0-Die Bastard : 1-Crap : 2-Rubbish(watchable) : 3-OK : 3.5-Nice : 4-Good : 4.5-Very Good : 5-WOW
15.12.16 : Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : The Rebellion makes a risky move to steal the plans for the Death Star. Who ever made it didn't know what they were doing, and didn't have the soul of the original franchise, because they pretty much butchered the whole thing with incompetence. Star Wars had a fantasy feel and just feels wrong changing to real and serious, and that's not to mention the technical faults, eg pld unfit actors that look weird because they can't run properly, a paranoid android - give me a break -, cheap fire extinguisher effect that blasts when doors open. etc. 2
13.12.16 : Office Christmas Party - movie
Comedy : When his uptight CEO sister threatens to shut down his branch, the branch manager throws an epic Christmas party in order to land a big client and save the day. It wasn't particularly funny, which I didn't mind for 30 minutes because there was 2 jokes, but overall it's just a series of unfunny stunts. A bit disappointing that there was only 2 mild laughs in the entire movie. 2
09.12.16 : Dragon Friends: A Very Dragon Chrisfriend : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The whole cast wasn't there so it was basically Freezo solo learning to be nice, which he didn't, in a Xmasy type adventure. Practically everyone swapped places, Bobby and Bastion DMs, and Dungeon Dave became a character. I don't know if it was just me, because I felt tired throughout, but it didn't really grab me totally. Could have been me, so no score. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : na
06.12.16 : Underworld - Blood Wars - movie
Action, Drama : Vampire death dealer, Selene (Kate Beckinsale) fights to end the eternal war between the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her. Never been a big Underworld fan, because it seams too airy-fairy fantasy to me, but what it does have is action and very attractive people in Gothic clothing - Gothic is super sexy -. This one is a bit high on vampire, political, drama, story setup, talking, but has enough action to be alright. 3.5
05.12.16 : Story Club - A Very Story Christmas : Giant Dwarf Theatre
There was nothing outstanding, but it was nice enough.
Ben Jenkins - A succession of Xmas stories
Bjorn Stewart - How he and his family members got their names.
Zoe Coombs Marr - A succession of Xmas stories.
Adrienne Ferreira - The demonic of twins.
Kate Mulvany - Being a Xmas elf while trying out for NIDA.
Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
29.11.16 : Bad Santa 2 - movie
Comedy, Crime, Drama : Fuelled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus. The first one was very offensive and very funny. This one is more offensive, but less funny. Has some, be it quite offensive, laughs, that left me wanting more. 3
22.11.16 : Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : A wizard looses some fantastic beasts in NY. I doesn't have that child-like fantasy innocence of the early Harry Potters', but it's more political and serious with so much CGI that it look like filler. Not magical, but still fine.3.5
21.11.16 : War on Everyone - movie
Comedy : Two corrupt cops set out to blackmail and frame every criminal unfortunate enough to cross their path. You would think it would be quite funny sending up the corrupt cop thing with exaggerated charterers, but it was only a little bit funny. It has some laughs, and it fine enough, it's just not big laughs. 3.25
18.11.16 : Nocturnal Animals - movie
Drama, Thriller : An art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband's violent thriller novel. That took about 15 minutes before it got annoying. No mystery, not a thriller, just boring mindless violence on innocent people crap. Not even the story in a story was anything different. 0.5
15.11.16 : Arrival - movie
Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi : A linguist is recruited by the military to assist in translating alien communications. A long lingering mystery that is done rather well. All the other alien contact moves are childish because it's something implausible, but this one treats it as real so it has more dramatic effect. Just think the first half of Contact(1997) but better, and without the ridiculous second half that makes the movie lose creditability. 3.5 ramping up to 4 at the end. 4
11.11.16 : The Girl on the Train - movie
Drama, Mystery, Thriller : A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life. I was reticent to go because the premiss of seeing anything from a train seems ridiculous, But they did some-what justify it, so it did have creditability in the end. For me it was a slow-burn, muddled, mystery, but that could just be me because I couldn't recognise the faces of two of the leads because they were both blonde. It's s decent enough movie that I didn't mind at all. 3.5
08.11.16 : The Accountant - movie
Action, Crime, Drama : A math savant uncooks the books for a new client. The lead was a better action hero than half of the purposely constructed action heroes. The guys that made this knew what they were doing because they didn't put a foot wrong. Surprising good, and nearly a 4. 3.75
07.11.16 : Story Club - It's All A Game : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Ben Jenkins - Glandular fever love story
Jack Gow - Isn't good at sport
Lewis Hobba - Greatest sporting aspiration, to be a diplomat in the U.N.
Susie Youssef - Grandfather has to win at all cost
Rhys Nicholson - Vomited on someone's penis
Jordan Raskopoulos - First War Hammer tournament as a woman
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
02.11.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It tapered at the end. ie the Drac died pretty quick, but the rest was good. The bravest man in Wiltshire reappears, to kill his would-be murderer. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
01.11.16 : Keeping Up with the Joneses - movie
Action, Comedy : A suburban couple becomes embroiled in an international espionage plot when they discover that their seemingly perfect new neighbours are government spies. Visually it looks like a winner, it's just that it doesn't have enough laughs to be an actual winner. Fine, just a shame it wasn't funnier. 3
31.10.16 : A Seance at Giant Dwarf : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It's not something I would actively seek if I knew what it was about before hand, but it was basically a hypnotism/talk-to-the-spirits type of thing. I noticed the few guys in the audience were yawning, but the massive girl crowd where totally transfixed. Didn't hate it, just expected more stuff. Not a type of show to get much applause, so who knows what the crowd thought. Crowd : na - Me : 2.5
31.10.16 : Cafe Society - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : A young kid goes to Hollywood to get a job with his big movie studio uncle. I came back to Woody's film after his magical Midnight in Paris (2011), but this one broke the camels back because I'm not going to another. Jesse Eisenberg's character was the prefect in The Social Network (2010), but because he can't do any other characters all the rest have been terrible. This one is a bit better fit, but still the fast talking salesman style doesn't fit with a kid in a big city character. Even the other big name actors didn't fit that well. Couldn't wait to leave. 1.5
27.10.16 : Doctor Strange - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : A former neurosurgeon embarks on a journey of healing only to be drawn into the world of the mystic arts. It's good, but it could have been so much better. It's like these modern directors don't know the art of eliciting an emotional response with old time dramatic techniques - see Alfred Hickcock -, but instead just fill stuff with graphical eye candy thinking it's the same. It's like The Matrix without the drama. This is one movie that shouldn't have had comic one-liners 3.75
25.10.16 : Jack Reacher: Never Go Back - movie
Action, Adventure, Crime : Jack Reacher must uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy in order to clear his name. Slow burn mystery with nothing out of the ordinary. Not high intensity, but ok. 3.25
18.10.16 : Masterminds - movie
Action, Comedy, Crime : A guard at an armoured car company in the Southern U.S. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery. Frick that was funny. This is the type of stupid ridiculousness that I find funny. 3.75
11.10.16 : Deepwater Horizon - movie
Action, Drama, Thriller : Dramatization of the April 2010 disaster when the offshore drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, exploded. A long slow setup with some implausible physics that had me lose interest during the big explosion part. A big let down. 2
06.10.16 : Erotic Fan Fiction : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Eddie Sharp - odd there was no story, instead it was a rollerskating Eddie with his knob out.
Michael Hing - Aladdin gets his cum-uppance when Princes Jasmin get horny.
Annaliese Constable - Oprah gets licked out by Dawn Fraser
Greta Lee Jackson - Hing gets berated for forgetting Greta's name.
Lewis Hobba - Stephen Hawking
Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
05.10.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Overall it wasn't one of the super funny mucking around ones, but there was a point where Dungeon Dave mispronounced a work, or two, or three, that had everyone laugh-choking. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
04.10.16 : Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar - movie
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy : Jacob discovers clues to a mystery that stretches across time. It's slow, you already know half the film because of the trailer, and it's not remarkable. 2.75
04.10.16 : The Magnificent Seven - movie
Action, Adventure, Western : Remake. True Grit(2010) was a brilliant remake, this is not. 2
01.10.16 : Fairfield Markets : Fairfield Showground
Sat 9:00am to 4:00pm. Mainly new stuff. It's like Paddy's Markets Flemington on a Sunday, and seams just as big.
30.09.16 : Rhubarb : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Gretel Killeen, Jordan Raskopoulos, Mark Swivel and Charles Waterstreet.
The first timers like it because it seams quirky, but 3 nights in a row of Pinky interrupting is pretty annoying. He's ok with the storytelling, but he constantly interrupts the house keeping making the boring bits slower and more annoying. The MC can't do his job, and he dragged out the rules from what should have been 2 min to something like 15min. Other than that it was fine. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5
29.09.16 : Rhubarb : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Stephen Curry, Andrew Hansen, Yvie Jones and Wil Anderson. There were some small things, but what's the point of mentioning them as the general public won't notice them. This must be Pinky Beecroft's show because he keeps running things, and the ironic thing is that he was complaining about the show being too loose yesterday, yet he was the one interrupting at the end making the show even looser. The looseness isn't a problem, it just makes it funnier. It was odd that Wil didn't steal the show like he always does, but there was enough hijinks to not make a difference. It was better than last night, and I was with-it this time. Good Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4
28.09.16 : Rhubarb : Giant Dwarf Theatre
MC Matthew Downey- not that he gets to say much -
Team Capt - Kate Jenkinson (Wentworth, Super Fun Night, Offspring),
Team Capt - Pinky Beecroft (Machine Gun Fellatio, The Glasshouse, Hiding, musician writer weirdo)
Players
Stephen Curry, Lindsay McDougall, Lincoln Younes and Amy Ruffle
It's Would I Lie To You, but rhubarb for lie and biscuit for true. It also has an extra round, that is probably the best part, where someone from the audience reads out a fact about a member of one team, and the other team has to guess which one it is. This one was a little loose, but that just made it better, but the one thing I would change is ask the audience after the opposing team has made their selection. It's very good, it's just that I was out of it - very muddle-headed lately - so I'm guess that I would give it a 4. The audience didn't do their job so they didn't clap as much as they should have, hence their 4. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
27.09.16 : Nerve - movie
Adventure, Crime, Thriller : Online dares earn cash. This is a version 13 Game of Death/13 Beloved (2006). This one looks more professional and is tense, but 13GoD is more tense because it's more malevolent. Good 3.75
26.09.16 : The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years - movie
Documentary : A compilation of found footage featuring music, interviews, and stories of The Beatles' 250 concerts from 1963 to 1966. It was interesting enough. For the die-hards, after the credits there is a 35 minute remastered film of the concert at Shea stadium. 3.75
25.09.16 : Blacktown Markets : Blacktown Drive-in Theatre
Sun 7:00am to 2:00pm. Mainly old stuff and crafts. They closed the best markets, Trash and Treasure, 2 weeks ago, and a lot of people were talking about moving here. Unfortunately when I went, only a handful moved. Not as good as TnT for old stuff but hopefully it will grow, because TnT was the best.
21.09.16 : D C Callan - Callan Against Humanity : Factory Theatre
Dave used cards from the game Cards Against Humanity™ to improvise set topics. Dave worked hard, it's just that it can't be that good with so few people. It looks like people have finally realised that Fringe shows aren't as good as proper festival shows, because there has been low attendances to everything I've seen lately. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25
20.09.16 : Bridget Jones's Baby - movie
Comedy, Romance : Bridget is unsure of the identity of her baby's father. The last 15 minutes is good, but there is no magic in the rest. Most of the jokes are reused old gags that are decades old. 3.5
19.09.16 : The Secret Life of Pets - movie
Animation, Adventure, Comedy : The quiet life of a terrier named Max is upended when his owner takes in Duke, a stray whom Max instantly dislikes. Ok but nothing special. 3
14.09.16 : Electronex - electronics expo : Australian Technology Park Sydney
Not as big as I thought, about a third of the auto expo, but heaps of things to see if you can get the salesmen off your back. 3
12.09.16 : Girl Asleep - movie
Family : The world is closing in on Greta Driscoll. On the cusp of turning fifteen she can't bear to leave her childhood, it contains all the things that give her comfort in this incomprehensible new world. The first half is cute but quirky - the best kind - with the second half going into this dream fantasy. I think it's demographic specific, so won't mean much to the others, but I quite liked it. 3.75
01.09.16 : Peter Green - Shire Man : Factory Theatre
The small crowd didn't help. It was that Fringe comedy level, ie not as funny as straight stand-up, but it was ok. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25
31.08.16 : Jennifer Wong - Feel the Fear and Fear It Anyway : Factory Theatre
She's never been a big laugh comic, and I do remember her earlier stuff being more jokey joke, but she is always delightful and so was this. It takes a little more thinking, like her car driving reference, but it was quite nice. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
25.08.16 : Food Fight : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I thought they were kidding about the cooking, but they weren't. It wasn't that boring professional cooking, but that seat of the pants, make it as you go, mucking around cooking. Craig Reucassel was the funniest with his anti-halal sausage/Biltong/whatever else, platter. Alex Dyson made Play-Doh, but reinterpreted the brief of "making a dish that reflects the personality of the chef" by making a bust of himself. He actually won the audience vote clap-a-thon, but when he did the compulsory taste test the full cup of salt came back and bit him on the ass making him spit it out, and loosing the vote on a re-do. Dr Karl made an informative/funny beetroot Borscht. Myf Warhurst was a cooking machine, by helping others, and made the famous Fools Gold sandwich that killed Elvis. We had the opportunity/misfortune to have a taste test, if you were quick. If you know ad-lib/seat-of-the-pants comedy, you can imagine what it was like. Pretty good. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5
25.08.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Ray Badran (Good News Week, Cracker Night, NRL Footy Show), Buddy Goode MC Christina Van Look. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5
23.08.16 : War Dogs - movie
Comedy, Drama, War : Based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon. That was one good movie. It's like Moneyball but with guns and laughs. 4
19.08.16 : Absolutely Fabulous - The Movie - movie
Comedy : That was better than I was expecting. It hasn't got the pace of the TV show, and the characters aren't as outrageously over-the-top self-centred as the TV show, but I quite liked it. 3.5
16.08.16 : Bad Moms - movie
Comedy : Three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits. It's pretty basic and by the numbers, so it's not high comedy, but it's likeable enough. 3.5
15.08.16 : The BFG - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant. This is what it must be like in Carlo - Yorkshire - Ritchie's head. I don't know what attracted me about the trailer, but I went, and it was worth it. I was thinking that this director was making sure every frame was highly visual, which made prefect sense at the end when I found out it was Spielberg. 3.75
14.08.16 : 2016 Sydney Mini Maker Faire : Powerhouse Museum
Mainly electronics/robotics/computer hobbies. All I know about this is from Dave's EEVblog videos, so I don't know if they are all like this, but it seamed a bit smaller than videos from previous years. Maybe internally is was the same, but I did notices less exhibitors in the outside courtyard.
04.08.16 : Suicide Squad - movie
Action, Adventure : The guys that put that together knew what they were doing. Pretty much something happening every minute, and everything justified logically, which is odd for fantasy. 3.75
03.08.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
They keep saying they are going to get more serious and rein in the mucking around, but that's like shooting yourself in the foot when the majority of people only turn up for the wackiness/mucking-around. In fact that's the only reason I turn up these days, because when went to the first one it wasn't crazy enough, so I quit, but when I turned up 10 episodes latter it had changed to high humor mucking around, so now I go to all of them. Anyone can do serious because it doesn't take much brain power, but making people laugh is more clever because the cast has to think it up and the audience has think to get it, and that's the magic because the group feels united when they are on the same wave length. It's like the old days of Impro when the cast was really good and clever. It was the same usual big crowd, with the rain only delaying their arrival. Tonight we learnt that the DFs' are totally hopeless in a bat-fight. Not as much brilliant mucking-around/breaking the 4th wall stuff that made the last one absolutely brilliant. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
02.08.16 : Finding Dory - movie
Animation, Adventure, Comedy : A forgetful blue tang fish begins a search for her long-lost parents. I find most children's animation annoying because they are too simplistic, but this one is nice enough. 3.5
01.08.16 : Story Club - Storm in a Teacup : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Ben Jenkins - Helping a woman that is obviously confused and lost, but looking like the bad person.
Rebecca Shaw (@notofeminism & SBS Comedy) - Learning about politics, where popular people get elected over the competent ones, when trying for school captain,
David Cunningham (The Checkout, The Chaser’s Election Desk) - Old archaic pompous thinking separating the generations.
Rebecca Melrose (Very Funny Lady) - Finding out her problems are actually trivial.
Richard Glover (Host of ABC 702 Drive, Author of Flesh Wounds - More old thinking producing family decent.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Finding her parents stash at 11, and going there.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
28.07.16 : Jason Bourne - movie
Action, Thriller : It's got a Euro action film type feel, so it a bit milder that you would expect. Less action-y, more simple, and more flawed logic. Not outstanding, but decent enough. 3.5
27.07.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Bit of a quiet one, but it was alright. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5
25.07.16 : Comedyish : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I didn't think I would ever go to one of these again, but because Rove was there I kind-of had to go. The credo for this night is no old material, only new stuff. Unfortunately by it's very nature that means it has a lot of stuff that is unfunny, because it has never been tested. This time most went with the time honoured approach of mixing in new with known, thereby guaranteeing laughs. Oddly enough it wasn't the big names, Rove McManus and Merrick Watts, that got the most laughs, but the others, and especially the girls. Ray Badran's Ikea style comedy, where you had to assemble the joke in your head, was brilliant - wish I recorded it -. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
21.07.16 : Star Trek Beyond - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : The USS Enterprise crew explores uncharted space where they encounter a new ruthless enemy. It doesn't have that ST TNG subtle magic, not many do, but it's decent enough. Modern action movies forsake everything for action, so you will notice things not ST like. Things like the original characters just wouldn't do or say. Starts at 3 but ramps to 4. 3.75
20.07.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
It looked ominous with the rain and an empty room, but that turned around when a big crowd turned up fashionably late. I didn't like Adam Richard's comedy festival show because it wasn't that funny, but here he was good. Supports were good too. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
19.07.16 : Ghostbusters - movie
Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi : That was quite dreadful, ie unfunny, to the point of being annoying in places. The original was just a vehicle to link some sarcastic/ironic, with aside order of slap-stick, gags together, but this one only concentrated on storyline, so it was more action/drama. Value about 5% of the original. 2
12.07.16 : Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates - movie
Comedy, Romance : Two hard-partying brothers place an online ad to find the perfect dates for their sister's Hawaiian wedding. It made me laugh, but then again I was the only one laughing, or at least heard laughing. Starts a bit slow but grows, and mainly the female equivalent of dick jokes, clit jokes if you like. I liked it. 3.5
06.07.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The first half was off the chain funny. The funniest podcast is the third or fourth or fifth - my memory isn't good with specifics but its around there - of the first series, but this one kills that. Is was one of those episodes where the cast forgets there is an audience, so there is no "fourth wall", and just try to make each other laugh, and boy was there a lot of laughing - one character forgot their accent they were laughing so much.. The second half settled down, but the damage had been done so everyone left on a high. First half 5, second half 4. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5
05.07.16 : Central Intelligence - movie
Action, Comedy, Crime : After he reconnects with an awkward pal from high school, a mild-mannered accountant is lured into the world of international espionage. This is not a Kevin Hart fast talking one-liner movie, so it's not super funny. The few out-takes at the end is the funniest part, but it's kind-of still ok. Starts at 3.5 but tapers to 3 when you realise it's not going to be that funny. 3.25
04.07.16 : Story Club - Performance anxiety : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The first half wasn't big laughs, but it was all new to me so it was good due to the first time novelty factor. The second half is where everything ripped, because it changed to high laugh mode.
Ben Jenkings - We finally find out about the old man in the cab that made him miss his flight.
Melina Wicks (Writer for ABC’s The Checkout, The Weekly & The Chaser’s Election Desk) - Curing her germaphobia.
J.R Hennessy (Deputy Editor Pedestrian TV) - Taking an AirB&B with a man that was hyper wanking all the time.
Jessica Dettmann (Creator of Life with Gusto blog) -
Jordan Raskopoulos (Front Woman Axis of Awesome) - An abridged version of his bid for a Logie solo show, complete with video.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Learning to ride a bike for the first time on the TV show The Checkout, also with video.
Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
04.07.16 : Me Before You - movie
Drama, Romance : A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralysed man she's taking care of. It's quite nice, and actually nicer than I thought, and even nicer if you are a mild depressive. The English are pretty good at this sort of stuff. 3.75
02.07.16 : Falling Joys & The Hummingbirds : Newtown Social Club - music
30.06.16 : Rock With Laughter : Star Casino
Umit Bali, Eric Hutton, Elliot Goblet, Mikey Robbins(MC) - again -.
I wasn't expecting Elliot to be super funny, but I wasn't expecting him to be that mild. The first two times I saw him in the 90's he used a slightly more animated version of his super funny deadpan routine, but the last time I saw him, five years latter, he had switched to a new animated less funny routine. This one was even less funny than the last, and it kind-of made a night that was on a high, due to the good routines from the supports, end as a bit of a dud. Quite a few people turned up specifically to see Elliot so they didn't mind that much that he wasn't as funny. It was good up to then, but the end pulled 0.5 of a point out of the score. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3
29.06.16 : The Comedy Circuit : Bayview Tavern
Rebecca De Unamuno, Justin Hamilton, Peter Berner
Bek is always sparkly so it's always good to see her even if there is a small crowd, but tonight was sold out so the big crowd made it even better. Pretty good overall. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : 20 years latter the aliens are back. Very good graphics, and quite logical and intelligent by Hollywood's standards. Expect for a somewhat lapse in the last third, this is a more intelligent movie than the first. It's probably a 3.75 because of the last third, but the graphics make up for it. 4
27.06.16 : Story Club Showcase : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This is like an open mic story night, but more professional. The difference between a story at StoryClub is that they are written in an exaggerated creative way to maximise laughs, where as most other stories in story nights are just a stories. One story could probably make StoryClub, 3 were in the middle of SC and a conventional story, and the rest were just stories. Overall it was quite nice, but there were no WHAT! moments - my equivalent of a laugh - to change it from nice to outstanding. I'm hard to impress because I've seen too much, but it was still nice. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25
27.06.16 : Everybody Wants Some!! - movie
Comedy : A group of 80's college baseball players navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood. It's like a real/grown-up Porky's, but without any gags. I wish this film had a rhyme or reason or direction rather than just being an accumulation of stuff that happens, because by the end of this long film you get surprised that you got nothing out of it. Basically all you do is passively sit there as stuff passes by. 2.5
23.06.16 : Nailed It : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I'm writing this a week after the fact, and my memory is shot, but roughly it was talks were someone had to justify an idiotic statement made by some well know person - this wasn't the only criteria for a talk it's just the one I remember -, eg someone had to to justify that idiot Scott Morrison statement that said gay marriage will lead to animal marriage. All the talks were funny so it was quite alright. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
21.06.16 : Warcraft - The Beginning - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders. It's too fantasy-ish for old people so it comes across and gobbledygook with a ridiculous amount of detail drawing in the CGI characters - do we really need tusk rings jewellery detail. I could have used a playbook, but it's not annoying so I didn't have a problem with it. 2
10.06.16 : Alice Through the Looking Glass - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to help the Mad Hatter. I don't care what the critics said, that was much more interesting than the first. 3.75
08.06.16 : Erotic Fan Fiction : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This was an indigenous, unofficial but sanctioned episode of EFF. The start and the first story was a repeat - 3 times -, and it took so long to get to the known conclusion, that it wore me out and I left at ½ time. The second story might have been ok, but I didn't have the energy to listen, but the third about Where's Wally was good. Crowd : na - Me : na
06.06.16 : Story Club - Going Down Swinging : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This was the indigenous episode, or at least mainly indigenous. The original people are pretty hard done by so this can quickly turn from entertainment to political, but it didn't that much but was more just young people's problems.
Nakkiah Lui - A weird threesome.
Ben Jenkins - Finding a certain A Hitler book in his parents pantry.
Allan Clarke - It's hard enough being gay and white, but black and gay, that is something even harder
Amrita - Controversial art installation.
James Colley - How an old Yak Bak recorder toy reminds him of his grandfather.
Miranda Tapsell - Shopping the black way.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75
06.06.16 : Hunt for the Wilderpeople - movie
Comedy, Drama : A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush. How come these small independent films are better than Hollywood BS costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Good Fun. 3.75
01.06.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
Weird things tonight. Ben Jenkins took over Michael Hing's Wizard role for the first half because Hingster was hosting an actual real TV show. Unfortunately for Hipster Ben atoned for all his previous miss-doings/murders by giving away all his stuff, even his precious spell book, and subjecting the character to self harm to deduct some hit points. When the Hoopster finally arrived and found he had been asset striped, he basically tried to kill character by throwing it into a fight unarmed. It takes time to build up a character, so it's demoralising when everything is gone. Hister then got heckled, unjustly, for not paying attention and using the broad sword. But in his defence he was told that he broke his own hand in self harm, and also he is a bit inexperienced with only 20 total hours of D&D experience, so he's not going to remember everything. If you think about it the show would be too dry for public entertainment if the players were too experienced in the rules, so it's a Catch 22. People also don't like it when things aren't fair, like murdering Bastions faithful horse Horsey 2 Horse just for the temporary hit points, so he's kind-of the bad guy. But again you wouldn't be going to these shows if everything was prim and proper and nice all the time, so it's another Catch 22. Dave Harmon set up this elaborate spooky entrance for a mystery villain that Ben gave a ridiculous voice, which the crowd loved, so Dave got a bit put out and threatened to cut it from the Podcast because it detracted from the story. But if you analyse it the story is pretty superfluous because it's the mucking around that people come to see, so it's another Catch 22. There probably wasn't as much story covered because the first half was nobbling Freezo and the second half was mucking around, but it was the funnest episode yet, and it's funny that pays the bills. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
31.05.16 : The Nice Guys - movie
Action, Comedy, Crime : A mismatched pair of private eyes investigate the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles. Not clever enough to be funny. When you try to substitute ironic solutions to known scenarios for comedy, the ironic solutions have to be clever. In this film the ironic solutions are so basic and simplistic that they just aren't funny. No one can accidentally stumble on to a clue that many times, it's just unbelievable. Wanted to laugh, but it just wasn't that funny. 3.25
27.05.16 : Tom Walker - Beep Boop : The Comedy Store
Didn't know the football was on so I couldn't get free parking - inside parking cost more than the show -, so I went home.
25.11.16 : Bonus Stage : Giant Dwarf Theatre
These have always been killer funny for me even though I'm not a gamer, but after a long absence this one wasn't one of the good ones. I could've been the small crowd, it could've been that I couldn't hear that well - the girl behind me keep talking and professing to want to marry Gen Fricker -, or it could've been too gamey - I didn't get a lot of references -, but what I experienced was that it wasn't as funny. Hope the trend doesn't continue. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5
24.05.16 : X-Men - Apocalypse - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : With the emergence of the world's first mutant, Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan. These Hollywood superhero films go in my ear and out the other so fast that I really need a recap at the start of the movie so I know what's going on, but overall is not annoying like the 2 recent superhero Vs films so I didn't mind it. 3.75
23.05.16 : Pint of Science Australia - Cancer So Meta : The Harold Park Hotel
DNA sequencing to fight cancer. Most talks are a simple overview, but some have meat, this was in the middle leaning to overview.
Mark Cowley - Cancer Genomics
Samantha Oakes - Big data changing cancer research
Only 2 speaker, so it was shorter, but it was fine. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5
23.05.16 : The Man Who Knew Infinity - movie
Biography, Drama : Growing up poor in Madras, India, Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar earns admittance to Cambridge University during WWI, where he becomes a pioneer in mathematical theories with the guidance of his professor, G.H. Hardy. It's one of those intelligent dramas that only the British can do properly - basically no illogical stupid annoying scenes like Hollywood movies -. I loved it. 3.75
20.05.16 : Michele Lin - Hustle Bear, a true story : Factory Theatre
Good animated delivery, confident, fast talking, lots of material, but for old people like me it was more nice than lol funny simple because I didn't get some of the young people's references. Young people were chuckling, so they liked it. Nice Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
19.05.16 : Night of the Nerds : Roslyn Packer Theatre
Adam Spencer hosted and it mainly covered the guests history, which they delivered in a short comedic presentations, with a Q&A at the end.
Peter Doherty - 1996 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering the nature of the cellular immune defense.
Natalie Tran - communitychannel - 1.7 million Ytube subscribers and had over half a billion views.
David Astle - SBS's Letters and Numbers, Cryptic crosswords for major newspapers.
Something different. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
18.05.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3
16.05.16 : Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - movie
Comedy, Drama : A journalist recounts her wartime coverage in Afghanistan. Two opposing cultures in the same place at the same time used as some sort of irony. Been done before and done better, I didn't like it. 2
15.05.16 : Tony Woods - Live : Factory Theatre
I was hoping it would've been funnier. Tony was blisteringly funny when he first came here with his full Aussie routine, but with each subsequent visit he has become less and less funny. This has been the fourth time I've seen him, and with a routine nearly exactly the same as I saw him last time two years ago, so you can imagine it was pretty mild for me. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25
13.05.16 : Tony Martin - Live : Factory Theatre
This was in the chuckles category, kind-of similar to Tom Gleeson, but because it is so rare that Tony does anything public it is worth going. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
13.05.16 : Andrew Barnett - The Funny One : Enmore Theatre
Half the audience was loling and half were only smiling, and it looks like the loling ones were friends. I have trouble recognising faces so to me this was just the third guy with a beard this week, but I do remember routines, and I had heard this one recently. This was only a time filler and a repeat, which could explain things, but the majority of the audience were in the smile category. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25
12.05.16 : Zanzoop - Feeble Minds : Factory Theatre
I think you have to be Uni student young for this one, because it's fricken nutso. I think it's ad-lib over a very loose script/storyline, because Sam is constantly degrading his own show - it's always funnier when you point out faults in your own show -, Sam Campbell's ad-lib banter is the highlight of the show, and makes it quite funny. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
12.05.16 : Katie Burch - Get With The Program : Enmore Theatre
This is what real comedy used to be like, actual laugh-out-loud funny. I found it very funny, and I had heard all of this show before, and quite recently too. Good. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
11.05.16 : Michael Hing - The Unbearable Whiteness of Being : Factory Theatre
Don't go if you are a Baby Boomer because you get hammered repeatedly, which is weird because it's a premise based on a comedic construct by Shaun Micallef, that isn't even true - the usual "bringing people together by ridiculing others" group bonding -. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
10.05.16 : Becky Lucas - Baby : Enmore Theatre
Another young comic that has a full show that is rather good - I hate sparse -. She has one of those innocent faces that biology tells you you have to help, which is why no one will hate this show, but that causes a disconnect when she talks dirty - she's too nice to have sex effect - so you can't imagine it's her doing the dirty. No dead spots and some laughs, delightful, Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
10.05.16 : Al Del Bene - Extra Normal : Enmore Theatre
You probably won't laugh that much, but you will like the stories. I didn't realise beforehand that Al was the same guy that did crowd warmup at a TV recording that I absolutely hated - annoyingly unfunny -, so it was good that he turned it around and was rather good here. He told us about his life growing up, which was rather bleak, but he always worked it so that it wasn't a downer. We also had an opening act, Crystal Meth, who was also quite good. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
10.05.16 : The Boss - movie
Comedy : A titan of industry is sent to prison after she's caught insider trading. That was better than I was expecting. A couple of laughs - not many but some -, not annoying, and warm and fuzzy. Nice. 3.25
08.05.16 : Simon Taylor - Human : Enmore Theatre
He was funny enough on TV that I had to go for a look, and found out he was just as funny live. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4
08.05.16 : Daniel Muggleton - Let Me Finish : Enmore Theatre
He didn't seam to do anything wrong, it's just that he wasn't that funny. He was affable and the show wasn't sparse, it's just that there wasn't anything to laugh at. By the last quarter Daniel wasn't getting much response from the crowd so he stopped the show and did an old routine that he knew worked, and that's when people started to genuinely laugh. I only went to kill time before another show that I actually wanted to see, so it could have been me, but when there are barely any laughs from the rest of the crowd, you could say it was the show. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3
06.05.16 : Mother's Day - movie
Comedy, Drama : Three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother's Day.. It's a bit funny, and it's very nice, and that makes you overlook the small contrivances. The older set, like me, will laugh, cry, and love this movie. 4
05.05.16 : Peter Helliar - One Hot Mess : Giant Dwarf Theatre
More fun than Tom Gleeson. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
04.05.16 : Amanda Buckley - Yourovision! The Improvised Song Contest : Factory Theatre
There were Impro players playing characters from different countries that had to improvise a song from an audience suggestion. I can't say the skill set was as good as the old days, but they made up for that by using BS to cover it up, which was just as funny but in a different way. It reminded me of the old days when Impro was fun.. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
03.05.16 : Steen Raskopoulos - You Know The Drill : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It's nearly the same level of laughs as his second show, which puts both a touch behind his first show. There was 2 or 3 scenes that were really funny with all the rest being nice, and one section that probably didn't go to plan. There was one section where he did the Impro game that used a SMS conversation from someone's phone where he was too nice, and picked a too safe conversation, which didn't leave much to work with. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75
03.05.16 : Captain America - Civil War - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Political interference in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man. It has the same dumb sub plot from the last Batman where the world turns against the superheroes because there is an accident, which they contradict in their own film, making the political first half a write-off. There is better fight scenes and second half has a better plot, so it's half good. They are trying to elevate these movies above dumb level by adding a more complicated story, but that just makes it worse than being plain dumb. 3.5
02.05.16 : Midnight Special - movie
Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi : A father and son go on the run to protect the child and his special powers. It travels in a slow, brooding, uneasy, menacing, mystery style so it's not high energy all the time, but it is a change from the usual pap designed for the general public. 3.5
01.05.16 : Lawrence Mooney - Moonman : The Comedy Store
Now I know why that journalist didn't like this show, it's outrageous, but it's the outrageousness that makes it so very funny. No one said comedy has to be educational, but you have to be educated to watch comedy to know the difference between entertainment and reality. The only rule to comedy is that you have to make people laugh and Mooney uses this fact by not being totally PC all the time. There are only a few bits that someone might construe as a bit rude crude or vulgar, like when he showed his miming skills by handling a huge penis, but any normal person will know it was done to exaggerate the comedy. This is what real comedy used to be like, and it's why I like the Moonman. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.5
30.04.16 : Tom Gleeson - Great : Enmore Theatre
I wouldn't say Great, more like good. He's good, but I remember he was funnier when he first came to Sydney - he had hair, and it was red -. The best bit is the end here the audience can ask him about parts of the show, and whether they are true or not, and this is where he ad-libs silly answers. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
30.04.16 : Demi Lardner - Life Mechanic : Enmore Theatre
It's quite impressive how someone so young and new to comedy has such a full complete one hour show. Most new-comers usually try to stretch out 20 min of material to one hour, and that makes it feel sparse, but Demi is talking all the time so you never feel that. Even the quality of the material is good, so the show was quite good. It was a 3.75, but because I was impressed I'll give it a 4. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
29.04.16 : Alice Fraser - The Resistance : Enmore Theatre
When she does her short set at a standup comedy night it pretty conventional comedy, but the style of her full shows are so different that it's a style of comedy you wouldn't have seen before. It's kind-of intelligent/complicated but easy to understand, but with a fuzzy niceness. I loved her lawyer one 12.09.13 : Alice Fraser - Everyone’s A Winner : Factory Theatre 4, because you learn things along the way. This one feels similar, and is very close to it. This one has a conundrum. Alice's argument that comedy and tragedy are in all stories, it just time that differentiates the two. Like in the old gag - I think in Spaceballs - where some evil person's nondescript henchman gets killed in a comedic way so you laugh (comedy), but in the next scene someone one has to tell his wife her husband is dead (tragedy). In this one the conundrum is near the end where you are given the choice to leave now at the end of the comedic part, or stay to the end to hear what really happened, which was really tragic. I was very temped to leave because I have trouble with things that make me cry, it's why I had trouble with 22.09.15 : Alice Fraser - Savage : Factory Theatre, but you should really stay because it gives you a glimpse in to the horrors of history that are now becoming distant memories. The equal 2nd best show I've seen this week. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
29.04.16 : Dave Hughes - Sweet : Enmore Theatre
Typical Hughesy, sarcastic angry condescending. It was so close to a 4.5 that I'm going to make it 4.5 because I love Hughesy comedy. He has a string of 5 with only one 4 from the show he did straight after he left The Project - he was a bit rusty -, but this one was kind-of in between laugh wise. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5
28.04.16 : Erotic Fan Fiction : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This has been the funniest show in the festival so far, and it was the only one I actually laugh at. This one was one of the good one where they didn't go into super grose sexual acts, but aimed for all comedy.
Eddie Sharp did a song.
Alex Lee had Karl Stefanovic doing some kinky money copulating. This was the crowd favourite.
Richie Cooke had Sydney house f*cking. Very clever
Bec Shaw had Scotty Cam doing unmentionables with a Logie. Good.
Demi Lardner had The Nanny cast in devious convulsions. Gooder
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25
28.04.16 : The Axis of Awesome - Wont Ever Not Stop Giving Up : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I thought AoA was in trouble after their Coming-out show, but it looks like it was just nerves because Jordan is now back to normal. I don't really care if you wear a Zena warrior leather tutu, just don't be dull, which was the problem with the last show. From a material stand point it's wasn't as good as their Best-off show, but it wasn't their worse show AoA and the Bee, it was about the same as most of all their others. Basically they've had 1 average show theme, 2-3 brilliant shows, and all the rest were good. This was basically the same as the Coming-out show, just done with with the normal AoA gusto. It looks like they have been doing this so long that the next generation of audience turned up, because they didn't seam to know the call-backs to old gags. Just under a 4 but higher than a 3.75, so I'll say 4. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
27.04.16 : There's No One New Around You - A Tinder Musical : Factory Theatre
I F'ed up. 40% of the show was reading videos, and because I didn't bring glasses I missed most of the show. Also the sound in this room is always too loud, and that makes it hard for me to hear. Basically it was a write-off for me right from the start. From what I gathered it had less gags, less jokes, less puns, less one-liners, less callbacks, less busy, so it seamed less fun compared to previous shows. I don't know much about Tinder so I was hoping to pick it up along the way, which I did somewhat, but even then it all seamed fuzzy because of my vision and hearing problems. I don't think it was for me, but I can't be certain. Crowd : 4 - Me : na
27.04.16 : Andrew Maxwell (IRE) - Yo Contraire : Factory Theatre
It wasn't riotously funny, and the half an audience was a bit dead, but it was still very nice. I love his take on Australia, which is the best part of OS comics coming here, and the perception of how wacky things are here compared to the rest of the world. The audience should have been better, which would have produced a score better than the one I'm putting here. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
26.04.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Usually the night ends up with the first episode being good because of all the enthusiasm and mucking around, and the second being more story and more subdued. This one started out with too much story, making it quite plain and not that funny, and that made me not look forward to the second half. But they turned it around and did more mucking around, so that it ended very good. I don't know what happened because I remember the Elf pest being dead in the last one, yet he was alight in this one. Even thought it started worse than usual, about a 3, the ending on a high bumped it up to good. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
24.04.16 : Felicity Ward-What If There Is No Toilet? : Giant Dwarf Theatre
All her other shows have been filled with frivolous frivolity and fun, but this one had a more serious side because it was about mental illness. The seriousness wasn't dominating, like Luisa Omielan - Am I Right Ladies?! constant life putting her down theme, and there were plenty of gags to break it up, so it didn't seam overdone. It seamed it was fuller and packed with more stuff and delivered faster with all the fast talking. I like the superficial non serious stuff so for me it wasn't my favourite show of hers', but it was on par with all her other shows. The show ended funny, not on a high, so it was hard to judge the audience applause volume, which could have been higher than the 4 that they gave. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
22.04.16 : Lawrence Leung - Very Strange Things : Sydney Town Hall
Things that suxed was that they set up the chairs in a long narrow fashion, so it was like being at that back of a aeroplane trying to see what was happening at the front. Luckily I brought my glasses, so I managed, but get there early to get near the front. This is a stage version of his TV series Lawrence Leung's Unbelievable, and it's just as good. Lawrence is a natural host, because he adds all those comedic gags that you would expect from a professional, so is very good. Weird sh!t was that he guessed people's iPhone pin number, he had other people guess his iPhnoe number, he guessed random words from members of the audience, it was all very good. Nice humour and astounding enough to be very entertaining. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
22.04.16 : The Ongals (KOR) - Babbling Comedy : Sydney Town Hall
Things that suxed was the mobile box office that charges a compulsory transaction fee of $8 - I used to work for nearly 1 hour to make that -, which I try to avoid by buying at the door but still had to pay. I like that simple basic comedy of Japanese comedy, like VS Arashi and Tokyo Shock Boys, and was hopping this Korean comedy would be similar. But it wasn't as good. It has some funny points, but I think it's more for a younger demographic, or people that haven't seen as much, or people that are easily amused. You have to remember that over the years I have nearly seen all the types of things they did, like juggling, simple toilet humour, etc, so it's going to be a bit familiar and less impressive for me. It is adult enough, so it passed the time nicely and I was entertained enough, but it not super laughs all the time. Nice with some occasional super laughs. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
21.04.16 : Alex Lee & Simon Greiner - Geldwelt : Enmore Theatre
Not really comedy, but more random abstract weirdness. Minions of the God Gorgelon must read out a short sentence for the life of a mortals orb before they are wiped from eternity. At times they enter the stores and watch it play out. It's not super funny, even though it has two quite funny spots, but it is very different and nice enough. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
21.04.16 : Tanyalee Davis - Actual Size : Enmore Theatre
Not super funny, but fun enough and quite nice. The funniest stuff is usual gags you would expect based on her size and appearance, and also she's a bit sassy, but the rest is more that milder storytelling. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
20.04.16 : Luisa Omielan - Am I Right Ladies?! : Factory Theatre
I thought she was very good on TV but in this show she seamed totally different, visually - dark hair - and comedy wise - more serious -, so it was like seeing someone totally different. I don't think this was for my demographic. more for 30-ish year old women, because it had the main theme, and probably the only one, of having her self esteem eroded by others for not conforming to their standards of appearance and behaviour. Like why does she getting dumped, and then the exs' marry the next girl that comes along. Why does a comedian have to be thin and young to work in LA. There was two bits I found funny, but at times she spoke softly and very fast, and coupled with my bad hearing it got me so down because I'm missing half of what was said so I get depressed and tune out and feel like quitting going out. Not for me. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5
20.04.16 : Stanwell Park
17.04.16 : David O’Doherty - We Are All in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking At David O’Doherty : Enmore Theatre
5 songs with the rest being dynamic, exciting, animated standup, which is exactly how I like it. I love David O’Doherty, but it got me down thinking about why I wasn't laughing as much as I usually do at his shows. Still very lovable, which is what most of the audience were very happy with, but probably not as many laughs as the other shows I've seen of his. It could have been just me, even though people next to me weren't laughing as much as I would expect if it was truly funny, but that's not important because the crowd thought it was great and gave it a short peek applause volume of 4.5 at the end. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75
14.04.16 : The Divergent Series - Allegiant - movie
Action, Adventure, Mystery : After winning Chicago's freedom Tris goes beyond the wall to finally discover the shocking truth of the world around them. 1 was good, but to break the common squeal failure problem they went in totally a different direction by adding more drama and story. The problem with that approach is that the drama reduces the action and excitement, and since this is just a continuation of 2 it feels about the same. Ok. 3.5
13.04.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
I was good enough, but I wish it was better for such a big crowd. The first half wasn't great, but Daniel Townes in the second was ok. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5
10.04.16 : Sarah Millican - Outsider : Seymour Centre
I've seen Sarah on TV for quite a few years and she has always been delightful and intensely funny, which has made me want to see her live for years, so when she made it to Sydney I had to go. It wasn't as intensely funny as TV, which is expected because it's edited for maximum laughs, but she was still delightful and the show was quite long at nearly 2 hours. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
07.04.16 : The Huntsman: Winter's War - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : Snow White's Evil Queen has an eviller sister. I like the exciting new rewrites of old stories, but this one different because it is a parallel story. The start and finish are good, it's just the middle that makes it less than it should have been. I did like it but it's not as good as something like Maleficent. 3.5 - 3.75ish
06.04.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
MC Sally Kimpton, Jonas Holt, Chris Franklin
Unfortunately everyone except 2 girls remembered Sally was here a couple of months back, so there wasn't much reaction. Jonas is getting back to his old high speed improvising, so was very good. I was dreading Chris because I know his routine so well, but what I forgot was he has a new one about all his wives, and that made him quite good because I've only heard it once before. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
06.04.16 : Dr Karl's Short Back and Science : Seymour Centre
The first time I saw Karl a couple of years back I thought his talk was too scattered, fast, and all over the place. This one was also delivered fast, but it seamed more logically linked so I liked it more.
Dr Karl will also look at the Galapagos Islands, as well as what happens when you go looking for Auroras in a sailing boat in the Arctic Ocean and get hit by a major weather depression – and why vomiting (and fear, for that matter) are both contagious. And how did a 25-year-old Australian Physics Nobel Prize winner help change the course of World War I (as a result of being lifted off the toilet seat, whenever the Big Guns fired)? Dr Karl probes why we draw stars as having points (even though stars are enormous spherical blobs without points), whether cows can really make strawberry milk, etc.
Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
04.04.16 : Story Club - No Place Like Home : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Cait Harris (host) : Recounted the loss of her father.
Patrick Lenton : Patrick's carefree world comes crashing down when he takes on the responsibilities of an adult when he gets a baby...........a baby dog that is.
Kirsten Drysdale : Staying in a sharehouse with what was supposed to be 5 Indian chaps turns out weird when another 6 Indian chaps turn up for breakfast.
Jonathan Holmes : Travelling to dangerous Burkina Faso in the past, and dangerous Burkina Faso now.
Kate Mulvany : A holiday in Byron turns crazy when the herbs come out.
Zoe Norton Lodge : There's a head in the attic! There was something not quite right with the delivery because it wasn't as sarcastic and authoritative as usual.
It was probably was no different in entertainment value as usual - I liked it - but only one story got the extra applause, so my volume based rating was a bit lower than usual. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
30.03.16 : Late Night Library: Scarlet Tales : Kings Cross Library
My friend used to be a door spruker for the strip clubs and he told funny stories, so I was expecting the same, but it wasn't funny stories but more a history of sex workers and the technical difficulties of trying to work. They weren't professional storytellers, so it wasn't constructed, just people giving a brief run through of their sex work history and the troubles along the way. We would visit my friend once a week in the 90's and if he didn't get work that night he would get us in the clubs for free - I think one night we did all the clubs -, and because he knew everyone we would be talking to the girls to fill time when they weren't busy. What you learn is that people doing sex work are just normal people with lots of different reasons they ended up do this work. I remember one girl telling us that she was in a relationship for 9 years when her boyfriend dumped her unexpectedly. She was not beautiful, just normal looking, and had no boy show any interest in four years, so she took up sex work because she was lonely and it made her feel desired when she got picked. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3
24.03.16 : Batman v Superman - Dawn of Justice - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : Fearing the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the man of steel. Some kids clapped at the end, but I thought it was junk. Hollywood has to add more dimensions to what was originally a one dimensional character, but the logic in this film is so week, or the movie didn't give it enough credence, that it had no credibility. And it's the unbelievably that made most of it slow and dull as they tried to push a deep story with implausible logic. For me Jesse Eisenberg is the worse. I don't think he can play any other character but himself, because instead of being a maniacal crazy villain, to me he looked like Jerry Lewis/Professor Frink trying to be evil. Most of it was slow storytelling, with a stupid monster at the end. 2.5
23.03.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
David Smiedt (Penthouse, The Comic Strip, Joan Rivers)Wes Zaharuk Luke, Joe Ryan
Don't know if it was last weeks average show or normal, but it was only a small crowd. I was a bit worried that the first comic was a recent repeat, but the second one was one of those comedic lame magician routines. He only had simple jokes, but coupled to the rest of the routine it was quite ok. Things picked up with David, who had everyone in the pub going outside to see some guys panel van, and that was enough that it turned out fine. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75
18.03.16 : Giant Dwarf Turns 2 : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Recap and samples of shows at Giant Dwarf Theatre. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75
17.03.16 : London Has Fallen - movie
Action, Crime, Thriller : Save the President from terrorists. I wasn't paying attention so I don't know if it was any good. Probably the same as the others.
16.03.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Ro Campbell (WINNER Scottish Comedian Of The Year, Jongleurs, Edinburgh Fringe Festival etc), Sam Campbell MC Stu McPherson
The crowd was more tolerant than me, because I didn't like it. One was low energy and probably not that funny, one was here a couple of weeks ago, and the other I've probably seen recently. I can handle one unfunny, one ok, and one good, but not one unfunny and two average. Should have left at half time. Crowd : 3 - Me : 2
11.03.16 : Theatresports Cup Winners Cup! : Harold Park Hotel
I haven't seen that high a skill level in Theatresports for a long time. I wasn't going to go because it sold out and it would be too hard to get the few door tickets, but when I ended up in Petersham I thought I would cross the road and take the risk, and I got in. Last time I saw Impro here was in the 90's with a show called Bonds Have More Fun with Michael Gregory, and he was also here tonight. There were games that seamed lame and wouldn't work, but the skill was so high they made them good. I don't think the young people in the audience were used to such a high level from the veterans, because they guy next to me was dying when ever they performed. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5
10.03.16 : Grimsby - movie
Action, Comedy : A new assignment forces a top spy to team up with his football hooligan brother. It's as lame as the trailer suggests. 2 jokes with tons of unfunny lame. 1
09.03.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Wayne Deakin (Just For Laughs Montreal, Last Comic Standing, Hughesy & Kate), Madeleine Culp, MC George Zach (UK)
Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
08.03.16 : Sydney Ideas & Confucius Institute - If You Are The One panel discussion : Seymour Centre
The first thing you notice is that there are more Caucasians than Asians in this audience. I'm not a fan of this show, and in fact haven't made it through one full episode prior to the Aust specials. I find it clunky and a bit amateurish, which may be the editing and translation, but worse is that is pretty much all the same and predictable. I watched the Aust special because they are relatable, and the interesting behind the scenes Aust episode on The Feed, so I thought I might as well do the trifecta and do this one since it's free, and it turned out rather good. They talked about the cultural differences with relation to marriage in China, and that it seams singled minded, but if you look at any culture they pretty much stared off the same, in that there is pressure that you get married during you're most physically attractive ages, but in the West it has eroded over time - isn't Pride and Prejudice the exact same thing -. They gave us all the dirt about what happens behind the scenes, and how the program works - evidently the girls stay on the show for around 6 months, or until something gets in the way like work, or finding a partner outside the show -. Not that there is any chance you will actually find someone on this show, from what happened in the Maldives afterwards, it seams like young Chinese people are already changing because they weren't so much interested in their dates as displaying their status on Social media. This kind-of online bragging is a bit in decline in the West after comedians started making fun of the number of food/baby phones you see online, but it seams to be in full swing in China. It's not just a Chinese thing, because being young and full of testosterone it's normal to show off because that's what evolution has programmed into us to attract a mate, but after that it's just bragging about your wealth. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
07.03.16 : Story Club - Comedy=Tragedy+Time : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The effectiveness of a story is reliant on whether you agree with the perspective of the storyteller.
Hosted by The Checkout’s Mark Sutton : There was fun to be had when 100 glow-sticks were broken open and the contents spilled all around a share-house room, that is until they tried to wash it off.
Nakkiah Lui (Black Comedy) : A scum-bag boyfriend got his d!ck bitten off.
Eddie Sharp (Erotic Fan Fiction) : Eddie used a physic, and then more physics, to decide if he should go to Melb and do his comedy show, or cancel it now. They said the show was going to be a flop, which was correct, but that he would meet the girl of his dreams, which they were not so correct about.
Ben Jenkins : The rest of the world wrote-off Trump as a presidential candidate because he is such an idiot, but no one in the rest of the world accounted for the even stupider American public, which was evident in the rally Ben crashed.
Miranda Tapsell (The Sapphires) : Keep getting mistaken for other indigenous actors, until one went too far and mistook her for the young boy in the movie Australia. I can only speak for Caucasians, but we aren't that good at facial recognition, as is displayed in nearly every episode of The Graham Norton Show with the running gag of celebrities being mistaken for other celebrities.
Greta Lee Jackson (Skit Box) : Things went bad when on overseas Catfish scenario went sour.
Zoe Norton Lodge (From This Event) : Citing as being in a one sex school as not preparing you to know what a boy is, she went on a setup fake first date that she didn't know she was on.
Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4
03.03.16 : The Finest Hours - movie
Action, Drama, History : The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952. They went for a realistic historical drama piece, so it doesn't travel as fast as a modern action film. There are a few minor technical points that are a bit iffy, but no one else will notice. I thought is wasn't going to be very good due to it's slow start, but it gets better and faster as it goes along. 3.75
02.03.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : The Giant Dwarf Theatre
It was still good, just not super good. I don't know if I'm getting too used to the show, or that the players know too much about the game and are following the rules now, or because Simon was missing, or I was flustered because I arrived late due to another thing, but it seamed a notch down compared to last time. The cast was still wacky, from the games perspective, but not as wacky as comedian wacky. The terrible moral vacuum that is the Elf King somehow brought himself partially back from the dead by nefarious underhand sadistic means, only to die again - yin-yang motherfu*ker -. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
02.03.16 : The Quantum Future - Powering the next technological revolution : Syd Uni
I was thinking about skipping this one because the last Quantum talk here was not technical enough. Looks like I was right because this one had nothing that we didn't know, and in fact was so basic that there was nothing interesting at all. It felt like a brochure talk about the new nano-science building aimed for high school students. It was a bust. 2
26.02.16 : Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - movie
Action, Horror, Romance : The title say it all. I don't know what a Pride and Prejudice is, but I do know there is a Mr Darcy in it. In this one it's Colonel Darcy zombie killer. From this movie I gather that the original story is a bunch of pompous, superficial, shallow snobs brokering marriage deals. In this ones it's the same, but there is killing. It started off interesting, because of it's novel approach, but as it went along the less exciting passive aggressive banter over powered the few exciting fight scenes. Pride and Prejudice aficionados will like the end bit where they will recognise the dialogue between characters during a argument, but in this one it's accompanied by a battle between them. It's probably too clever, because it's too Pride and Prejudice and not enough killing for the general public, but the last third is ok. 2.75
25.02.16 : Gods of Egypt - movie
Adventure, Fantasy : A mortal has to help a God. As a mythical God based fantasy adventure, this is probably the best. Clash of the Titans had boring bits but this doesn't. A movie doesn't have to be ground breaking for me so long as it's fun, and this was. 3.75
24.02.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Bruno Lucia, Chris North, MC Jacques Barrett
Burno was the big name attraction, but it was Jacques that stole the show because he killed. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25
23.02.16 : Conspiracy Theories : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The hosts Cyrus Bezyan and Jack Gow are pretty good, and I would have liked it if they went on longer because they were funny. I hate actual conspiracy theories, hence why I avoided this show, but most aren't actual conspiracy theories but fabricated comedy ones. One was about anti-vaxers, who I hate because they are dumb, where they were sent-up, which was good. Ones twisted around the illegal immigrant boat people, and focused on the illegal baby problem. The show ended with the hosts doing a choreographed dance number to Soft Cell - Tainted Love that was very funny. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75
22.02.16 : Hail, Caesar! - movie
Comedy, Mystery : A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio's stars in line. I wouldn't call it a sendup of movie making by the big studios in the 50"s, but more a recreation of it, simply because it's not funny enough to be classify as a sendup. It's all in-house film studio references, which I knew about because I'm old, that aren't funny simply because they are too real and not exaggerated enough to be funny. Probably for very old people, even though the old ones in my session didn't laugh that much either. 2
19.02.16 : Ride Along 2 - movie
Action, Comedy : Ben heads to Miami with his soon-to-be brother-in-law James to bring down a drug dealer. The first was intended to be a simple bit of fun, which it was, and the second is no worse than the first, so it's fine by me. Fun 3.5
18.02.16 : How to Be Single - movie
Comedy, Romance : I still don't know what it's about, because it's stupid. It starts off as very attractive film - it has heaps of beautiful people -, but it turns clunky and not thought out at all, with idiotic scenes that kill the film because they are illogical. Not that they gave a reason, but who goes to their ex's Xmas party so soon after breaking up. By half way it got so idiotic it was ridiculous, with nothing to laugh at. 1
17.02.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Darren Sanders, Casey Talbot, MC Katie Burch
Eddie wasn't in top form last week, but because his stories are exotic the crowd didn't let him leave until 10:45. Darren was even better so people were desperate that he stay, but we only got an extra 15 to 10.15. Nobody wanted the night to end, but that's the breaks. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4
15.02.16 : The Big Day : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I think they tried to reproduce the tedium of weddings with their amateurish speeches, and it worked, because the show was pretty much the same with not much to laugh at. There was a couple of decent points - three -, but generally it was sparse, so there wasn't much that made you laugh. I'm not a fan of doing average shows just for the sake of it, because it burns your crowd base when they think twice about coming again because the last performance left a lingering bad memory. It's basically shooting yourself in the foot. Even if you can't make it funny, make it busy, and that will cover up the faults somewhat. I guess the government was right to cut Arts funding if it's a going to be a pay-check collecting exercise. I actually got bored watching Sitcom two days ago, but at least the crowd reacted at the end, this one didn't have much crowd reaction at all. It was a missed opportunity, because if Ayna(Susie) did the whole thing it would have been funny. Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 2.75
15.02.16 : Deadpool - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : A dying man is given a second chance by inscrutable men. It tries too hard, without actually being clever enough to make it work. It does the 4th wall sending up of it's self, but it doesn't go far enough to make it work - basically it tries to be funny as a hook for something new, but it's just not that funny. If you make a wise cracking anti-hero, write better one-liners that are actually funny. Funny for about 5 minutes, with the rest being nothing special. 3
14.02.16 : Club Hoy - Hack Valentine’s Day : Camelot Lounge
Club Hoy, Alannah Russack, and The Templebears
Sweet harmonies from the girls. Their grown up kids aren't as old as when I saw them last play, how depressing. Kitty Flanagan's sister was more famous before her, and used to turn up to Penny's later shows. Alannah Russack from The Hummingbirds sang her hit Tuesday, and ABBA's Dancing Queen. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4
13.02.16 : Sitcom - Live TV on stage : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The first scene was very good, they were mocking acting/sitcoms and it was very clever and funny, but the other 3 scenes seamed to be a mildly amusing play. I just can't get into scripted plays because the stories seam too conventional, and that makes them predictable to me - decades of Theatresports ad-lib has made scripted unsurprising -. I was worried the crowd was thinking this show was too real, because they weren't reacting enough at the very funny start, but they did applauded quite a bit at the end so I supposed they like it. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5
11.02.16 : Undercover with Gen Fricker : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Sarah Blasko, Matt Okine, Joyride (Of Aus Hip Hop outfit One Day Crew and The Meeting Tree), Cameron James [ABC 2, RAW National Runner Up]
And to think I didn't want to go. It was quite funny, and the sound was magic - clear with a beautiful amount of reverb -, and that's with me wearing muffled earplugs. I'm not much into music any more, but because I was I wanted to tick off seeing Sarah Blasko as Sarah Blasko, so I kind-of had to go. The last time I saw Sarah (Sarah Semmens) was when she handed me a lolly at the Hopetown Hotel in Sept 1999, and boy have things changed. I saw Acquiesce 3-4 times, and kind-of miss the extrovert, alive, vivid, show-off that was Sarah Semmens, because now every time she tells a story she seams very unsure of herself - unsure in this one, and 26.03.14 : Confession Booth #7 : The Giant Dwarf Theatre -. Sarah was fine, but she wasn't the highlight of the night. It was supposed to be musicians singing a song and telling a story, but it was more like comedians singing a song and telling a story. The only thing I want was for Gen Fricker (triple j, Dirty Laundry Live) to sing another song at the end - her first attempt went astray -, because she has a beautiful voice. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4
11.02.16 : Zoolander 2 - movie
Comedy : Derek and Hansel are modelling again after self imposed exiles. I didn't hate it, but I got bore by half way because it's just not funny. The characters aren't stupid enough so it solely relies on ridiculous cloths and accents for comedy, and that's not enough to make it funny. 2
10.02.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Eddie Ifft (US), Jen Carnovole, MC Umit Bali
There wasn't much structure with Eddie slot, and most of it was free-wheeling with the crowd, but when you're a big international in front of a small crowd it's expected. Eddie is a must see even on a bad day, because he brings exotic stories from a weird LA, and he did make up for the intensity with a very long slot. The audience has seen everyone a hundred times, because this room has been going for decades, so they can seam reserved, but because of that they like simple chin wags, and didn't want Eddie to leave. Jen has switched to a more conventional storytelling comedy, rather than the abstract stuff she used to do, so I like it better now. The Aussie comics know not to do half shows in well worn rooms, because it could cut another possible source of income if they don't make an effort, so even with quiet crowds they have all been belted it out regardless, and Umit was just another that worked hard. It's hard to tell what this audience is thinking, because they are so quiet, but I think they liked it because they wanted Eddie to keep going. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
03.01.16 : Dragon Friends2 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I think BHM's sold out show a week ago - BHM did a games show earlier in the day and they followed them here - made people aware that this venue has other shows they might like, because the crowd doubled in size for this one. I'm not a D&D aficionado, so I'm only interested in the entertainment value, and it was pretty good. Because this is a new chapter there was a lot of mystery faffing about, people were asking questions but getting nowhere because no one would tell them anything, and the show gets a little tiring at the end - I should have a coffee at the start -, but thankfully the second half isn't as long as the first. Silly Elf King read the rules in the off-season, so had many new powers, but changed from his murderous ways and was nice to a 70 year old priest, who then promptly killed him - irony -. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
01.02.16 : Story Club - Fools Rush In : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Stories about getting ahead of ourselves. Stories about running too fast. Stories about speaking too soon and speaking too much and under-thinking everything. And other stories.
Susie Youssef : Her father went online auction mad, and bought 6 identical BBQs.
Phil Spencer (playwright, curator, radiomaker man) : Had to organise partial ex drug addicts into doing a theatrical play.
Dave Harmon (Director Extraordinaire, Professional Nerd Wrangler, Zedtown Creator) : Organised a fun Zombie game for students, that turned too serious when the Nerf community turned up in full combat gear.
Jessica Tuckwell (playwright, funny lady) : Had a bad day where she under-thought things and their consequences so much, that she faked being pregnant.
Kristina Keneally (former premier of NSW, Sky News host) : Looked up her genealogy at the very reliable - not - Ancestry.com, and visited a long lost cousin in Sweden. But when a DNA test returned she found out she had no Swedish blood at all.
Zoe Norton Lodge (she’ll run out of stories soon, it’s inevitable) : Gave us a run down on the various nut-job guys you meet in pubs, after one turned up with a raw steak tucked in to his pants.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25
29.01.16 : The Axis of Awesome - Won't Ever Not Stop Giving Up Preview : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The show was ok, but it is very different. Gone is the exciting, dynamic, domineering Jordan character, and now it's the Benny and Lee show. There was a lot of exaggerated acting when Jordan mimicked a character - like a rapper in a video -, but now he has taken a back seat and the show is much more subdued - their old songs are still dynamic -. This was a only trial so we will have to wait for the finished show before there is a judgement, but the 30 minute wait, and a song that I didn't know the reference to - I'm too old -, didn't help my experience.
28.01.16 : Dirty Grandpa - movie
Comedy : Right before his wedding, an uptight guy is tricked into driving his grandfather to Florida for spring break. Boy did that turn sh!t fast. The guy doesn't know how to write comedy, he thinks that crude instantly equal comedy, but it doesn't, and especially not so when it saturates the film like this did. Mountains of unfunny crude, with a predictable story that was probably written on the back of a napkin one night when drunk. 1
27.01.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
MC Evan Desmarais from Canada, Emma Malik(UK), Mick Meredith from NRL Footy Show
Last week was packed, but it looks like no one wanted to party two days in a row due to yesterdays Australia Day, so it was fairly empty. We had a Canadian that acted like an energetic American, I horny female Zoologist/animal trainer with a dog, and Mick doing half a show of new material, so it was still pretty good. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
26.01.16 : The Grates : Circular Quay
There was leg windmills, tassels, girt, audience dancing, and a band made of black Aussie bats
21.01.16 : Spoiler Alert : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Hosted by Kyran Wheatley, Spoiler Alert will be joined by:
Marc Fennell (triple j, The Feed, aka That Movie Guy)
Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Redfern Now)
Gen Fricker (triple j)
Sam Campbell (triple j)
It was as nice as it usually is, but the sound was terrible. It was better near the end because they turned it off and had no amplification natural voices, but I wonder why they would set up the sound so scratchy and distorted in the first place. The highlight was the reading and acting from an unknown script. Because they didn't know where it came from they played it as dramatic, based on a poignant and dramatic sounding words on the page - it actually did sound profound - , so you could imagine the surprise when we found out it was Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75
20.01.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Rebecca De Unamuno, Daniel Muggleton, Neel Kolhatkar(MC)
Big crowd, extra big value-for-money show, and everyone was good. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4
19.01.16 : The Moth StorySLAM : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Completive storytelling, or a competition originated Confession Booth, entailing 5 min stories that are scored. I don't know if it was just me, but some of the stories had a Déjà vu feel, which is probably another link to Confession Booth. A lot of the competitors aren't creative writing storytellers experts like Story Club, but in it's own way it's pretty good. There was a young Canadian girl first encounter with an Australian Hairy-go-wobbler. A French Canadian girl canoeing down a river and having her path blocked by an angry moose. Nearly getting raped in an African wildlife park on the premise they were going to see the big cats. The death of a Grandmother. Filipino tradition of being circumcised AT THE AGE OF 13. A guy thinking he got drugged, but actually having a seizure. One of those job dissatisfaction ones that are only cathartic to the storyteller because no names and details can be given. A journalists chance encounter with an integrator at the Hanoi Hilton(North Vietnam Guantanamo Bay), and then finding out he was working in Whales on the same homeless youth project as he was. Using Grinder for the first time and meeting a guy who gets off by being punched. I don't know if this is common to this night, but there was a impromptu dating section where people who wanted a date met each other. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75
14.01.16 : The Darren Sanders Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I hope they keep all the mucking around, because that is the hook that would make this better than the rest. Too many people think that TV shows have to be prim and proper, but it's the looseness that is truly funny, so I hope it doesn't end up another stilted late night talk show. Deborah Hutton (TV presenter/Model) was very good, Joseph Calderazzo & Natasha Stuart (Singer & Musician), Andrew Mercado (TV commentator), Anthony Ackroyd (Comedian/The Big Gig), Tahir (Houso’s, Fat Pizza), Kurt Tippett (Sydney Swans), Mike Goldman (TV & Radio Personality) and Mick Meredith (Grumpy Old Comedians). The recording ran a touch long, and recordings can be a bit iffy from a entertainment level, because it stops and starts, but it was fun enough. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5
14.01.16 : The 5th Wave - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. They tried for something more realistic and different, but ultimately it's just another "end of the world alien invasion" film. Twilight meets V. Another in the long line of young-adult film series franchises. Slowed down soon after that start, and then got tiresome near the end. 2.75
13.01.16 : Humbug : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This was a trial show so there were teething problems, but I don't know if it is that compelling. Basically it's a German game show where a team is given a bunch of words that one member of the team has to link together with just one word, and then the other team member has to work out which of the original words are linked by it. The main teething problem was that they used small white words in yellow boxes, so that when it was on the screen you couldn't read them. When the answer was given the box changed to a dark colour, and then you could read them, but that was after the fact so you never knew what was happening. I got my glasses for the second game so I could read the words, which helped somewhat. 3
11.01.16 : Point Break - movie
Action, Crime, Sport : A young FBI agent infiltrates an extraordinary team of extreme sports athletes he suspects of masterminding a string of unprecedented, sophisticated corporate heists. Not exactly super logical or factual, but when has that ever matter in an Action film. Not as exciting as the original - it is longer -, but it's visually spectacular in the scenic action parts. 3.5
07.01.16 : Sisters - movie
Comedy : Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home. Not super funny, but decent enough. The selfish one got annoying by the end, and I wish there was more to it than the single "Last Party" premise, but that might just be me. 3.5
06.01.16 : Wisecracker Wednesday : Oatley Hotel
Steve Philp. It started a bit slow but it picked up at the end. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75
04.01.16 : Story Club - Lets Never Speak of This Again : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Quite a few new stories.
Alex Lee - First date. Alex ripped it up with story and hosting.
Kate Browne (Choice, The Checkout) - Trying to rehabilitate mistreated and abandoned large killer cats in Bolivia. It was quite exotic hearing about Jaguars and Puma being taken for a walk, and getting mauled by them on the way.
David Cunningham (of Story Club Fame) - Going to run down dilapidated school camp where physical prowess is required, and not having any.
Hannah May Reilly (The Media Circus, The Checkout, Triple J) - Self harm after being dumped, that ended up being so half hearted that nothing happened. I think we have a contender for David Cunningham's insanely clever wordings, Achilles-vagina
David Marr (The Guardian, Insiders, Everything) - Telling a friend that they have toxic BO.
Zoe Norton Stories (Stories) - Watching unspeakable porn with your parents.
Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5
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