautiful and that always feels strange in a comedy show when the singing is beautiful. What I found most funny was the banter between the songs, because I've heard most of them before, and Lee was on fire in that department with the voice-over of the fictitious CD advertising segments. That selling of the sing along CD was super funny, as they purposely picked songs where you couldn't understand the lyrics so you therefore you couldn't sing along. They played all the favourites, Bird-plane, Lee cries, Awesome song, etc and a couple I don't remember hearing before. They know to finish on a super high and used the popular 4 chord song which brought the house down. That song is like a snowball as it goes down a mountain picking up more and more songs. I find it more beautiful than funny now but it's always funny when you can hear the audience crackup and laugh about every 3 song snippets when they get amazed at how many songs fit the formula. Good show.
16.12.09 : Darren Carr : Laugh Garage
This show was the DVD recording of Australia's leading comic ventriloquist Darren Carr. There was a large crowd present but you find that audiences that attend recordings are usually a bit reserved which is understandable. Whether the crowd is usually fans that have heard the jokes before, or no one wants to muck up the recording so they stay quite, or the performer slows down the pace so as to not to make a mistakes, or the performer runs through all their material funny or not because it's an effort to set up all the equipment so they might as well use the opportunity to record everything and decide in the editing if it's funny enough. All this makes the show longer and less fast paced. As long as you understand that the show is targeting the DVD buyers and you are not going to get an intense ¾ hour show but a 2 hour recording it make sense. Even with all that is was a good show.
I'm no expert on ventriloquists as I have only seen David Strassman live about a year ago and I wouldn't rate that show too highly, maybe his earlier routines were better. I have seen Jeff Dunham on You Tube and his Achmed the Dead Terrorist with over 100 million views and find that very funny, but his other characters are a little flat for me. The first thing that hits you about Darren is he has a lot more puns and one-liners compared to the others, and that makes it funnier for me. The first routine was with a clone dummy of himself, and because he is a ventriloquist he made the dummy of himself do a ventriloquist act with a duck. But when he made the duck speak he moved the lips on the clone dummy so as to make it look like the dummy was very bad at it, kind of sending himself up. This routine was the funniest as he could rib himself, and he didn't just make fun of himself he even made fun of the absurdity of talking to what is in effect a lump of wood on a stick that's not real. His add-libbing with the audience was very sharp and in the next routine he got 2 audience members to act as dummies but with Sonny and Cher masks on with movable mouths, which the participants would open and close when Darren squeezed their shoulders. Even though the voices weren't correct for Sonny and Cher he made fun of it, which made it even funnier. The next part was with a baby dummy complete with baby jokes, then the Grandmother doll and finally the funny Grandfather dummy. Darren is very experienced and knew a lot of tricks to get laughs and would probably make a good comic even without the ventriloquist act. Good show that entertained everyone.
15.12.09 : Comedy : Zoo Bar
Unfortunately due to a lack of money I ended up at the free Zoo Bar again. The first half is the new comers, so it was repeats again, and because they don't have that much material the crowd didn't laugh at the same jokes they heard the week before. Matt Dyktynski was mild as host. Asher Treleaven was OK but also mild. Dave Eastgate put on a good show and was the best on the night.
13.12.09 : HaHa Alternative Comedy Variety Night : Roxbury Hotel
Carnovale & Culp(The Cloud Girls) opened with their odd routine and was followed by Dave Bloustien doing new material for his new show. Dave's shows are mainly captivating stories but he ripped out some puns that to his surprise got immediate laughs. As they say the shortest distance between 2 jokes is a pun. The rest of the first half was mainly the Uni comics. Nick Capper, who I think is average based on previous sets, ripped the first half of his set but then spoiled it with the last 2 jokes, as they wafted a bit. The second half was all Buster Daniels, unfortunately I have seen the stereotypical gay performer in cabaret so it was not funny for me.
13.12.09 : Genevieve Maynard : Sandringham Hotel - music
Wow, it's my 20th anniversary of seeing my first alternative band, Bughouse, with Gen in it. The first section was good with Gen singing her early solo stuff and then reforming half of Stella One Eleven(after 5 years) for Cindy Ryan to do some songs, unfortunately she only did 2, one from Stella's first album and one from her last album. The middle section was ex Stella Bow Campbell and Bernie Hayes and the final section was Gen with her new solo stuff.
12.12.09 : Wicked Women Christmas Party 2009 : Roxbury Hotel
Always excellent, was our host Jackie Loeb. Actually everyone was nice in the first half, which consisted of Linda Grasso, Delores Lorette, Tammy Tantschev and Kathryn Bendall, who has more material now and is a lot better than when I saw her last. The second half was mainly Amelia Jane Hunter. I wanted to see her at the Cracker festival but her show was cancelled so I was looking forward to seeing her, but unfortunately the noise started upstairs and I lost concentration. The crowd loved her though, as she got a big cheer at the end. Burlesque I don't understand but the dancers looked good in their costumes. Even though they were attractive, for me they looked better with their costumes on rather than off.
11.12.09 : The Invention of Lying - movie
Comedy, Fantasy, Romance : In a world where people never tell a lie and everyone takes everybody's statement as truth, a loser discovers the art of lying. It's a weird concept and you have to always keep it in your mind so as to reference the dialogue. They didn't explain why everyone had to blurt out a statement about the immediate impression they got from the other person by their looks. OK movie
08.12.09 : Comedy : Zoo Bar
OK, but too many repeats from last week at the same venue. Again Rhys Nicholson was the funniest and got the most applause. Greg Fleet was good but didn't get as many laughs here, as the crowd wasn't as good. Ben Elwood was OK and the new guy was tolerable.
06.12.09 : Kosher Theatresports : Bondi Pavilion - impro
Large elaborate show with a large enthusiastic crowd that is easily pleased and a large cast of armatures with a very low skill level. The skill level was obvious when the highest score in the first 2 rounds was a 2 and it got barely better in the third. The culling of 2 teams early helped but the highlights were far between. I would rate the first half a 1 and the second half an average 3. The pros were OK but some were out of practice as well. Not entertaining for me but the crowd liked it. Our host Susie Youseff was good.
03.12.09 : Comedy : Laugh Garage
I was expecting the worst, because of Fleety, but it ended up very good. A good crowd turned up and Dave Jory was the host. Dave always makes an effort no matter how bad the crowd is but tonight it was easy for him with the audience in laugh mode. We had a new comic from QLD and she was quite good. Peter Green was next, even though I have seen him over 30 times I always have a soft spot for his humour. The amusing thing for me is the audiences reactions, as I know the punchlines. Tonight's crowd was impressed and gave a good cheer at the end. I mainly came to see Greg Fleet but because he didn't turn up on 2 previous occasions I was expecting a disappointment. One at Sydney Uni which I didn't care about because I hadn't gone to see him. But the second in Paddington pissed me off as I made such a big effort to turn up. I haven't see Greg since he was an up coming comic at a big show held at Hermann's Bar probably over 10 years ago, Anh Do was just starting out and was on the bill also. Greg was actually very good and since it's been so long since I've seen him his routine was new again. A good show and a good pick me up.
02.12.09 : Shaun Micallef & Stephen Curry in Good Evening : SOH
This show is a tribute to the classic sketches of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore with Shaun playing Cook and Stephen playing Moore, but because Stephen doesn't play piano a special pianist would do the piano parts. I must say the comedy from back then is very different to today's stuff, in it's time it was probably hilarious but by today's standard it is smiley, chucklish humour, but there were a few really funny parts also. This is understandable because this show was done in 1974 and I am too young to remember the original stuff, and by looking at the majority of the audience they were in the same boat, so the sketches had to stand up on their own right for a current audience. The first introduction sketch was very funny it reminded me of upper class university humour in it's cleverness, as did most of the show. The second scene had Shaun playing the old father lecturing his modern son in the ways of the old days. Shaun was very animated and played the character to the hilt, which is his trademark, and this just adds to the show. The song "Hitler had one big ball" played but the pianist was a funny surprise. Most of the sketches were nice and had you captivated so when the lights came on it felt like the hour flew past, but I found out that was just the interval and there was another half. The second half is where the actual laughing picked up with the cab driver sketch, the sex education scene and the interview with the restaurant owner of the Frog and Peach, which is still very funny by today's standards. Shaun and Stephen made a few puns about how the show was going during the performance that got great laughs and maybe they should add more as a spoof. One pun from Stephen, directed to Shaun, reflected how maybe the humour didn't hold up too well against the test of time because of the lack of uproarious laughter from the audience, and felt like a rib at Shaun about his idea for this show maybe not being that good an idea, which everyone laughed at. Overall I liked the show, it was something different. It may not have got the uproarious laughter but it was still entertaining and worth it and seeing Shaun live has to be a bonus.
01.12.09 : Comedy : Zoo Bar
MC - Steve Philp with Smart Casual, Rhys Nicholson, Umit Bali, Seamus McAlary, Anthony Salame. Nice place, if a bit squeezey, professionally done with good comics and a OK crowd. The audience enjoyed themselves. Rhys again got the most laughs. Lots of repeats for me but at least I haven't seen Salame that many times so it was OK.
29.11.09 : Comedy : Local Taphouse
Trying different venues for a change to try and get over my lack of Mojo, my saturation comedy regime is making everything not funny. It's a small room and as usual I have seen everyone before. Only Rhys Nicholson stood out with his very well worked out routine maximized for laughs. I have seen him 3 times and the routine is word perfect from a script but to an outsider it feels very free and add-libish. A calculated routine that always gets the predictable cheers. I have only see Jack Druce on TV so I got to see a longer set and he was OK. When half the audience left at the break so did most peoples enthusiasm. The headliners struggled but belted it out just the same. Sam Makhoul always does those accents so well that I have trouble understanding him, but his jokes need more work. I think there was enough entertainment but the lack of crowd killed the show.
27.11.09 : Carlingford comedy cancelled went home
26.11.09 : Pulp2, Kings X Confidential : Factory Theatre - impro/play
This show is different to the original Pulp show. In the first half the characters are introduced one at a time and they tell the story of their character but adding a audience suggestion to the characters background, they then play out a scene based on their introduction story. In the second half all the characters are in one location where one character is murdered, like a dinner party murder mystery. The detective is introduced and travels through various scenes until he finds the murderer. I don't know if it was the small crowd or what but the show didn't have many laughs for me, it felt a bit disjointed. Everyone seemed to be doing their jobs but there was no spark. Must remember to go see shows on the weekend as the larger crowd adds more atmosphere. The only stand out was Amanda Buckley doing exaggerated characters with gusto, I don't know how she can just turn it on so easily. Jon Williams cutting character was good. Dave and Cale had this in joke about snatching guns from each other but I didn't get it. Should be better with a bigger crowd but not as much fun as the original Pulp.
25.11.09 : The Laugh Garage's Comedy Tribute Jam : Laugh Garage Syd
What a great night, jokes were flying all night and not just from the tribute-rs. Darren Sanders was on fire with the add-libbing and coupled with a great audience the funnies kept coming. There was a party of guys that BSed that they were dancers that kind of heckled but more joked all night ribbing Darren and themselves. Darren always had a comeback that even the group had to applaud because his replies were so clever. First up was Oliver Phommavanh doing Jerry Seinfeld unfortunately he didn't learn the material and just read it from Jerry's book, so the delivery was off, but one heckler explained Jerry is not that funny in real life anyway. Dom Romeo kicked butt doing Woody Allen, even though he couldn't do the voice that well it was a good joke with exaggerated delivery like Woody would do. Eric Hutton didn't do a Anthony Morgan joke but told a story of when he first saw him at the Harold Park Hotel and how Anthony put down a heckler. The second half started with Darren doing a send up of Rick Shapiro that killed. He didn't do the fanatical ramblings of Rick but the bumbling stage antics that Rick does, very funny. Ray Badran doing Peter Meisel was brilliant he got the voice impression perfect, shame he didn't do a longer set as the people that know Peter were dying with laugher, and the one that was laughing the most was Peter himself. Paul Warnes doing Bill Hicks was OK and Damian Smith doing Orny Adams was good. Mikey Mileos + Jarred Keane did a Mitch Hedburg joke-off that was also brilliant. Jarred was the better of the two as he memorised his lines and could add extra delivery. Gary Bradbury did Eddie Murphy in full costume and wig but the jokes weren't that funny because Eddie isn't that funny but Gary added all the mannerisms like Eddie's laugh and movements on stage that made it funny. The final scene was a rendition of Monty Python's classic Four Yorkshiremen originally written by Tim Brooke Taylor that the audience joined in on. A great night that I think would be hard to duplicate.
24.11.09 : Twilight - New Moon - movie
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy : Interracial vampiren relationship is not working out so Edward leaves Bella but Bella pines for Edward until Jacob somewhat steps in to fill the void. A lot of scenes dealing with emotions made it feel a bit long, action was OK but a bit sparse. It didn't have the magic of the first but that might just be me as the girls in the cinema were oohing and sighing.
23.11.09 : Melbourne ICF - New Talent Showcase : Comedy Store
It maybe called the Melbourne International Comedy Festival New Talent Showcase but some weren't new and most weren't from Melbourne. The unfortunate thing about going to the same venue for stand-up is the repeating of comics using the same routines constantly. The regulars were good even though I know their routines. Dave Williams(MC), Umit Bali, Matt Okine, Evan Donoghue, Mikey Mileos, but it was David Smiedt who I found funniest because he added new material in the form of crazily named products like Extreme Junkie cologne for men and Slag ice cream topping. I was there mainly for the new talent, as they would have new material I hadn't heard before. Shane Hunter did a long set because they forgot to put on the red 5 minute light. He had a lot of material and was good. Tammy was mild, Ben was very good. Rhys Nicholson was good with him telling the little known facts about homosexually and how it's not that glamorous. Emma Zammit was also nice. I held up pretty well in the 3 hours but I think I prefer the shorter 1½ hours at other venues.
22.11.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - Repêchage : Factory Theatre - impro
I was a bit surprised that the sex dungeons didn't make this show as they were the only ones I found consistently entertaining. I was wondering if I should even go but I thought I might as well tough it out. This was for the last 2 places in the final and it didn't start out that well with most teams scoring a 2 in the first third but it picked up in the last two thirds. Some of the veteran players looked like they didn't even want to be there and yet others hammed it right up. Kudos to Dave Callan for hamming up his scenes and jumping on in other teams scenes. His reading from a novel in the Paris scene killed and his alien costume in the background of the New Anagram team, when they were doing that great space karate jazz hands scene, just added extra. There has been a trend of using less props than the old days so maybe more costumes would add more entertainment as it certainly did this night. Kudos to Berynn Schwerdt for his mime the old school way, very accurate and succinct so you had no doubt that he was casting a fishing rod in the fishing scene, unlike his team mate that always does mimes that I have trouble working out. The Future Unlimited team were good all night but not brilliant and when Jordan wanted another truth scene to end the night there was a collective groan from the back. Luckily Steen Raskopoulos and Carlo Ritchie delivered the boring truth lines with over the top with exaggerated delivery that made it funny where is seems Jordan thinks the boring lines have to be delivered boringly. The scene was good enough just not good enough to win. Kudos also to Benny Davis who was put on the spot, by the What no Gravy team, and turned the scene around and played the team like puppets.
21.11.09 : 2012 - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : The Sun's solar flares microwave the insides of the Earth and all the land masses fall apart. Modern style disaster movie in that it's not that serious, laughable in places. Bigger than the biggest, in fact bigger than all the disaster movies rolled together, yet nothing special. OK but more for first timers of the genre.
19.11.09 : Sam Simmons, Problems : SOH
The show was more weird weird rather than funny weird. I can't really convey any time line about what happened as it was so scattered but the jist of the show was about problems, more about preposterous problems. There was a couch on stage to signify the stuff we find down behind the cushions, and these items popped up all night, I don't know how it related to problems. He had a large artists sketch pad that he had filled with drawn pictures and stuff glued to it that he flipped through to tell some surreal random story. One picture had a butterfly looking thing with koolmint testicles and I was looking at it for 10 seconds wondering why it had testicles before I got that it was mothballs, a minute later he explained it to the audience as they didn't get it initially. He had a Lego man(things you find behind the couch reference) on a string that he would raise and lower with a small spotlight trying to follow the movements while he sung the problem song, this reoccurred about 4 times. He said we should make problems for other people like going into a $2 shop and looking for a very obscure item, he used a horse thermometer. Then come back the next day and ask an assistant if they had a horse thermometer. The assistant would be really excited because they had such a hard to find item, but then telling them it was the wrong colour and deflate there enthusiasm. I was OK some minor chuckles but I'm glad I got free tickets, with the SOH transaction fee it would have been $30.
19.11.09 : Denise Scott, Number 26 : SOH
The show started mildly and I think the young guy next to me must of been thinking he shouldn't have been there as the comedy is not his demographic, as was I, but it just got funnier and funnier and funnier, by half way through the young guy was killing himself. The show is a condensed life story from her book and started without an introduction, which I don't like because at least it gives you a signal when to clap. Denise and her husband just bought their first home, hence number 26, and she hated it but it was all they could afford. Then soon after she had kids, which her husband enlisted into his new circus of kids that he started as a business when he quit work. After that the show really took of when she started talking about sex. The big shock was when Denise admitted to having an affair and then continued to the lame attempts her and her husband used to try to give their kids some sex education, which totally embarrassed the kids and themselves. The show ended on a sad note about her mother but she added enough jokes to make all right. A good show that had you enthralled throughout, quite up lifting.
18.11.09 : Comedy : Lord Ragland
As from my last report this is a tough room and the crappy PA doesn't help. The only comics that got a laugh were Clint Paterson(MC) Ben Ellwood, Mikey Mileos and the armature Dick Kiss, actually Richard Kiss. All the rest were average.
17.11.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
The packed out room was going off all night at a top line show. Harley Breen hosted and ripped it up. Same with Umit Bali and Dave Jory. Jarred Christmas(NZ) was given a massive cheer as he tore it up. Wil Anderson, who everyone came to see, also brought down the house with all the best parts from his shows. The normal Wil shows are OK but when you put all the best parts together you get a very tight non stop laugh fest up there with the best. I was a bit confused when he said he was not going to do any of this material again and was going to write all new material, which is a bit strange as it took 12 years of many different shows he's written to get to this solid set. You better see this one before it's gone. I think he is doing the Laugh Garage also.
15.11.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - 2nd semi : Factory Theatre - impro
Unfortunately I can't tell you much as I walked out at half time, I'm a bit short and couldn't see. Sex Dungeons with their one gold coin scene and their bridge building philosopher scene got the most laughs, so the crowd must of found them the most entertaining, but the leading team used the easy point musical games to get a good lead.
14.11.09 : The Time Traveler's Wife - movie
Drama, Fantasy, Romance : A man has a genetic fault that makes him randomly time travel, usually around his wifes time line. I covers the whole gamut of emotions, happy, sad, surprising, etc. I liked it better than Benjamin Button. Very good
12.11.09 : One Man Lord of the Rings : Comedy Store
Unfortunately I can't tell you if this show was good or bad. Due to my policy of never watching a movie at home as there's no time and it's easy to be distracted, like channel surfing between commercials. I usually end up only seeing a movie once and that's when it gets released at the cinema. The movies are oldish now(6-3 years) and there is about 9 hours of material so it's always going to be hard for an older person who now only remembers movies as a blur these days and needs a reminder just to jog the memory. I think a lot of people were in the same boat as many did not react throughout and only the same people would laugh. Right from the start I was totally lost. What I can tell you was the audience reaction, Charles Ross got solid applause like the show was good but not the loud exuberant cheering that said it was brilliant. Just from an outsider looking in Charles was very animated and worked hard falling over numerous times and having to pick himself up and running back and forth, etc. He did all the music, effects and dialogue, his voice impersonations were spot on so you could tell which character he was doing. The funniest parts were when he added extra dialogue to spoof the scene, like at the end when Frodo just threw the ring into the fire and was recovering from the ordeal and there was a heart felt dialogue between him and Sam, that's when Charles added the line from Sam " Are we gay" and Frodo puckering his lips. I think this spoofing is a good idea and someone should do a movie replay with spoofs throughout rather than just replay it. It looks like you can't rely on this performance to jog your memory you need an intimate knowledge of the movie to enjoy it.
11.11.09 : Three Erotic Short Plays : UNSW - play
I like this show because I related with the 2 plays written by Peter van Vliet. The first one was called OT Home Visit, it was about a bike rider that had a fall and was being visited by the Occupational Therapist during his recuperation, when a spark ignites. The characters mainly delivered a inner monologue from their perspective rather than actually acting against each other, but they did do some small interactions in places. I liked this one the best, as I know a bit about petrol heads, and the sex parts were handled subtly rather than just being gratuitous and blunt, sometimes used to get shock valve, I suppose that is why it's an erotic play. The second one, 58 Railway Street, was about a bus driver in a loveless marriage who ends up visiting a sex worker for love. I know some people in this situation also and can relate with this one too. This one was very captivating and had you listening intently. The third one was about a widow's unexpected sexual encounter with a younger man called Winsome Webster. This one I couldn't relate to at first but by the time it got to sexy time things hotted up. A captivating night performed well.
10.11.09 : Comedy: Comedy Store
Daniel Townes was on his usual duties and hosted again. This guy is always good and tonight was no exception. Dolores Lorette was the MILF from hell with very confronting material. It's funny when guys get to the sickening stuff I don't bat an eyelid but when girls talk about squishy substances it makes you feel awkward. The laughs didn't come that freely but she was OK. The fast talking Umit Bali was also good but was trying new material so the laughing was a bit patchy in places. Jarred Christmas(NZ) was also good. Lastly was John Moloney(UK) who delivered traditional jokes, which is how comedy was done back in the day, and this is the comedy I find the funniest. The jokes are mainly one liners with an exaggerated scenario. A good night.
08.11.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - 1st semi : Factory Theatre - impro
It was kind of a strange result, the Future Unlimited Champion Knights jumped to the lead by going hard in the 1st round and I thought they did enough all night to stay in front but the Mexicans ran them down to just pip them at the post. It was really a toss up as they were both pretty equal. Amanda Buckley's quick thinking to come up with a split personality secretary/Britney Spears character was clever. The Mexicans also utilised Amanda's singing talent on 2 occasions, musicals aren't my favourite but because of it's difficulty it scores the points. And to top it off she turned in to a pocket dynamo and cart-wheeled across the stage and did the splits to finish off the scene. It was also good to see Lee Naimo return to his good form and come up with the crazy remarks. The Future Unlimited team were the most entertaining all night but maybe not that technically accurate according to the judges. Everyone in the team took turns to put out a killer, Carlo Ritchie's annoying interrupting father and boring dingy captain was very funny. Steen Raskopoulos's Greek on a jet-ski with sub woofers killed. Jordan Raskopoulos crazy French sheep manipulator was also very funny. And in the last scene someone came up with the idea that one player would have to hold their face under water in a bucket of ice water that they found behind the stage, until someone tapped on the bucket to swap players. As you would expect it was shear mayhem, they couldn't handle the cold water for long so they were swapping players constantly, water was being sprayed everywhere, Jane Simmons had to put up her umbrella, Jordan's face turned red from the cold, there was water everywhere, it was shear pandemonium but very funny. A New Anagram Every Time were nice but no match for the leading two and Right Lane Must Turn Left showed some bright sparks from a young team.
What was disappointing was the poor audience turn out. I know the heats aren't always great and the audience has been dwindling but the semis and the other shows that are just meant to entertain, eg, Prequels and Sequels, Impranos, etc, are still very good but I think lack marketing.
07.11.09 : Angie Hart : Raval - music
Looks very different and acts very different to when I first saw her 18 years ago supporting Deb Conway's great String of Pearls album in Balmain. Everyone panned Frente for being superficial but in actual fact they changed a generation in to a happy generation, it seems the critics think you have to make people feel bad to be good. Back then venues were always full people watching bands felt like they were in a special group with a common interest and treated strangers in that group as friends, like if someone stood in front of you they would ask if they were blocking your view but even if they did no one would complain as everyone was so polite. Well the critics got what they wanted, as Angie now covers the old favourites in a slow and sombre mode. It looks like Angie is not happy any more, she used to always smile and seem happy. The happy generation is dead and the world is sadder for it.
06.11.09 : I ♥ IMPROmance - Show 1/6 : Roxbury Hotel - impro
On paper it sounded like a good idea but sometimes the theme ends up the restriction. When you think about it's always going to end in sexy time and all the squishiness involved, and that is usually avoided in impro. We started off with the energetic Steve Lynch hosting the night and introducing the 3 boys and 3 girls and assigned them endowments from audience suggestions, eg Spanish ninja, OCD sufferer, 41 year old risk assessor, etc. The first round was a speed dating round which the players could display their endowments and when they got stuck they could ding the bell for the next speed dater. This section didn't go too well, I don't know if the cast didn't portray their characteristics well or because we knew the characteristics already or there is just not much to do while speed dating. Round 2 had them going on a date and things picked up somewhat. Last round they went to a romantic location, which was better again. It felt like they couldn't do that much with their given main characters but went to town with the walk-on extras. Dave Callan with his arrogant French character started the ball rolling, which got the other veterans going, and he kind of stole the show. Amanda Buckley started slow but came good, again with walk-on extras and the same with Grant Davis. The younger players were a bit disappointing, they fulfilled their characters OK but no real spark. They probably do more impro than anyone else, a show every week and some have been there for a couple of years, maybe it's the way they were taught, I don't know. I expected teething problems but in the end the veterans made the show OK, but it needs more work.
06.11.09 : Scenes from Communal Living : Factory Theatre - impro
The show started with everyone walking on like it was a live recording of a TV show and then everyone striking the pose, like on their promotional poster, something like Friends but on a couch. The show uses suggestions and does 5 to 10 minute scenes, always relating to a share house, hence the name. We are warned that the scenes could go either way be it funny, sad, serious, etc. The first scene is a bomb shell when the boyfriend of a couple is stolen away by the dubious intentions of the girlfriends weightlifting father, funny. Another one was some ocker boys steel a police car. There was a lot of swearing, as westies do, that we aren't used to on stage but it ended very funny when they pushed it in to the believable ridiculous. It's very important to be believable when doing ridiculous stuff or justify it or it ends up unrelatable and just plain ridiculous. In another, a couples boyfriend acted irresponsibly and gambled away $1400. Emily Beale went in to her serious acting and put in a very confronting performance in their breakup. It was a bit too good as I felt uncomfortable watching it. Susie Youssef did a extremely funny skit being lost in a doona in the funny interview of a flatmate. Carlo Ritchie finally got to shine at the end with the all in scene when a flat mate broke the urn of his mothers ashes. Again Steen Raskopoulos was the best, adding unexpected elements to the scenes that I like. Graham Hyland also surprised, he started slow in the first scene but soon went into comedy mode and shlucked it up for the rest of the show, very good. Rachel Corbett showed versatility and was nice everywhere. Overall the show was good. I got the impression there was 2 groups, the serious actors and the crazy and wacky group that wanted to take things to extremes but couldn't because it's set in a house, which by it's very nature limits how crazy you can get. I'm always going to be bias towards the funny.
05.11.09 : Comicide, Bisketchtenary : Roxbury Hotel - sketch
I went to see Comicide when it started in 2007 and thought it was so so, but this one I liked. The show is a sketch show and has a different cast now, Dan Ilic must of passed it on. They were celebrating their 200th sketch and what better it finish off the 200th with a Benny Hill Yakety Sax moment. The news desk in the old one I didn't like but this one was very good, even the lame puns were funny when everyone groaned at them. The sketches were generally longer and a couple didn't end on a high but you still laughed through out the skit. It's strange how this one has such a different style compared to the Ducklings. The younger Ducklings have a weird, unpredictable, exuberant style where's Comicide is more calculating and surreal at times. I probably will come again but with a coffee injection.
04.11.09 : Comedy : Lord Ragland
Unfortunately I was misinformed and plans fell through so I had to switch to plan B and go across a couple of suburbs to an old haunt. It's a dingy pub in a rough area with a comedy night run by Seizure Kaiser. Seizure was mild, the host was OK, but the others were not funny at all. Lastly was Jonas Holt, I knew Jonas very well from the Bridge Hotel. About 10 years ago Christine Adams moved the comedy from the Harold Park Hotel, when it closed down, to the Bridge and Jonas used to be a regular. Back then Jonas was a brilliant up and coming comic, but I think life got in the way, so comedy had to take 2nd fiddle. Jonas is still very funny and had me laughing, and also the room, in fact he was the only one to get laughs. It must be nostalgia day, hadn't seen Jonas for about 6 years, hadn't been to the Ragland for maybe 10 years and hadn't been to that cinema for around 15 years. Even with Jonas it was still a depressing night when things didn't work out.
This is how fast Jonas goes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq0sQ3LDO-U
04.11.09 : The Box - movie
Drama, Fantasy, Mystery : The mysterious Arlington Steward delivers a moral dilemma in the form of a box with a button. Push the button and you get 1 million dollars, but someone you don't know must die. I was wondering how they were going to stretch the original 20 minute short story "Button, Button" that I saw 23 years ago on the Twilight Zone, out to 2 hours. They did it by using the original story as a precursor to another story. It was good, but in a different way than the original that scarred me.
03.11.09 : Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - movie
Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy : 1000 year old Doctor Parnassus has a travelling sideshow with a cheap mirror that is controlled by his mind that amplifies the imagination of those who enter. He makes a pact with the devil to collect 5 soles or lose his daughter on her 16th birthday. Too long, slow and laborious. Not much Imaginarium scenes and not that imaginative while inside. Not worth waiting 2 hours for the twist at the end. Give it a miss.
01.11.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - heat 10 : Factory Theatre - impro
Sex Dungeons and Sex Dragons were sharper, faster, more animated, enthusiastic, and the most consistent all night, shame they didn't win, or at very least the point spread shouldn't have been so big. The guide movie replay scene with the depressed hunter scene was good and it meet all the required technical elements they had to cover, even adding the bad script reading, it was technically accurate so should of scored higher in technique. The classic in a minute doing Alice in wonderland was good, the vampire potion wedding was so out there and really good. Only in the opera at the end they forgot to sing all the way through but luckily only lost a couple points for technique. Future Unlimited Champion Knights again using the acronym joke again this year started slowly in the first half, as did all the other teams except the dungeon team, but cranked it up in the second half with something different by doing a speak for the other player scene. Each player had to provide the voice of another player while they moved their mouth, like a cheap ventriloquist act. They did a dog kidnap scene with a very good scobby doo impression for the dog. Victims of Improvity were not too bad when they started ramping it up. The Avengers were flat all night.
31.10.09 : Puppy Fight Social Club: HALLOWEEEEN : Roxbury Hotel - impro
This is another Puppy fight that didn't gel with me and with the incessant din from the party upstairs I couldn't even hear if the audience was laughing. One good thing about the larger shows they mix it up and had stand-ups doing a small routine to get ideas off. Kitty Flanagan was first to do a routine, she thought it was a short slot doing new material, but in fact she had to tell a short story about the suggested word (Leopard). She cam up with Cougars, mature women, and took a small section from her routine. Kitty is always a professional and had big laughs going right from the start. My goodness does that girl ever age, she looks the same as in the mid 90's when I was standing next to her at one of her sisters gigs at the Cat and Fiddle. David Cunningham was next comic after the Puppy Fight team's improvising. David's routine is more like a comedy lecture on history. I won't say David is a liar but DAVID IS A LIAR!, maybe I will say it, lets just say his stories are highly unlikely. Archaeologist finding a ancient Egyptian dildo from the 5th century BC, possible. It being made out of highly polished stone, possible. Being inscribed with the words "For her pleasure", preposterous. That's the trick with David, knowing when it gets ridiculous, and that's why he's so funny. I got the joke but it seems the audience didn't know David style and though it was real. Next up was the challengers impro set. Lastly was the delightful Alice Fraser with that diminutive singing voice, a bit louder would help me, singing her robot song and followed by the newish stalker song. Well, like her hero, she punched the ear off that set and got a great cheer. The final impro was an all in with both teams.
31.10.09 : The Roxbury Horror Show : Roxbury Hotel - show
This is the third instalment from the Cabaret Merlot troupe and again it was nice. Stand outs were Keira Daley with her diva song, very funny and well executed. Jon Williams with his green Frankenstein monster that mumbled a line in the chorus when accompanying I think Tim de Sousa, it killed. The Time Warp was a crowd pleaser. Jacqui Greenfield and Keira sang beautifully but I don't remember them doing any harmonies together, which is usually a crowd melter. Surprise of the night was Keira's outfit, I didn't think just a costume would have such a big effect, I think the crowd was taken aback by it. Also Paul Geddes(keyboards) getting pantsed the hard way was for the ladies. And the versatile Jon finished the night off with a full song. A nice change.
30.10.09 : The Pajama Men : Metro
From the small amount of research I did I thought this is sketch comedy but when half the improvisers from Sydney turned up I was wondering if this was impro. They did the Leopold sketch I saw on YouTube indicating it was sketch but in places they laughed at each other as if they were improvising and the other person found something they said unexpected and funny. There was one place where one of the guys did a serenade to an audience member that looked like impro. There was a lot of stories running at once, that I thought were just skits, but they merged them at the end like impro. There was no impro setups, which is what made me unsure, so you would really have to see the show twice to tell if it's either or both, probably both. Overall the show was smile humour but some sections were hysterical. The time lapse simulation of a sex scene killed. The thumb wrestling was funny, they would actually thumb wrestle and it was like the camera zoomed in to their thumbs so their whole bodies became the thumb and they wrestled with all appendage tight to their bodies and only able to bend in the middle to simulate the thumbs. The serenade was funny and so was the audience participation of the mouth sucking noise, it was how he said, gross. They were filming the show for a DVD and did some extras at the end of their old material, like the aeroplane gag, that was funniest of all. Nice show.
29.10.09 : The Bedroom Philosopher : The Vanguard
Smart casual started and was just as good as ever. I think the crowd was very surprised at how good, as they probably hadn't see them before. They got the loudest laughs of the night and do surprising beautiful harmonies in the brief instances where they do them. The opening joke is a cracker and had Nick and Ben introducing themselves as Fletcher Jones and Roger David, actual sellers of smart casual attire. The Bedroom Philosopher doing his full routine was quite a bit different than when I saw him 2 days ago, all I can say there was heaps of content. He talks so fast, does so much, and is hyper, that the show seems longer than it is, very high number of words per minute. For me the show was more smile humour rather than actual laughing. I had a problem with the songs as the guitar was so loud that I had to wear earplugs and then couldn't hear the words that well, but that was probably only me. I liked his Post Modern song and his Acronymphomanic song sending up the meat related SNAG acronym by making up more, was very good, and his In My Day song sending up old people was great. The songs seemed longer compared to tuesday, like we got a preview on tuesday and the full version today, sure there was more content but no more substance. I think he should make them shorter so it has more impact, as he certainly has enough material to fill his slot. I liked the jokes between the songs better. I liked the first hour but the 5 encore songs got to me. By the last extended add-lib song, where he walked through the downstairs crowd up the stairs to the mezzanine and back down, I was pretty pissed. It was a good show but you may need to be on speed to get it all.
28.10.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Junior Tennis : Hermann's Bar- impro
It was the first show back since Jordan's accident and emotions still run high, which is understandable. Jordan was like a piece of the furniture so the show will always remind you of the bad thing that happened. Even I was having second thoughts and had an escape plan, but I realised Jordan wouldn't have been here so often if he didn't enjoy it, so we are only doing what he liked to do anyway. It's easy to put the sad thoughts foremost, especially for his fellow performers with that running through their heads, but we also had a lot of really fun times and hopefully every-ones mojo will come back.
Tonight's show was nice. The first half had a lot of first timers, I wonder where they keep coming from. Jeremy Yao didn't have such a controlling team mate this time so could control the scene, and it ended up rather nice. The 2nd team did a lot of miming till they found their feet but there was a section when one character phoned up the other character, who just did a voice over off stage, about why he was late in visiting him. You could tell straight away from the voice of the character off stage that he was stand offish and trying to avoid him. It was done so well it was extremely funny. The last team wheT in to an inappropriate child relationship area that had people laughing at the groaning, as everyone realised they shouldn't be going there. The second half was a huge 40 minute spooktacular Halloween scene staring Steen Raskopoulos, Ben Jenkins, Pat Magee and Bridie Connell who put together a great tapestry of scenes that thoroughly entertained. A good finish to a good night.
27.10.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
I was a bit peeved when I read that The Bedroom Philosopher was on tonight, I had just bought tickets for his forth coming solo show. The Bedroom Philosopher was our host but I was having trouble understanding him, that's when I realised the PA isn't that clear, maybe that's the problem I have with this venue. It seems the closer to the stage the less of a problem it is, yet I heard the other fairly well. The Philosopher is part musical act and was OK, from what I could make out. His clap along song fooled everyone, as he keep changing the beat so everyone would get lost trying to follow. First up was Rys Nicholson(sorry if the name is wrong, as I don't remember stuff that well) he does his gay routine with all the gory details and is very funny. Luke and Wyatt was next, also a musical act, and was excellent, their potato song killed and their 45 song was fun. The second half started with Matt Okine, who did his usual solid performance with great add-libbing. Lastly was Matt Kirshen(UK) who is what I refer to as a real comic, just telling us funny stuff rather than ramming some rhetoric down our throats. He explained how his family is part Jewish but likes bacon. So to get around that they don't eat bacon at home but eat it when they go out, as if the house doesn't know, they are not breaking any rules. But even that lapses when they order pizza home delivered, they get around that by putting newspaper down on the table to protect the house from bacon. Another Jewish rule is that dairy is not allowed to touch meat, so if you had a fork that picked up cheese and it touched meat it had to be thrown away, or to get around that it had to be buried for 3 days. This had his mother constantly burying and digging up utensils. Matt was nice and the jokes were good simple funny stuff. Good show
26.10.09 : Impro Show Trial : Roxbury Hotel - impro
All I had to go by was they were trialling a new show and filming it at the Roxbury and it was free. So using my motto "I'll try anything once" I went down for a look. It was a surprise when I saw 3 professional cameras set up and a lot of comics and improvisers. I deduced this might be for TV, even though there was no explanations. Lawrence Mooney was hosting, the members of the impro troupe had Heath Franklin, Sammy J, Dave Callan, Rebecca De Unamuno and 2 guys I didn't know(probably from Melb), plus the uni regulars of Steen Raskopoulos, Carlo Ritchie, and in the audience watching was Felicity Ward and Jordan Raskopoulos. The show consisted of short form impro with games from Theatresports that lasted about 1 hour. On the whole the show was pretty average. I would say it would not be good enough for commercial TV networks, it was barely acceptable as a impro show. In it's current form, that we saw, it would only make the community channel at a level slightly higher than the current impro show on Channel31. Even the enthusiastic crowd laughed a lot at first, because they wanted to laugh, as was evident when they were laughing at things that weren't funny, but by half way they realised it wasn't that entertaining and their applause died with their enthusiasm. There seemed like there was pressure on the players and they were artificially rushing. In fact it looked like the cast got the usual stage fright scenario when put in front of a large audience, like a Cranston final. Some went totally blank, which you can understand for the young players, but the pros weren't much better, they were just putting out the minimum to get through the scene. The history of pure impro on TV has been very poor. The first one was on the ABC in the late 90's, I remember Steve Johnson was in it plus 3 others. The first 3 episodes were OK but by the fourth it had lost steam and was canned soon after. The other pure impro one is on C31 and it's not very entertaining, mainly due to it's players not being of a high proficiency. Another flop was Andrew O'Keefe's show that was patchy at best. The most successful, Thank God Your Here, is not pure impro but is entertainment first and impro second. Maybe if they record 10 hours and edit it down to 1 hour it would be entertaining for TV. There were a few chuckles in places, Sammy J was surprisingly good, Heath and Dave were OK, but I would have to give man of the match to Steen. It was like he said "f__k it" this is either going to work or fall flat on it's face but I'm going to do something to turn this show around and it worked and he got the most laughs and honest ones. Not great impro, just acceptable.
A lot of impro doesn't transfer to video very well, like they were funny live but you watch it back on video and it's not funny. But it can be done. This is how it's done with Tom Dunstan doing a narcotic replay that was funny live and is still very funny on video today.
Sorry the link doesn't work anymore.
25.10.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - heat 8 : Factory Theatre- impro
I have to hand it to the Mexicans of Jon Williams, Amanda Buckley and sub Ben Jenkins who did the hardest thing in impro and that's come out hard from the blocks. Most teams find their feet in the first round and just get through, but the Mexicans kicked the scene in the nuts. This is a very good ploy as you can make a lot of points early that no else capitalises on and it makes it hard for other teams to catch up. They also ripped up all the first 3 rounds to get a huge lead by half time. I have to hand it to Ben for being "ON" all the time, he wasn't afraid to take the scene by the scruff of the neck and injected that quirky clever fast paced uni humour that added another dimension to the regular show. I think Amanda was relieved to not have to start every scene, which she does so well, as Ben helped out in that department also. The start of the second half is the hosts challenge and the Mexican got the dreaded "truth scene". I think this game should be banned as it's certain death and not entertaining. They battled through with Ben trying to inject something but as usual it's nearly imposable to be funny, I think the judges realise that the game is crap and gave extra points as compensation for it being unworkable. I thought Grant Davis was going to sabotage this team again with a "all or nothing" game. He did one last year where they wanted the scene scored all or nothing, a 5 or 0, and it backfired. But this game was different in that he wanted all the players to talk at the same time or not talk at all. It was a new game for me and was very funny. Hats off to the Scared Scriptless, Right Lane Must Turn Left, team for being pretty good and even beating a team of regulars.
24.10.09 : Improvise This : UNSW - impro
The gang is an enthusiastic group that give it a go. Their skill level isn't as good as Sydney Uni, with it's larger impro history. Whether it's because they don't have the resources, experts, or just time to practice, I don't know. It's more a show where they try stuff in a familiar environment to see what happens and to learn. It didn't help when some of the suggestions were from a time before some of them were even born. Some stuff didn't work and made you realise how difficult impro is and some scenes were not too bad, overall it was entertaining for me and I had a good time. One smart idea was they had a large projector screen behind them and they shuffled through Google images and put up photos to set the backdrop for the stage, they just need to perfect the search as you can see it happening, it could be brilliant with a bit of sorting, shame no players used it for inspiration. Ryan Withers and team mate were the best, he seems a bit of a natural and with a bit of work who knows.
23.10.09 : Moon - movie
Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi : One man is stationed on the moon to oversee a mechanised mining operation when things go bad. Similar to old 70's Sci-Fi but ends a bit more optimistically. The old ones always ended in some profound way that if we don't change our ways we will all be doomed. You can work out the plot before it's revealed, but it's still OK. Don't expect a Hollywood Blockbuster.
21.10.09 : Michael Winslow(USA) : The Basement
8 years ago I said I would never go to the Basement again and I now remember why. I pad a lot of money to stand at the back and not see a show but just hear it, luckily I got a great seat tonight. Cam Knight was the host and he killed with the add-lib at the start, his regular routine wasn't exactly for the crowds demographic but it was still good. What can you say about Michael Winslow, even if the show was bad you still got to see someone you grew up with from the big screen in all those Police Academy films. So when the actual show was good, and in some places amazing, it was a bonus. He started off with the Chinese restaurant gag, which is old, but I hadn't heard it for years so it was like it was new again, that Chinese music at the end killed. He does not only sounds but impressions as well, he did Cheech & Chong, Dr Phil, etc. The first snippet of a song, Black Sabbath, freaked the crowd out as it was so good and the songs only got better from here. The noisy neighbour playing duf-duf music was great, you felt like you were in a night club and then stepping outside where the sound muffles and goes quite but is still audible. Then came the shock of the night, the Led Zeppelin medley, it was so amazingly accurate. It started with Immigrant Song, with mad guitar and vocals, switched to Whole Lotta Love with that crazy ghost vocals like from the original album, I think Robert Plant had his headset turned up too high as you can hear vocals in the background, and finished with the bass riff from Dazed and Confused. The crowd went nuts at how accurate it was. Next came a video of the dogfight scene in the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars but with Michael doing all the effects and the dialogue. He changed the words to make it more comedic but his Harrison Ford and Luke Skywalker impressions were perfect. His Princess Leia wasn't perfect but it was funnier that way. Next was a small scene of going through a checkout followed by that great Jimi Hendrix song. The songs were the highlight for me, they were just so accurate, you could hear the difference between Hendrix's Fender Strat and Page's Gibson Les Paul Sunburst and I think that is what stunned the audience, just the accurate reproductions of the sounds. He finished with Louis Armstrong's Wonderful World. It was a great night that allowed me to forget about thing for at least a 1¼ hours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31kdfa_iCis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wga1nLKVlRs
20.10.09 : Arj Barker(USA) @ the Roundhouse : UNSW
Still feeling a bit down, I unfortunately bought a ticket a while ago and was kind of obliged to go. I was sitting there waiting and dreading being there and was wondering if I should just leave. I was disappointed to find out Joel Osborne was the host, but he came up with some new stuff that was very good. Ryan Whithers was next, last time I saw him he didn't go down too well, but tonight he was on fire and got a huge cheer. I felt better now. Nick Cappa was next and his quirky long winded jokes didn't go down too well with the crowd. The 2nd half started with Joel switching back to his regular routine, which I find average, but the crowd liked it. Lastly was Arj Barker. I remember the early days when he first came to Sydney and was doing pub shows. The 1st time I saw him was at the Oatley Hotel and was blown away by how funny he was and how well he add-libbed, but every subsequent show has not lived up to that night and tonight was the same. He has these long setup stories that lead to a ludicrous punchline that's very funny. It's like long sections of no laughing followed by a short intense sections of laughing. It's the lead up that gets to me, it feels like a low number of jokes per minutes. As an example he did a Lance Armstrong joke that had 5 minutes of lead up about how brave and strong this guy is. Arj's joke at the end was
"Lance Armstrong is an AMAZING! man" (pause)
"The guy LOST! one testicle to CANCER!" (pause)
"He WON! 7 Tours de France" (pause)
"He is 40 years old and is GOING! for an 8th win." (pause)
"It takes a man with a lot of STRENGTH! to do something like that, in fact it take a man with a real BALL! to do that"
He used the singular of balls to reference it back to Lance's one testicle. If he just told the joke instead of so much pre-story I would like the show better. Half the show was from previous shows and half was new to me, the new stuff was mainly about sex, which I liked because it was fresh. I think my love affair with Arj is over, but that's just me, the crowd cheered so they must have loved it. I shouldn't complain it was still nice and a lot cheaper than usual.
19.10.09 : Powerhouse Museum
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1231923752008&set=a.1231922991989&type=3&theater
18.10.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - heat 7 : Factory Theatre - impro
As a nice touch John Knowles told us that this show plus others at the World Funniest Island were dedicated to Jordan McClellan, he sounded shaky and must have been affected by the news as all that knew Jordan. As usual the scoring seemed a bit patchy but the outcome wouldn't have changed. The most experienced team were the best all night but the scores should have been closer. The musical scene they did from an audience suggestion of Jet-ski started well but lost momentum soon after, yet was scored highly. It was good to see the Sydney University team keep strong through sad circumstances and put on a good show. I loved their 2nd scene, as it was a bit surreal. One player tried to use an unusual accent for the detective but it sounded a bit like a duck, so the 2nd player called him Detective Duck as a joke to his strange accent, then the 1st player took on duck attributes to carry the joke further. It was a similar trick that Tom Dunstan used in the old days and I though it was very funny but one judge scored it a 2, I think it was a 3 - 4 at least. Maybe he thought it was too abstract for a conventional audience, yet other surreal scenes were scored higher yet weren't as good but who understands the technique judge anyway. They also got another crime endowments scene, which worked so well at the University show, but this time Michael Hing looked a bit confused, due to the clues being so cryptic, but he got it together in the end to finish on a high. Also kudos for attempting a backward scene, which is very difficult, and starting from such a small idea. Surprise for me was the Cloud Girls, Jennifer Carnovale and Madeline Culp, who were rather good, they must of had done impro before. Kudos to the uni boys for putting their dignity on the line by following Patrick Magee's instructions to jump the kelp forest in the ballet scene and splitting their pants.
17.10.09 : Jordan McClellan
I just read that email this morning and I can't believe it, I was just watching him a couple of days ago in that brilliant speak in one voice scene. Jordan was the coolest of the cool, he had that grab the scene by the throat ability with those fast and succinct actions that made things happen. There just seemed like there was so much more he was going to achieve. A tear from a stranger is all I can offer. Sympathies to all family and friends.
Jordan 15.10.09
A short video of the night
Theatresports grand final entrances
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=164772629784&ref=mf
round 1 watch out cyborgs
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=165003464784
16.10.09 : Couples Retreat - movie
Comedy : Four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation realize that participation in the resort's therapy sessions is not optional. I didn't find it funny
15.10.09 : Sydney Uni Theatresports GRAND FINAL!!! : Manning Bar
Six teams battled it out in TheatreSports style in front a large crowd producing a very entertaining show. As usual, Steen Raskopoulos was our host and is always good in these big shows. Some teams were new to impro and would have trouble against the experienced teams but they did a good job nevertheless. Only one scene was nearly a dud and guess what, it was Jordan Raskopoulos(who was judging) favourite game, a truth scene, which rarely works. As was expected the powerhouse players from the Project 52 squad went to the final with Sex Dungeons and Sex Dragons (Tom Walker, Michael Hing, Patrick Magee) beating Mem Fox All Stars (Ben Jenkins, Carlo Ritchie, Alex Lee). For me it felt like the Mem Fox All Stars should of won as their scene was more entertaining but I think the novelty of the new game that Sex Dungeons and Sex Dragons invented was what swung the judges in the end. In fact all the teams were adding extra difficulties to regular games to make them harder and they pulled it off every time. Kudos has to go to Bridie Connell, while narrating a Ballet scene let, out that the dancer had to do a double backward somersault, he looked at her as to say " I can't do that" but his team mates caught on and manhandled him to accomplish the feat. Also kudos to, Watch Out Cyborgs, Here We Come, that attempted a rap. Even though most of their players weren't very good they gave it a shot and were funny but they had one ring in player that was pretty good which brought the house down. The place also exploded at Michael Hing's guessing the 3 things in his Crime endowments scene which may have contributed to his team winning. Unfortunately innovative ideas don't go down too well in the Cranston if the judges are oldish, they like the old school way of doing things, they may have to change tack on Sunday.
Extra Kudos to Jordan McClellan and team mate(I think Phillip Roser, sorry I can't remember exactly) who did that amazing "speak in one voice" scene. I have never seen anybody speak so quickly, succinctly and clearly in that game, it was technically brilliant.
Views (415)
14.10.09 : Manly
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1228452745235&set=a.1228451465203&type=3&theater
12.10.09 : Fringe Bar was too crowded so I went home
11.10.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - heat 5 : Factory Theatre - impro
Finally, a good show. You could tell from the teams present that it would be good even though some of the pros were out of form. The series has been strange this year, last year all the heats were better than last years final, but this is the 1st show this year that has been better. The Mexican's team came to party and killed all night. With Amanda Buckley and Jon Williams taking the lead they won a hard fought contest by 1 point. Lee Naimo used to be one of the best players but is a bit flat now and it took him some time to get up to speed. Every team with Jordan Raskopoulos in it is a super team and with the duo of Carlo Ritchie and Steen Raskopoulos it just makes them stronger. Carlo and Steen have been cutting it up everywhere lately and work well together. What I can't understand is Jordan's insistence on sabotaging the scene by doing a truth game, which never works, luckily they ignored their own suggestion and did the scene open and it was very good. The Steven Bradburys went back to their patchy form and the Slap Happies are still new. The 2 pro teams doubled the score of the lower 2 teams. Entertaining show.
10.10.09 Monty Python's Spamalot : Rockdale Town Hall
They must be doing something right or it's the thing to do in Rockdale because the place was full with about 500 people. Spamalot is a musical version of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie. It had all the major gags of the movie but with songs in between, where's the movie had lulls between gags this show had constant action. I didn't notice initially but I heard some instruments playing and then saw that they had a live orchestra of about 30 people. Then the show started and in the 1st number we found out the cast as also huge with about 40 people. They had a group of singing dancers in sexy costumes to turn the songs in to large Broadway musical numbers with some cabaret thrown in. The costumes were good and there was clever use of props and sets, there was huge feet and a hand lowered from the ceiling to symbolise God, cut-out rocks could be spun around to reveal other things, there was a clever work around to make the arms and legs being cut off scene work, etc. I absolutely loved the replay of the big gags from the movie, even if the last couple seemed rushed, I haven't seen the movie for ages and it brought back good memories. I didn't mind the songs too much, I'm not big on musicals, but there was a lot of them after the first gag. You could tell some songs were fill in's to make the show longer, like when the female lead sang about how she had no scenes in the middle of the show, even though this musical gag was lame it didn't annoy. Overall I liked it especially the dialogue scenes for the gags.
09.10.09 : Surrogates - movie
Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller : Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates. It's not too bad, nothing too unpredictable. Not as dramatic as Westworld when it was 1st released(I wonder if Westworld was the inspiration for an unstoppable robot like in Terminator). It's Sci-Fi with action, so it was good, I like the superhero type strength of the surrogates it reminded me of The Matrix on the truck scene.
07.10.09 : Make Way For Ducklings: Only The Good Bits : Hermann's Bar
I was just waiting for the start when I remembered the Ducklings are doing a stint on "The Worlds Funniest Island" and realised this was a rehearsal for that show. Being their 1st truly public appearance at the upcoming WFI they would have to bring their "A" game, so I thought tonight would be special and the start was. The opening skit started with a serious reading from a book but was interrupted by things happening all around the room, it reminded me of the Disillusionist's 2nd show, and that is how they introduced the cast as it was them interrupting the serious moment, very funny. The 1st couple of skits I hadn't seen before and found very funny and choking for air, then we got to the familiar stuff. I liked the Superman skit and they did similar sequels in their earlier shows with superheroes in everyday situations that I found funny at the time but were absent tonight probably due to time restraints. The "Fight them on the beaches" skit was hilarious the 1st time but this time didn't get as many laughs and I don't know why as it sounded exactly the same, strange, but it still ended on a good punchline. Ben's dressing gown scene was amazingly funny. Carlo's "fool me once" skit when it was originally performed was funny but I thought it was a bit long, it kept returning all night in little skits and skipping numbers so it went into the 100s. I thought it wouldn't work a 2nd time but it did and was just as funny. The future space scene was also good. I like it when Hing exaggerates his character and goes on a kind of a rant and same for the others in the cast when they do it. The over the top acting of the character is funny even before they get to the jokes. The dick in a coffee shop was also funny. I think the show was good even though the audience didn't laugh as much, but this is probably due to the familiarity of the material as we have seen most of it before.
06.10.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
Cameron Knight was our MC and did a great job. He said he had been hosting here for a month and was running out of material but it didn't show as he kept us entertained all night. First support was Michael Workman who said he is a Goth comic, even though from appearances he didn't look that Goth, and was quite good. Next was Jamie Kilstein(USA) supposedly doing a small section of his act as a teaser for his 2 week stint that he is doing here next week, but in actual fact it seemed to be nearly all of his full routine. The 1st time I saw him I thought he was a bit too political for me and was just sort of chuckly but the 2nd time around I found him much more funny. His comeback to peoples inappropriate comments always had a witty clever rebuttal, rather than being an emotional attacking rant. Lastly was Glenn Wool(Canada). Just from appearances I thought he would be a happy go lucky character like our Chris Franklin, and he started off with the superfluous stuff that's not confronting and is quite funny but then he switched to politics and finally religion. The 2nd half of it set seemed more like a rant, like a Steve Hughes, I found it a bit heavy and lost concentration. It's a long night at nearly 3 hours so I may have fatigued but I'm not that fond of the heavy going subjects and when it's pushed that hard it feels more like a rally speech rather than entertainment. PS bring earmuff as he shouts very loudly
06.10.09 : Maritime Museum
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1223586423580&set=a.1223585743563&type=3&theater
06.10.09 : Darling Harbour
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1225876920841&set=a.1225875800813&type=3&theater
04.10.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - heat 4 : Factory Theatre - impro
I thought it was just me not enjoying the show because I was tired, but most of the scenes scored low so it was probably the show. Only in the 2nd half did we get a few innovative scenes. The show was OK but it didn't stir the imagination.
03.10.09 : Much Ado About Impro : Parade Theatre, NIDA
Everything about the show was elaborate and big, it felt like a professional production for the upper class. The show was huge running for 3 hours, the venue was large and classy holding 700 people, the programs were fancy and elaborate, the prizes for the raffle were huge and worth $1000s, there was even free finger food at the break brought out by professional waiters. The professional theme carried on to the show with a fancy set and all the cast and support dressed in beautiful costumes depicting the 16 century's Elizabethan fashion. The format was like a Highlander show, in that they would mix up the players each time between the 2 teams and the scores would go toward their individual score to find an overall single winner. Nigel Sutton, dressed as William Shakespeare, was our host and was excellent and bounced jokes of Jenny Hope, who played Queen Elizabeth 1, all night. The improvisers were all veterans so the impro was rock solid and of a high standard and as a result there was always high scoring and no slow scenes. If you had the stamina to last the 3 hours the show was thoroughly entertaining.
02.10.09 : Neil Hamburger : Manning Bar
We started with DJ Katz showing some old inappropriate non PC video snippets with him doing voice over comments that was quite astounding and humorous. Dr Suaveo was next doing his corny old magic tricks and because they are so old and you can see how they are done it's actually funny. Next was JP Incorporated doing fictitious adverts by doing the voice-over live while the video plays. There was adds for ridiculous TV shows and products with their accompanying jingles sung live. Like his limo add pushing a business called No Prob Limo(say it fast to get the joke). Lastly was Neil Hamburger, I had seen him years ago in Newtown and I found him quite funny if a bit weird. His jokes have such a long setup that's it's hard to remember them, so I went to this show as a refresher. And because I don't remember the jokes I thought it would be as funny as the 1st time I saw him, like hearing the jokes for the 1st time again, unfortunately he wasn't as good. If your not familiar with Neils jokes they are like a question-answer pun style joke, as an example, WHAT!, loud emphasis on the WHAT!, WHAT! do you call a senior citizen that constantly exposes their genitalia in public, (pause), Madonna. The 1st time I saw him people would try to heckle at the pause between the Q & A and he would clear his throat really loudly to drown them out, so if his joke wasn't funny his act would make up for it and still be funny. Some of his old jokes were genuinely clever funny and some were corny but you laughed because it was corny. Tonight he had new material and he wasn't constantly clearing his throat to drown out people trying to spoil the punchline at the pause, there was also a lot of fill material selling his mechanise. The act seems to have lost it's intensity, there didn't seem to be as many jokes. I think it would have been better with the old stuff, even though it's been done to death, and just with more throat clearing. He was still OK and overall with the other acts it was still a nice night.
29.09.09 : Puppy Fight Social Club : Roxbury Hotel - impro
I wasn't too fond of the previous Puppy fights I've seen but this one had special guests so I chanced it and it turned out rather good. The show started with Robbie McGregor reciting part of a story and then doing a reading of Goldilocks but from the perspective of the bears and how they were done wrong. Then the Puppy Fight team of Cale Bain, Jon Williams and Dave Bloustien asked for word suggestions and gave them to Dave Callen to come up with stories and it's these stories that the puppy fight team used for their 20 minute impro spot with the DJ setting the scene with sampled speeches and sounds. These 3 guys know each other well and work great together, they came up with incredible story after story and killed the first half. The stories were of a length that they could get into a rhythm so they were much more enjoyable, unlike their other shows where the story's seemed short and disjointed. The 2nd half started with Smart Casual trying to look cool but Buckers laughing at the back cracked them up and they lost their coolness, but they still did a short but good spot. Next Julia Clark did her stand-up routine, which was also good and it was her routine that the puppy fight team with added Amanda Buckley and Lisa Ricketts used as inspiration for the next 20 minutes of impro. With more players is was a bit more disjointed but still nice.
27.09.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - heat 2 : Factory Theatre - impro
Weird show tonight, lots of hits and misses and a record number of scenes honked off the stage in one show. I remember only one honking off through the whole season last year and it was a team with our best improviser, Rebecca De Unamuno, so tonight's teams are in good company. Lisa Ricketts did a good job with Jane Simmons chiming in for extra laughs. Highlights were Grant Davis insistence of mixing banjo music with an audience suggestion of doof doof music that produced a ridiculous but very funny scene. The veterans of Scared Scriptless did much better with 3 players than in previous years with 4. Team Alice had the usual problem with a veteran mixed in with young players, in that each is expecting each other to take charge. The young players have to take control and ignore the senior(senior doesn't mean better) player because they come up with better ideas anyway, and that's what they did in the handbag scene and killed it. The judges were youngish and liked the surreal stuff because it's the kind of impro they do, so the wackier the more points. They seemed fickle at times, one scene was going slow and they didn't honk it yet some seemed OK and just starting when they got honked. I'm probably being a bit critical as the entertainment valve was only down about 10%.
26.09.09 : FABBA : PJ Gallagher's - music
And now for something different. FABBA was fab. Wow, how things change yet stay the same since I used to go there when Club Hoy and Alex Lloyd used to play there.
25.09.09 : Sydney Observatory
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1216046875096&set=a.1216044915047&type=3&theater
24.09.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Junior Tennis : Hermann's Bar- impro
Good show. Stand outs were Jeremy Yao's teammate, sorry I didn't remember the new players names. He voice over in the lumberjack-Thor scene was very clever and surreal and I think it was his 1st time. The 2nd teams scene, "school of hansom" was also hilarious and they were 1st timers also. The 3rd team of brother and sister had a bit too much of trying to make a coherent story, which was done by narration, that they forgot to have fun, still they are also new but they were better last Sunday. Lastly was Steen Raskopoulos and Carlo Ritchie who tore it up with word suggestions written on the board. They used their usual tricks that always gets a laugh. Even though they had 4 stories running at once it made sense and they had fun in between, you could see them cracking up at each others ideas.
22.09.09 : Funny People - movie
Comedy, Drama : When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship causes him to take a relatively green performer under his wing. I like nearly all of Adam Sandler's movies. This one I didn't love nor hate, so it was OK but a bit long. It wasn't super funny, but it did have stand-up gags. It reminded me of the movie Man on the Moon about Andy Kaufman, in that both the lead characters had cancer and were comics. Other than that Adam's story was different.
21.09.09 : Sydney Harbour
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1216035434810&set=a.1216033234755&type=3&theater
20.09.09 : Cranston Cup 09 - heat 1 : Factory Theatre - impro
Not the best opening night but it was still OK, at least none of the new teams bombed which is common usually. The pros started slow but put up 2 good scenes at the end. Surprising was the Scared Script less team of 3 players that did very well unlike their form 2 years ago.
19.09.09 : 500 Days of Summer - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her. Pretty actors in a pretty film. Keep an eye on the days as the story goes back and forth in time, especially remember the break up day. Doesn't end traditionally.
18.09.09 : Art Gallery of NSW
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1211229394662&set=a.1211229154656&type=3&theater
16.09.09 : Mystery Show : Hermann's Bar
The Mystery show ended up a radio play called The Day Before The Day Before Tomorrow, which will be recorded next week for actual radio. Unfortunately I don't have much radio play experience, 2 in fact and one was The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy that was on 2JJ, it was double J back then, and we all know how brilliant that was. Using The Hitch Hikers as my standard, a tough act to follow, my standards are going to be very high so I will probably be a bit critical of anything to follow. The story is of a small country town called Pullamawang that seceded from Australia and became a country called Tripolis. We joined the story on the brink of reunification back with Australia. It reminded me of Bunker 5, in that people are put in a strange situation and explain how things work in this odd environment. In this one different government departments explained how they did things, ie law enforcement, financial policy, etc. I found about half the show good. The police bit was brilliant, if you get caught doing a crime they shout "Cool Your Jets" and if you don't cool your jets you go to court and are given a punishment befitting the crime. The financial policy and measurement standards using the litre for all transactions and measurements was funny and the public service announcement murder gag was good. I think the Gözleme gag might not have worked that well just because most people don't know what Gözleme is, I have only known about it for 3 years. The other parts of the show had less laughs but that's probably me expecting to be amazed every second, the show was still nice.
15.09.09 : Fighting - movie
Action, Drama, Sport : In New York City, a young counterfeiter is introduced to the world of underground street fighting by a seasoned scam artist, who becomes his manager on the bare-knuckling brawling circuit. Was there anyone in charge when they made this movie. It looked like the director didn't know what he was doing, the actors didn't know what they were doing, even the cameraman didn't know what he was doing, because it was out of focus and had heads cut off. Who did the script, and who cast the actors, as both seemed strange. Low budget film, even the screen wasn't the full width.
14.09.09 : Australian Museum
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1208380323437&set=a.1208379043405&type=3&theater
13.09.09 : Charlie and Boots - movie
Adventure, Comedy, Drama : A father and son who travel from Victoria to Cape York to fulfill their lifelong ambition to fish off Australia's northern tip. The trailer looked lame, but the Movie Show said it was good, and they have been right sometimes. This time they weren't. The movie is like Australia, a few points of interested with not much in between. There was short touching moments at the start, middle and end, but way too much nothing in between. Too long road movie with average gags.
12.09.09 : The Amazing Johnathan : Enmore Theatre
We opened with Joel Osborne, who is still using the same routine and is just OK. I was surprised he can still pass through a tennis racket as he looks bigger and hasn't done it for so long.
Johnathan is still as good as ever. He was last here 12 years ago and that's when I last saw him. The show is basically the same with small changes here and there, as you would expect after that long. The main difference I noticed was the intensity. The old show came at you very fast and you had to think very fast, he probably had to slow it down for the slow thinking audiences. If you don't know about Johnathan's act, you should. He does simple crap magic tricks that don't work and because you don't expect the outcome it's hilarious, kind of like lateral thinking magic. For example he does the pick a card, memorise it and put it back in the deck trick but he switches the deck to an oversize one so when you put the standard size card back into an over-sized deck is obvious which card it is. Then he shows the volunteer a large card, say 6 of hearts, and says "is it the 6 of hearts" and the volunteer says "no", then he says "are you blind is says 6 of hearts, I said it was A card, I didn't say it was YOUR card". Then he shuffles through the deck to the small card and looks at it and says "no that's not the card" and throws it away. It's hard to do his act justice in words so just do a search for his videos. He had me light headed from laughing right from the start, I had to control my laughing so I wouldn't faint. Due to Johnathan long absence from our shores the theatre was only half full but it didn't effect the show. More promotion is needed as the vibe he left last time is nearly half a generation away. This guy can't do a bad show and is always a must see.
10.09.09 : Push - movie
Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller : Two young Americans with special abilities must race to find a girl in Hong Kong before a shadowy government organization called Division does. Good movie. Pretty people, action, sci-fi, superpowers, what's not to like. Pay super close attention in the 2nd half as it requires quick thinking, even now I am having trouble with one concept in the middle. It's nothing like Heroes, but it does have superpowers like Heroes.
09.09.09 : 21 Years of Theatresports @ Sydney University : Manning Bar - impro
Very good show. Our host, Steen Raskopoulos, was on fire in a full room of over 200. There was mixture of pros and semi pros (students). It was a big show professionally done. When the players took on very complex scenes is when the intelligent student crowd really got in to it, the basic stuff isn't clever enough for them. We had a noisy pub crowd rather than a theatre crowd but it didn't effect things too much.
08.09.09 : The Taking of Pelham 123 - movie
Action, Crime, Thriller : Armed men hijack a New York City subway train. Quite good. I didn't see the original because of what I thought was a dumb idea, how do you get away on a train, but I thought it should be updated enough to end up entertaining, and it was.
08.09.09 : Adam - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth. I don't usually talk about emotions, because they have no place here, but I was tearing up within 30 seconds, I must be sadder than I thought. It's one of those sad movies that are promoted as "Life Changing", but in actual fact is just very emotional because people are people they don't actually change their lives. Absolutely beautiful movie for certain types of people(EMO and types of emotional people). It's one of those love hate types for me, you love the movie but you hate being sad. Other similar ones for me are Punch Drunk Love, Garden State, etc. I am thinking of starting another blog about emotions because of this movie , maybe it does change lives.
06.09.09 : HaHa! : Roxbury Hotel
It was a nice night, not huge on laughs but comfy warm fuzzy humour. It seemed like the audience knew everyone on stage and were very friendly. Carnovale & Culp, known as the Cloud Girls, hosted and were very different, you could say quirky. Shane Matheson was also quirky, Julia Clark who I usually find patchy did a longer set with her good stuff and was quite good. Nick Cappa and Nick Sun were fine. I think Michael Hing felt a bit nervous because he wasn't as smooth as he usually is. At the uni's he must feel like the audience is more like friends, but he was still fine. No acts bombed so it ended up a nice night.
05.09.09 : Arts Revue 2009: Murder on the Oriarts Express : Seymour Centre
The funny opening dialogue left us with no doubt that this was the Sydney University Arts Revue. There was the usual warnings about course language and nudity but we thought it was a joke and didn't take it seriously so we got bitten on the ass in the 2nd half. The 1st half was sketch comedy, which was mainly OK, nothing super just chuckley. Unfortunately no one heard the setup line in the last sketch so we didn't get why the Vengaboys were killing bank staff but on the whole it was nice. The 2nd half was better with a comedy play high on humour. As the title suggests it was a send up of Murder on the Orient Express. Piorot bumbled his way through weird characters to the usual conclusion of finding the culprit but with a humorous unexpected end. The final scene featured nudity that was uncomfortable for the boys as it went on so long but you still have to laugh. It's funny when boys nude up in that everyone laughs yet when girls do it no one laughs, strange. I though everyone played their part well and really excelled with the odd ball characters they were given. I liked it, we should get more plays like this.
04.09.09 : Inglorious Basterds - movie
Adventure, Drama, War : In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same. You suck Tarantino. Tarantino has only one trick, and that's mindless gratuitous violence, and since every scene ends the same the whole movie is predictable. He wastes a heap of time with inane banter trying to build suspense, but it doesn't work because he is no good at it. Back to film school for you. Average and too long.
02.09.09 : The Return of SPACE/TIME - A Love Story : Sydney University - play
A nice little cleverly constructed play with substance. The story is of a matchmaker in 1969 that upsets the president and is shot into space in a rocket as punishment and goes forward in time. In the future they make a perfect match in a speed dating night and all ends happily. The personal videos from the aliens was a touch of genius, very funny. The limited budget requires work arounds and imagination but that just makes it more funny.
29.08.09 : Dead Letters : UNSW Studio One - play
I didn't know what to expect for this one and it ended up very different to what I imagined. It started conventionally but total skewed sideways to the surreal. Most of the characters were played beautifully like the crazy bride who really threw herself into the part. Clive and the crazy boss were good and also Percy the loyal British public servant, who did a speech extolling the virtues of the British empire while the English national anthem played in the background, just like Tim Brooke Taylor used to do in the Goodies. Being in that British post office with all the rhetoric of the British empire took me back to early school days because that's what it was like back then. The story goes, Clive, newly employed in the dead letter office finds letters addressed for him predicting the future, and this is where it went crazy, with Batman appearing and a time travelling clown. I don't know much about plays but I know a bit about comedy and I found the show just slightly funny, more chuckly. I found the surreal parts too unconventional and not appealing to my orthodox thinking. The students seemed to laugh more than me as they probably accept it more easily. I think in Impro they make surreal concepts able to be related too by justifying them. Like why is a clown with long arms related to time, maybe having Pierce Brosnan as the time traveller and relating him to his watch adverts in the magazines with him proclaiming "I am the master of time because I sell watches", and with the character always striking the pose in the adds with the watch predominately displayed. That would be more relatable and makes sense for a wider audience. It was OK but I think it's one for the young people.
28.08.09 : Comedy : Carlingford Bowling Club
I was one of those nights you dread with the opening comics being so poor and with a smallish unenthusiastic audience and stupid heckler constantly shouting out total drivel that was not funny and totally disruptive. I can see why Barry McLeod gets annoyed with hecklers, he only has 4 jokes and if a heckler mucks up 2, 50% of his material is shot. James Moffett is newish and it shows, and with the quiet crowd he was in trouble from the start. Luckily Eddie Ifft is a veteran and can work around obstacles so he kept throwing them out there and getting the laughs. He did a very good job and even got me choking at the end. He kept the audience laughing through out, too bad the lazy audience didn't give him his dues at the end by giving good applause as appreciation.
26.08.09 : Story Club : Hermann's Bar
They've done it again with another good storytime. The stories aren't just funny but interesting and captivating, even if they weren't super funny they would suck you by playing with your emotions charming you all the way to the conclusion. Ben Jenkins was the host and started with a story about his first date. The story was well thought out to get the maximum response from the audience, he had them laughing and sighing as the story unfolded. Carlo Ritchie produced an entertaining story that was what seemed like a simple drunken yarn but embellished it throughout with an exaggerated final conclusion that made perfect sense. Even though Pat Magee read a story from the 1001 Arabian tales book it was still a good one. He does have some really good original stories maybe they will surface next time. Alex Lee's story was about tracking down a cache with the new at the time GPS device via coordinates posted on the internet, because it was at night she transformed it into a spooky mystery story that ended on a funny note. Zoe Norton Lodge, who is a playwright, wrote a very clever story about the relationship between her grandparents, generally a hate, hate relationship. It was written so well and unusually constructed that it was very innovative. David Cunningham was last and again didn't disappoint. Being a ancient history tutor his stories were about how the Spanish murdered people in their conquest of the Incan and Myan civilizations. It's the way he delivers and words with fictional dialogue between the parties that makes his stories funny even if tragic.
25.08.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Tennis : Hermann's Bar - impro
I hadn't been for a while and had nothing planed so I thought I would try tennis and see what's new. The format has gone back to the original tennis with each team doing 3 scenes each but alternating and with their total accumulated time being 19 minutes each. Tonight we had 2 teams instead of the usual 3, the girl team of Emily and Ivy and the boy team of Steen and Carlo. The girls started a bit awkwardly but were OK and got in to stride by the 2nd scene. The boys came out firing with Steen doing what I call the "Angus Samson technique" of putting your team mate off kilter to see how they squirm out of problems, it's usually pretty funny as the audience can see the team mate under stress. Angus used the tactic when he came down to do a Cranston a while back in the team called The "North American Piping Association". As an example his team did a "one word at a time story" and instead of just using an easy word to keep the story flowing and boring he would put in a hard complicated and unrelated word that would fit and let the other team mates work to justify it and make it blend in so it made sense. He did it through out the season to great amusement of the audiences, luckily his team mates were pro improvisers and could over come it, just as Carlo did tonight and in some places he got back at Steen. The 2nd half was something I haven't seen before called "monkey in the middle". They pimp out a player and throw scenarios at them in a number of scenes to see how they use there skill to cope with the situations. Tonight we had the veteran Rebecca De Unamuno being challenged by the 4 boys and the sound guy with them giving support characters for the scenes. One scene was when Bek had to do all the voices and script for the boys while they lip synced. In another scene she had to do a rap song as a penguin. I have seen Bek around for the last 10 years and didn't know much about her but tonight we learned a bit about her life, it was surprising. OK show.
23.08.09 : District 9 - movie
Sci-Fi, Thriller : An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology. What a story, man it was different. The movie constantly changed direction in totally unexpected directions, even the genres changed. The story was so unconventional and keeps coming at you at such a fast pace it keeps you riveted. Only by half distance you got a glimmer of a relatable storyline, but that also went in unexpected directions. Only at the end you got a storyline that was familiar. I don't know if I liked it or not but I was entertained.
23.08.09 : Vintage MX - sport
My friend is a bit of a motorbike fan and is thinking of doing some vintage(pre 1984) motocross racing, so we went to a track we haven't seen before that is just before Newcastle in Toronto. All I can say is "What a Track!". It was a shock when we first saw it, it's massive and on the side of a steep hill, so steep that when the small bikes try to go up hill the motors struggle. It's length is ludicrous compared to other tracks we've seen. We timed the laps at 2 min 20 sec, it takes ¼ of an hour to just do on race of 4 laps. I'm keen and I don't even ride, hopefully my friend will finally get out there, but he does change his mind a lot.
22.08.09 : Coraline - movie
Animation, Drama, Fantasy : An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets. OK for adults, in that it's not so child orientated to be boring for adults. Starts a bit slow, maybe to set the mood, and then picks up. The end is a bit too scary for young children in a dark cinema, the kid next to me sounded distressed.
21.08.09 : Comedy : Laugh Garage
I didn't want to go tonight due to mental issues, but an offer came in a email so I forced myself, like I have to for half the shows I see, and it turned out rather good. There was an OK sized crowd that came to enjoy themselves, it's always better when the crowd is enthusiastic. The front rows seemed happy to get involved even though they usually don't have a choice, and the very good Steve Philp(MC) made good use of it. The poor guy at the front that looked like Andy Warhol got picked on a bit and his mate that was on TV, just in the audience of a show being taped, got hammered. The usual trick is to turn up late and you end up at the back, like me. Next was Jason Chong who did a short but good spot. His Transformers voice altering helmet was very funny. Out of all the acts I laughed the most at Jason. Sarah Levett did a nice set and was well applauded. Mick Meredith was filming a video and is always super good. The audience was a bit quite through the routine, I think they were fans of Mick just like me and knew his routine, but they did give thunderous applause at the end. A very good show tonight.
19.08.09 : Make Way For Ducklings : Hermann's Bar
Good show tonight, back to their usual form. The skits were clever, innovative and unpredictable, just how I like them. for me 90% were successful.
18.08.09 : GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer. Absolutely relentless action with crony American hero type dialogue. Massive special effects but with a stupid video game type action chase scene through Paris which was acceptable because it used such high end graphics. Time flies in this non stop action film. It's still good.
17.08.09 : Monday Night Comedy : Fringe Bar
I wasn't very keen on going to this show as it's a pain to get there but I thought it's been so long since I last saw Greg Fleet, he still had hair back then, that it would be worth seeing what he has come up with since. In the end the jerk didn't even turn up and they had to quickly ring for a replacement, that's the 2nd time this month.
Barry McLeod was the MC and he's pretty ho hum but at least he knows how to get rid of the disruptive people who spoil it for the rest. Simon Kennedy was 1st and really stepped up and did a great spot with a lot of new material. The substitute was Harley Breen who also saved the show with a great set and was well applauded for the effort. Thank you Simon and Harley for making a good night of it.
16.08.09 : Mixed, Shaken & Stirred : Belvoir Theatre - impro
Everything was finally sorted by this last show, ie 5 teams instead of 6 and the scoring was worked out to find an overall wining team and player, like a Highlander in Scared Scriptless. Steve Lynch was our host and did a good job. I remember when Steve was starting in impro and he swore and Jane Simmons made him stand at the doors and apologies to every person personally, tonight he only swore once. The new players again were good, it's kind of strange because some of the players I have seen years ago every week were very average and I thought should of quit, but now they are so good they are leading and controlling the scenes. The show was good if the audience attendance was a bit low. I don't know how they advertise the impro shows but it's always been hard to get info about them. In the old days the shows sold themselves and if you weren't in the know you usually missed them, so there was no need to advertise. But relying on the internet and constant repeat sales doesn't seem to work, a simple add in the Drum Media would get fresh sales like it has done in the past. Someone needs to get their act together.
14.08.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
I wanted to see what the hype is about Tony Woods, with his sold out shows during the Cracker festival and his numerous TV appearances, and even this stint wasn't that easy to get tickets for. Jabba was the MC and was a bit average. The young looking Jack Druce was just OK with 1 good joke and a couple of snicker jokes. Then came Umit Bali, with his fast talking and subtle joke set up with the killer punchlines which brought the house down and his Indian impressions were killer, I think he's Indian even though he was born in Fiji. Tahir also did a good set with his usual unexpected punchlines that got great laughs. To combat the problems I have with this venue in the 2nd half I sat near the front this time. Tony started slow and looked like he was stoned, he also spoke softly so I had trouble hearing, and I thought to myself he isn't as good as everyone says but after 10 minutes it was like someone hit a switch when he went to his normal routine. The stoner act disappears and a very clever controlled set replaces it with spot on delivery and embellishments to get even more effect. Half of his show is about his travels in Australia, which always goes do well here as we like to hear other peoples take on us. He did a bit about going to Dubai and did a take on Muslims. We like the stories from people from other parts of the world just to see how the other half live and Tony brings a different slant to that because he's black. All the hype is true and his show is excellent, I got light headed from laughing so much in places.
12.08.09 : Hermann's Heroes : Hermann's Bar
I was in two minds about going to the Heroes, as I have see most of the comics and know their material, but some plans fell through and I was in the area so I took a risk, and it turned out to be very good. Michael Hing was our host and he was on fire with his ad-libbing and audience interaction and his threats to sex the audience was hilarious. There was a part at the start where Hing just read his jokes straight off his notes that had no delivery to them, mainly due to them being written the night before with no time to maximize their effect by working a good way to deliver them, but that was the only lull in his bit. Ben Jenkins, on sound, tried to keep Hing in check but just made it more funny. The first 4 comics were new comics, which can be hit and miss but tonight we had a huge audience which always makes it more funny. The most interesting was Alice Fraser with a some what short set but with some high brow intellectual jokes that made you think. She finished with a song on that scary banjo, banjos must be the work of the devil as the thing wasn't even amplified and it was drowning out the PA. The next 2 comics were up and comers that have done some pubs gigs, first was Evin Donohoe who was good. Evan came up with a joke that was similar to an idea I had 10 years ago, strange how different people come up with the same idea, even stranger is this is the 3rd time with different comics each time. Tanveer Rowala was next and he absolutely killed. Lastly was Dave Bloustein, a pro comic doing a guest appearance. Even though he repeated most of his routine from 2 weeks earlier the majority of the large audience hadn't heard it and they lapped it up. Dave brought the house down and was given a huge applause. I was a bit surprised when the young audience got the holocaust joke before the punchline and that pectin joke is a sleeper. A very good night overall.
11.08.09 : The Ugly Truth - movie
Comedy, Romance : An uptight television producer takes control of a morning show segment on modern relationships hosted by a misogynistic man. Very funny, the girls at the back were going nuts. RomCom with that crude sexual humour that shocks. I was a bit strange that the predominately female audience were snickering at the corny one liners with sexual connotations.
09.08.09 : Mixed, Shaken & Stirred : Belvoir Theatre - impro
Another nice show with Dave Callan subbing as host and doing a wonderful job with good audience interaction. The new players again looked enthusiastic and delivered. Only 5 teams turned up this evening with the Uni team doing a no show, strange as they had a practice on Wed. It didn't really matter and if anything made the night better as there wasn't as much rushing around, Dave had more time to tell jokes and the teams had more time to do full scenes. There was enough time for one team to have a 2nd go at a game when they accepted a challenge to do Ferris Buller's Day Off, there trained to accept everything, and didn't know it as they were too young to have actually seen it. There was a bit of awkwardness in the 2nd half when the teams split up with the pros joining the new comers, but that quickly passed. It's understandable as the pre formed teams know each other and the hierarchy of the players, but when they are split up the new players expect the pros to take the lead but the pros want the new comers to take the lead and gain experience. The last scene is an all in with all 20 players doing a war scene which was great, even a judge joined in. It's always good to finish on a high.
08.08.09 : Comedy at the Rox : Roxbury Hotel
Dave Rosner from the US was our MC but unfortunately he wasn't that good and the stupid heckler just made it worst. I don't know what it is about this place that brings out such F--K wits. Toby Coleman was the 1st support and has been here so many times that everyone knows his routine. New for me was Tammy Tantschev, with her fresh gags she was quite good and the crowd responded with good applause. Damien Houtepen mainly did impressions and was excellent. He did a great parody of Dr Phil and John Edwards with clever dialogue that was very funny and his John Laws interviewing Mike Tyson brought the house down. The 2nd half was all Dave Eastgate with his high energy routine and musical parody he stole the show relentlessly delivering the laughs. Again the hecklers spoiled part of his routine so I think everyone was annoyed but mainly satisfied with half the show.
05.08.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Junior Tennis : Hermann's Bar- impro
Tonight had the usual 4 teams of 2 players doing a scene each and a special final scene. We had our 1st all girl team who did a nice job. Michael Hing went for the cheap laughs and placed his fingers, depicting a gun, into his team mates mouth. To get back at Hing the team mate rubbed is fingers on his balls and returned the favour by making Hing suck on them, improvisers have to be accepting of all suggestions. Hing again gee'd up the crowd by tempting the audience that there was going to be some male kissing, to which the crowd starting shouting " Kiss !", so they had to oblige. His team mate took a stab at Hing about how he always adds a homo element to the show and that he may be enjoying it as he does it so often. The last scene was a Harold using 5 players. The "Harold" game asks for a word suggestion and each player tells a very short story based on the word, usually from their lives. They then play out stories based on the short verbal stories just told, with the usual cutting from story to story through out. It was a nice night with a good level of improvising skill.
04.08.09 : Red Cliff (Chi bi) - movie
Action, Adventure, Drama : The first chapter of a two-part story centered on a battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.). It looked like it has all the credentials, ie John Woo and an impressive trailer. I was worried when The Movie Show panned it a bit because the original 2 movies totalling 4½ hours was cut down to 2½ hours for a western release and most of the character development was cut out. I though I would take a risk, as most of the Asian releases that come here are good, and yes it was. The story made perfect sense even with 2 hours cut out and the characters were labelled well so you didn't get lost from the usual white persons Prosopagnosia of Asian faces. It kept good pace and had plenty of action, for me the brief character development got in the way but it was short enough to not be a problem. The technical side of war and strategies was very appealing to me and even at 2½ hours there were no boring bits, I was entertained through out.
02.08.09 : Mixed, Shaken & Stirred : Belvoir Theatre - impro
It was a milder night tonight compared to opening night. Not all teams had a full complement of 4 players but it doesn't really matter as they rarely use all 4 in a scene anyway. They scored the games in the 2nd half this time but ran out of time to give out all the results. It was still a good night with no dud scenes and the time seems to fly using 6 teams doing 2-3 minute scenes. Just a note on wacky stages, the stage is set up for the previous show so the improvisers end up with some strange sets to work with. This season has a raised centre stage, like a boxing ring with the ropes removed, and the players are always climbing up and falling off, with adds to the show. One year we had a sand filled stage simulating the beach, once we had a slopping bedroom with a big double bed, and the weirdest was railroad tracks where the players had to jump from rail to sleepers so they wouldn't twist their ankles on gravel ballast.
01.08.09 : Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : As Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, he discovers an old book marked as "the property of the Half-Blood Prince" and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past. A long move, but entertaining enough to not notice it that much. I don't understand why the potions book had to be hidden, and I don't know why the guy blurts out he is the half-blood prince with no prompting, and even the story didn't make a big deal about finding him. Nice. Saw Tommy Dean at the movies over here, strange as he lives in Newtown, and Broadway is closer. If your wondering why I am late at seeing movies, the crowds are less the later you leave it.
31.07.09 : Axis of Awesome and Friends Awesome Fundraiser : Manning Bar
This show was a fundraiser for the Axis's return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a premier for their new show "Infinity Rock Explosion!".
Cameron Knight was the host and did a excellent job by keeping the energy level up. Ben Jenkins was first with his best material and was very good. David Cunningham brought his usual intellectual humour to that table with another new story. Greg Fleet was a no show but was not missed.
The 2nd half was what the crowd came to see, all AoA. They started with a new clever taped introduction. There was a lot of new songs and all were great except the Poseidon song. Their Surprise song introduced some of those "short, sharp, shock" one verse songs with the killer punchline that always go down a treat, like a Smart Casual song but better. I would say this is on par or better than their brilliant first show, Comeback Spectacular. I was a bit worried with their Axis V's the Bee show as I thought they were losing it but they quickly trashed the stuff that didn't work and kept only the few songs that worked really well. They also played their classics that everyone loves and are total killers, Bird Plane, the beautiful 4 chords song with even more added songs, and not the easy ones, they added songs that you would think would never work but they did, like opera and commercial jingles. Their 3D joke had a big expensive elaborate setup but worked, a lot better than the Bee stunt in their 2nd show. It was a tight show with great singing and clever writing and well performed. The Axis never do a bad show no matter the problems, ie small crowd, initially non responsive audiences, etc, the crowd always come around and cheer at the end. The encore had that brilliant innovative humour, like the first show, that is so unexpected and was a total riot. Super good show from the Axis, as usual, and support acts hitting above their weight.
30.07.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
Dave Bloustien was our host, yes I know 2 nights in a row but he was doing his stand-up routine. Evin Donohoe did a short set and wasn't great. Oliver Phommavanh, who is always good, absolutely kicked ass and was well applauded. Anthony Salame, who I have see at cheap pub gigs and been disappointed, turned it up and did his best routine and brought the house down. Now I know what people were raving about at his Cracker shows, I guess they just don't give good shows at small gigs. On a bit of a bummer I was going to see him on Saturday but now that I have seen most of his routine I will have to plan something else. And now what most people had come to see, the Americans. Andrew Norelli was first and was very good, he didn't bring any of the heavy political humour that is popular with visiting American comics, just good old funny stuff. His set was a bit short though. We finished off with Mike Vecchione who was also very good, again with the superfluous funny stuff with nothing too serious and at least he did a full set. I always have trouble at this venue, I think the night is a bit too long and they should trim the fat. And I think the PA isn't that good it's a bit hard to hear at the back especially when the comics speak softly. Still it was a good show overall.
29.07.09 : Story Club : Hermann's Bar
This is Project 52's first foray into storytelling. Guests come up to the stage and tell stories that can be fictitious or true. I went to another storytelling show by another group and was entertained until the next day where I found out the stories that people were passing off as their life were actually Urban Legends embellished to make it more believable that it was the persons actual life. I think it was just one storyteller that did it but I felt kind of cheated.
Ben Jenkins was the host and started off the night with a story about running into a huge bikie in a Melbourne pub and being a nerd quoting Shakespeare to him. David Cunningham, an ancient history lecturer gave us 2 comical stories from ancient times and was also good. Alex Lee gave us a story about her randy rooster who was terrorising her, that her dad chopped up and served it to them but not telling them until 2 years later. Jon Williams gave us 3 stories, one about smoking on the roof after a rainfall, slipping and knocking the family jewels on a chimney. One about dissing his mom, and one about painted chocolate on his girlfriends belly. Dave Bloustien was last and wrote a modern ghost story in his lunch break that day. The story was OK but it wasn't delivered very well, he just quickly read it off the page without empathising anything to give it feel. He later did 3 stories from his shows that were delivered well for full effect. It was a good night.
28.07.09 : The Sneeze : Parade Theatre NIDA - play
Not knowing much about plays or Chekhov I don't know if the show is actually good or bad but I will give some thoughts. I expected the show to be a bit heavy going based on what I would except from a Russian playwright from the late 1800's, but it is promoted as a comedy so I gave it a shot. The show starts with 5 people waiting at a bus stop but then breaks away into 5 stories, always returning to the bus stop in between them. The 1st story was about a hen pecked husband reaching middle age and feeling worthless, a few chuckles but a bit sad. The 2nd story was about a land dispute with his neighbour while asking for his daughters hand in marriage, I hate conflicts and even though this is just a play and felt uncomfortable watching an argument, but it did have a punchline at the end so was OK. The 3rd was a kind of mime but spoken in gibberish, sort of like a Mr Bean story. It was a scene at an opera and it was quite funny, in a slapstick kind of way. The 4th was heavy going and showed a tragic clown type performer reaching the end of his performing and actual life with not much to show for it. The 5th was again another confrontation scene with a man trying to retrieving monies owning from a recently widowed woman who's husband had borrowed it, I was cringing at the middle but it had a great twist and was very good at the end. I could actually feel where the stories were coming from, due to knowing peoples from that middle European area.
26.07.09 : Mixed, Shaken & Stirred : Belvoir Theatre - impro
WOW, this show brings back memories, it reminds me of the old days with short form theatresports games with it's fast paced killer one liners and ideas that are so funny, with everyone doing it just for fun rather than the pressurized environment of a Cranston Cup. The format was that the teams picked a challenge out of a bucket and had 2-3 minutes to do their scene and at half time team members swapped to other teams. The cast was huge with 6 teams of 4 people each, 3 pro teams and 3 new comers. It was good to see some of the new comers from Scared Scriptless stepping up and doing good scenes even if they were a bit tentative. First scene of the night was the a pro team doing a "classic in a minute" replay of the Harry Potter films that absolutely killed and it only got better form there. Even the new comers looked enthusiastic, even though it must of been a bit daunting at the Belvoir with such a big audience. Ewan Campbell hosted the night and must of got some of his mojo back as he was a bit more enthusiastic this time and did a nice job. The strange thing was that points were awarded in the 1st half but abandoned in the 2nd half, maybe due to lack of time. Good show
25.07.09 : Puppy Fight Social Club Grand Re-opening : Roxbury Hotel - impro
This is the 2nd Puppy Fight I have seen , the 1st being trial shows, and I have come to the conclusion they are not for me, that being said this was still a big show. The posted start time was 7:30 but that was just for the DJ to spin some disks until 8:30 where the actual show started, getting there early left me with a 1½ hour wait. The show started with a large narration of the fictitious history of the PFSC. Dan Illic was the host and was very good, he came up with clever story type jokes and was consistent all night. There was 2 teams with "Puppy Fight Social Club" versus the "Camperdown Lawn Bowling League" in 2 rounds of 10 minutes each. The DJ would pre-empt the scene with a sound sample and the improvisers would base a scene on it, when the scene petered out the DJ would play another sample and so on. I found the scenes a bit random and short, which is odd as I don't like long form impro. They introduced a new game where they played an old B/W Flash Gordon video and the players did the voices which wasn't too bad. Between rounds the duo called Oysters Kirkpatrick (Project 52 regulars) did a short comedic scene. The 2nd half started with a rap duel and then with a short spot from Dave Jory, which was the funniest part even though I have seen him so many times recently. The final round was an all in with both teams trading blows. The CLBL won the audiences applause but as was stated at the start the PFSC never lose, so they won. At least everyone got their monies worth due to it being such a big show.
22.07.09 : Full Body Contact No Love Junior Tennis : Hermann's Bar- impro
The 1st team was good, the 2nd and 3rd were great with crazy off beat concepts and ideas. The 2nd half was the pros, they were good but they didn't have the crazy ideas that I like, sort of small subtle chuckle type humour. I expected a little more as they had Lee Niamo and Jordan Raskopoulos, who are usually both brilliant, and based on the fantastic previous show with just Jordan staring this one didn't live up to the hype. Still it was OK just not brilliant.
18.07.09 : A Regular One Night Stand : Roxbury Hotel - impro
The show was again more banter than impro, but still very funny. The crowd cheered when the improvisers were clever and I think the show would be even better if all the impro was of a higher standard but from the impro stand point it's was good enough even though there is room for improvement. Grant Davis ran amok all night and entertained but there was an awkward moment when he questioned Benny Davis why he was removed from his Benny's Facebook friends and also blocked him. There was a lot of adult themes which appealed to the young audience. Boys had a big win 350 to 110. On a bad note I was harassed on leaving the venue by one guy but being aggressive toward him may have saved me from being mugged, precautions are required.
Views (180)
14.07.09 : Princess Cabaret : Bondi Pavilion
This show is a similar format to Dolls Cabaret, with Princess Cabaret coming first, but instead of the continuing stories of dolls it's continuing stories of the Disney Princess. It's much more relateable for guys as even they would have heard the original stories before, unlike girls dolls that guys know nothing about. There was a beautiful song at the start using all the girls in a 7 part harmony. They would cut from short scene to short scene of the princess continuing lives after the original stories they were from. Like Snow white became a psychotic killer, Ariel's lover left her because fish never shut their eyes even when they kiss. They also covered Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine (Aladdin), etc. I liked this show more than Dolls because I could relate better and could hear better, as this venue doesn't have to contend with background noise. I had a little trouble hearing at first as girls voices use a higher frequency range that I can't hear that well and they spoke very fast but after knuckling down and concentrating I was able to make sense of the stories. Scenes that stand out were the psychiatrist scene where she used advertising slogans as dialogue with a princess, the germ song, the sex in the forest song using fa-lah-lah-lah as the f___ word. The show used a lot of adult themes, which the guys must relate to as they were doing most of the laughing despite the audience being predominately female. The show was clever with accomplished singing, the scenes were short with a killer punchlines so the ADD's are catered for. I liked it.
14.07.09 : Blank the Musical : Bondi Pavilion - impro
This was the best Blank I have seen, and using the most simple suggestion, a towel, the cast ripped it up to produce a truly funny show. The 3 stories that merge at the end were of a office worker throwing in the towel about her life and finding a superficial friend that became a good friend in the end. An Arab towel salesman at the base of the pyramids who's son was taken by the god Rah and with the help of an American secret agent found his son. And a OCD germaphobe who went mad and found out he wasn't as mad as the others he meet. The stories might not have merged perfectly but it was so funny that no one noticed. I would have to award the man of the match to the whole cast as I can't pick one as being better than the rest. Special mentions have to go to Amanda Buckley for remembering it was a musical and doing the fancy dance moves and cartwheels as well as that gun-ho get stuck into job attitude. Jon Williams for the crazy ideas and spooky voice overs in the mental patients heads. Brydie Lee Kenedy for her psychotic ideas and being a main character in 2 stories. Tim Judge and Adam Yardley were excellent, the best I have seen them. Pete Lead was a bit quiet but came good at the end, he is a good player and did that brilliant rabbit scene in the Impranos but seems reluctant some times. Good improvising, good ideas, good execution, good embellishments, good show.
12.07.09 : Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Sam Witwicky leaves the Autobots behind for a normal life. But when his mind is filled with cryptic symbols, the Decepticons target him and he is dragged back into the Transformers' war. Some really lame plot solutions, and tight close ups of the action makes it hard to see what's going on, but still it was OK.
08.07.09 : Make Way For Ducklings : Hermann's Bar
The 5th sketch show from the Ducklings was rather mild with not that many laughs. It lost that ludicrous unpredictable element, a surprising WTF is just as funny as a joke and it was lacking the WTF's, I hope they come back for the next.
07.07.09 : Comedy : Comedy Store
MC Daniel Townes did a good job. Ryan Withers was kind of mild and stop start, but he finished on a high with his impressions. Smart Casual were good with their comedic songs. Their songs are short and to the point, some comics that do songs sometimes add too many verses that aren't as good as the first and the songs lose momentum but not Smart Casual. I had trouble hearing Neil Delamere(IRE) so I missed a lot of the jokes, I don't know if it was his accent but I do know the nights at the store usually feel long for me and I have trouble concentrating in the 2nd half but all that aside I thought Neil was good.
05.07.09 : Spontaneous Broadway : SOH - impro
I mainly went to see Julia Zemiro do impro, and compare the Melbourne improvisers to the Sydney ones. I have seen the Melbourne teams clean up at the Nationals and hold the title for 3 years so I knew they were good, and this show had the best from those teams. I'm not a fan of the musical challenges so it is going to be hard for me to get into this one. In the first half the 4 improvisers sift through a bucket of audience suggestions, while the host keeps us entertained, for the ones they like the best. One by one they come up and have to construct an idea on the spot for a Broadway Musical based on the suggestion. They embellish the story and add details, which the host writes down. I personally think too many details as the Sydney teams usually do it quicker. Then the host repeats the notes as a introduction for a short scene, basically a 2 verse song, that they play as a sample. Tonight we had 6 stories and again the host repeated the long story-lines so the audience can vote to see which one would be performed in the 2nd half as a longer story. I don't know about the first half as there was so much meandering and repeating of story-lines there was hardly any impro. The 2nd half was better as they could do what they are good at and do actual improvising. The story that won the vote was about internet love and was done well with a few small titbits of brilliance. What I liked was the huge amounts of props, 2 racks of costumes and a table of props, something that has been missing in Sydney so long that the new players don't use them as they have no experience using them. Geoff Paine was the best coming up with quick ideas, Julia Zemiro was very close and did a lot of work, as she was the main draw card. She used her reoccurring 42 year old lonely single girl in the big city routine in both pre-stories, she doesn't realise when you are that pretty the gene pool that will be acceptable to her will be pretty small. Genevieve Morris and Ross Daniels were also very close in skill level. I can't say it was a brilliant show but it was still nice.
04.07.09 : Kahlil Ashanti - Basic Training : Seymour Centre
I got there early and found out it was sold out, so I was half way back to the car when I though, maybe someone wouldn't turn up. I waited for 45 minutes and was just squeezed in.
All I knew about the show was it was a comedy set in boot camp, but it turned out to be much more. The show was based on Kahlil Ashanti's life so it wasn't just a comedy it was sad, shocking, confronting, but still had funny moments. Being a poor black boy living in Iowa with no prospects and a very hard father with a background from the Air Force there are no options but military service. If that isn't bad enough, you are literally walking out the door to basic training and your told at the age of 19 that your abusive father is not your real father. After being told that at the start I thought this is more than a comedy it's going to be a roller-coaster of emotions. We were also stunned when a Sergeant at basic training assaulted Kahlil. After basic training Kahlil discovered there was the Air Force's premier entertainment troupe the Tops in Blue, they do the Superbowl entertainment, stationed at the same base and being a bit of a clown and a comic he auditioned and got in. Even the Tops in Blue are hard, like all military training, but he worked up to tour with the troupe that do about 150 shows a year. They had to do a show in the Middle East and got ambushed and nearly killed except a terrorist saw Kahlil Ashanti's name tag and though he was Muslim so they were spared. On arrival home his step father was not impressed with the prestigious Tops in Blue ring that he earned and in a fit of rage started beating his wife, where Kahlil stepped in and knocked him down and took his mum and moved out. Later on he actually meet his biological father.
Kahlil played all the characters, over 20 of them, very well and he used that sharp exaggerated style of acting that always impresses. There was a Q & A afterwards so you could find out what was true and what wasn't. We learned that the Sergeant was worst than he portrayed in the show and was a cumulation of 3 actual Sergeants. He did nearly get shot at the ambush. His step father died recently and things are going slow with his new father as they are basically strangers even though related. The show was totally engrossing and you got totally swept up in it feeling the pain and being shocked but laughing throughout, good show.
03.07.09 : The Big Laugh : Revesby Workers
Rash Rider was MC and was good, Darren Sanders started hard and was killing but slowed down half way, maybe because he wasn't the headliner he didn't want to steal the show. Steady Eddy was also good. It's always a bit hard with a big room, the crowd feels a bit removed and can be a bit quiet but I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
01.07.09 : P52 - The Yestertimes Chronicles : Hermann's Bar
There was a large crowd in attendance that I think were intrigued by the idea of a radio play, most looked too young to have actually heard one. Even I hadn't heard one since the AM radio days of 2JJ transmitting The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The first story was set at the turn of the century, as you would expect from the theme of the night, and was about a professor from the London Zoo making an expedition to the Amazon to find a Tapir or some nose related animal. They introduced a twist to the end of the story by releasing an ancient mosquito trapped in amber which came to a unusual conclusion. You can tell an enthusiastic crowd as they laugh at everything at the start but ultimately the strength of the comedy has to keep them laughing, and this is what happened. Everyone laughed at the start, because they were expecting something good, but then died out around half way. I don't know what was actually wrong as the story seemed silly enough it just wasn't big on laughs.
The second story appealed more to me, they transposed the story from the movie Speed to industrial revolution and the introduction of steam. A French businessman introduced to Parliament a steam powered omnibus running between 2 stops and was totally shocked when someone wanted to get off at a stop in between. The fuse of a bomb was tied around the crankshaft and would go off if the speed fell below 2 mph. They had to solve hazards on the way, like London's first traffic lighted intersection with the obligatory red light camera. Even though this story was also not big on laughs the story was more entertaining.
The third story was very good and made up for the deficiencies at the start. The story was of the the England's first PM Benjamin Disraeli bragging to the opposition leader William Gladstone that he was better than him and would be the first person on the moon. He commissioned the greatest engineer of the time Isambard Kingdom Brunel, well known for the creation of the Great Western Railway and later the unpopular ship the Great Eastern, to build a steam railway to the moon. The story was funny and clever and used the characters of the time and explained their part in history so you could follow the references. I liked the pun about Brunel unpopular ship, as I had seen a special on him, unfortunately I was the only one that laughed as I knew the reference. A good finish to an interesting night.
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