T=ticket : F=coffee/food : C=Commute, ie, public transport/car(car rate=$2/10km)
TV Movies ------ TV Movies
Cinema Movies - TV Movies
Show summary - Show summary
A bit of info about this blog :-
If it's lucky it might get 200 views a year (4/week), and half, if not all, has a very high bounce rate. Basically it's a dead blog that no one reads and should not be taken as anything significant. I was going to quit, but I figured I could use it as a list to avoid going to repeat shows - I'm actually too lazy to look up shows so it's even worthless for that - lol -.
I'm the SIA of comedy watching, ie, I don't want to be famous, so please don't doxx me photo-wise or I'll cry - lol . Basically I would prefer not to have photos posted. Thanks.
If it's lucky it might get 200 views a year (4/week), and half, if not all, has a very high bounce rate. Basically it's a dead blog that no one reads and should not be taken as anything significant. I was going to quit, but I figured I could use it as a list to avoid going to repeat shows - I'm actually too lazy to look up shows so it's even worthless for that - lol -.
I'm the SIA of comedy watching, ie, I don't want to be famous, so please don't doxx me photo-wise or I'll cry - lol . Basically I would prefer not to have photos posted. Thanks.
ITEM # Comments
Things seen 281
Comedy 212 haha shows
TV/Radio rec 13 # included in Comedy above
Impro 7 # included in Comedy above
Movie 60 Cinema movies
Lecture 6 lecture or talk
No show(fail) 4 show cancelled or forgot to go
COST
Tickets $4,548 tickets + fees
Food(support) $1,311 coffee & support venue
Commute $1,071 car, bus, train
Total cost $6,930 holy snapping arseholes - some rounding up so prob $6700
Blog views 1400 approx# crazy people stopped here
30.12.23 : The Laugh Inn Comedy Club - GOODBYE 2023 Comedy Show! : The Newtown Hotel
Seizure Kaiser(MC), Umit Bali, ?, Peter Meisel, Tori Crisp, Mike Siegel(USA), Alex Choi, Jackson Stewart, Jacob Perry, Stella Wu, Fady Kassab
I don't usually do Sat, but I figured I might as well keep going to the end of the year - lol -. There were two options, the better one would be 30.12.24 : iD Comedy Club - Sat : Kinselas Hotel that has a larger crowd/laugh-track, and this smaller one that can be hit-and-miss. I figured both with have the same seen-before lineups, it just that here there is a special OS comic - plus they have good cappuccino in Newtown lol -. The OS comic was Mike Siegel (USA) - The Late Late Show, Sabrina, Prison Break, Last Comic Standing etc, and he was ok, ie, he did a clever miss-directs that was something different, but he's not one of those fast talking NY type comics, eg, Eddie Ifft, Dom Irrera, etc. Holy c@rp me and Peter Meisel are old, I think it was maybe 25 years ago we were hanging out at the Bridge Hotel Rozelle - Christine Adams moved the comedy here after the Harold Park Hotel closed(Goo says late 90's but I thought it was earlier) -. Umit Bali was brilliant when it started maybe 10 years ago, and even though he's not the same he is still good to watch. The crowd was weird tonight, like they started with a 4 volume in the first half but finished with a 3 in the second. I'm guessing they got tired, because they were congratulating Seizure at the end for a good show, ie, they like it. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$26 + F-$5 + C$3]
29.12.23 : Friday Night Comedy Showcase in Bondi : Bondi Liquor Co
It started a bit quiet, but the crowd was keen, as per usual, and it got better, ie, more laughs. Honorable mentions:- Harry Jun was good. Even though 2 of his jokes are harsh, ie, not very PC, the Gay Kiwi Bikie - one day I'll hear and remember his name lol - was good. Oliver Twist was good - I haven't seen him for ages -. Even though I now know his routine, MC Pat Doherty's crowd-work is always fun. The comedy it the same as everywhere else, but that enthusiastic/friendly crowd makes it so much better. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$18 + F-$5 + C$0]
PS: Doh! it's Elliot McLaren - his name was on the old 13.12.23 : Funny Buggers @ Palms : Palms On Oxford ad that I still have open - lol -.
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29.12.23 : Anyone But You - movie
Comedy - Romance : After an amazing first date, Bea and Ben's fiery attraction turns ice-cold--until they find themselves unexpectedly reunited at a destination wedding in Australia. So they do what any two mature adults would do: pretend to be a couple.
It's the same formulaic/predictable Rom-Com format, but it's kind-of different. It's not on the clever/subtle/sophisticated side, but more toward the simple/basic side. Basically it's Australian simple, ie, more simple than usual, but it's nice enough and has pretty people, ie, the eye candy covers the faults. Not earth shattering, but I thought it was ok to watch. [3.25] [T-$9 + F-$5 + C$3]
28.12.23 : IT HAS POCKETS! All femme comedy event! : The Newtown Hotel
I was expecting repeats - no one can escape the hardest working comic in SYD, starts with Steph, ends with Broadbridge, lol - because there isn't as many female comics. In the end it wasn't like that, there were 3 comics I hadn't seen before - new is good -, a few regulars tried something new, and some I hadn't see for a while - I forget routines pretty quick -, so they seemed fresh also. Quite nice. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$21 + F-$5 + C$0]
28.12.23 : Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - movie
Action - Adventure - Fantasy : Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for his father's death. Wielding the Black Trident's power, he becomes a formidable foe. To defend Atlantis, Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother. They must protect the kingdom.
I found the first third dull/boring, but after Aquaman gets his brother there was enough stuff to make it watchable. I bit basic/simplistic in story and execution - at least it wasn't that lame PG-13 stuff, eg, The Marvels (2023) -. [2.75] [T-$11 + F-$4 + C$3]
PS: They must've got a new projector at this place, because I haven't see a movie at a cinema that high resolution, ie, clear and detailed. Generally you don't want clear at a cinema, because you can see stage props are just wood and fake patina paint - some stuff reminded me of Star Trek The Original Series (1966–1969) simple set designs -, plus CGI can end up looking cartoon-ish/video game looking - this CGI wasn't bad/fake looking -.
27.12.23 : Magic Mic Comedy - Wednesdays : Potts Point Hotel 8pm start
I should've gone to The Laugh Inn - lol -, because it was kind-of yuck, then kind-of ok. It had nothing to do with the comedy, some guys kept talking and FKing up the comic's punchlines, and the Kiwi Bikie comic got feed-up and picked him up and threw him out. This is usually the end of a show, ie, people stop laughing due to being traumatised, but for some reason the crowd got together and laughed at everything from then on, which was weird because they were silent/dead at the start, and that turn-around of supporting the comics made the second half quite decent. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25] [T-$22 + F-$11 + C$0]
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27.12.23 : Poor Things - movie
Comedy - Drama - Romance : The incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter; a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist, Dr. Godwin Baxter.
Not compelling, more interesting, which I found to be a pretty tenuous hook to stay all the way to the end of what is a very long film - at least it felt long lol -. You know how The Shape of Water (2017) is a little bit Sci-Fi and a bit arty-farty, well this is the same except it's super big on the art visuals, ie, every scene has a mood - lol -. This thing felt European and had a lot of nudity, to the point I was thinking this was a late night SBS movie, ie, it's the second most nudity in a film since La Belle Noiseuse (1991) - lol -. It's ok, just long. [3] [T-$11 + F-$3 + C$3]
PS: LOL, I've been flicking past the pic in the listing for a week thinking it was a Billie Eilish concert.
25.12.23 : Xmas Cappuccino : Manly
lol [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$5 + C$3]
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22.12.23 : Friday Night Comedy Showcase in Bondi : Bondi Liquor Co
It's so far away, and it's so much effort, and I was so tired from 5 show nights, yet it was so worth it because it's a nice/friendly room with a good-natured crowd. Not that anyone bombed, it's just that in some places you feel tense when someone is bombing, ie, the crowd wants them to get off, but here it's relaxed/fine if things aren't super. Things that happened:- Pat Doherty was good doing ad-lib crowd work. Lou Wall was good doing a small musical about the horrors of giving away stuff on FB Marketplace. Gerard McGowan did some new stuff at the start, ie, new is good. Nick Sun started ok with the new stuff he did yesterday, but the crowd got silent with the white supremacist stuff. He recovered by switched to his iowaska story, but extended it with a new iboga(African version of iowaska) story - new is good -. It's a fun place, ie, worth the effort. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$5 + C$3]
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21.12.23 : The Laugh Inn - Comedy Club : The Newtown Hotel
I looked around and the only thing was a room I find unfriendly - it's sphincter tightening lol -, so I was thinking I should just take the night off, but when I saw the price had dropped - I'm better off paying the extra $3 and going to the Comedy Store/Enmore Comedy Club -, I thought I would give it a shot, and it was ok. Even though I don't feel welcome here - the owner is intense and you get told-off for taking pics - the plus is that they have comic that you don't see elsewhere. Talk about repeats, every time I go to a TV record/podcast record/art based show I get Alex Lee, and every time I go to a standup I get Steph Broadbridge, so guess what happened at this standup - lol -. I was surprised to see Benny Davis here, and I was even more surprised that he does straight standup because he's musical comedy, and I was even more surprised his relationship didn't workout. His comedy is kind-of a higher level, ie, nuanced, subtle and clever, like something from a UNI graduate, like the setup is a contraindication to the punchline, ie, sarcastic type comedy. It was fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$21 + F-$5 + C$3]
20.12.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
Don't you hate it when you feel ok in the morning and buy a ticket, but in the afternoon when it's time leave you don't feel like going - lol -. Well it was well worth it to sux-it-up-buttercup, because it was super good. We started with Jack Wright doing cosplay and sending-up The Virgin Mary and religion, and the adding of a bit of theatre and roasting made things special. John Cruckshank is a heavy-hitter, and delivered a super set again - I was seeing spots from lack of air lol -. Stephanie Broadbridge caught MC Virgin Mary unawares when she did a fast set and finished early, but it was well worth it when it got the second highest laugh-count. Freddie McManus was good, and we even got to see the infamous third nipple - lol -. Nick Sun came up with more material and keep it tight, ie, no umming and ahhing ded-air, and that made his set quite decent - it was his best set over the last 3 nights -. I think Jen Carnovale needs to setup the Shore joke more, ie, Shore is a school, because I think people get confused to what is going on - it even takes me a bit to get it lol -. t was so good - I overheard people leaving saying how funny it was - people were flummoxed when it ended, ie, time flew, and were confused when they had to leave, ie they wanted it to last longer. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$16 + F-$10 + C$3]
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19.12.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
It was actually quite strong a show, and it was free. There was heavy-hitters John Cruckshank, who always delivers, and Eric Hutton, who was in-from tonight. Rohan Arniel had new stuff, ie, new make stuff good. One comic was passive-aggressive when he didn't realise free shows are disruptive, ie, no one is invested in listening when it's free. Nice. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$3]
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18.12.23 : Harry's Comedy - Mondays : Harry's & Hotel Harry
Pat Doherty was good like he was last week in Bondi. He Huang got her new waxing stuff working well by adding the miss pronouncing of puss-say - lol -. Stephanie Broadbridge landed the new stuff by simply talking faster and using faster rhetorical questions - lol -. Nick Sun rose from the ded, and was about the same as last time I saw him at Project52 maybe 10 years ago - he did forget his cockroach cum joke lol -, and even though he's the comics favourite, he doesn't land that well with audiences. I was worried when Ben Ellwood started slow and thought he was out of practice because of not doing standup for maybe 6 months, but he got back to his killer form latter and destroyed it. We had a young-ish US comic, and even though he didn't get big laughs, it's always good to hear new stuff and a different perspective of AUS. The instantly likeable Ben Kochan is always good to watch. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$3 + C$3]
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16.12.23 : Easts Comedy Club @ Easts Leagues : Easts Bondi Junction
MC: Cam Knight, Jamal Abdul, He Huang, Sean Woodland, Peter Berner
It was ok, it's just that it would've been better if the crowd was better. Basically they weren't terrible, they made a bit of noise, it's just that they didn't make as much noise as they should've. There was a lot of old people, and maybe it was past their bed-time, because at the end the comedy got better but they made even less noise. Every comic was at their usual high level except He Huang, who has lately switched from her show stealing routine to a milder one, ie, she probably would have been the funniest one on the bill. Jamal Abdul and Sean Woodland got the most laughs, with Peter Berner probably third - the crowd were dying by then -. The thing that struck me was that Sean Woodland does some inappropriate jokes, eg, we should knock-down cyclists, and with other crowds you get laughs, ie, they know it's a gag and not real, but here I heard a few people in the audience say "Yeah", ie, we should knock down cyclists, and this place feels like the privileged rich are a bit delusional/not nice. Peter Berner also does inappropriate jokes and hard topics, but they are well thought out so it's logically correct or morality correct, ie, not controversial. The comedy was a high level, ie, 4, it's just that crowd made it feel less. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$30 + F-$4 + C$6]
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15.12.23 : Friday Night Comedy Showcase in Bondi : Bondi Liquor Co
This time we went from a ded crowd last night, to a good crowd tonight - lol -. This room has a friendly vibe, and that means that the comedy doesn't have to be great and everyone still has a good time. One mention was the Steph was trying new material - keep it rhetorical lol -, and one guy was too intense/low-key aggressive, and it made people uncomfortable - other people wouldn't have noticed because the crowd was good-natured, but I notice things like that -. It's a bit far to go to, but it would still be worth going again for the good vibe room. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$5 + C$3]
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14.12.23 : Comedy Night - 4 Pines Newport : Block's Bar Manly
Damn, I was thinking about tossing this ticket and going to Tahir at 14.12.23 : Thursday Night Comedy Show : The Riverview Hotel - they posted the lineup too late -, because it would've been the better option. Basically we went from the best audience last night - 1 comic was from last night lol - to the worse tonight, because these guys didn't react at all - Manly is tough, and even the pros at the defunct The Old Manly Boatshed struggle -. When things like that happen I feel bad for the comics, ie, it kills the night for me, and it's hard to get anything started when you are the only one making noise, ie, you feel embarrassed, but you have to hand it to the comics because they battled through the silence with their routines - the worse is when a comic gives up and delivers cr@p -. I make it sound worse than it was, because even though people didn't react with noise, they were smiling, and I guess that was enough of an indication that the comics were doing ok. It felt bad to me, but I don't think the crowd were disappointed, ie, they probably thought it was fine because they seemed cool when answering questions during the ad-lib crowd-work. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$20 + F-$4 + C$3]
PS: Ouch, even the seagulls didn't fly along side the ferry on the way home - lol .
PS: Ouch, even the seagulls didn't fly along side the ferry on the way home - lol .
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13.12.23 : Funny Buggers @ Palms : Palms On Oxford
MC?, Elysia Hall, Andy Procopis, ?, Chris Night, Kimberley Snow, Elliot McLaren, Brent Thorpe
This all gay comedy night had a very different vibe compared to any ordinary comedy night. It was like no one had any hangups or was embarrassed to make noise, because they reacted to everything, and with such a massive crowd it made everything funnier, ie, a natural laugh track. Basically the comedy level wasn't super high, but the crowd made it special. Even the one comic that didn't get many laughs was applauded for the effort. We learnt some new gay terms, ie, "prep-ing", ouch - lol -. The audience participation joke contest went astray, but everyone was pretty good-natured and supported it loudly. I couldn't stay for the last guy because shows in this area run late and I'd miss my train, but I could tell he was going to be more camp than funny. You can only dream about an audience that good, and that made the night special [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$4 + C$3]
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12.12.23 : Question Everything S3-E9 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo
Matt Parkinson, Tom Ballard, Kirsty Webeck
It wasn't as good as last time, but that could because I was at the back and couldn't hear that well - I was close last time but couldn't see, so I tried the back -, or that I was feeling a bit flat/tired, either way it wasn't far off so it was decent enough. It was pretty much all Tom Ballard, but he says a lot of stuff that is un-transmittable for TV, ie, good for us, bad for the show because it will be cut - lol -, so we'll have to see how the show gets edited tomorrow. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]
08.12.23 : Dahn Rozario: LIVE IN SYDNEY : Kinselas Hotel
I was in two minds about this one. On one hand his short set was so exceptional that his full show could be blistering, but on the other hand $28 is steep for a trial show. I rolled the dice on it being good, but only got snake-eyes - lol -. iD Comedy aren't very well organised, ie, this is another show they double listed as two different shows, and they only gave a door time so you are stuck there for ½hr listening to terrible music that is so loud my earplugs barely keep it out, ie, after 30min of that and the late start, ie, 9:00pm, I was ready to dip. I stuck around, ie, $28 is a lot to lose - lol -, but at the start Dahn attacked a person and that made everyone's sphincter tighten - it's bad being that pernicious -. About halfway my mood changed from bad to acceptable, and he did say a few things that made me laugh, but overall I didn't laugh anywhere else. Even the crowd were only laughing in places, ie, no one was super laughing, so I would say it was not a blistering show. It could be the bad start, it could be that there was a lot of race material, or it could've been the Indian specific material, ie, can't relate, or this show isn't that funny, ie, trial shows aren't the best stuff, but I think this should've been and early show for half the price and it would've been passable. No score because of the extenuating circumstances. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : na] [T-$28 + F-$0 + C$6]
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08.12.23 : Silent Night - movie
Action - Thriller : A grieving father enacts his long-awaited revenge against a ruthless gang on Christmas Eve.
I'm probably just being impatient, but it felt like half the movie - actually 30-ish min - was establishing the gravitas of the lost child, and that made it pretty dull and boring. But even when the action started, even that wasn't that good, ie, it was nothing special action-wise, and what was there was quite clunky. It also had that lame Asian sentiment, eg, the child's toy was a music box so the lead would look at it to reflect. Then the child also had a train set so he set it up on the grave, ie, cheesy lame. Just plain boring. [1] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$2]
07.12.23 : Kirribilli Club Comedy Night : Kirribilli Club
MC: Brett Nichols, Stephanie Broadbridge, David Truong, JJ Mullard, Chris Radburn
So that's JJ Mullard's set from last night that I couldn't hear a word of - lol -. It was a smaller crowd than usual, but it was like all the stiff dead planks stayed at home and only the good people that wanted to be there turned up, because the room had a good/friendly vibe. There were more pro pros on the lineup than usual, always a good idea in front of a big crowd if you want the show to continue, ie, entertainment is a popularity contest so you need to be good if you want longevity. Brett Nichols and JJ Mullard have been MIA for so long that I thought they retired - lol -, with JJ Mullard getting the best response of the night. Chris Radburn was close behind, with Stephanie Broadbridge next. David Truong was also good, it's just that he was last in response - lol -. Cheap tickets, scenic part of Sydney, and one of the better nights, ie, strong lineup with a good crowd. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$4 + C$3]
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06.12.23 : Charo’s Comedy Club : Charing Cross Hotel
It was pretty much a write-off, simply because I couldn't hear. I should've know when I saw it was free, but being in a posh area I assumed it was going to be an isolated room. What is was was a big open room in a pub, meaning there was a lot of talking coming from the back because people at the back weren't there for the comedy. I was going to dip at halfway, but it was kind-of early so I thought I'll hang for Mick Meredith. Thankfully some people did leave and I was able to move near the front, and even though it wasn't perfect, I could hear enough of what was going on. Basically if you want to go reserve a table in front, and it should be a good enough show. The lineup looked pretty good, it's just that I can't tell because I wasn't in the ideal seat - I didn't want to book because I wasn't eating, so I barely found a stool at the back, ie, it was pretty packed. Maybe next time I'll work out something better. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$14 + C$6]
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05.12.23 : Northies Candlelight Comedy Special : Northies Cronulla Hotel
Steve Philp(MC), Riv Narak, Jamal Abdul, Bec Charlwood, Jackie Loeb
On paper it looked like it would be good, but only 14 people turned up, so it was less than ideal. The guy said it's usually packed, and the door list had 30-40 people on it, but most did not bother turning up. I guess it's that end of year, people getting better late offers thing, eg, Xmas parties. Apart from not many people turning up, they were a demographic that doesn't laugh as much, ie, the older/seen everything/hard to impress crowd, and it wasn't like they didn't like it, because they listened and wanted to be there, it's just that they didn't make much noise, ie, laughter makes more laughter and there wasn't a great deal of that. Plenty of smiles, just not an atmosphere conducive to laughing, ie, it just might be a bad time of year problem. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$17 + F-$11 + C$9]
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01.12.23 : Rhys & Joel's Family Christmas : Enmore Theatre
Apart from the 2 support comics Nikki Britton and Jenny Tian that got a lot of laughs, there were no big laughs elsewhere. There were 2 serious musicians that were nice, but not comic/funny. There were 2 games using people from the audience that didn't work. Osher Günsberg turned up in a game where people had to guess which celebrity was in the bag, who didn't do anything except appear/show-up. Rhys Nicholson and Joel Creasey ad-libed the whole show, ie, no set/know-to-work material that is guaranteed to get laughs stuff. Their first half was ok with only chuckles as they roasted people in the news, but in the second half they had nothing, ie, disjointed meandering. It was ok/different, just not super funny. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.25] [T-$45 + F-$6 + C$6]
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01.12.23 : Bottoms - movie
Comedy : Two unpopular queer high-school students start a fight club to have sex before graduation.
I don't know if anyone is going to like this, because it's pretty unusual/different/strange/unconventional, but not in a cool/funny way. It's like things are exaggerated and over the top, ie, fighting has actual fighting with blood and punches to the face, and there is even deaths at the end - lol -. It's kind-of like impro, ie, disjointed unbelievable scenarios that you have to accept and piece together in your head to make some sort of reality, ie, basically some normal things are exaggerated. I make it sound bad, and I didn't actually laugh, but it has light-hearted smiles and is ok to watch. [3] [T-$10 + F-$5 + C$3]
30.11.23 : Sporties Comedy Club : Moorebank Sports Club
Julia Wilson, Simon Kennedy, Cam Knight
It was good, it's just that only half a crowd turned up because someone pressed the wrong button and made the ticket site display sold-out for a full week before the show. I was surprised when I saw the sold-out sign so soon after I bought an early ticket, because they said last month that they were going to remove the 100 person limit. To tell the truth the floor area had the same amount of people as last month, it was only the pergola running around the outside, ie, the furthest away, that had less. As far as the comics they are all hardened/veteran pros so did a good job, be it that they had to Westie/bogan it up a bit - lol - because this place is away from the city, ie, semi rough/rural. Everyone listened so I guess the crowd liked it, it's just that they did that lazy thing of not applauding enough for the quality they got. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$16 + F-$0 + C$6]
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30.11.23 : Uproar - movie
Drama : A 17 year-old student is forced to get off the fence he has actively sat on all his life to stand up for himself, his whanau (family) and his future in this heartwarming story of identity.
It's good, it's just that it's sad in places because of racial and other injustices. It's based on the awaking of NZ that things aren't ok race-wise during 1980s Springbok tour of NZ. Basically the protest against the tour was due to South Africa's Apartheid(racial segregation) policy, and that made NZ realise that they were kind-of racist too, ie, they wanted the indigenous population to integrate into White culture to make them disappear, rather than acknowledge them. Basically it hard to look back and see how dumb we were, and still are. They try to keep the movie light in that usual NZ film fashion, and it's not totally depressing, but there is too many confronting things to make it a totally fun type movie, ie, it's more a confronting drama than anything light-hearted. Good. [3.75] [T-$9 + F-$4 + C$2]
29.11.23 : The Great Comedy Club : Yia Yia's Dive Bar & Kitchen (Marrickville)
Mandy Scotney(MC), Jamal Abdul, Jen Carnovale, John Glover, Kevin Jin, Ru Halwala, Jarryd Prain, Jenny Tian, Ryan Sim, Jess Fuchs
It's quite good, it's just that's it's popular so you need to get there early to get any sort of a decent seat - I didn't so it was hard to see and hear -. It's the usual format of lots of comics doing short sets, and even though no one was bad/bombed, the format hides unfunny sets because they end quickly. But the biggest plus about this show is that it has a large friendly crowd that pay attention and want to listen, so it has a fun/friendly vibe like Best Mates Comedy, Good Vibes Comedy, etc, ie, not like Lazy's Comedy Club hostile feel 1 block down the road - lol -. Headliner Jess Fuchs with good using her fast talking snide remark style - it's kind-of like a Rhys Nicholson delivery -. Not that I could hear everything, but everyone was good from where I was, and the only other thing I noticed was that Jenny Tian new routine is coming together nicely - I miss the old Xièxiè, because that makes small laughs big laughs lol -. My score is a bit low because I couldn't hear all the words, so next time I'll have to get there earlier and get a good seat because this show is definitely worth coming back to regularly. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$5 + C$4]
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29.11.23 : Leave the World Behind - movie
Drama - Thriller : A family's getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices, and two strangers appear at their door.
I was in two minds about this one, because from minimum research, so as not to spoilt it, it sounded like I genre I don't like, ie, the tense dystopian scary horror mystery thing. Well it wasn't any of those things, so I found it ok to watch. What I will say it that it's a movie that doesn't really go anywhere, it's just a thing where something happened, ie, more time filler than anything profound. [3] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$2]
28.11.23 : Question Everything S3-E7 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo
Mel Buttle, Suren Jayemanne, Alex Lee
It was fine/ok, meaning it wasn't super, but more importantly it wasn't tedious. It was a long shoot, ie, 2 hours, but it was entertaining enough so you didn't notice the length - it also ended too late for Sweeney's Comedy -. I wonder what's the deal with this show, because from what Wil said I got the impression he is making/funding this show, not the ABC, ie, does he make it and sell it to the ABC. He was probably joking that he is the owner of this show, because the last ep of last year he said that we will have to see if the ABC will renew this show for 2023. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]
It was fine/ok, meaning it wasn't super, but more importantly it wasn't tedious. It was a long shoot, ie, 2 hours, but it was entertaining enough so you didn't notice the length - it also ended too late for Sweeney's Comedy -. I wonder what's the deal with this show, because from what Wil said I got the impression he is making/funding this show, not the ABC, ie, does he make it and sell it to the ABC. He was probably joking that he is the owner of this show, because the last ep of last year he said that we will have to see if the ABC will renew this show for 2023. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]
Got a bad seat so couldn't get a good pic, ie, all I saw was the back of people's heads
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24.11.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
MC: Sam Kissajukian, Lauren Bonner, Imaan Hadchiti, Alex Jay, Rob Carlton, Eric Hutton, Peter Berner
It wasn't very good, but it still was kind-of ok. I didn't want to go because I've seen Peter Berner so many times this year his routine is getting tedious - I'm also seeing him next month lol -, so I figured I would go just for the first two thirds and split before Peter's last third. Well the lineup was cut short so there was only two halves so I had to stick around, but thankfully Peter Berner was good so it turned out to be worth staying. It was mainly the first half that didn't feel good, ie, lots of silence, but Imaan Hadchiti kicked it in the balls and forced his set to be good, and that made the first half decent. I've seen Rob Carlton a lot of times but I don't ever remember him doing standup, but I have seen him do Story Time and Impro and his set was a mashup of both, ie, a made-up story. I thought it was going to be a short night with the cut lineup, but Peter Berner stepped up and did a very good long set that made the show end on a high. When things don't look good I like to see people step up no matter the circumstances, so it's hats off to Imaan Hadchiti and Peter Berner, ie, both 4 stars. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$5 + C$6]
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23.11.23 : Dave Hughes + Special Guests : Hudson Hotel
Steve Philp(MC), Christina Van Look, Chris Radburn, Dave Hughes
It was very good, it's just that the crowd was a bit stand-off-ish. Like at the start they didn't even clap when MC Steve Philp told them they had to clap to start the show. Stand-off-ish might be a bit harsh, maybe more reluctant/didn't want to be the first to make a noise, but if you're there, you are expected to get involved or you will have a bad time. Thankfully there was someone with a loud laugh - lol - that loosened them up and gave them permission to laugh, and that got things started, ie, people reacting. Poor Dave Hughes cops a lot of flack, ie, people don't like him for no reason, but when they go to his show they find him super funny. Because on the way out I heard people saying how good he was, with one girl saying how surprised she was at how funny he is in real life. Basically it kind-of felt like their friends dragged them to this show, ie, they were reticent, but after seeing Dave they are blown away. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4.5] [T-$41 + F-$4 + C$10]
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22.11.23 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co
MC: Marcel Blanch-de Wilt, Loz Booth, Sam Wade, Keely Willis, Sarah Gaul, Elouise Eftos, Suren Jayemanne, Tommy Dean
I think the holidays have already started, ie, things get quiet at the end and start of a year, because we only got half a crowd. Thankfully it's a good crowd, ie, listen intently and want to be there so do laugh, so it didn't really make much of a difference. There was also a lot of new people that I don't see that often, or at all, so it also had the new/novelty value, ie, they don't have to be as funny when it's new/fresh. Probably Tommy Dean was the best with Elouise Eftos being interesting. Suren Jayemanne is back in town, but I think he is doing all improv because he's hardly using any of his regular good stuff. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$3 + C$6]
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21.11.23 : Theatresports™ Scared Scriptless : The Chippo Hotel
There were two options for tonight, and I wasn't keen on either. This beginner low skill level impro show, or a TV recording that can get tedious if the guests aren't exceptional - Wil used to constantly entertain studio audiences but now isn't as good so doesn't contribute much these-days -. I picked this because it's only on once a month, ie, more finagling to line up in the diary. The first half was a little better/smarter than last time, but I faded in and out in the second half because it got hot due to there being no AC in this dungeon. Thankfully it's a short/quick show, so it wasn't that bad. So long as your expectations aren't that high it's ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$17 + F-$5 + C$3]
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18.11.23 : Just For Laughs Australia : Sydney Opera House
Mel Bracewell(MC), Russell Kane, Kevin Kropinyeri, Bronwyn Kuss, Damien Power, Nina Conti
I was going to skip because I was still having lung/breathing problems from Thursday's smoke, but I figured if I stay far away at the back it might be ok. There were two times were they doubled the smoke and it reached me and I had trouble breathing, but other than that it kind-of worked. With this show there were 2 acts that I wanted to see but can't afford, so it was worth the effort to go just for the samplers. There is Russell Kane, who was the same as other times I've seen him in the past, ie, good, just not super funny. Basically I don't find him worth the $66 laugh-wise, so I would only go if the price was reasonable - acts like David O'Doherty, Jason Byrne, Danny Bhoy are always high laugh level comics and are worth a high price -. And Nina Conti, who by the look of this short sampler is worth a high price, ie, a lot of laughs. Nina is underrated, because even though she is known as a ventriloquist, it's her quick wit at coming up with stuff on-the-fly that is the exceptional part - it's kind-of why she doesn't need to hide that her hand in the puppets any more -. Damien Power also got extra applause like Nina. It's hard to feel involved at the back, but it was pretty good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$5 + C$6]
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17.11.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
MC: Dan Townes, Andrew Hamilton, Tom Witcombe, Rohan Arneil, Amelia Crouch, Fiona Cox, Marty Bright, Jackie Loeb
It's pretty much the same as usual, ie, a higher level of comic, but a crowd that doesn't make enough noise/laughing to show for it. It''s not that the crowd doesn't wants to listen, in fact they listened intently, it's just that it would be better if they reacted more, ie, they are the "dud root" of an audience - lol -. It got to point where two comics thought they weren't doing well, when in fact it was just this audience being it's quiet self. Standouts were, Andrew Hamilton - his solo show is totally packed with material, but he came up with more new stuff tonight -, Jackie Loeb - she's always a hit -, and Amelia Crouch, Marty Bright, Fiona Cox all being exceptional. What was weird was that MC Townes did nearly all crowd work that was only ok, yet he has a ton of stuff that is very funny that he doesn't use anymore, eg, South Africa stories, TSA search, uvula, getting on the gunja testing list. It was above average as per usual. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$9 + C$6]
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16.11.23 : Just For Laughs Australia : Sydney Opera House
Mel Bracewell(MC), Luke Heggie, Caroline Rhea, Joe Daymond, Nina Oyama, Zoe Coombs-Marr
Half way through they doubled the smoke - I think to hide that Caroline Rhea is now old -, and that brought back an old problem where too much smoke irritates my lungs. Basically my lungs start burning and I feel a bit sick/nauseous, and even when I get fresh air outside the smoke oil is coating my lungs and it's hard to breath and catch my breath. I couldn't get out because there is no gaps in the recording, so I had to face the side where there was a bit of air coming in from somewhere and stop watching. Even the next day my lungs felt heavy and I wasn't breathing normally, ie, it feels a bit asthma like. Smoke is pretty stupid these days, like I remember they forgot to do smoke on Good News Week one week and the picture on TV was so stunning vivid I couldn't believe my eyes at how amazing it looked with the coloured lights against the black background. Basically all the smoke does is make the whole thing look dull and murky, ie, what's the point of HD TV when you want it to look like old fuzzy CRT TV. After Caroline I don't really know what happened, and have to see how my lungs are for tomorrow's show, ie, might have to skip. [Crowd : 4 - Me : na] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$0]
16.11.23 : Just For Laughs Australia : Sydney Opera House
Mel Bracewell(MC), Harley Breen, Geraldine Hickey, Michael Hing, Tom Cardy, Jimeoin, Catherine Cohen
I was wondering why there was 6 comics listed when the TV show only has 3, and it's because they film 2 eps at a time. I kind-of black-banned the SOH, because they target non repeat occasional customer groups rather than repeat customers that have to buy 1 ticket at a time, meaning they charge a lot and have a high transaction fee - if I had to pay $9 for the 200 tickets I buy per year it would be $1800 lol -, so I don't even bother looking at SOH shows. But by dumb luck I was looking up Caroline Rhea and found out Just For Laughs is in town, then for a laugh I looked at the prices and some were astronomical, all except JFL Australia that was only $20 with no transaction, ie, a bargain. I wished I knew that years ago because I would've gone to all these - lol -. All were good except for one, with standouts being Harley, Jimeoin, and Hing doing the Irish story for the 7th time - lol -, which stuck this time getting extra applause - it didn't get much reaction yesterday lol -. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$5 + C$6]
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16.11.23 : Freelance - movie
Action - Comedy : An ex-special forces operative takes a job to provide security for a journalist as she interviews a dictator, but a military coup breaks out in the middle of the interview, they are forced to escape into the jungle where they must survive.
It's not terrible like all the critic's splats on Rotten Tomatoes would suggest, but it also nothing special/interesting either. Think of words like, unremarkable, predictable, basic, dull in places, watchable time filler. Didn't hate, so it's a passable as a time filler. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
15.10.23 : Stand OUT's NOV SHOWCASE #3 : The Chippo Hotel
Reece sends a txt every week for discount shows, and it does say occasional international acts, but after a bought a ticket I realised you would never get Philly-Philly Wang-Wang as a drop-in in Redfern when Kings Cross is more likely, ie, should've gone to Potts Point Hotel - lol -. Maybe because Reece lays down the law at the start, ie, no heckling etc - probably a good thing as disruptions spoil shows -, but I would've expected a crowd this big, ie, soldout, making more noise. Basically it's the same comics doing the same material as Mon but with more people, just not laughing as much. No one is ever going to notice except me, so it's pretty much a moot point - lol -. Standouts were MC Pat Doherty and Ethiopian Joe White, one not so funny, but oddly the consistent killer He Huang didn't get what she deserved. It was fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$4 + C$3]
Too far away to get decent pics
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14.11.23 : Caroline Rhea - I identify as a Witch : Happy Endings Comedy Club - Kings Cross
Things weren't ideal, but it was pretty much what I expected, ie, more interesting than riotous. If you've seen her in the JFL Montreal specials, ie, short TV standup appearances, they are riotous because they are edited best bits, where as this is a whole 1hr show with highs and lows - it was the same when I saw Dylan Moran, Ardal O'Hanlon, etc -. The show did look a bit random and scattered, ie, not a planed routine, but she said she was very jet-lagged - the non ideal bit -, and did look punch-drunk fatigued when she hit her teeth with the mic. But by halfway she did get sharper when she switched from crowd-work to the actual jokes in her routine, so it did get more coherent. Even though it jumped around a bit and wasn't a tight controlled delivery - I don't know much about her so this might even be her normal/proper delivery -, it felt like she already had her routine worked out and didn't really need this warmup. But at the end in the question time she did say something about taking a break for 10 years and coming back to standup again, and because this was brought to us by JFL, maybe they made her do a warmup as practice from her long break so she is ready for her recorded TV show at the SOH in 2 days. Who knows what is going on, but it was plenty fine seeing someone famous for only $35. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$35 + F-$8 + C$3]
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14.11.23 : The Marvels - movie
Action - Adventure - Fantasy : Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.
Just as I was leaving a vid came on my feed that said, "The Marvels - Absolutely Pathetic" - lol -, and even though it wasn't as bad as that, it's probably not good enough for adults. The first problem I had was that I was lost trying to piece together the stories from the previous forgettable movies, ie, I don't even remember watching them - lol -. The second is that this is another superhero movie that has switched to PG-13 kids level intelligence, ie, pretty un-fun for adults. If the young girl character didn't have such lame corny dialogue it would've been a pass, and even though it was removed in the end scene, the small bits made it a little annoying/lame in places. Instantly forgettable. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
13.11.23 : Harry's Comedy - Mondays : Harry's & Hotel Harry
I already had my 4 tickets for the week when I realised that Just For Laughs is at the Sydney Opera House this week, ie, famous people are about. It's was a long-shot, but I figured that there might be OS pros doing the drop-ins at small clubs as a warm-up, eg, Chris Rock at Roxbury Glebe, and in fact 1 of my tickets is Caroline Rhea pre SOH show. I'm now doing the 6 day/show week - lol -. This room has a weird vibe, like it can go dead-silent if things aren't funny enough, and some comics did test that by doing touchy subjects, ie, recent war, etc, but overall I think people want to be there and do listen, ie, no heckling/disruptions, so it wasn't that bad. Best on the night was He Huang, with Dan Rath at 75% being 2nd. Michael Hing's story is wearing thin after 3/4 listens - it feels like an Arj Barker gag, ie, long slow buildup for a strong punchline -, which is not good because I'm seeing him at Just For Laughs Australia again. Really there was only 1, maybe 2, that were ded ded, but it's always going to be a weird show because no one gets paid so comics try new/untested material, ie, it's expected to have dead-spots. No drop-ins, but it was plenty good enough. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$3]
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11.11.23 : Comedy For A Cause : Forest Lodge Public School
Jake Howie(MC), Sam Bowring, Annie Boyle, John Cruckshank, David Williams - the lineup was totally different to the original poster, so I don't know what happened there -
I was pretty reticent about going to this one, because it seemed so sus going to a school comedy night when you are not a local, and that the show had no presence online other than a guy going to the show making a single post on the Sydney Comedy Scene (Australia) Facebook page, ie, it felt like a closed house thing. In the end I figured I better go because if I stay home all I'll do is eat and nut all day - lol -, and it ended up being extra good. Not only were all the comics good, but the large crowd was extra good by laughing a lot. Sam Bowring did his famous Sam routine, and I had forgotten the bit where he was named after his cat - lol -. There is just something so funny about a deadpan delivery, and Annie Boyle nailed it - it's also easy taking clear photos when she doesn't move much - lol -. John Cruckshank was the best on the night, ie, most laughs/applause. I don't know what happen to David Williams in his long absence, but he ditched in highly saleable clean appearance for a rough tattooed appearance, ie, a CLM(career limiting move). It did get weird in the second half with all the school sponsors, ie, their businesses seemed sus for a school, and that we waited so long when there was only one comic left. From a comedy perspective, 1st half 4.5 stars, 2nd short half 3.5. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$30 + F-$3 + C$6]
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10.11.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
MC: Gerard McGeown, Dan Rath, Bea Barbeau-Scurla, Sam Bowden, Dave Henning, Christina Van Look, Sam Bowring, Tommy Dean
There was a weird vibe, ie, the crowd wanted to listen but didn't make much noise, but it was still fine. Dan Rath is getting his vibe back - the guy was absolutely brilliant, took a break, and then wasn't, but is now getting back to his good form again -. Dave Henning appeared after disappearing for a long time. Christina Van Look was the best on the night. And Tommy Dean was snipe-ed - lol -. He did and obscure comeback from a previous comic's routine that no-one got, but the crowd got him back by doing a comeback to a earlier comic that he wasn't here for, ie, he was totally confused because he didn't know the reference - lol -. It was ok. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$9 + C$6]
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08.11.23 : Dragon Friends Season 9 - Live D&D Comedy Show : The Vanguard
Fuk this fuken sh!t-hole venue, $24 for a simple scotch-n-coke, ie, you can tell he grabbed the most expensive to sux money out of you. I quit this venue because if you don't buy a meal, ie, spend a lot of money, they throw you down the back or up near the ceiling. What's ironic is that I was pretty happy getting my first ground floor seat near the stage after about 20 visits between 2003-2009 stuck in the very uncomfortable hot roof not being able to see, so I thought I better buy a drink to support the venue, ie, Fuk! that was a mistake.
This whole DF season has been a cluster-fuk. At the start of the year Dave said there would be a lot less eps, which is ok because the cast is ether having babies, getting married, or busy at work, but then he told us that the podcast eps will only be released at the end of the year - they want you to pay for early access on Patreon, which is ironic because they are only giving them half the shows/content -. I pointed out that you need to go to all the live shows to follow the story, or go to none and wait for the podcasts, ie, you can't go to a single random ep because you will be confused at what's going on. Then Dave then said that the eps will be self contained single one-shot stories - ouch -. Let me sum up one-shots, you know how it takes a few eps at the start of a season before it gets entertaining, well a one-shot never gets started before it has to finish due to the time limit - it's why only 1 out of 10 have been fun, ie, they are usually garbage nothing-burgers -. The podcasts were released recently, and they are a continuing story, ie, thankfully not one-shots, so I could finally go to a live show and not spend the night wondering what was going on. As for the show, I don't know if it was boring, or I was tired, but I was yawning all the way through not really able to concentrate or pay much attention, so I left at halfway to do something more interesting, ie, type this lol. What's annoying is I can't go to Russell Kane because it's $60, but this average show just cost me $54 - ouch -. [Crowd : na - Me : 0] [T-$30 + F-$24 + C$6]
PS: I'll PPS when I hear these eps and find out if it was actually bad or I was just tired.
PPS: The first ep was ok but nothing special, and the second was a bit better but short
PS: I'll PPS when I hear these eps and find out if it was actually bad or I was just tired.
PPS: The first ep was ok but nothing special, and the second was a bit better but short
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I wasn't the case for this night, but with most shows people buying meals get all the good seats on the floor in front of the stage. While everyone else is stuck upstairs where you can't see very well, has very uncomfortable seating, and is super hot in summer when the hot air rises.
07.11.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
It probably wasn't a good idea after Question Everything ended late - the comics were having too much fun -, but I figured I should get more than half. It ended early so I only got 3-ish comics - lol -. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$0]
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07.11.23 : Question Everything S3-E4 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo
Alex Lee, Rhys Nicholson, Zoe Coombs Marr
Usually these TV recordings are mild/average, but in this one the panel ran a-muck and made it quite good. Rhys Nicholson is the king of inappropriate, and Zoe Coombs Marr made it even more so, and that will probably result in a lot of the stuff being cut for TV because it was too risque for the ABC lawyers - lol -, ie, you have to have been there if you want the good stuff. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]
05.11.23 : Good Girls Comedy - Halloween Edition : The Chippo Hotel
Yeah The Girls had a open mic/new material show here for girls on Sunday, but that moved to The Lady Hampshire with more of a pro lineup called Lady Laughs. This I think this is the crew from Good Vibes Comedy, from the closed The Meraki, moving here to do a girls only night - pure speculation because the girls running it look like the Good Vibes Comedy crew -. This one had new comics I hadn't seen before, like Yeah The Girls, but it was mainly semi-pros doing new material. Standout was Jen Carnovale, who parasitically came up with a new routine from her Mic in Stand Comedy Club set 2 days ago - lol -. It's ok, it's just not the comics best stuff, and the crowd is a bit quiet. Ok. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$3]
Girls don't like photos, so I only took this one
03.11.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Julia Wilson(MC), Michael Vincent Tjakamarra, Jen Carnovale, Michael Chamberlin, Gary Eck
It's a shame only half a crowd turned up, ie, 20-ish, but they were friendly/good-natured so it didn't really matter. There were a couple of no-show comics, so I was thinking it would end early - early nights are better for me -, but the crowd wouldn't let Gary Eck go home so he did an extra long set - he was trying to plug his children's book to us, the wrong demographic, so the crowd made him do a full reading - lol -. You know what's odd, Wil Anderson gets the big bucks for doing rare improv shows to get material, when Gary improvs every show, and is better/funnier at it, ie, he's under rated. Other mentions, Julia Wilson(MC) was on FIRE, and the MIA Michael Chamberlin turned up and killed it. A fun night. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$9 + C$6]
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02.11.23 : Kirribilli Club Comedy Night : Kirribilli Club
MC: Jake Howie(NZ), Keegan Covind(NZ), Freya Morton, Marty Bright, Mick Meredith
It's the usual stuck-up crowd, ie, hard to make laugh unless you are an old-school pro comic. That being said, the younger comics in the first half did pretty well and got reactions. As you would expect, Mick Meredith crushed, but it was odd that he didn't bring his guitar, ie, he has enough good materiel that he doesn't really need to do songs, it's just that the songs are a highlight of his set. Last time here is wasn't that good, ie, too many young comics with a tough crowd, and I was thinking that with such a large crowd you should really have an veteran pro at the end just to get these people to react, which is what worked tonight. Very good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$16 + F-$4 + C$3]
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01.11.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
If I knew so many people would turn up due to the cheap tickets I probably would've skipped, ie, I didn't feel like going out that night, but that being said, it was a pretty good one. The crowd were pretty quiet - there were a few OS groups that didn't get some stuff, ie, Mr Belgium didn't know what a jockey was lol, so that is probably a factor -, but they were friendly, so weren't that bad. Probably the best was Tom Walker, Cameron James, and an old guy(pic 4) - didn't catch name - that I haven't seen before - the young new guy(pic 2) was also good because new is good/different to me -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$0 + C$3]
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31.10.23 : Carousel Comedy : Carousel
It's a bit of a schemozzle, but I guess it's par for the course here. The crowd was weird, they are disruptive, don't laugh, and listen intently. I guess in Gay areas people like to get drunk and talk a lot, which wasn't a deal breaker until the guy next to me started talking during the show and I couldn't hear - It's why I split 2 comics from the end, even though I saw comic Dane Simpson waiting to go on -. The bigger problem was the seating, they put me at the back with tall stools in front, so in effect I couldn't see much. It wasn't really a problem, but being so far away makes you feel uninvolved, and that makes it hard to laugh. What is weird is these guys run the comedy room at Kinselas, yet they started another room a few doors down - Kinselas is a more reputable room and doesn't get trouble makers -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$3]
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31.10.23 : The Killer - movie
Action - Adventure - Crime : After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal.
I found the start so slow and boring that I was thinking about leaving after 30min - they showed a lot of the boring waiting, pondering, logistics, parts -, but I figured there was no use going all the way to the City if I didn't stick-it-out until halfway. At chapter 3: The Lawyer, ie, halfway, it started getting interesting, so I stayed to the end. It shows a fair amount of the un-glamours side of a paid killer, and that kind-of kills the action/interesting/fun parts. [2.5] [T-$11 + F-$4 + C$3]
30.10.23 : Dumb Money - movie
Biography - Comedy - Drama : David vs. Goliath tale about everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop (the video game store) into the world's hottest company.
It doesn't start that compelling, but it slowly gets interesting as it goes along. When I first heard about Futures/Hedging in the 80's/90's, I wondered why financial institutions that rely on the appearance of stability and creditably would part take in what is essentially betting and gambling, but that's what it is. In the wake of this, the legacy looks like nothing changed. There was a few finical business that disappeared, no lawsuits by congress, no new laws, and in fact all that changed was that hedge fund people now look at social media for risks. As far as business movies, way behind Air (2023), and not as good as BlackBerry (2023). [3] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
26.10.23 : Slinging Wit : Butchers Brew Bar
Phil Spencer : Poem about adopting his neighbour's cat, which was displaced by their new dog.
Richard Cuthbert : Music
Susie Youssef : Story about when her flatmate got leukaemia. The chap survived, but it was still sombre because her friend comedian/Improv Cal Wilson(only 53yrs old) passed last week
Anna Bennington : Music
Alex Lee : Standup about her brain turning to mush after having kids
Cale Bain : Story about kissing his penis expert Dr father
It wasn't as good as last time, but it was still ok. This time there was two musical acts doing serious songs, and after I quit live music in 2005 after a decade of 4-5 nights a week, I just don't even look at any music anymore. That being said, Anna Bennington has one of those instantly likeable cute voices, so that part wasn't totally tedious. The second half did pickup with more humours stuff, so it did end on a high, ie, the part most remember. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.25] [T-$28 + F-$5 + C$4]
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25.10.23 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co
Marcel Blanch-de Wilt(MC), Bec Melrose, Ben Kochan, Lucy Henderson, Michael Hing, James Colley, Kevin Jin, Becky Lucas
It was good to get back to a friendly/good vib room, because last night was horrible. Standouts: Ben Kochan did his new routine from last night and it was a hit again. Hing pulled out one of his rare stories - maybe heard it twice in the last decade -, and even though it has his long buildup, it has a killer punchline. I haven't seen James Colley for maybe a decade, and he said he hasn't done standup for a long time, but it was a very strong/clever routine. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$16 + F-$0 + C$6]
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24.10.23 : Lvl 1 - Lazy's Comedy Club : Lazybones Lounge Restaurant & Bar
The comedy level was ok, it's the crowd that was f*cked. The room was full, but it's got to be one of the most unfriendly room/crowds I've seen. To give you an idea of what it was like, there was a homophobic slur/heckle, and BS anti-vax comments, ie, old people - it's a bit ironic, anti-vaxers are old, and the old are the first to go, ie, they are idiots - lol -. It was like the people from the band room came upstairs for something different, ie, clueless about comedy and didn't really want to be there. Fady Kassab turned it around and got the crowd reacting in the second half, even though the first half was actually funnier. Comedy the same as normal, but a 1 star crowd. Thankfully I have a friendly room/crowd tomorrow and the next day. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25] [T-$23 + F-$11 + C$4]
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21.10.23 : Andrew Hamilton: Jokes About The Time I Went To Prison (Encore) : Kinselas Hotel
I thought I had seen this full show/know the whole story, by piecing together all of the short sets I've seen him do at standup shows, but I wasn't even close, because this show is massive. Most new comics go slow in solo shows because they don't have enough material, but this has way more material than a pro comic solo show, and Andrew has only been doing this for 1½ years. This show is chock-a-block full of stories from start to finish, and is delivered so fast, ie, fast talking, it's like you are getting a show and a half. That was impressive, and despite his looks, ie, he looks like a hard criminal, seems to be the nicest, affable, friendly person on the planet, ie, you'll love him by the end - lol -. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$25 + F-$3 + C$3]
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PS: Don't tell Andrew, but I built the jail bars for Parklea Gaol - lol -.
Unknown person - me lol -, plasma cutting holes in the cross flat bars that the round bars pass through and get welded to. Ironically the steel, ie, P8 from Germany, was undrillable at the time, but about 10 years latter cheap diamond tooling became available and the inmates started/tried to cut the bars. I know the guy that had to go in there and reweld all the attempted cuts - lol -.
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20.10.23 : Lawrence Mooney - Encore : Comedy Store
I've been Umming and ahing about this show for months. On one hand, he's one of the few comics that I actually find lol funny, but on the other hand, I don't know if I would say he's $50 funny - Century Venue's prices have been increasing lately, so this could be the norm -. I guess this is going to be the last Mooney show I can afford - I'm pretty fickle, so who knows lol -.
It's not his funniest show, but it's probably his most thought out and clever show, ie, it's a lot of smiling with occasional laughs. It's a piss-take on self help gurus, ie, the d!ck-heads that try to convince you your actual faults aren't your fault. - lol -, and his preaching method was to embrace your loser-ness - lol -. Based on the applause the crowd(occasional comedy viewer) thought it was fine, but for me(constant viewer) I think it's closer to a $40 show. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$49 + F-$3 + C$3]
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19.10.23 : Sporties Comedy Club : Moorebank Sports Club
Steve Philp(MC)- he replaced David Smiedt due to family reasons -, Fady Kassab, Sean Woodland
I was going to do the The Redfern Comedy Lounge, as per usual, but when I looked at the bill there was only one pro comic - it was only Rebecca De Unamuno, who I had seen recently -. So I decided to go to this one with 3 pro comics, that was also cheaper, I would see another new venue, and was a touch closer to my neck of the woods. This one is out of the city, ie, more Bogan West, and that has the usual West idiosyncrasies/problems. Like the crowd get drunk and get disruptive, they are harder and more reserved so don't laugh as much, and even this crowd were kind-of those things, they were pretty good-natured, ie, took the MC's roasting, and keep the disruptions to a minimum. The comics also had to change it up and be more bawdy and rude to get the Hard/Westie crowd to react, which made the night better, ie, old style comedy is funnier. Even though I've seen all these comics 100 times, because they did longer sets they brought out new material that I hadn't heard before, and that made the show even funnier for me. Top notch show, like the super funny old school days. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4] [T-$16 + F-$0 + C$6]
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17.10.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
I wasn't going to do the double, but Question Everything finished early, it was close by, ie, only one station away, and it is usually short, ie, early night - 2 comics didn't show so it was even better for me -. Two comics stood out - the rest were too familiar to me to standout -, a new South African guy(pic 3), and the guy before(pic 2) -, and that was enough to make it good for me. The quick stop-off was worth it. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$0]
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17.10.23 : Question Everything S3-E1 studio recording : ABC Studio Ultimo
Alex Lee, Nath Valvo, Geraldine Hickey
No one stood-out, but it was fun enough. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]
12.10.23 : All Comedians Are Beautiful : The Lord Gladstone
Tom Cashman(MC#1), Pat Golamco, Lauren Bonner, Antony Faisandier, Becky Lucas(MC#2), Billy Darcy, Jess Fuchs, Cam James(MC#3), Tom Walker
It was the same guys as usual, so it was plenty good enough. The crowd on the other hand were ok in the first half - someone was making reactions noises at the punchline that had the crowd joining in lol -, but they were bit quiet in the second half - I think the person got embarrassed and was a bit quiet latter on -. Even though he is fine now, Antony Faisandier story of a brain tumour was a bit shocking - I think he was from Syd Uni Project52, ie, I don't remember faces but the name is familiar. And i think he did a spot at the Grand Electric TV comedy recordings -. It was fine. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$10 + C$3]
PS: Becky Lucas is a dirty girl - lol -.
It was the same guys as usual, so it was plenty good enough. The crowd on the other hand were ok in the first half - someone was making reactions noises at the punchline that had the crowd joining in lol -, but they were bit quiet in the second half - I think the person got embarrassed and was a bit quiet latter on -. Even though he is fine now, Antony Faisandier story of a brain tumour was a bit shocking - I think he was from Syd Uni Project52, ie, I don't remember faces but the name is familiar. And i think he did a spot at the Grand Electric TV comedy recordings -. It was fine. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$10 + C$3]
PS: Becky Lucas is a dirty girl - lol -.
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11.10.23 : Good Vibes Comedy : The Meraki
Well that explains why the place was closed when I got there, the venue had closed permanently earlier today. From what I can gather, the landlord raised the rent and made things untenable. It's a bit of a tragedy because it seemed like it was becoming a replacement for Giant Dwarf Theatre, now another venue of alternative shows dies. Facebook post - Meraki Arts Bar -. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$3]
10.10.23 : Theatresports™ Scared Scriptless : The Chippo Hotel
It was actually decent, and quite a bit better that last night's Improv. Veteran David Callan was also here, but this time he was decent. Veteran Ewan Campbell was also there, and even though he didn't look sharp at 01.09.23 : Compass Cabaret : ABC Studio Ultimo, he was sharp tonight. They have tried to restart Scared Scriptless a few times - I remember 3 - since the heydays of Crystal St Petersham, and it's the show where new players learn the ropes before they get into the bigger shows, if they get good enough. The format is short games and that makes teams do something fast, or if they can't it ends and is forgotten pretty quick - it's like the quick format of 10 comics in one night doing short sets -. This one you have to be patient and be in for the long haul if you want a pay-off, because it could be months or a year before players get good, eg, Amanda Buckley took 4 months to get brilliant, Keira Daley took 10 months, but most never got good. It those days there were enough decent/goodish players that the show was ok, ie, 3.25 stars, but when someone got good it elevated the show to good, ie, 3.75 stars. Tonight didn't have that skill level, but it was good enough that it was ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$5 + C$3]
09.10.23 : Improv Comedy Cagefight : The Bank
There were some Theatresports™ games, which were the best parts, but most of it was free-form scenes that weren't as good. The first two battling teams were pretty much a write-off, ie, new/raw, and one team had David Callan - it was depressing because he was a legend in his time, but now seems to have lost all his skills -. The second two teams were acceptable enough that they were amusing, but the winners of this round had to battle the unfunny team from the first half in short 3min rounds, and the unffuy one's were still unfunny and the better guys didn't really get going in such a short time, ie this wasn't that good either. This is about the level these-days, ie, not much laughing from the crowd, where as back in the Theatresports™ games era there was lots of big laughs. I guess if you don't know better because you haven't seen the blistering good stuff, you're probably going to accept this as ok. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2] [T-$17 + F-$16 + C$3]
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06.10.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Eric Hutton(MC), Sam Bowring, Laura Coleman, Billy D'Arcy, Anthony Locascio, Edan Mcgovern, David Woodhead, Tom Cashman
It was pretty much Hutton that made the show, but the others were pretty good also. The crowd were also good, ie, large and supportive. I skipped Cashman because I just saw him last week for the umpteenth time and his new routine is wearing thin with me - it's not as strong as his old stuff and that makes repeats more tedious -. Also this show runs a bit late, ie, 10:30pm-ish, and getting home earlier helps when you do double show days. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$5 + C$6]
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06.10.23 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo
Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Wil Anderson, Bridie Connell and Tommy Dean - Music: Soul Movers
It wasn't great, and it wasn't terrible, and apart from Wil improvising 10min on the word "golden" for the Wheel-of-death that was FIRE, it was kind-of middle of the road leaning towards the not particularly funny. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2.75] [T-$0 + F-$8 + C$3]
05.10.23 : Expend4bles - movie
Action - Adventure - Thriller : Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on, the Expendables are the world's last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table.
Dumb action film can be fun, but this brings nothing new or different so is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. There's not many big name actors, and the ones there don't do much that is remarkable or new, and all the smaller bit actors don't standout, ie, easily forgotten. Nothing special [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
04.10.23 : Lady Laughs : The Lady Hampshire
The problem with girls in comedy is, there's not enough of them - lol -. It only affects people who do a lot of shows, but there is not a big pool so repeats by same person is pretty common. Tonight it was only one comic that I felt I had seen too many times - I also don't want to Peter Berner and Tom Cashman for the rest of the year, lol -, and even though the punchlines don't hit as hard because you know them, you still pre-laugh because you know the setup and what is coming up next. The best on the night was Anna Piper Scott - fast talking is impressive, but I also haven't see her before -, closely followed be Fran Middleton - she does wacky style of comedy which can hit or miss, and tonight it was a hit -. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$10 + F-$11 + C$3]
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03.10.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
It was a small crowd, but at least they were good-natured and supportive so it still was kind-of fun. Probably only one comic wasn't that good, but with short quick-change sets it ends soon and you don't really remember it. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$3]
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02.10.23 : The Creator - movie
Action - Adventure - Drama : Against the backdrop of a war between humans and robots with artificial intelligence, a former soldier finds the secret weapon, a robot in the form of a young child.
It's made by the person that did Rogue One(2016), and like Rogue One it's long-winded and kind-of boring. It's big budget, CGI everywhere, and has action, but that is just a cover-up for what is an uninteresting nothing-burger. Maybe kids/teens will like it, but I wanted to turn it to 2x so it would hurry up and finish. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
29.09.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
I was going to skip, but this Rory Lowe is driving me nuts - lol -. I can't figure out why his up and coming up show Rory Lowe - BEAST 25th Nov is so expensive, ie, $40 is Dave Hughes money, so is he as funny as Dave Hughes. Unfortunately/coincidentally the night got cancelled after I got there, and it was probably due to it being a long weekend and everyone doing something else, ie, not enough people turned up. Oh well, them's the breaks. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$6]
28.09.23 : Laugh Your Arts Off : 107 Projects
Freya Morton(MC), Steph Broadbridge, Kristen Centorame, Carolyn Swindell, David Mierendorff, Olivia Irvine, Alana Rafter, Emma Wei, Tom Cashman - I hope this given list is in order, ie, don't know most -
It's mainly lawyers that do comedy on the side, so it's not pros, nor even semi-pros, but at least it was something different, so I'm not complaining. All the full-time comics were fine , ie, Freya Morton(MC), Steph Broadbridge, Tom Cashman, with the best lawyer, ie, Carolyn Swindell, being equal to them. I've seen Carolyn before, ie, Yeah the Girls, and she's more of a pro, and in fact was the best on the night along with Steph. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25] [T-$33 + F-$0 + C$6]
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28.09.23 : Retribution - movie
Action - Thriller : A bank executive receives a bomb threat while driving his children to school that his car will explode if they stop and get out.
It's supposed to be this tense mystery thriller, but I wasn't on the edge of my seat. It's not a hero with special skills that you look up to, but just a normal dad trying to get through it. Nothing special. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$5 + C$3]
27.09.23 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co
Marcel Blanch-de Wilt(MC), Annabelle James, Jen Carnovale, Ian Mu, Kate Dolan, Tom Cashman, Alice Tovey, Cameron James
It's as good as it was last time, ie, a full crowd of warm people. I would classify it was one of the friendly rooms, like Good Vibes Comedy and Brew Haha, where the crowd know the score, ie, it's not going to be Dave Hughes level, but are still happy/supportive of the comedy. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$16 + F-$3 + C$6]
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26.09.23 : 2023 Dr Peter Domachuk Memorial Lecture : The University of Sydney
Opening A New Eye to Ancient Light: The Optical Advances of the James Webb Space Telescope presented by Dr. Marshall Perrin, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
It was a good one, and they even had the sound turned up so you could hear - lol -. It was mainly about the construction, launch, and orbit of JWST, but it also had the obligatory history of space telescopes at the start and a quick look at what JSWT can do at the end. Even though I knew most stuff, it was the construction that was new to me. Interesting good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$3]
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22.09.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Faddy Kassab(MC), Mike Chan, Brett Nichols, Gerard McGowan, Jonathan Schuster, Amelia Navascues, Freddie McManus, Dan Rath
On paper it looked good, but unfortunately it didn't turn out that way. Faddy usually kills it with his set routine, but tonight it wasn't clicking that well as MC. Dan Rath still wasn't firing on all cylinders, and I think it's because he's doing new stuff due to me only remembering 2 gags. But what was the bigger problem, was that someone was talking loudly at the comics and ruining their punchlines. Usually making people pay kills this because it means they want to be there, but when it does happen you can't win either way, ie, if no one stops it it turns people off from coming again, and if you kick them out it leaves a sour taste in people's mouths and they don't come again. What was good was Gerard McGowan belted/shouted out his usual set and made people react/laugh by shear willpower, and Freddie McManus also forced/shouted a good set by doing ad-lib crowd work to compliment his usual stuff. Jonathan Schuster(Melb) was also good, as he was 2 days ago. To be fair no one was bad, and it was more that the crowd wasn't reacting to much, ie, if you get a luagh-ey crowd, this level is good enough. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3] [T-$15 + F-$9 + C$6]
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21.09.23 : The Redfern Comedy Lounge : The Redfern
Billy D'arcy, Rakhesh Martyn, Kimberly Rose, Peter Meisel, Bruce Griffiths, Gary Eck
I don't know what happened, but the ad disappeared from Happy Ending, and by dumb luck looking for a different show in Redfern, I saw this ad by the Misfits. Basically when a venue do their own ads you are pretty-much never going to see it unless you walk through the venue. I find if it's not on eventbrite, the only one with a decent gig guide, or FB Sydney Comedy Scene (Australia), it's practically invisible, and it's only with perseverance doing Google searches for "comedy" + suburb, which is way too hard to do for every suburb, that you sometimes find them. As for the show, Gary Eck riffed the whole second half doing crowd-work, and it was brilliant. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4] [T-$20 + F-$10 + C$3]
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20.09.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
Fiona Cox(MC), Cameron Duggan, Fran Middleton, Tom Orr, EJ Rovedi, Lucy Henderson, Jonathan Schuster
It was very quiet, which seemed pretty bad, but as I was walking back I noticed the streets pretty empty and that The Bank Hotel was empty also, so it might just be a phase. The ones that stood-out was headliner Jonathan Schuster and EJ Rovedi. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$8 + F-$10 + C$3]
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19.09.23 : The Running Joke Comedy Club : Potts Point Hotel
Daniel Muggleton(MC), Lauren Bonner, Bec Charlwood, Dan Rath
It was a bit low-key low-energy, and it probably doesn't help when there is a break after each act - they need to make $s at the bar -, because it kind-of loses momentum with the stop starts. I mainly went because Dan Rath was "FIRE" when he did 12.07.23 : Dan Rath - special live recording : Comedy Store, unfortunately he wasn't that sharp/fast tonight. I remember him doing a lot of gigs prior to his solo recording, ie, getting practice, but I don't remember seeing him after, and that probably explains why he wasn't as quick. The second half of his set he switched to doing crowd-work, and that was very good because it was new stuff and it displayed how quick his mind works. Muggleton also wasn't as brilliant as usual - he's usually a great ad-lib MC. The girls were fine, with Bek doing an extra bit to her usual routine at the end. To be fair the crowd wasn't great, ie quiet, but it was fine. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$25 + F-$15 + C$6]
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17.09.23 : A Succulent Comedy Showcase : Factory Theatre
Harry Jun, Pat Golamco, Wandi Cao, Kevin Jin, Jenny Tian, Chris Nguyen
The comics were good, it's just that the crowd was a bit dead - it could be that lazy Sunday afternoon thing because even I was flat/tired during the 2 shows -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$0]
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17.09.23 : Susie Fagan(IRE) & Loz Booth – Mama Lost : Factory Theatre
Susie Fagan was good, but I got depressed when Loz told that her kid had no fingers because I know how he will be ridiculed in latter life, eg, if you make a comment on Youtube stating a disability/handicap they will tear you apart because being a minority not many people will post to back you up. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$6]
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15.09.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Bek De Unamuno(MC), Sam Bowden, Guneet Kaur, Annie Boyle, Andrew Hastings, Steph Broadbridge, Cam James
Pretty much Bek made the night because she got the crowd going and they pretty much reacted to every comic, which isn't easy with foreign students because European's don't laugh and they don't get our references. They even reacted to the comics that usually don't do well. Bek did an Impro Film Noir based on a girl's dating life that killed. Sam has only come back to comedy recently and was trying new stuff - what happened to Samwise, ie, it's been so long he could do the old stuff and no one would know -. Hastings had new stuff that was actually funny this time. Annie deadpanned her way to success - lol -. And Cam killed it as headliner. Quite good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$15 + C$0]
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15.09.23 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo
Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Tahir, Alex Lee, Tommy Dean - Music: Gregg Arthur
Tahir was good last time so I was hoping he would be good this time, and he was, but like last time it wasn't just Tahir, everyone was extra good. Even Glover was good - he's usually only ok - with his opening soliloquy about triggers that tell you of a scam, ie, low fat on a package means it's full of salt or sugar - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$6]
14.09.23 : Brew Haha : Hopsters Cooperative Brewery
The comedy is the same as the rest - doing a lot of nights and these shows blend into each other -, crowd is more on the enthusiastic side like 13.09.23 : Good Vibes Comedy : The Meraki, and the only thing that stoodout was that this is a Co-Op and drink prices are high if you aren't a member - ok if you are a local and use it a lot, but a bit hard if you do the 1½hr fly in -. I liked Kimberley Snow. Marcel Blanch-de Witt riffed this whole set doing crowd work - new stuff is fun for me -. Lauren Bonner was also good. It's Fine. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$18 + C$3]
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14.09.23 : Blue Beetle - movie
Action - Adventure - Sci-Fi : An alien scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the recent college graduate with a suit of armour that's capable of extraordinary powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle.
I think they were going for the send-up type movie like early Ant-Man, but they weren't clever or smart enough to pull it off and make it good/fun. Not the worse superhero movie, but it does lean a lot more toward the bad/boring than good/fun. Ok, but it's more toward the juvenile/simplistic side. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
13.09.23 : Good Vibes Comedy : The Meraki
It's a nice room, a decent sized crowd, and an enthusiastic crowd. Basically the comedy level is the same as most other places, but because the crowd is supportive and get involved and make noise, ie, laughs, it makes the night/comedy so much better. Pretty much all the comics were good, but for me Henry Zhu stood out - the reason I don't mention more is that I know all the gags from all the other comics, ie, repeats, so they don't really standout until they do new stuff that is good -. Other mentions, Fiona Cox did a straight run-through of her routine, and that was better for me than here solo trial/WIP show that stop started, ie, she is better than the last review I gave her. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$3 + C$3]
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12.09.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
A small one, ie, crowd, tonight. Anthony Lacascio didn't directly attack people this time, but he did offend some people - the guy was a foreigner and didn't know AUS mannerisms -. Basically in small rooms that are trying to survive it's best not to offend people. Alex Choi was good. Alex White had new stuff and it was good/fresh. Steph Broadbridge also had new stuff that was good, but I've never seen her stray from deadpan to tonight's highly excitable delivery. Andrew Barnett had new stuff and is always good. Montana Papadinis came from Melb and was quite good as well. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$3]
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12.09.23 : The Equalizer 3 - movie
Action - Crime - Thriller : Robert McCall finds himself at home in Southern Italy but he discovers his friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends' protector by taking on the mafia.
He's tough and he's cool, it's just that the film wasn't that at all times. Basically the first 15min is good, but then there is this long dull story setup, ie, trying to set a mood type stuff, but after that it's fine. There's also the violence, like I don't mind sadistic violence against the baddies, but the part with innocent people was a bit off-putting. It's fine. [3] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
11.09.23 : Haunted Mansion - movie
Comedy - Drama - Family : A single mom named Gabbie hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian to help exorcise her newly bought mansion after discovering it is inhabited by ghosts.
After 10min you realise this is going to be boring - think orig Jumanji(1995) Zathura(2005) dull -. 20min more and it is tolerable to the end. Not that interesting, not funny, but more importantly, not fun for adults, ie, more for children. [2] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
09.09.23 : Dave Hughes - Too Good : Enmore Theatre
Support: Bec Charlwood, Ben Kochan
On the way out I heard a woman say "that was the most I've ever laughed" - lol -. Super excellent. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25] [T-$42 + F-$6 + C$0]
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09.09.23 : Midflight Brawl - LIVE : Kinselas Hotel
You can probably work-it-out from the title, but it's a podcast where the boys read stories of nut-jobs going mental on flights. It was good, but there is a lot of sport references, eg, Cricket, League, Rugby, etc, and because I don't know much about that stuff I didn't really get those references, and that means that a large chunk lost it's impact on me. The crowd seemed to like it a lot, but then again they could be regular listeners. It was a bit hard to hear because there was no treble and it was a bit muffled, but I would probably go again if it was a touch cheaper, ie, I'm not really their demographic. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$25 + F-$3 + C$6]
08.09.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
A crowd did turn up this time - about half a room -, it's just that things didn't work out that well. Basically the crowd didn't laugh much, and that made it less than ideal, ie, one comic gave-up halfway through their set. Then at the end the sound F-ed-up and killed Luke Heggie's set. Luke powered through like a pro, but you could tell it was effecting him because he started losing words in what is usually a tight and regimented set. They did get the sound fixed halfway, so it kind-of ended ok. When people don't laugh I kind-of worry that they might turned-off and never come again, so lets hope it's just me being a worry-wart. On the flip side, David Smiedt(MC) was good - he always is, it's just that the crowd didn't appreciate it. This was Bec Charlwood best delivery of a set, ie, it was Ben "Angry" Ellwood natural talking to friends smooth. Ben Kochan did his usual good set. Cameron Knight was also pro. Oh well, them's the breaks. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$6]
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07.09.23 : Fiona Cox – Shiny New Jokes : Factory Theatre
The format was, tell a joke from a pile of cards and get the crowd to vote at the end of the joke whether to keep, work on it, or trash, said joke, and that ironically it's not a good format to deliver jokes. Basically it's stop-start slow delivery, and that kills any flow that the jokes might have, ie, laughs from a previous joke carry on to the next joke even if it's not funny. It's a trial show, so it's plenty good enough., but it was getting kind-of too slow for someone that sees a lot of comedy and needs machine-gun fast delivery, plus I got pretty tired by the end, so it wasn't the best for me. Maybe if I was bright/enthusiastic I would've liked the weird format, because I like the unusual lol. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 3] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$0]
PS: At these bunch of Fringe shows the crowd has given poor clapping at the end, even if it was good, so I wouldn't take their score as meaning much.
PS: At these bunch of Fringe shows the crowd has given poor clapping at the end, even if it was good, so I wouldn't take their score as meaning much.
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07.09.23 : Emma Holland - Way Of The Water : Factory Theatre
You know how some shows have a theme and do it in 3 different styles, eg, a game, a story, a video creation, well this has 14 different styles - lol -. Even if you don't laugh, it changes so fast, and is packed full and delivered quite fast, it keeps you entertained. Not the funniest I've seen - I might have been tired from doing stuff during the day -, but still quite good. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$6]
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06.09.23 : Harry & Jamal - Point Of Difference : Factory Theatre
I must be insane going to see guys that I have collectively seen at least 20 times this year - lol -, but multiple comics on one bill has a higher percentage of laughs. Jamal Abdul did an expanded version of his usual standup set, so it had the good stuff plus bonus new stuff. Harry Jun pretty much did a slowed down version of the set that he's be trialling for about half a year, which was ok, just not as good as usual. Good show overall. [Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$0]
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06.09.23 : Ting Lim - Trial By Fire - WIP : Factory Theatre
That was too professional for a work-in-progress(WIP), ie, it's full, ie, no dead-spots, and is funny. Stupid crowd didn't give it what it deserved, so their score is lower than it should've been. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$6]
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02.09.23 : Annie Boyle - Annie, Are You Ok? : Factory Theatre
I had to leave late but still made it on the dot, but then the stupid box-office took 10min to issue a ticket and I missed the start. It's not a problem if this was standup, but this was a Fringe show, ie, abstract ideas, and missing the start meant I never saw the setup to what was happening. From what I gathered, it was a shy introvert stuck with her thoughts in a UK nightclub/rave or Delta Goodrem concert, ie, she would interact with someone, but you would hear what she was actually thinking. I was flustered so I'm out, but like most Fringe stuff there wasn't many laughs coming from the crowd. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : na] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$6]
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01.09.23 : Compass Cabaret : ABC Studio Ultimo
I hadn't heard of this until 2 days before when they emailed the TGIF audience, presumably as a last ditch effort to pad out the small audience, ie, while you are at the ABC why not do this show straight after. I was actually thinking this would be bad because I saw 10min of their Compass Xmas TV show before quitting, ie, I didn't like it. I recognised the comics, and they are decent enough, and since it was free and I was as going to be there, I thought I would tough it out if it's bad. Well it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't as good as seeing these comics at a venue. Basically these comics are funny doing their set material, ie, their good stuff, but because this had a theme of religion and culture they had to do all new untested material, ie, not as good stuff, and coupled with having to be squeaky clean for TV, that also dampened the laughs. TV records usually aren't great as an entertaining show, but it was ok and relatively short, ie, 1½ hrs. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]
01.09.23 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo
Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Rebecca De Unamuno, Tahir, Tommy Dean - Music: James Valentine
After a spate of bad/boring ones I thought I must be mad to go again, but when I saw Tahir I thought maybe he would make it good, and he kind-of did. Usually it's Tommy that is the best, but with this one it was Tahir and Bek that made it good. Fun. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]
31.08.23 : Slinging Wit : Butchers Brew Bar
Susie Youssef, Kay Proudlove, Phil Spencer, Brendan Hancock, Zoe Norton Lodge
Something different, not if you've been to Giant Dwarf Theatre, but from all the standup. It had a bit of Story Club(3 stories), a bit of comedy songs(2 sets of 3 songs), and a bit of standup(more Fringe show than standup). It's probably more Story Club than anything else, and because I've heard most stories before, ie, repeats, my score was a little lower than it would've been for a first time. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25] [T-$28 + F-$12 + C$4]
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25.08.23 : Physics in the Pub (Sydney) : The Barrie
You have to be tough to watch this one, because it's a bit uncomfortable. Basically the sound was screeching because it keep over-driving, your eyes were sore because of smoke from the wood-fired pizza oven, and it was packed so you were a bit squashed. As for the science, there is a lot of short topics that are easily digestible by the normal public, ie, you don't have to be a scientist. That being said, there were a lot of old grey beards in the crowd, ie, scientists, that probably knew all the stuff already, so to keep this entertaining for them there was a lot of niche/weird stuff going on, eg, song parodies with science themes, sing-a-longs, everything had to have jokes no matter how lame, ie, dad scientist jokes, and a quiz testing the correct pronunciation of famous scientists. It's ok if you can handle the conditions, and evidently this show is only once, or very rarely twice a year. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]
25.08.23 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo
Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Gary Eck, Chris Ryan, Tommy Dean - Music: Phil Burton (Human Nature)
As soon as I saw Gary Eck's name I bought a ticket, simply because last time I saw him here it was a good show, but unfortunately this show wasn't anything special, and actually a bit dull. Basically there wasn't much comedy riffing, and the news subjects were a bit dull. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]
24.08.23 : Erskineville Comedy Club : The Hive Bar
It's a nice little show, and quite cheap. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$6 + C$6]
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23.08.23 : Stand OUT's August SHOWCASE #4 : The Chippo Hotel
I was about to say I don't like this downstairs ex-bandroom because it feels sleazy and dirty with all the graphitti and posters on the walls, but for tonight someone put sunflowers everywhere and it looked really nice - I guess someone else felt the grottiness lol -. It's a bit hard to judge the level of comedy in this room because Dave Hughes turned up to do another one of his famous dropins, and that elevates any show - he also brought Kate Langbroek -. It was kind-of weird because the comics thought they weren't doing well, when I thought they were doing fine. As far as who was good, there was such a massive number of comics it was all a blur, ie, I don't remember who was good. I remember thinking Andrew Hamilton was good, and it was good that Fiona Cox turned up again, ie, been missing for a while. Other mentions are, Jamal Abdul - he's very smooth in delivery now -, Fady Kassab, Steph Broadbridge, Lauren Bonner, Tom Cashman. Better than expected. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$22 + F-$10 + C$3]
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23.08.23 : About My Father - movie
Comedy : When Sebastian tells his old-school Italian immigrant father Salvo that he is going to propose to his all-American girlfriend, Salvo insists on crashing a weekend with her tony parents.
People were laughing occasionally, so they must have thought it was ok, but I found it tedious and predictable. Basically it's lowest common denominator simplistic stuff, and that is a too low level for me. I left 30min before the end. [1.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$2]
22.08.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
A full crowd turned up this time and that made it better. Billy D'Arcy was good with his new expanded travelling/backpacking/hostel stuff. Laura Coleman was good with new stuff. Ben Kochan was also good. Anthony Lacascio attacked some poor guy and made everyone feel uncomfortable. Good. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$3]
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21.08.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Unfortunately they only sold 3 tickets, and when there were no door sales it wasn't worth doing it for only 3 people, ie, you can do 3 on a small cheap night with the comics padding the audience, but a pro night like this it's just not worth it. Since the crowds have been getting smaller each Mon they think they will probably move it to Fri, ie, it's a case of adapt or die.
[Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$10 + C$6]
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21.08.23 : BlackBerry - movie
Biography - Comedy - Drama : The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.
It's good, it's just that it's missing the magic that makes these history based business dramatisations great, eg, Air (2023), Moneyball (2011), etc. Basically you aren't drawn into the film with emotional uplifting drama. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$3 + C$3]
18.08.23 : Tom Walker - Physical Comedy Best Of : Kinselas Hotel
Now I get it. It said it was a trial show for doing physical comedy in an non-English speaking country, and when we were told it was Korea it made sense because physical comedy is a thing in that area. As for the show, the short simple stuff was good, and the crazy short simple stuff was even better, ie, unpredictable endings, but the long stuff was a bit harder to like. I don't know if the miming wasn't clear enough to follow, or it was me not being able to concentrate - I don't have a tolerance for long buildups anymore -, but I got lost as to what was happening in places. I wasn't fond of the Bull in a China Shop, and I think the Relay Race Batten Change Love Story could-of been more exciting, ie, accidentally grabbed his penis instead of the batten, but then he does Being Fu'ked by his own Monster Penis, so there was crude/rude bits - lol -. I think the spot Tom is doing in Korea is 6min, but this was 1hr 30min, so this was more a test of everything so as to cherry-pick bits to do, and that meant it's not going to be as good as his normal short punchier 1hr shows, ie, this show is not to be judged as a real show. It was up and down because of the length, but it was good enough to be ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$4 + C$6]
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17.08.23 : Dr Karl and Friends: Innovation and Beyond : Sydney Town Hall
Hosted by Associate Professor Alice Motion.
Professor Emma Johnston whose marine ecology research covers everything from bushfires and invasive species, to marine pollution (macro and micro plastics). Antarctica has been immune to global warming due to circulating cold ocean currents, but 8 years ago it started changing and now they can actually see damage in that short period.
Associate Professor Michael Bowen whose neuroscience research aims to treat opioid addiction and help tackle the devastating opioid crisis. Opioid addiction, legal or illegal, kills more 18-45 year olds than anything else, eg, cancer, etc.
Professor Anita Ho-Baillie is it possible to double the efficiency of a solar panel on your roof from 20% to 40%? Adding more doping layers to silicon enables solar panels to absorb more wave-lengths and make even more power. They have already made 30% panels now.
Professor Geordie Williamson whose research is harnessing the power of AI to attack problems in mathematics, shedding light along the way on what current AI can and cannot do. Simplified, AI is trial and error toward a set goal where the most successful guide the next generations, just like evolution, ie, the strongest survive.
The first half was a 1hr Dr Karl science show, and because it was all new material delivered in his usual fast-talking energetic style, it was very good. The second half wasn't as fast, ie, you wish you could hit 1.5x speed lol, but was still quite interesting. The crowd was loud with Dr Karl, ie, 4 stars, but you could tell they taper to 3.5 in the second, ie, average 3.75. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]
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16.08.23 : Gran Turismo - movie
Action - Adventure - Drama : Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs - a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec - who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.
You can summarise director Neill Blomkamp's career as, brilliant first film, but everything after that is cr@p. This wasn't brilliant, but it was ok/not boring to watch, and that's coming from a car guy that knows what was BS in the film - lol -. As for the real world, I've done hundreds of laps on an actual track, and I've played racing games, and the track is way better because you get an instant feel of the physics, ie, it's easier because you can feel the limits. The truth to racing is that it's not hard to get fast if you have a passion, hence why SIM racers do ok, but if you want to be great you need to get into real world Karts as a kid. [3.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$0]
15.09.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
A bit of a quiet one, but it was still good. Unfortunately there was so many comics it's hard to remember who stood-out, also it's hard to be impressed when you remember the material, but I remember thinking that MC Jacob Lingard was good because he had a lot of material, ie, he did a bit between every comic. Really I couldn't fault anyone, so it was a good night. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$3]
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14.08.23 : Sydney Public Lecture: Going Beyond the Visible Universe : University of Sydney
Professor Céline Boehm: Beyond the Visible Universe: The Kingdom of the unknown and a place for vivid imagination.
It started with the usual history, ie, Einstein's theory of gravity and the discoveries that lead to the formation of theories to explain how objects in the universe move and how the universe came into being, but with more and more observations they realised that the theories don't fit every case, so it was either the gravity theory/equations are wrong and need to be modified, or there are more forces that can't been seen, ie, dark matter/dark energy. The bulk of the talk was if dark matter/dark energy exist, how it explains the odd stuff, and the experiments to prove it - think of wind, you can't see it, but you can see trees moving due to it -. They gave the speaker the worse/quietest microphone, so it was a bit of a drag because I couldn't hear that well. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]
11.08.23 : Asteroid City - movie
Comedy - Drama - Romance : Following a writer on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever.
The movie doesn't have any meaning or go anywhere, nor do you laugh at it, but because it's unusual and weird, it's rather good. The concept is a playwright writing a theatre play while the play is being shown, ie, it cuts to the playwright on occasion for context, but the play is not in a theatre, but in an abstract real world, ie, cartoon-like crazy. There are a lot of characters, and they all have word-heavy dialogue, but most of the dialogue is nonsense - lol -, and delivered dead-pan. I guess it has the feel of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), but instead of that rubbish, this is good/fun/nice/sweet. The weird makes-up for the lack of actual laughs, so if you like weird, or know the theatre industry, you will like it. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$2]
09.08.23 : Future Science Talks: Comedy Edition : East Village Sydney
Using a person's DNA to tailor specific individual treatments.
Planning methods to educate anti-vaxers.
Looking at mRNA to make cancer treatment more successful.
Blenny fish that live on the land and run from water.
Looking at curing painful Endometriosis,
Growing a meat substitute.
Decarbonising manufacturing.
It's a bit hit-and-miss, just like some comedy shows, but instead of more laughs are better, this is more information is better. With science talks more information and remarkable facts make it more entertaining, and some of the topics just don't have many facts or are just plain uninteresting, ie, 3½ of 7 talks were good/interesting. As far as comedy, it's advertised as comedy but apart from the 1st speaker it didn't have much, ie, it's like all science talks, a few random quips. It's ok, it's just that you have to be open to a lot of different subjects. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$20 + F-$4 + C$3]
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08.08.23 : Meet The Authors : Harold Park Hotel
Mikey Robins, Gretel Killeen, Richard Fidler
Usually book reads are not my thing, but it's something different, ie, novelty points, and it has comics, ie, should have some laughs, and those things made it pretty good. Mikey Robins covered stupid people in history, something like the TV show Qi. Gretel Killeen did some stories with clever writing, like you would find with Project52 creative writing Story Club. And Richard Fidler did a story about, and from, a historic Muslim traveller. What was interesting was, the boys were remember smart, ie, they repeat history facts, where as Gretel was clever smart, ie, she could mash different concepts together in a creative way. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$21 + F-$0 + C$6]
PS: I'm noticing that Tim Ferguson isn't functioning that well, ie, a bit out-of-it, and that reminds me of my friends wife that got so bad with MS she couldn't function at all. It got so bad the doctor cut all the drugs, and that got her better enough that she could function again. Basically it's hard to tell what is MS and what is drugs, so you have to play with different drugs and levels to see what makes you feel best.
08.08.23 : Sisu - movie
Action - War : When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, Nazi soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.
I should've waited till this got to SBS(TV) - lol -. I thought this was going to be fun gore like Machete (2010) where the killings are so over-the-top it's comedic, but these weren't that fun, and there wasn't even that many of them. I didn't find it that good/interesting, and actually got a bit bored, and even the lead didn't look that a hard/capable character. [1.5] [T-$11 + F-$4 + C$3]
04.08.23 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo
Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Carolyn Swindell, James O'Loghlin, Tommy Dean - Music: Bernadette Robinson
It wasn't as good/funny as last time, but at least we had Bernadette Robinson doing perfect singing imitations of famous singers, Shirley Bassey, Dolly Parton, Kate Bush, and Édith Piaf. Even though this was a write-off, and there is a 3hr commute there and back, there is just something that is appealing when it's decent and only 1hr long, ie, quick in and out/home early. For the future I was wondering if I should go to all of these, but then I realised that will get stale fast, so I'm probably only making an attempt to go if there are 2 strong standups. Ok, just not one of the funny ones. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]
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04.08.23 : Meg 2: The Trench - movie
Action - Adventure - Horror : A research team encounters multiple threats while exploring the depths of the ocean, including a malevolent mining operation.
The first The Meg (2018) was stupid/dumb, and that's what made it so fun/funny. This one isn't stupid at all, so it's very unfunny. Except for Jason Statham, this is just a boring B-grade action/disaster film. Boring. [1.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
03.08.23 : Crown Comedy : The Louis Hotel
It's on Open-Mic newby night, but because the place is isolated/unknown it's practically a room of only comics - Scruffy Murphy O-M at least has walk-by traffic people in it -, meaning you better bring-it, because it's going to be a tough crowd. Basically it's more like an industry workshop practice night. Of the 15 comics there was maybe 4 that were acceptable/funny, 2 that might have something, and about 9 that needed more work. Sorry didn't remember/hear the names, but there was a wheelchair guy that was funny, and girl that was pretty natural on stage and had a routine, and Asian Asian guy - lol - that had stuff, and even though half the MC's stuff fell flat, he has so much stuff, be it most inappropriate, that he was ok. I know about Impro/Theatresports beginners, ie, if you aren't good after 1 year you probably will never be good, but I don't know about comedy beginners, ie, if you see a lot of high-level you don't go to/tolerate low-level. I have seen beginners at Hermann's Heroes at U-SYD, but because they did Arts at Uni they all had fully written/sorted sets before they hit that stage. There was comedy/music reviewer Dom Romeo that tried standup and got very good it 3 months - he had written a decent routine and only needed to work on the delivery -. For the hard-core crowd. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$11 + C$5]
03.08.23 : Oppenheimer - movie
Biography - Drama - History : The story of American scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
They went for arty-farty instead of science and technology, and that made it confusing and non direct. Plus they added lots of arty-farty ambience with constant background music over a softly spoken Oppenheimer, which was so loud that it drowned him out making it hard to know what was going on. Basically there is a lot of time shifts so you need to be on top of it at all times, and not being able to hear makes it difficult. They also went with the typical low lying fruit of centring on blaming Oppenheimer for the Russian spies - it's like Sully(2016) where the film maker concentrates on blaming Sully, even though he saved the day -. I got bored by half way and left, and I find the true documentaries way more exciting, ie, the excitement of discovery is up-lifting. [2] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
01.08.23 : Woodshed Comedy : The Lansdowne Hotel
Dave Woodhead(MC), Cameron James, Rosie Delaney, Sam Bowden, Nick White, Steph Broadbridge, Tom Cashman
Based on what the Lansdowne was like in the old days, ie, 20 years ago - lol -, I was expecting it to be not be very popular/good, but it looks like the newer generations have made this place popular because it was pretty full, ie, about 60 people, or at least someone got the advertising right - lol -. As far as the comics, it was practically a Comedy Store lineup, ie, the better comics, at a Comedy Store cheap Thur showcase price, that was as good as a Comedy Store show, but with a crowd that wasn't as vocal as a Comedy Store show. It's the old crowd problem, ie, too quiet for what was happening, and it would be good if the crowd helped with a laugh-track because I can't keep laughing at the same gags I've heard many times before. Probably the picks were, Cameron James, Dave Woodhead, and Steph Broadbridge. Rosie Delaney is good, it's just that it's a bit sad sometimes, and I wonder why she doesn't mention the modern equivalent to the Twilight Zone gag where Bart sees a gremlin eating the airplane wing in a Halloween special - lol -. Tom Cashman did his new routine again, and it is ok, it's just that it's not as good as his old stuff. Also he uses a monitor that is too small to read the writing displayed, so that kills the gag somewhat. If you want a show that is not as far away as the Comedy Store with the same quality, this is a good once a month alternative. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$28 + F-$10 + C$6]
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31.07.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Laura Hughes(MC), He Huang, Cameron James, Alan Fang, Danny Giles, Jenny Tian, John Cruckshank
The crowd could've been better - it was like they were tired lol -, but it was still good. Nearly everyone was good, but I guess the standouts were Cameron James and John Cruckshank. Jenny Tian did good with her new routine, He Huang did new material, and poor Laura Hughes was working harder than an ugly stripper, against this quiet crowd - lol -. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$16 + F-$10 + C$6]
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28.07.23 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo
Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Gary Eck, Wil Anderson, Jean Kittson - Music: Ainsley Farrell
Opps, looks like I accidentally got on the broadcast. Eck made a predictable/old 3 strikes and you're out gag - 3 Matilda's strikers are out with injury - so I groaned laughed, and that made Will notice it so he playfully attacked the audience, ie, me, saying it was a good joke that deserved more - lol -. Panel shows usually run on the skill of the improvising comics, and these guys were very good again. Quite good, and only 1hr long, ie, it doesn't drag like a 2+hr TV record, to the point that you wouldn't mind if it was longer. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]
28.07.23 : Simulant - movie
Sci-Fi - Thriller : Set in the near future, a humanoid enlists a global hacker to remove all restrictions on his thoughts and capabilities, triggering an A.I. uprising and a government manhunt to eliminate the rise of the machine consciousness.
I only watched the start of the trailer, so as to avoid spoilers, and thought this was a rouge android action film, but what it was was this brooding, unsettling, thought-provoking, SciFi drama. It's not a negative, as it was quite ok, just don't expect fast moving or action. Ok. [3.5] [T-$12 + F-$0 + C$4]
27.07.23 : Comedy Cub Club - Launch Night : Burdekin Hotel
Chris Knight(MC), Sath Nadesan, Brad Austin, Rian Howlett, Jenny Tian, Freya Reviews, Artie Gallagher, Sarah Gaul
I don't know if it's because the audience was predominantly gay guys - does anyone remember The Dugites-Gay Guys lol -, but they were pretty supportive for such a small crowd, even for the inexperienced comics - a couple stumbled their words so must be kind-of new -. It was a large lineup show, ie, 8 comics, but they were given longer sets, and that meant that it ended 10:30pm-ish. Late is pretty normal for the party/gay/Oxford St people, but I noticed some non-party people, ie, straight couples, left before the 2nd half, ie, it's probably too late for non-party people. Probably the best was Sath Nadesan, but MC Chris Knight was also pretty decent. Jenny Tian was also good, until she tried a new bit about Mac being better that PC that fell flat - I guess everyone knows that pretty much in every direct comparison speed test PC outruns Mac except for a few rare cases -. I don't do well with word-heavy comedy songs, but Sarah Gaul's first few songs were simple enough for me to get. I guess I'm the odd one out going all over the place, because these shows probably serve the local communities, and this one is probably right up the ally for people in Oxford St. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$11 + C$6]
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27.07.23 : Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - movie
Action - Adventure - Thriller : Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.
It's all very exciting, to the point you don't notice it's nearly 3hr, ie, no time to be bored type engaging, and the fact you will have to watch another maybe 3hr film - lol -. This is something you don't see everyday from Hollywood, a film that has clever idea/premise, ie, use an AI character that sees the future, where as we can't, ie unpredictable. Even the fights are unusual, eg, in a narrow lane-way where everyone has to use unconventional fighting. Big action never seen before, ie, train crash. And even a comedy car chase that is actually funny. Good. [4] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
26.07.23 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co
Laura Hughes(MC), Ryan Sim, Suma Iyer, John Glover, Elysia Hall, Annie Louey, Kate Dolan, Keely Willis, Jake Howie
The crowd wasn't as good as last time, so comparatively it was more subdued. The crowd wasn't actually bad, like they seemed enthusiastic, it's just that they weren't that loud, and it's more that last week they were super sonic, and that made the comedy infectious. As far as mentions, Annie Louey looked interesting and seems to have a lot of material - have to keep an eye out for her longer sets -, Elysia Hall did a different set compared to last week, ie, seems to have a lot of material, and Howie was Howie, ie, good as usual. Probably Ryan Sim too, it's just that I've seen him so many time. It was ok/fine, and it is one of the cheaper nights at $15, ie, you aren't losing much if it isn't super. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$3 + C$6]
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24.07.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Andrew Barnett(MC), Thomas Orr, Sally Don, Andrew Hamilton, Brendan Burns, Imaan Hadchiti, Eric Hutton, Justin Hamilton
This show was like nostalgia week, like I haven't seen Imaan Hadchiti for what feels like a decade, and I haven't seen Brendan Burns for what feels like a couple of decades. Back in the day Burns was one of the big three with Jim Jefferies and Steve Hughes, who do that clever morality based political roasting, but then totally disappeared. After a long absence he's decided to come back, but being out of practice tonight he wasn't at his best - Hughesy needed a few gigs to get good again after he left TV and got back into standup -. Like I could see the punchline, but the delivery of the thought process to get there, was a little confusing/incoherent - at least above the level of my stupid brain lol -. A bit of practice and he'll get the wording right for maximum delivery. What he still has is the Ben Ellwood/American salesman/Scientology delivery, ie, talk to people like you've known them for decades and it makes you instantly likeable, so even though there wasn't much laughing everyone probably still liked it. As for standouts, Andrew Barnett went above the call of duty and made the night good. Andrew Hamilton had a totally new set. Eric Hutton surprised the crowd. Justin Hamilton is not a big LOL comic, but he's still a very affable storyteller. Everyone else was ok, ie, no bad/off-putting ones.
On another note, I don't know what happened but not many people turned up. It just doesn't make sense considering this is one of the better rooms with the higher level of comic, and did sellout just a few weeks back, yet there was only about 20 people. Maybe it's the Manning Bar dilemma, ie, not many Aussies go to Uni anymore, and the nearby Uni is full of OS students that aren't interested in entertainment. Maybe it needs to go back to Thur, or another day, we'll just have to see if the crowds get better again. The small crowd couldn't make much noise, but the higher level of comics made it good enough that the crowd kind-of accepted it enough to get into it, ie, overall it was still decent. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$6]
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21.07.23 : TGIF! - Thank God It's Friday! : ABC Studio Ultimo
Host: Richard Glover - Guests: Bec Melrose, Vince Sorrenti, Tommy Dean - Music: Van the Man: The Australian Van Morrison Show
It feels like TGIF has been around forever - I remember seeing ads in the past for theatre shows -, it's just that I wasn't that interested because it felt like it was for older people. But in 2020 I bit the bullet and got tickets - it's free so I can tolerate it for an hour -, which were promptly cancelled because of the lock-downs. Well 3 years latter I made it, and it's quite a decent show to watch, ie, has laughs. Where as Glover is old, the guests are relative young, or at least young in the brain - lol -, and that is a decent level of comedy for most people. The format is basically comics riffing about things in the news. There was an older crowd, but it's not strictly for the old. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$3 + C$3]
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20.07.23 : The Redfern Comedy Lounge : The Redfern
Fady Kassab(MC), Tom Witcombe, Guneet Kaur, Harry Jun, Chris Radburn
It was weird, like there was only a few less people than last time, yet the room was pretty dead. I don't think the crowd minded, ie, it wasn't a turn-off, but it was hard for the comics. Faddy is guaranteed laughs, and even though it wasn't his best set - being the MC the crowd-work kills the momentum of his good routine -, it doesn't really explain why the crowd was so quite, ie, the crowd was partially to blame. Harry Jun started the change, but it was Chris Radburn that kind-of turned it around in the second half making it finish on enough of a high that everyone left happy enough. I didn't mind that much, it's just that it was one of those nights where it felt awkward to make any sounds, because I was the only one reacting. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$20 + F-$10 + C$6]
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19.07.23 : Buddys Comedy : Buddys Bar Newtown
The only thing I would change is to have it run a bit longer, like 9pm finish is good if you want an early night, but it's kind-of a nice room so you want it to go on longer. The format is known young semi-pro comics, ie, they know what they are doing, supposedly doing new material - some did stuff I've seen before at other gigs, but then again I've seen too much stuff lol -. The standout was He Huang - she's usually always the best -, but everyone was pretty good. The crowd was pretty good and a decent size, but there was a lot of late arrivals, ie, it was smallish up till then, and I wonder if someone just got people from downstairs to fill seats, ie, free show. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$11 + C$6]
PS: When this room started about a month ago, I wondered why someone would start another comedy night on the same night as 2, or occasionally 3, other rooms that are just a few blocks away, so that's weird.
PPSS: I think this was the games/pokies room of the old Sandringham Hotel(Sando) next door, just that the walkway through the wall is bricked up..jpg)
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17.07.23 : Rat Klub Comedy // Winter 2023 : MoshPit Bar, Newtown
It looks like I came on the wrong night because there were 6 people + maybe 10 comics, where as evidently the last 2 weeks were sold out. That aside, there were a lot of comics like an Open Mic beginner night, but they didn't seem like Open Mic-ers because everyone had routines that were too polished, ie, they knew what they were doing. There was also the known young semi-pros, but most were testing new material, ie, not guaranteed/sorted to be funny yet, so not their best stuff. There were too many comics for mentions, and a lot I haven't seen before, ie, I don't know/remember their names, but overall it was alright if you know what to except, ie, the level. It did kind-of die in the latter stages, ie, got quiet, but basically every show is a gamble, like I've been to rooms with 200 people that were dead, but with small rooms/crowds it's harder to laugh when it's silent, ie, you feel embarrassed to make a noise. Maybe there are better nights, but it is what it is. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 3] [T-$10 + F-$10 + C$6]
PS: there is no link to tickets on the Facebook page - the only mention I found -, and because they are on Trybooking - I found this after the fact -, they are impossible to find unless you search the specific name. Basically TB's search/gig guide is so garbage, you have to KNOW about the specific show before you can find it, eg, I've been doing general comedy searches on TB for the last month and this show never turned up on their list, but search the specific name and it suddenly it appears, ie, don't trust TB search to promote shows.
Too many comic to get all of them, ie, a sampler
Too many comic to get all of them, ie, a sampler
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16.07.23 : The Big Sumo Comedy Show : The Lord Gladstone Hotel
I think it was Open Mic beginners, it's just that they seemed a bit too good for amateurs, at least compared to other Open Mic nights, ie, some OMs are an instant turn-off. There were also some new semi-pros trying new material. There were some standouts, it's just that there were so many I couldn't take photos and couldn't hear the names, not that I would remember - lol -. It has a lot of comics doing short sets, and it's decent enough that the nearly 2 hours passes without you noticing, ie, no time to be bored. It did die in the last 10min, but it's the best Open Mic night so far. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$0 + F-$10 + C$6]
13.07.23 : The Attic Comedy Club : OTiS
Cameron Duggan(MC), Jenny Tian, Harry Jun, ?, Rosie Delaney, Fran Middleton, Jackson Stewart
The first thing you notice is that it's a small room that holds maybe 30 people, kind-of like Erskineville Comedy Club, and it has the newish comics, like Erskineville Comedy Club, it's just that it doesn't have the crowd like Erskineville Comedy Club which know the score, ie, it's probably not going to be high level, but still laugh a bit more than here. No one really stood-out except Harry Jun, but Rosie Piper, and, Jackson Stewart were mentionable. Jenny Tian was trying a new routine that wasn't sticking, ie, needs more work, but she ended strong and that's all people remember. With Duggan you don't know, like some times he's fine/good, but sometimes it's like he is going to start a fight, ie, he sometimes probes too hard with crowd work and pushes it too far if he's given an odd answer, ie, no Impro accept the offer type stuff here. It's fine so long as you know the level you are going to get. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$6]
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12.07.23 : Dan Rath - special live recording : Comedy Store
I think it was 4.5 stars, but the sound fuked-up after 15min and they turned off the front speakers, and that killed the crowd response. It took about 15min before people got used to the lower volume and started laughing again, and I was only able to get back into it by removing my ear plugs so I could hear Dan's voice directly from the stage. Even then I still missed some punchlines, so that was a bit of a disappointment. As for the show, Dan has a killer short set, and unlike most new comics that slow down on long sets, Dan keep the high intensity/excitable delivery for the full 1hr and absolutely killed. I would put him in the Luke Heggie category, ie, exceptional, and equal in laugh level as veteran pro comics. For me at the time it was less because of the problems, but I'll give it the full 4.5 stars that it should've been, ie, deserves. I kind-of wished the sound stayed good, because that was a great show. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5] [T-$15 + F-$3 + C$6]
Dan Rath with Danielle Walker warm-up
Dan Rath with Danielle Walker warm-up
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12.07.23 : Joy Ride - movie
Comedy : Follows four Chinese-American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through China in search of one of their birth mothers.
It looks like it's going to be fun, ie, everyone is quite animated/exciting, but you sit there for 2/3 of it wondering why it isn't fun, ie, not much to laugh at. There is a funny bit in the middle, and it gets quite nice at the end, so it does make you forget that there wasn't much to do, ie, laugh, for most of it. Ok. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
11.07.23 : Harold Park Comedy : Harold Park Hotel
Tim Ferguson(Host), Robyn Reynolds, He Huang
I probably shouldn't have bought a ticket because there were only 3 names on the bill - actually 2 because Tim only did 5min and introduced -, and the lack of numbers usually means long/slow sets. Another negative was that I see the 2 comics quite regularly, with 1 as recent as last week. Overall it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, Robyn mixed it up so it felt different, and He delivered her good set a bit slower and with more material - new is as good as funny -, but with such few comics it was a bit short, ie, 1hr 30min with break. It also had an old friends communal meeting feel rather than a proper comedy show, like it wasn't high level, but because it was like a community thing everyone was ok/tolerant that it was mild-ish. Harold Park Hotel is regarded as the place where comedy began, at least in the minds of the old timers, and there has been many attempts to start it again with all of them ending quicker that they started, so I guess we'll have to see how it goes. A decent amount of people turned up, but I think it needs more if it wants to continue, ie, 3 comics seams to be the minimum, so long as 1 is a pro comic. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$21 + F-$9 + C$6]
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10.07.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Dan Muggleton(MC), Pat Golamco, Frida Deguise, Chris Ryan, ?, Jen Carnovale, John Cruckshank, Becky Lucas
When I saw Lucas and Muggleton on the bill I quickly bought a ticket, ie, they are good, but afterwards I remembered I just saw Lucas last month, ie, repeats. In the end it winded up not mattering, because it was good. I forgot how good Dan got since his online zoom comedy shows, because his crowd work was FIRE! When I did engineering my brain was so trained at thinking I could think of 5 things before I finished my last sentence, and I could see Dan's brain was at that level because the audience member barely finished their sentence before he came up with another preposterous/funny statement - lol -. Where's Dan's red tracksuit - lol -. Everyone else was good, but what stuck in my head was Pat nailed it, Cruckshank got good after a slow start, and an esoteric mystery guy - couldn't hear his name - that did some totally weird scattered stuff that no one understood - not even me -, and some clever stuff that no one understood - this stuff i got and could see the cleverness of the jokes -. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$6]
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06.07.23 : Kirribilli Club Comedy Night : Kirribilli Club
Matty B(MC), Sath Nadesan, He Huang, ?, Christina Van Look
There was a large crowd, but they were mainly old people, and old people are the dud root of comedy, ie, don't move much and don't make much noise - lol -. Basically a room of 100 people made the noise of 30 - Petersham Comedy Festival is kind-of the same -. He Huang killed it - people were saying at the end she was the best -, but she got the applause of about 50 with no cheering. Christina was also good, but she got about 30. Sath also did well, it's just a few bits were too rude for old people. If you compare it to Are You Havin' a Laugh?! last night, where the 50 people knew the score, ie, it might not be stellar, they still made the effort to applaud and cheer so it was a more fun night. One comic wasn't good, ie, didn't suit the room, but overall it was ok except for the lazy crowd, ie, their 3.5 noise level should've been higher. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$4 + C$6].jpg)
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05.07.23 : Are You Havin' a Laugh?! ft. Madeleine Stewart : The Marlborough Hotel
Tom Stevenson(MC), Chloe Maddren, Tom Elphick, Henry Zhu , Elysia Hall, David Truong, Madeleine Stewart - Improv: Daniel Craig - Tom Stevenson, Maddie Atkins, John Glover, Harry Watkins
It has the newer comics, ie, The Laugh Inn Comedy Club level, with a good headliner, and some Impro at the end, ie, something different. It's better than The Laugh Inn, and most of the newer comic nights, because it has a much bigger audience that actually react - dead crowds are The Laugh Inn's problem -. Madeleine Stewart was excellent - she's a bit exceptional because she seems to be way better than other comics in her age/experience group -, and Elysia Hall who was also very good. The crowd probably thought the Impro was ok, even though they didn't react that much and a guy had to shout out prompts to move it along, but for me it wasn't that good. It's kind-of all dialogue, and like any conversation it drifts between interesting and dull. I think the guys that invented TheatreSports realised straight talking is boring so the added complexity, and it's that that makes it more interesting/clever, ie, you have to think how the tasks are influencing the story. It's ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$10 + C$6].jpg)
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04.07.23 : Enmore Comedy Club : Enmore Theatre
Harry Jun(MC), Nathan Chin(VIC), Lauren Bonner, Daniel Townes, Tom Walker, Billy Stiles(VIC), Brodi Snook, Chris Ryan
This time it was good, and I think it's because there were new comics from Melb and new material. It didn't start good, because this crowd was dead dead with only 3 of us clapping when the MC was introduced - weird because they sounded enthusiastic/noisy waiting outside in the queue -. Thankfully MC Harry Jun turned it around early on by turning it into a pantomime. Basically he forced the crowd to react with oohs or aahs when he asked audience members personal questions, eg, high school sweetheats and the crowd had to aah - lol -. No one really stood out out, but MC Harry was good by flipping the audience, and Tom with some new stuff. I wasn't too keen on Townes low effort. Basically he said he was going to try and do his set with the min work, ie, only a few jokes - the 3 jokes landed so I guess the crowd thought he was ok -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$17 + F-$0 + C$6]
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03.07.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Jess Fuchs(MC), Laura Hughes, Dan Rath, Ben Kochan, Bec Charlwood, Sam Kissajukian, Luke Heggie, Aaron Chen
Well that was quick, it only took 1 week before this show started selling-out, ie, buy tickets at least 5 days beforehand - lol -. Everyone was good, and as usual Dan Rath stoodout - insane/quirky is my thing -, and also Luke Heggie. Probably the lowest for me on the laugh-o-meter was Aaron, but then again I saw him last week and knew most of the stuff because it was pretty much word for word. Also he hasn't done standup for 6 months and is still getting into the swing. One of the better shows in town. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$6]
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01.07.23 : Sean Diao - Laugh or China Releases a New Virus : The Barrie
It was a bit Raw - lol -, but it was ok. The semi-pros, ie, young comics with a decade of experience, have trouble making a good full length show, so you can imagine the level of a 2022 Raw Comedy Finalist (VIC) first full length show, ie, fine/good enough, just not outstanding. There is also the language barrier of someone new to OZ, like you can see a clever joke before it happens, because it is delivered slow due to the comic making sure you to get the cleverness. It was fun enough, but the first thing I would do is talk faster so it has better timing - this is usually a problem for new comics that don't have enough material and have to pad out the 1hr, ie, Catch 22 -. A fun time, ie, more toward the interesting, just not a laugh fest, ie, pretty much the same level as most new comics. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$13 + F-$6 + C$3]
PS: Ouch, I just realised it's 3hrs of travelling for a 1hr show - lol -.
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29.06.23 : Murder Village - An Improvised Whodunnit : Meraki Arts
I had the same problem as last time, I couldn't tell if it was improvised, and knowing what is impro/made-up is half the comedy, ie, most of it felt like a scripted play. Another thing that made it feel like scripted play is, the players played the characters too real, ie, they didn't go much outside the what the real character would conventionally do. Even the format is unconventional. Most, like Murder in Successville, have the mystery/murder is at the start with the whole show being the detective questioning suspects, but in this one the first half is the character stories, then the murder, and then the detectives questioning suspects for the last third, ie, dull for most of it, with a little bit of fun at the end. Basically it's not very impro like. Like the players are introduced as set characters before that start, where as in impro they would ask the audience for characters at the start. Also in impro they would ask for murder weapon/place etc at the start, so there would be a call-back joke - if you can make someone remember a past experience they will laugh -, but in this one it's QR phone voted and not told to the audience until after the show, ie, no call-back. If you don't know what good impro is you will probably think it's ok - a girl leaving said it was good -, but if you listen to the audience they were pretty silent for most of it, with a few laughs at the end when you could tell it was impro. The crowd also didn't clap much at the end, so I can't tell if the majority liked it. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.5] [T-$35 + F-$3 + C$6]
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28.06.23 : Best Mates Comedy : Wayward Brewing Co
Marcel Blanch-de Wilt(MC), Nikki Britton, Amelia Navascues, Maddie Stokies, Andrew Barnett, Freddie McManus, Tori Crisp, Danielle Walker (headlining!)
I wasn't keen on going because tomorrow will be 4 days - out 6 times - in a row, ie, tiring, but it was a case of sucking-it-up because I didn't want to wait another month for the next show - I just missed last month because it was hard to find this gig -. Well there were no standouts, because everyone was a standout - lol -. I've seen everyone before, and they don't do well all the time, but tonight everyone was FIRE. They were pretty hyped to be here, ie, the looked enthusiastic, but I think it might also be the room, or more importantly the enthusiastic sold out crowd. Good, and well worth the effort. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$16 + F-$14 + C$6]
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28.06.23 : Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - movie
Action - Adventure : Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history.
From the trailer this looked like a blatant nostalgia cash-grab, but it was better than that, ie, it's decent enough, it's just that it wasn't anything that special, ie, no chance it was going to be as good as the early ones, but that's pretty much normal for squeals yet alone something that is decades after the fact. A bit slow after the good beginning, but it picks up halfway with stuff that keeps you interested. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
27.06.23 : Enmore Comedy Club : Enmore Theatre
Anthony Locascio(MC), Josh Perring, Meg Jager, Aaron Chen, Christian Elderfield, Bec Melrose, Joe Shaffer(USA)
A lot of people turned up, ie, they had to use the balcony seats because the floor was full, and that helps creating a laugh-track. No one stood-out, but it was ok. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$4 + C$6]
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26.06.23 : Mic in Stand Comedy Club : Friend in Hand Hotel
Cameron James(MC), Tommy Dean, He Huang, Eric Hutton, Steph Broadbridge, Sam Bowring, Dan Rath, Tom Cashman
It's a higher level than the smaller rooms, ie, a Comedy Store showcase level -, and coupled with a decent sized crowd that was enthusiastic, it was a good night. When this room was around in it's first iteration - they said starting 20 years ago (2003) and ending 7 years ago (2016) -, it was a love hate relationship for me, ie, the comedy was good, but it was so popular you were always squashed and it was hard to get a seat, ie, uncomfortable. This is the opening night so the crowd was a bit thin compared to the old days - it was still decent number of people -, and when the audience was polled they were nearly all people that used to go to the old Mic in Hand shows, so we will have to see if this room picks up to it's former glory - I was looking at my old posts and famous people like Judith Lucy did sets here, ie, it had high level comics in the past -. It's hard to pick standouts because everyone was good, like Tommy came up with a totally new routine since I last saw him not long ago, Eric was back to his old good form with fast delivery high energy, Dan was super funny with his quirky insane style - lol -, and Tom was able to do new media/power-point stuff that he can't do in the shorts sets at his usual appearances at Comedy Store. The only one was wasn't at the same level was Sam. Sam was FIRE in the old days and absolutely killed - I always went out of my way to see him -, and because I haven't see him anywhere for what seems like a decade - I'm exaggerating lol - I have a feeling he's just a bit out of practice, ie, will eventually come good as I see him booked at other rooms now. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$6]
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26.06.23 : Red, White & Brass - movie
Family : When Maka and Veni fail in getting tickets for the most important game of their lives, they decide to form a traditional Tongan marching band just so they can go to the game.
All through the first half I was thinking this is more a TV movie, ie, not good enough for a cinema release, but as it went along it got better and better, ie, funny/fun/lovable, and by the end it was quite good. Simple, but gains heart as it goes along. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
23.06.23 : No Hard Feelings - movie
Comedy : On the brink of losing her home, Maddie finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. She has one summer to make him a man or die trying.
It's not a fun comedy, and it's not a laugh comedy, it's more an ok film with a few smiles. I think it's because it has no charm, because the kid is not particularly nice/lovable so you don't root for him, and the girl character is quite aggressive and not lady-like, so is not particularly lovable, ie, the face is not enough when you have a bad personality deal-breaker. It's ok. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
22.06.23 : Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - movie
Action - Adventure - Sci-Fi : During the '90s, a new faction of Transformers - the Maximals - join the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth.
The Transformer stuff, ie, visually and action wise, is as good as the others, but the new characters and their background stories are not. In the early stuff, ie, Shia LaBeouf era, the main character was a school kid type, ie, not serious, but in the newer films the main is some disadvantaged character, and because of their situation they are now serious, ie, it drags the fun down. It's ok, just not fun, ie, you probably won't laugh, and will barely smile at anything going on. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
20.06.23 : Enmore Comedy Club : Factory Theatre
Nick Capper(MC), Esky Escandor, Steph Broadbridge, Justin Hamilton, Brodi Snook, Luke Heggie
This time the show was at the Factory Theatre - it swaps between Enmore and the Factory -, and run in the Terminal room - 2 shipping containers welded together -, and even though it is smaller, it is newer/modern, and I kind-of like it better here than the Enmore, ie, it has a more warm and cosy feeling. The crowd on the other hand, were a bit strange, ie, they would clap and cheer a lot at the start of a half but peter out as it went along, and that was strange because all the comics were good. There were probably more standouts, but because the crowd didn't react I could tell who, and it was only Nick Capper(MC) that got the most cheers. It was pretty good, it's just the crowd not reacting kind-of dropped the atmosphere/score for me. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$0 + C$6]
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18.06.23 : Slide Night - feat: Nikki Britton : SOH
It probably wasn't a good idea going 2 days in a row, because Rove's dialogue is the same as yesterday, ie, scripted, and that means the gags don't work anymore because you heard them the day before. Other than that it was plenty fine. Unfortunately there were no standouts, except Benny Davis's improvised 15min song during the crowd finding their seat time - lol -. Ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4] [T-$23 + F-$5 + C$6]
17.06.23 : Slide Night - feat: Susie Youssef : SOH
It's not super-sonic like the old days, but it's still pretty nice. I would never go to the SOH, because once they figured the could jack the price and charge $10 transaction fee it pretty much killed it for all us poor plebs - lol -, but then I was sent a promo code for $23 tickets - it's usually $65 + $9 -, and that made it very worth while. Basically it's kind-of Theatresports games, but using old picture/film slides as inspiration. I'm probably being picky, as the overall show was fine, but the niggles I saw was that the slides were usually families/people posing/standing around, and that didn't give the improvisers much to work with. And even though there were Pros, the only standout was Susie Youssef - she's still very quick -, and that made me think that the Pros are kind-of out of practice these days. I kind-of see this in other Impro shows, ie, pros not as good as the old days, and that is probably due to not having many high level Impro shows around anymore, eg, Belvoir Theatre. It kind-of make me wonder how they are going to resurrect Thank God You're Here, because the improvisers at the time were world-class and at the peek of their skills, but now no one is even close - it's why the AU version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? was garbage -. Another standout was when Benny Davis came out early and improvised a 15min song to keep the audience entertained as they were being seated - lol -. On a side note, I think this is Rove McManus's answer to Osher Gunsberg's NTNNNNN Impro show, but where Osher's is cr@p, this one it quite good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$23 + F-$4 + C$6]
15.06.23 : The Redfern Comedy Lounge : The Redfern
Jake Howie(MC), Alex White, Elliott Rovedi, Pat Golamco, The Stevenson Experience
They usually have good/Pro comics here so I bought a ticket before the line-up was announced, but after it was announced my initially thought was that it would've been better to skip this month, ie, a repeat and an act I don't like. Well it wasn't as bad as I thought, and it fact it was pretty good. The repeat, Jake Howie, didn't do any of his material, and instead did full improvised crowd-work, ie, all new to me, and that made him very good - he was the standout of the night -. I did not want to see The Stevenson Experience, ie, musical comedy is not my thing, but the banter/roasting between the songs was pretty good. I don't know if it was Jake whipping up the crowd - he was super good -, or the crowd was in a laughing mood, but they were very good/loud, and that made the night special. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$6]
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15.06.23 : The Flash - movie
Action - Adventure - Fantasy : Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without super heroes, forcing him to race for his life in order to save the future.
You would think the story with it's time travel, alternate dimensions, and hook/homage to past movies - they used actors from past movies - it would be a Sci-Fi nerds dream, and it is somewhat in the last 1/3, but there is just something about the first 2/3 that is just not fun/interesting - possibility the lead is too much of an annoying whiny not affable character, and there is too many lame gags -. If the character was serious, like he is at the end, it probably would've been a better character. Starts 2, and ramps to 3.75 at the end. PS: don't wait for the end vid, there is 10min of credits just for a lame drunk Aquaman gag. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
13.06.23 : Enmore Comedy Club : Enmore Theatre
Ro Campbell(MC), Dahn Rozario, Alexandra Hudson, Becky Lucas, Brodi Snook, Cameron James
I've kind-of banned Enmore Theatre, unless it's a known 5 star comic at a reasonable price or discount tickets, and $15 ECC tickets turned up today. Basically their ticket prices are getting out of my range, plus that annoyingly high booking(transaction) fee penalises single ticket purchases, ie, 18 shows is $100. Even though this show lacks the atmosphere of places like Comedy Store, or even some young semi-pro nights, I had to buy 4 tickets just to get the fee under $1.50 per ticket, which is about what others charge for online tickets. The night was what I expected, ie, ok, just not anything special, but standouts were Brodi Snook, Cameron James, and a bit of Dahn Rozario. It's ok. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$0 + C$6]
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12.06.23 : Scruffys Standup Comedy : Scruffy Murphys Bar
It's one of the better Open-mic nights, ie, large crowd, supporting/vocal crowd, seating, and you can hear, but ultimately it still is Open-mic/beginners. The young semi-pros can go from funny to ok, but beginners go from ok to a high percentage of unfunny/bad, ie, the ratio was, 1 funny, 1 listenable/tolerable, and 2 very unfunny, and for me 1 funny in 4 is not enough, ie, too many long periods of unfunny/a drag/boring. The long boring bits I can handle somewhat, but it's the bad ones that make me hate the night, and the high % of bad meant it wasn't enough to for me to stick around for the second half. I kind-of make it sound bad but it is OK for Open-mic, unlike some of the others, but overall it's better suited for the die-hard's or the free crowd. For me free Sweeney's Comedy is a better preposition, ie, semi-pros make it a higher level, and is better for those not into beginner comedy, ie, the general public. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.5] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$6]
PS: semi-pros did turn up, but they usually do new stuff, ie, not the funny stuff.
PS: semi-pros did turn up, but they usually do new stuff, ie, not the funny stuff.
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08.06.23 : Red Lion Comedy Club : The Red Lion Hotel, Rozelle
The crowd was a bit dead in the first half so it was hard work, but Peter Burner in the second half turned them around and got a reaction. The only problem for me was that I've see Burner a lot already this year, and coupled to the fact the routine is scripted word for word - I thought it was free-form but tonight I noticed it was the same as before -, it gets even more stuck in your head, ie, you remember it, and that means you notice it more as a repeat. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$23 + F-$8 + C$6]
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08.06.23 : The Machine - movie
Action - Comedy : Bert's drunken past catches up with him 20 years down the road when he and his father are kidnapped by those Bert wronged 20 years ago while drunk on a college semester abroad in Russia.
The trailer looked stupid enough to be fun, but it wasn't. Basically, it's a not that remarkable drinking story where they added stunts to try to make it remarkable, the problem is it never gets that remarkable. Watchable, just not remarkable enough that it gets interesting/laughs. The lack of laughs was a bit of a disappointment. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
07.06.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
I don't do amateur nights anymore, because at my level of seeing comedy all the time the amateur comics are not at a high enough level to make me laugh - $30 for 5min of laughs is why I quit RAW comedy -, but I thought I would try this amateur comedy comp just to see what it was like. That being said, there was so many support comics with experience it ended up being pretty good. The only odd thing was that Peter Miesel was in the comp - I initially thought he was a support -, and with all his decades of experience it was no wonder he won the night. I guess having good comics will attract a bigger audience for the grand final, aka, 02.12.11 : Quest for the Best Grand Final : Marrickville Town Hall was packed. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$7 + C$6]
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07.06.23 : Marlowe - movie
Crime - Mystery - Thriller : In late 1930s Bay City, a brooding, down on his luck detective is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress.
It ain't no Humphrey Bogart, that's for sure. It's unsatisfying, because there is nothing special about it. There is no mystery, at least it's not delivered in a way that has you intrigued. It's not done very well in acting, dialogue, or story. And the lead doesn't have any special abilities, ie, you don't look up to him as being better than yourself. It's not annoying so it is watchable, but it's nothing special. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
06.06.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
I originally bought tickets to 06.06.23 : The Running Joke Comedy Club : Potts Point Hotel - it had Pro comics -, but that got cancelled so I came here. It was a higher level of comic, and there was a big crowd - better get there early if you want a seat -, the only problem was the free aspect. Basically there is no investment due to not paying for a ticket so people talk loudly during the show, ie, if the show is spoilt it didn't cost them anything. Everyone was good, but standouts were Kyle Legacy - he's become an amazing MC -, Umit Bali, the NZ Bikie, another UK guy, and the last USA lady. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$6]
PS: 9 comics was too many comics to take a full set of pics.
PS: 9 comics was too many comics to take a full set of pics.
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02.06.23 : Claire Hooper - Good Deeds. Uncharitable Thoughts : Comedy Store
Not big laughs, but interesting/different/nice. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5] [T-$35 + F-$3 + C$6]
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02.06.23 : Maybe I Do - movie
Comedy - Romance : Michelle and Allen are in a relationship. They decide to invite their parents to finally meet about marriage. Turns out, the parents already know one another well, which leads to some differing opinions about marriage.
It started with 3 relations without much substance, but by the end it had more meat. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
31.05.23 : Fast X - movie
Action - Adventure - Crime : Dom Toretto and his family are targeted by the vengeful son of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I found it dull and uninteresting. The last one had a plot where they had to solve a puzzle to save the world, where as this was a 1 dimensional story of saving "family"/son from a revenge killing. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
27.05.23 : Petersham Comedy Festival : Petersham RSL Club
It started off good, but then the crowd shutdown early on, and even though it got good again they just didn't react anymore. The boys Kyle Legacy(MC), Sam Kissajukian, Marty B Bright were good, it's just that it was a bit disappointing that the crowd didn't pickup for the last 2 when it got funny again. I thought the girls were ok, but this older crowd didn't really seem to connect. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$28 + F-$4 + C$5]
It started off good, but then the crowd shutdown early on, and even though it got good again they just didn't react anymore. The boys Kyle Legacy(MC), Sam Kissajukian, Marty B Bright were good, it's just that it was a bit disappointing that the crowd didn't pickup for the last 2 when it got funny again. I thought the girls were ok, but this older crowd didn't really seem to connect. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$28 + F-$4 + C$5]
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26.05.23 : iD Comedy Club - Friday early show : Kinselas Hotel
When only 5 people turned up for the early session, I think I know why last week's show was shown as soldout, ie, it was cancelled/soldout to push people to the latter session. I was ok after the comedy started - more latter -, with the comics being a higher level of newish comic. Standout was Ben "Angry" Ellwood(MC), ie, he could do the whole 2hr show by himself and it would be great -. Lauren Bonner, Alex White, Bec Charlwood, were nice, it's just that Aleks Milinkovic wasn't as good as he usually is. Aleks always kills, but this time he went with trialling new stuff and it just wasn't as good. The new stuff worked with normal delivery in another show, so it is good enough, it's just this one had a very slow delivery with pauses to talk to the audience. Basically the more speed, the less laughs you need, and the lack of it was what killed it. As far as problems, there is this terrible music/DJ that is too loud - my ears are still ringing the next day, and that was with earplugs -, and after 40min of waiting and being bombarded with this disjointed garbage I started preparing to leave, lose the $30, and skip the show, because it was too much to stand. Comedy is fine, but it's kind-of not worth coming back with that loud cr@p and ringing ears for 2 days. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 1] [T-$28 + F-$0 + C$6]
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24.05.23 : The Legendary Oatley Hotel Comedy Club : Oatley Hotel
Brett Nichols, Elliott rovedi, Alex White , Guneet Kaur, Billy D'Arcy and Peter Burner
DOH!. I've had the flu for the last week, with fever, shivering, nausea, and totally lost track of time and thought it was Tue 23rd, hence why I forgot to go - lol -. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$15 + F-$0 + C$0]
21.05.23 : Lloyd Langford (UK) - Current Mood : Comedy Store
There was a bit of baby stuff, wife Anne Edmonds stuff, Melb stuff - can you believe there is still dumb-ass anti-vax protests -, and that Culture Club's Boy George was in the A-Team. It was good, but I was still suffering too many shows syndrome, so I was laugh-drunk, ie , I didn't feel that much. Also the front speakers weren't working so I had to move 3 times before I could hear, ie, 20min just to settle down. Good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$39 + F-$0 + C$6]
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20.05.23 : Jimeoin(IRE) - The Craic : Enmore Theatre
He started by saying this is an all new show with all new material. Then he asks if anyone has seen him before. Then he says maybe not new for you - lol -. He has the slow relaxing style with killer non-treating material, ie, nothing political/ serious, and that means all the gags are fun and very funny. Oddly, this show woke me up and I was able to concentrate, even though the sound wasn't that loud like the earlier 2 shows at TGE - I have to wear earplugs and that isolates me somewhat from what is going on -. Very good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25] [T-$55 + F-$0 + C$0]
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20.05.23 : Rove McManus - Loosey Goosey : The Grand Electric
I have seen nearly all of this show recently, and it is good, it's just that I was a bit laughed-out from all the shows. My lack of attention could also be that the sound wasn't very loud wearing earplugs, ie, everything is too loud and causes pain so I have to wear earplugs everywhere. Good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$0]
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20.05.23 : Mel Buttle - Let Me Know Either Way? : The Grand Electric
It was nice, it's just that I was getting fatigued with so many shows and wasn't 100% there. The crowd gave super cheering at the end, but that might be because they were told to do so for the recording - lol -. Good. [Crowd : 5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$9]
PS: It looks like all the comedy shows here were for TV recordings, so it doesn't look like this place is going to be a new comedy venue - the shows list are now only cabaret -.
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19.05.23 : We Should Hang Out! With Nina Oyama & Jude Perl : Factory Theatre
I guess I was expecting more Nina, but she only hosted/MC-ed for a bunch of other comics. To tell the truth, from her short spot I think I already know all her stuff, so the other comics was probably better for me. To tell the truth truth, the other comics weren't for really me, ie, not fond of musical comedy, or sketch comedy - it was ok -, or rap comedy - it was still impressive spitting bars -, and it was only Rowan Thambar that stood out as being genuinely funny. The crowd seemed to like it a lot, but for me it was average, but then again I just saw 2 high laugh level shows - lol -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 2.75] [T-$28 + F-$0 + C$0]
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19.05.23 : Sam Taunton - Rooster : The Grand Electric
I don't remember seeing Sam recently, but somehow I already knew the show - lol -. It wasn't a problem because it was a super good show, ie, very funny, and because it was a TV recording I got free tickets to fill the crowd out, ie, very good and free -lol -. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$0]
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19.05.23 : Jeff Green(UK) - Back to my Roots : Comedy Store
The first 30min was relentless 5 star laughs, with the second half slowing down to conventional comic pace so we could catch our breath - lol -. You know when someone gets excited they talk really fast, well this felt like Jeff did his full 1hr written show in 30min due to being in an excited state, ie, fast talking, and very animated with large gestures making it even more exciting. And because most of his stuff is one-liners, it was a machine-gun delivery, ie, brilliant. The 2nd half was normal pace, and it was mucking around with crowd-work and stories from the past - the pace must be planned, because I remember the last show slowing down in the 2nd half -. Basically the theme of the show was what it was like in the old days, ie, "back in my day" stuff - lol -, and it was pretty much like he portrayed, ie, NO O.H.A.S safely - lol -. Like in the old days kids used to sit in the back of utes with no seat-belts just rolling around with cans of petrol - lol -, and you can forget about Sun Safe, because we were constantly being burnt to a crisp. I always kind-of felt sorry for Jeff leaving the UK where he was famous for OZ where he wasn't, but when he tells stories of drug fuelled jumping from club to club doing slots then parting till 9am, and then repeating it all again from 4pm everyday for twenty years, I can see why him admitting that getting married probably saved his life, ie, I feel less bad that he picked the quiet life. It was also interesting hearing what it was like in the UK, like there are 200 paid comedy slots a night in London, where as here there is barely 20. Super good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4.25] [T-$35 + F-$0 + C$8]
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18.05.23 : The Redfern Comedy Lounge : The Redfern
Daniel Townes, Anthony Locascio, Thomas Orr, Madeliene Stewart, Peter Berner
I reckon this is the best room in SYD. Pro comics, only $20 - get tic early because it sells out -, decent sized crowd, support comics are the better young comics, ie, it's just a nice room. Daniel was on fire, Peter liked the room/crowd so brought his A-game, and even the supports were good. The Comedy Store is good but the prices are high, the new Oatley - run by the same guys - has the same talent level but the crowd isn't as big, and most other rooms are only young comics, ie, not at the other's level. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$6]
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18.05.23 : Love Again - movie
Comedy - Drama - Romance : A young woman tries to ease the pain of her fiancé's death by sending romantic texts to his old cell phone number, and forms a connection with the man the number has been reassigned to.
I didn't start warm and fuzzy nice, ie, only nice, but it got warm and fuzzy nice. Also i thought Celine Dion was going to be a gimmick, but she is very good as well. Sucker for the Rom-Com - lol -. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
17.05.23 : Bec Charlwood - Toilet Seat Time Machine : Factory Theatre
The show is a kind-of interactive game where someone from the audience is picked to play Bec in a 2012 nightclub. Basically the person was asked questions from online games about things in 2012, eg, F_ck Marry Kill characters from a 2012 TV show, and given scenarios from the time, eg, talking to another audience member playing a drunk friend in the nightclub toilet. This is a common problem for old people/me, in that we can't relate to young girl comics doing modern-ish themed shows because we don't know what young girls are into. Eg, don't know what a Britney Spears is, so don't know the references. It's kind-of why you can do send-up comedy anymore, because there is no common experience due to everyone now doing individual things. That being said, I did hear the girls in the audience laughing, but not the boys, ie, it probably wasn't just me that didn't relate. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.5] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$0]
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17.05.23 : Shad Wicka - How I Almost Killed A Guy : Factory Theatre
It's the story of his trip to South America on a whim, ie, getting over a breakup by getting loose. This was delivered like a friend telling you a story, ie, no creative writing like in Story Club, but that didn't detract from a good/interesting story/show. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$0]
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17.05.23 : Andrew Hansen is Cheap : Factory Theatre
It's gets a little better as it goes along. The start had a lot of word-heavy songs without any defining/standout lyrics, ie, you tend to tune-out as it just insignificant words, and coupled to very basic gags, is was very average. Latter on there were less songs and better gags, with the songs having more impactful lyrics, ie, they were better. Nothing special. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.5] [T-$30 + F-$0 + C$6]
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16.05.23 : Dr Karl's Great Moments in Science - Rolling Thunder : University of Sydney-Seymour Centre
There was the obligatory child/student/taxi driver photos/stories, but all the rest was new - yay, no repeats -. There was a bit about lighting being strong, but not powerful, ie, 1.5B lighting strikes only has enough energy to make 3 cups of tea. Never argue with an idiot/denier, because it takes orders of magnitude more time and effort to prove the truth. Proving a SKY reporter/idiot wrong about undersea cables, ie, he said it wasn't possible to transmit power from wind-turbines under water, even though we've been doing undersea cables since the late 1800's. How reading only one article makes you super confident in espousing it's statement, but if you research it you realise you know nothing until you learn a lot about it, ie, Dunning–Kruger effect. How to tell a Hubble photo from a JWST photo, ie, Hubble has a 4 point star and JWST has a 6+2 point star. Correlation is not causation, ie, a divorce rate graph may look the same as a margarine consumption graph, but it doesn't mean margarine causes divorce, ie, Bulldust Asymmetry Factor. Why did all the Gods of Metal Work have a limp - the use of arsenic to harden metal may have caused walking difficulties -. Good, but I should've left before question-time at the end, ie, it's not as interesting because it's mainly kids asking questions. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$0 + C$3]
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16.05.23 : Book Club: The Next Chapter - movie
Comedy : Follows the new journey of four best friends as they take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had.
I didn't even last 1hr, ie, it went from 3.5 stars to 1 in 45 min - lol -. It was nice/fun at the start, but the more it went along, the more I realised it was contrived and self-indulgent, ie, no story just tourist shots with famous actors. Maybe it got better in the 2nd half, but I was too bored to find out. [1] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
15.05.23 : Hypnotic - movie
Action - Mystery - Thriller : A detective investigates a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.
It's one of those clever type intriguing mysteries, but where someone has a special ability. Think the movie Next (2007), just not as clever. Interesting good, ie, worth watching. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
14.05.23 : Guy Williams (NZ) - Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy : Factory Theatre
I was going to go to Josh Pugh(UK), but then I saw Guy on the list and wondered if he was going to do some Taskmaster (NZ) gear about him and his brother - he didn't - lol -. It's pretty similar to the show he did last time - I think he added some stuff with the whiteboard -, but this time I liked it more. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$31 + F-$0 + C$0]
The old review, because it sounded exactly the same, and I'm lazy - lol -.
The old review, because it sounded exactly the same, and I'm lazy - lol -.
11.09.22 : Guy Williams - Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy : Factory Theatre
It kind-of felt like something different, ie, different material/attitude/delivery. It was kind-of like an angry delivery where he abuses/roasts everyone - lol -, and it was kind-of about roasting/abusing anti-vaxxers/climate deniers/truth deniers, ie, nut-jobs, but then again he was roasting/abusing everyone, eg, Australians, etc. There was also a lot about his heroes when he was young now being pedos. It's different, but it's good. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5 - $15
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14.05.23 : Brodi Snook - Villain : Factory Theatre
Acid tongued SUB with psychotic tendencies, ie, stories from her life, punctuated with her murderous dreams - she was told by a therapist to write them down - lol -. I've got to hand it to Brodi, because that was one well thought out, ie, plenty of hyperbole, fully packed, ie, a lot of dialogue, show. I liked her show last time 01.05.21 : Brodi Snook - Handful : Factory Theatre because I gave it a 3.75, but this time it wasn't as good, but then again that might be because the crowd was so quiet. Shame I didn't like it more, because the wording was a work of art. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$0]
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14.05.23 : Alex Ward - Saving for a Jetpack : Enmore Theatre
Stories about her proposing to here GF, embarrassing things that happened, and her mum. It was that charming/delightful type show, ie, more warm and fuzzy fun than than big laughs. Nice. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$24 + F-$4 + C$6]
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13.05.23 : Peter Helliar - Deconstructed Origami : Factory Theatre
It felt like Peter was winging it with improv - the delivery wasn't as fast as other shows -, but at the end there was a vid that had lots of callbacks to the earlier parts of the show, and you could tell it was all planed and properly written. Basically Peter hasn't done standup for a couple of years and wasn't at his peek, and if you listened to the crowd they were only on the same laugh level as with Wil Anderson, ie, occasional laughing, but because the topics were non-serious fun topics - Wil's weren't fun -, you never felt that you were missing out by not laughing, ie, it was still a lot of fun. The only difference between his high level laughing shows was the delivery speed, and that will get fixed by doing more shows - Hughesy was rusty after he left The Project and started doing standup again -. Fun show. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$42 + F-$10 + C$0]
Peter in disguise reading his phone history as his eulogy - lol -
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13.05.23 : Free to a Good Home : Comedy Store
This time it wasn't the usual over analysing of people's mental state - lol -, but they actually did some advertisements- lol -. There was a suspicious Ted Kaczynski(Unabomber) package on Ebay. A personal where a guy wants to talk and stare at curvy women. A guy wanting to know the condition of a person that fell off a fence, that he called an ambulance for many years ago. A guy wasn't satisfied with him sucking himself off - I guess it's like tickling, ie, you can't tickle yourself. lol -. It was odd that they didn't mention the guy self sucking in the movie Shortbus (2006) - lol -. Special guests were Alex Lee, Cameron James, and 1st time Brett Blake who was crazy funny. Brett told a story of when his expensive bike got stolen, but because he only chained the front wheel they left it behind. So to get rid of the wheel he put up an ad giving away the wheel for free. The problem was that the guy that wanted the wheel was such an a-hole, he sent 17 TXT's for Brett to deliver it, and for him to do a vid that he actually had the wheel, proving that this wasn't a scam. So Brett videoed the wheel, then promptly videoed him throwing it in a fire - ROFL -. This is the only thing the Project52 crew still do that is actually ROFL funny, and this show was no exception. Very good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$29 + F-$4 + C$6]
12.05.23 : Wil Anderson - Wiluminate : Enmore Theatre
It was ok, it's just that it wasn't at old Wil level, nor his recent 20.07.22 : Wil Anderson - Wilogical : Comedy Store 4.25 star level. I think the crowd was also at the same level as me, because with the old shows you could hear the crowd laughing a lot, where as this show I hardly heard a peep come out of my section. It wasn't bad, it's just that I don't think it's worth coming to his big shows here anymore. Basically Enmore jack the prices and now adds a compulsory $6 transaction fee to every ticket so you can't group buy to split it with other shows, but even then, I don't think this show was at a $60 level considering much funnier comics are less, ie, Dave Hughes $42, Tom Ballard $24, David O'Doherty(IRE) $55, Luke Heggie $30, etc. It was ok on the night, but half way I noticed I wasn't really laughing that much - halfway is where your enthusiasm runs out and the show has to stand on it's merits, ie, if the show is good -, so upon reflection I think this show was average. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$59 + F-$4 + C$3]
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11.05.23 : Tom Ballard - It Is I : Factory Theatre
Imagine the funniest ROFL comedians, ie, Dave Hughes, David O'Doherty, Danny Bouy, Jason Byrne, but with twice the material delivered at double the speed, ie, it's full packed with laughs. He kind-of reminds me of Wil Anderson in the old days, slightly political but not too serious, and very animated with shouting/emotion/pacing, but better. Some of the topics might be a bit controversial, but they are delivered in such a tongue-in-cheek way it doesn't get serious, ie, lots of groan laughing - lol -. 1 hour of solid high level laughs, very good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.5] [T-$24 + F-$0 + C$0]
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11.05.23 : Olga Koch (RUS-UK) - Just Friends : Factory Theatre
I've seen here a few times on TV and live streams doing short sets, and I find her pretty funny, but this was a totally new show with none of the stuff that actually makes my laugh. Basically it's stories, ie, interesting rather than actually funny, with material I'm not really familiar with, ie, young person's stuff, so I had a hard time relating. It's fine, and the crowd laughed a decent amount, but I was probably more disappointed that I wasn't laughing that much considering I found her funny at 04.05.23 : Best Of The Fest International : Manning Bar. It's not bad/boring, it's just that I was sitting there wondering why I wasn't laughing, ie, it's a me thing. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$6]
PS: I think it's that phenomena where an OS comic's first show is a good one, but because it takes so long to get to AUS for the first time they are on their latter less funny shows, ie, they should do their best show when they come here because we are a blank slate that doesn't know it's a repeat.
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10.04.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
It always has a good vib, it's just that it's a shame there isn't more people. Good. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$10 + F-$18 + C$3]
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09.05.23 : Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - movie
Action - Adventure - Comedy : Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.
Probably not as fun/funny, as the previous ones due to the tragic Rocket origin story that made you cry - lol -, but it's still pretty fun. Good. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
07.05.23 : Lou Wall Vs. The Internet : Factory Theatre
This has gotta win the award for most fully packed tightly coordinated show I've seen. I reckon it has more dialogue than a Luke Heggie show, and his is constant talking - lol -. The timing is like a work of art it's so tight, like she does a song/rap with words that are in sync with fast paced images from a video, and then a video conversation with herself that has such pin-point precision meshing, it's like it's real. Comedy about 3 - too old to really click with the subjects -, but the precision/cleverness is a 4. Well worth seeing just for the spectacle. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$0]
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07.05.23 : Scout Boxall - Turbo Lover : Factory Theatre
I wasn't expecting much based on her 2023 MICF Gala appearance on TV, but I've seen her SCF ad for years and was wondering what it was about. The mullet gives the appearance that it's going to be pretty basic bogan comedy, but it was way more intelligent than that, ie, she works in law. More on the interesting side than funny side, but it's fine. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$28 + F-$0 + C$6]
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06.05.23 : Troy Hawke (UK) - Sigmund Troy’d : Manning Bar
It's not so much laughs funny, but more chuckles interesting. It started with a stunt type gag like something Dave Gorman or Joe Lycett would do, then moved on to his expert knowledge of Scrabble, all the while doing crowd-work. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$25 + F-$4 + C$3]
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05.05.23 : Luke Heggie - Grot : Enmore Theatre
I thought it was going to be boring because I've seen him about 10 times in that last few months trialling this show, ie, repeats, but it was very good with only the last stories/routines being well worn. You get good value because he is constantly talking, ie, no slow-downs leaves no time to be bored, and the sarcastic exaggerated hyperbole is crazy funny. Good. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 4] [T-$30 + F-$0 + C$6]
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04.05.23 : Connor Burns(SCO) - Live, Laugh, Loathe : Manning Bar
Unfortunately he got a small crowd in the small room, but he made the best of it, and it was quite good. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$0]
04.05.23 : Micky Bartlett (N.IRE) - Let Me Start From The Start : Manning Bar
I had bought ticket to Alfie Brown(UK) - Red Flags Galore!, but that got cancelled hours before, so I switched tickets to Micky Bartlett (N.IRE). I had seen him earlier this year, and he was good, but this time I found him even better. The previous show was more about his life, where as this was the bawdy rude stuff. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$0]
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04.05.23 : Best Of The Fest International : Manning Bar
Ray Badran(MC), Josh Pugh ( 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Never Mind The Buzzcocks), Olga Koch (Amazon Prime, Best Radio Comedy Award), and Helen Bauer (2018 Best Newcomer Nominee - Edinburgh Festival), Moses Storm (Conan, HBO Max, Arrested Development).
DOH!, I walked into the wrong room by mistake, which turned out to be good and bad. Good because I had bought tickets to The Racist Immigrants not realising they are local comics that I see every week rather than comics from exotic countries that I have never see before. Bad because I have tickets to some of these comics full solo shows and this show now became a spoiler for those up and coming shows. Good because Moses Storm was on-fire in short set mode. His solo show was ok considering the circumstances, but I didn't realise how good he was until he did this quick 25-ish min set, and in fact it was so good he got 4.5 clapping at the end. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$4 + C$6]
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03.05.23 : Greg Larson - Slurp's Up!! : Factory Theatre
It kind-of reminded me of Uni comedy, ie, scattered and weird, but in a good way. He would start telling normal stories to lull you into a false sense of security, then he would totally shift the end to some crazy made-up stuff, eg, he was getting a bum exam when the doctor finds a lump, so he crawls in for a look type stuff. I was already tired when I got there, and the 30min delay didn't help, so I wasn't quite with-it, but it was still pretty ok, ie, I might not have laughed that much, but the weirdness made up for it, ie, weird/different type comedy is my thing, so I still liked it. It ended weird so the crowds score was probably a bit lower than it would've been with a normal ending. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$24 + F-$0 + C$6]
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30.04.23 : 5 Mistakes That Changed History : Factory Theatre
Paul Coulter is not a comic comic, he's a history major, and that means the jokes were a bit basic. But that's not what this was about, it's historical stories told with a bit of levity, with additional quick pop-ins from Cleopatra and King Richard - lol -. The only story I fully knew about was Alexander Fleming's accidental/mistake discovery of penicillin due to him being messy and contaminating test samples. The other 4 stories where things I had heard about, but I didn't know the full true story, ie, who knew King Richard was a d!ck, and was actually French - lol -. The only negative is that it attracted the history types, and because they are conservative they didn't laugh much - basically I was the loudest, and sole laugher at some points -. This is something you would see at Giant Dwarf, ie, interesting/different, and is the stuff I miss from GD. The crowd's applaud number was low because they were conservative, but I liked it a lot. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$29 + F-$0 + C$6]
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29.04.23 : Ed Byrne (IRE) - If I’m Honest : Factory Theatre
Ed does the same non-serious fun type comedy as Ed - lol -, but this time I knew none of the show, ie, it was better not having any repeats. Byrne also seems a bit more accomplished/technically better than Gamble, but they are both just as much fun as each other. Good. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4] [T-$50 + F-$0 + C$0]
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29.04.23 : Ed Gamble (UK) - Electric : Factory Theatre
It was a lot of fun. Ed does the non-serious fun type comedy, ie, not political, and that makes the show fun, and the only problem I had was that I knew about one third of the show from TV shows, eg, Live at the Apollo, etc. Good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4] [T-$52 + F-$0 + C$6]
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28.04.23 : Anne Edmonds - Why Is My Bag All Wet? : The Grand Electric
Anne was good, it's just that it had the same feel as Mark Watson(UK) last night, ie, crowd loved it chuckles for me, just a bit funnier. What was exceptional was the way Anne roasted anybody that made a remark or a noise, ie dropped glass, weird laugh, etc, because it was so masterful, she made Tom Gleeson's roasting of contestants on Hard Quiz look soft - lol -.
This new room has started up at the old Giant Dwalf Theatre, which is good, but it looks like it only does conventional shows, which is not as good. GDT was known for avant-garde/different type shows, eg, Story Club, Dragon Friends, Erotic Fan Fiction, or any wacky thing a performer could think of, but this room mainly looks like cabaret, with some conventional standup shows thrown in. To tell the truth, by the end of the GDT era most of the people making the different type shows had moved on, ie, family/work, so those types of shows are probably a thing of the past. GDT was also known for reasonable prices, but this show was advertised as $60 - had to use a promo code -, which is higher than Hughesy money, so I don't know if I can afford to come here. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$7]
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28.04.23 : 80 for Brady - movie
Comedy - Drama - Sport : A group of friends made it their life-long mission to go to the Super Bowl and meet NFL superstar Tom Brady.
It's a bit simplistic, contrived/setup, some of the scenes are clunky/stiff/awkward, and it's not done that well, ie, not lovable/warm-n-fuzzy. It's not annoying, and is nice enough, it's just that it's more a TV grade movie than anything special. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
27.04.23 : Mark Watson(UK) - Search : Comedy Store
It was good, it's just that I think I've seen Mark too many times, ie, it's not as special as the early years anymore, so it wasn't a high laugh one for me, ie, more a nice chuckle type show. It felt like it had a soft start, ie, ad-lib/improvised, but that was just a felling because he referenced the starting stuff at the end, ie, it was meant to be that way, ie, written. About midway it felt like solid material, with stuff I had heard before, and totally new stuff at the end. I wouldn't take my feelings as meaning much, ie, I'm overly sensitive to nuances because I see comedy all the time, and it didn't affect the crowd because they seemed to love it. Good. [Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$35 + bf-$6 + F-$0 + C$6]
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26.04.23 : Moses Storm(USA) - Perfect Cult : Factory Theatre
The show is nice enough, it's just that it's a bit different. We had to improvise a cult, ie, be prompted, and we had to give suggestions, but because in Aust we don't know much about cults or religion, because of our demographic, ie, these are more for the poor than white middle class, it meant that our suggestions were a bit sh!t. I wouldn't say the show is fully packed, but then again Moses had to carry most of the show because he was the only one who knew what was going on, ie, he had to doctor/make-up most of the suggestions. He did tell some stories of his parents half-arsed doomsday cult, and things did get funny when he showed us his hand draw p0rn - lol -. Basically in the cult you had nothing, ie, tech was banned so no internet, plus being poor you had to make do with what was a hand. Overall he is very friendly and affable, and that made the show good even if you didn't laugh that much. I liked it. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$35 + F-$0 + C$6]
PS : the 2nd pic is us in our uniforms spreading the word of our cult to strangers in the car park - lol -.
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25.04.23 : David O'Doherty - Tiny Piano Man : Enmore Theatre
Well that sux-ed. I've been trying to get tic for months, but the site doesn't work, and that's when I figured out it's not compatible with all platforms. Unfortunately by the time I worked it out all the good seats were gone, and being too far away is a waste of money, especially when it's $52 for something you can't see, ie, heads in the way. Basically every show I've seen from the back I regretted, so they weren't worth going to. I tried the box office for unused comp tic - there was 2 rows of empty seats near the front last time I was sitting with Rove -, but they wouldn't release them - the previous guy manager released them -. It's not really a problem because I've seen David maybe 8 times, and I did save $52 - lol -. Ever since the woman took over Enmore her motto is that, you do it her way or it's the highway, ie, she rather lose the sale. I saw her and wanted to ask her if they were going to release comp tics, but when she saw me she snubbed me, ie, $10K and you are still a nobody to them. She doesn't have good acumen for business, like she removed the sign with the show list, thereby losing sales when the crowd is not reminded of other shows when leaving, ie, they go get food instead. [Crowd : na - Me : na] [T-$0 + F-$5 + C$6]
25.04.23 : Air - movie
Drama - Sport : Follows the history of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball, Michael Jordan.
I was reticent about going to a movie about businessmen/money/history, because they are boring subjects, but the few I've seen, ie, Moneyball (2011) and Jerry Maguire (1996) were good, and so was this. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
24.04.23 : Comedy at The Old Manly Boatshed : The Old Manly Boatshed
Rina Taite(MC), Rash Ryder, Gary Who
It was a decent sized crowd for here, ie, 30-ish, yet it suffered that low crowd/low laughs problem. Thankfully the pros powered through the silence, so it was still pretty good. Gary still has the scripted routine, which I still know too well, so it was when he went off script that I found funniest, ie, he should do more crowd work. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$17 + C$6]
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21.04.23 : iD Comedy Club - Friday : Kinselas Hotel
Well that sux-ed. They advertised this show twice, as two different shows. One was Jake Howie-Girls, Girls, Girls trial show, which I 100% did NOT want to see because I see him all the time, ie, repeats. And the other was, iD Comedy Club - Friday ("The best comedians & the best comedy show in the city every Friday!"), which looked like a normal standup night. We got Jake - DOH! -. Then to compound that, Jake wasn't particularly good - there was extenuating circumstances so it might not have been Jake in particular -. It started ok, but by halfway he lost the crowd - I saw people getting out their phones rather than watch -, with him recovering somewhat at the end, ie, laughs started again. The extenuating circumstances is that this room is, it's hot because there is no air-con, ie, fatiguing, the sound is muffled, and the crowd could've been tricked like me, ie, they were expecting the normal Friday night comedy. I wasn't pissed, just that it wasted my time and money. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2] [T-$23 + F-$4 + C$6]
20.04.23 : Becky Lucas - Staring into Space : Comedy Store
Don't take it as a bad show, in fact it was a nice little show, but I'm not really sure what it was supposed to be. I didn't read the blurb, but since it was close to the Sydney Comedy Festival I assumed it was Becky's new SCF show, but as she came out she said it was a trial show. The odd thing was that there wasn't any new material, just ad-lib crowd work - maybe this was a looking for material from crowd work rather than trailing new written material -. Then to cap that off, the middle section was guest comics, with Becky finishing the night off with a routine from last years show. I went back and read the blurb, and it does say trial show, but when Hing does a trial show you get actual material, where as this was one of those crowd improv nights, and that format isn't my favourite, ie, it's more humours than funny. It was fun, it's just that it was a bit weird, ie, something I wasn't expecting. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5] [T-$30 + F-$4 + C$6]
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20.04.23 : Mafia Mamma - movie
Action - Comedy - Crime : An American mom inherits her grandfather's mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm's consigliere, she hilariously defies everyone's expectations as the new head of the family business.
As a comedy it's a bit basic, ie, not particularly funny, and coupled with the visual disconnect of using an actor that has a face more suited to serious drama, it's nothing special. Not annoying, just a bit boring, ie, nothing to do because there is no laughs. [2] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
19.04.23 : New Wave Comedy Showcase : Agincourt Hotel
Now I know why they dropped the price to free - lol -. This suffers the same problem as Yeah the Girls, in that public don't turn up, so it's a small crowd of comics that don't laugh much waiting to do a spot, ie, no atmosphere/laugh-track. The comics range from new comics with experience, and what looks like first-timer open mic-ers . It's very short sets and that's because there were 17 comics - short sets are good with 1st-timers because if they aren't funny it's short and you forget about it quick -. Basically it's an open-mic night, and that means there are going to be some bad sets, but if you know what to expect going in, this is for you. More an industry night - lol -. [Crowd : 2 - Me : 2] [T-$0 + F-$9 + C$6]
18.04.23 : Sweeney's Comedy : Hotel Sweeney
This one ticks all the boxes. It's smallish - kinda like Erskineville Comedy Club -, but the crowd was very vocal - that's half the battle -. It's short, ie, 1hr no breaks, so it's an early night. It's free, and happy hour ends 7pm so drinks are cheap if you get there early. Good [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$6 + C$6]
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12.04.23 : Magic Mic Comedy - Wednesdays : Potts Point Hotel - 8pm
No one was bad, it's just that it's one of those small crowd nights, ie, 20 people. This is exactly like Harry's Comedy - it should be because it's run by the same mob lol -, it's just that Harry's on a bad day has more people, ie, bigger crowd laugh-track. As an example as to what it was like, Sam Bowden(MC) usually does well, by tonight he struggled to get any reaction. Possibly he's been here before and the crowd remember his routine so don't laugh, which was the problem at the Oatley Hotel, ie, repeats. Jamal Abdul was good again - saw him for the 1st time at Petersham Comedy Festival and he was pretty impressive -. Artie Gallagher fixed his set from Mon by simply making it tighter with constant talking and not leaving any dead-air. He does a decent amount of ad-lib crowd work, and he's not too bad at it when he's not attacking the crowd - lol -, and that's because he has that instantly likeable affable style, ie, talk to people like you've known them for years. Jake Howie has that same affable style, and this time he brought a new story about being propositioned by a straight couple for a romp in the bedroom, ie, what are you supposed to do with a straight couple when you're gay - lol -. For me it seemed like a lot of repeats from Mon, which is a me problem - probably not a good idea going to 2 iD Comedy shows in 1 week -, but overall it felt like the 1st half was a bit quiet with the 2nd half picking-up. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$22 + F-$4 + C$6]
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10.04.23 : Harry's Comedy - Mondays : Harry's & Hotel Harry
It was only half an audience because of the holiday, so it was a bit quiet, but at least they weren't terrible like the Comedy Canteen last Saturday - lol -. Sam Bowden was good again, like he always is. Harry Jun was good. Laura Coleman and her biscuits was good - it was the only one I laughed at -. Sian Smyth had to work to get a reaction, but got them to come-around by the end. Jack Wright was still working on his new stuff, and this time he didn't need to revert to the old stuff to get a reaction like at CC on Sat - lol -. Only 1 wasn't great, and going long didn't help. I think I see too many of these shows, because by the end I was drifting, ie, maybe 9pm is my limit of enthusiasm/attention - lol -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$13 + C$6]
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08.04.23 : Comedy Canteen - Saturday Night Stand Up : East Sydney Hotel
That was one dead audience. The MC was genuinely funny, but they didn't give him much, so when the less experienced comics came on, it was dead silence - ouch -. It's not like they we're tolerant, it's just that they didn't do much. The room changed with the 4th last comic - the older guy, maybe John -, because he was so at-ease and natural/smooth with the ad-lib crowd work, the room came alive and erupted with laughter. After that they pretty much reacted to all the remaining comics. At least it ended well. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$15 + F-$11 + C$6]
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05.04.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
MC Rohan Arneil wasn't as upbeat as last time, but was still ok. Headliner Sam Bowden stole the show - he wasn't as upbeat on Mon at Harry's, so it was a good change -. I liked Jack Wright short fill-in set, and the guy doing The Whale review - didn't hear his name -. He is one of the affable comics, ie, he talks to you like he's known you all his life - this is a technique used by American salesmen and Scientology to get you on-side quickly -, so you could group him in with Ben "Angry" Ellwood, and Pat Doherty. No-one was bad, and it ended on a high with Sam, so everyone should be happy with the show. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$7 + C$6]
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05.04.23 : John Wick: Chapter 4 - movie
Action - Crime - Thriller : John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.
It's ok, it's just that it's a bit long for this type of genre, ie, shoot-em-ups are pretty simple so don't need to be long. This did have the obligatory shoot/fight/kill scene, but with the others they tried to make them different by adding an artistic element, eg, car battle/fight, shooting between rooms but filmed from the top, etc. It's probably a passable 3.5, but the length drops it to a 3.25. [3.25] [T-$12 + F-$4 + C$0]
04.04.23 : Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - movie
Action - Adventure - Fantasy : A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.
All I know about D&D is Dragon Friends, and because most of the early stuff is exceptional, my tolerance level is pretty high. This movies isn't at that level, in fact most of it is an unremarkable story. The last ¼ is CGI fantasy action, which is decent, but overall it's nothing exceptional. Not annoying, just not anything special, at least at my known level. Ok. [2.75] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
03.04.23 : Harry's Comedy - Mondays : Harry's & Hotel Harry
It was good, it's just that weirdness happened, ie, I don't think the crowd minded, but because I do this all the time I'm sensitive to to low spots. What happened was the comics at the start went long, which wasn't a problem because they were good/funny, but it was approaching 9pm, ie, everyone thought it was near the end, when we were told there was 4 more comics. The 1st slowed the night down, and that got me instantly fatigued when it's late and it's not funny - I guess it wasn't my bad Improv 2 weeks ago, it was bad crowd work. lol -. Thankfully the last 2 comics were funny, and that lifted the room again, ie, no one noticed the low spot or it was getting late. Standouts were Sam Bowden, Ashley Fils-Aime, Ben "Angry" Ellwood, Pat Doherty - this guy is very affable and is one to look for -, and Tom Witcombe somewhat, ie, he shouldn't do Ukraine jokes. It was still a good night. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$17 + F-$3 + C$6]
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30.03.23 : Erskineville Comedy Club : The Hive Bar
This time it was less comics doing longer sets, but because no one was bad/boring they didn't really need the short sets that get rid of the bad sets quickly format. Standouts were host Sam Kissajukian - I feel he could do a decent 1hr solo show quite easily -, Ben "Angry" Ellwood - he wasn't even supposed to be on the bill lol -, and the crowd liked energetic Jake Howie. The other good part is they get a full room of understanding audience, ie, they don't expect Enmore Theatre - lol - level comedy. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$12 + C$6].jpg)
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30.03.23 : The Portable Door - movie
Fantasy : Paul Carpenter is an intern at a mysterious London firm with unconventional employers, including a CEO who wants to disrupt the ancient magical world with modern corporate practices.
You know how Fantastic Beasts is a worse type of Harry Potter, well this is a worse type of Fantastic Beasts - lol -. In Harry Potter it's cute oddball happenings around a solid story, eg, the classroom scenes leaning magic, but like Fantastic Beasts, this is not cute. The first half runs on unexplained oddball happenings, eg, a weird stapler, odd conversations, etc, the problem is they are so uninteresting no one ponders their meaning, ie, they are just filler until the story starts in the 2nd half. Not annoying, just not that interesting. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
29.03.23 : Comedy at The Old Manly Boatshed : The Old Manly Boatshed
Julia Wilson(MC), Gary Eck, Peter Burner
Big names, big crowd, unfortunately it didn't go that well. I was pretty happy they brought back one of my favourite nights again, ie, I thought it was cancelled due to lack of interest, and they even went to the extent of getting big names, which attracted a big crowd, but it just didn't have the laughs you would expect from pros. To be fair the crowd was quiet, even though they seamed to react enough with Julia and Gary, it's just that things didn't go well with Burner. Burner killed it at 23.02.23 : LOL Comedy @ Cronulla Golf : Cronulla Golf Club, but by the end of his set the crowd were pretty dead. He did start with stuff that was a bit off, ie, not funny, but the crowd seemed to get on board after that, but the last 10min it was very flat/dead. To be fair they had a massive intermission, and that might have fatigued people into not reacting when it got late, or it could've been Burner's opening remarks, but either way the night ended badly. Lets hope the crowd wasn't put-off, and that they will come back. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$10 + F-$20 + C$6]
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29.03.23 : Shazam! Fury of the Gods - movie
Action - Adventure - Comedy : The film continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word "SHAZAM!" is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam.
I don't know if it was me not even remembering seeing the original, yet remembering what they story was up too, but this just didn't click with me. I didn't hate it, but there was nothing that was interesting or funny in it. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
18.03.23 : Petersham Comedy Festival : Petersham RSL Club
I thought I made a mistake buying this ticket because Comedy Canteen is 10 comics for $15, but it was a pleasant change. This one had the benefit of a large crowd, ie, 100-ish, so I didn't have to laugh as much, ie, they made enough noise, but the weird thing was people brought their children. The rude stuff probably didn't affect the 16 year olds, but I was a bit worried about the 12 year old girl hearing about licking-pussy, ie, too young to know about that - ouch -. It was relaxing because I didn't have to do much, and the comedy was pretty good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$28 + F-$4 + C$6]
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16.03.23 : The Redfern Comedy Lounge : The Redfern
David Smiedt(MC), Jenny Tian, Frida Deguise, Dan Rath, AL Del Bene (USA)
This had a slightly older crowd, ie, professional types, and they were pretty hard to get to react to anything, ie, conservative/quiet types. You could tell the crowd was different than normal, because Dan does alright at young places like the Erskineville Comedy Club, but struggled to get a reaction here. With the Comedy Store the crowd know the score so people react pretty much straight away, but with pop-ups like this it's like the crowds are new to comedy, ie, newbies. I did the loud laughing at the start to get things started, and I think that setup a precedent for people to laugh as well, ie, it killed the silence, so I hope they liked the show. The pros were good, ie, David and AL. Jenny was also good - she should use the Xièxiè more often when a joke doesn't land, ie, it gets instant laughs, because it's the same trick that other comics use to kill the silence, eg, Rhys Nicholson used to use a screeching raptor noise all the time - lol -. And Frida got the crowd to turn as well, ie, did alright. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$6]
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13.03.23 : Harry's Comedy - Mondays : Harry's & Hotel Harry
Last week was good, but this week was bad, at least initially. Dave Hughes was on early, and even he struggled. He eventually won the crowd over and started the change, and that kind-of got the crowd responding with laughs, at least it did with me because I was seeing spots from laughing - lol -. Pat Doherty ripped the crowd a new one with some crazy improv, at least I think it was Pat Doherty - hosts make the crowd clap when they introduce comics, and because of my hearing damage I have trouble hearing their name, ie, it's why I don't mention many names here, plus I have trouble remembering stuff/names. Sam Bowden is usually very good, but tonight he had a breakdown on stage and got very dark. He did turn it around somewhat, but I hope he is alright because he sounded like he was struggling - I still think about Fordie and it's been decades, and I never meet her -. Ben Kochan was also ok. I didn't want to be the one that started to room laughing, ie, I just wanted to be in the shadows because I was feeling cr@p, but 2 groups started laughing and that changed the room, ie, they did my job. After the awkward start, it was an ok night. PS: my cr@p improv at the start didn't work, ie, I probably killed the room, and that's kind-of why I don't talk to people, ie, engineers don't really think abstractly so I'm pretty boring. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$17 + F-$0 + C$6]
I couldn't sneak in many photos without be obvious, ie, it's creepy for old people to take photos
I couldn't sneak in many photos without be obvious, ie, it's creepy for old people to take photos
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11.03.23 : Comedy Canteen - Saturday Night Stand Up : East Sydney Hotel
More train breakdown stupidity, but I got there in time. The crowd got bigger compared to the last 2 weeks, ie, 30 instead of 20, so I guess Pride is over, and the extra people laughing made it better. Standouts were, Andrew Hamilton crushed, Fady Kassab killed, and headliner Alex White was pretty good. The problem was, after 5 days of going out I became punch-drunk at the end and all the way home, ie, zombie, so maybe I shouldn't go that hard - lol . [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$6]
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10.03.23 : Champions - movie
Comedy - Drama - Sport : A former minor-league basketball coach is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.
We've seen this story a hundred times before, yet it's still good in any form. Fun. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
09.03.23 : Erskineville Comedy Club : The Hive Bar
That was a weird crowd. They would clap woop and cheer at the end of a set, but were quiet during the set, and now I don't know if they put me off, or it just wasn't that funny. Dan Rath was the only one that got laughs during his set, but the lack of laughing during the others wore me down and I couldn't laugh either. Not as fun as the other times. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$12 + F-$12 + C$6]
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09.03.23 : 65 - movie
Action - Adventure - Drama : An astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet only to discover he's not alone.
From the trailer it looked like there was nothing in it, and there wasn't, it was that old everyday run-of-the-mill boring "run from monsters" shtick. It's not After Earth (2013) cr@p, but it is so boring that you didn't care if they made, just that you wished this movie would end. Boring, and that's not to mention the lame coincidences. [2] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
08.03.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
I tried, but I couldn't get this dead crowd to join in with the laughing, ie, they were quiet, but I don't think they were disappointed. No one was boring, in fact I think it was pretty good. The ones that I liked was Fiona Cox and Jenny Tian, but really most had some new stuff that stood-out, eg, Dave Woodhead, Bridget Hassed, etc. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$0 + F-$6 + C$6]
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07.03.23 : The Running Joke Comedy Club : Potts Point Hotel
Daniel Muggleton(MC), Bec Melrose, Laura Hughes, AJ Lamarque, Dave Thornton, Sarah Gaul
The large-ish crowd of 50 made enough noise for a laugh-track, Muggleton killed it with his crowd work, and Pro Dave Thornton popped in to do a killer 10min, but other than that, the rest were kind-of low laugh level comics, ie, they're ok, it's just that you don't laugh much. I split during the last comic because I lose interest with word-heavy musical comedy, plus it was getting late and I wanted to be home before midnight. I'm not keen on doing this again because it ends so late, but next week has a good lineup so I still might go. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$25 + F-$0 + C$6]
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06.03.23 : Harry's Comedy - Mondays : Harry's & Hotel Harry
The comedy was good, it's just that the room feels weird - could just be me because it was a hot night -. It was one 1½hr solid block of 8 comics with no intermission. I don't know about one big session because it started feeling long at the 6th comic, but then again he was the least interesting, and it stopped feeling long with the last 2 comics because they were funny, ie, it's probably fine. At least the night finishes early, ie, 9pm. There was a lot of comics I hadn't seen before, and half of them were very good. Eric Hutton turned up, and this time he killed because he did some set material, ie, as good as he was when I first saw him in Newtown 15 years ago. Sorry I don't know their names, but host Jess(pic 1 top left) was on fire. Chinese woman #2 was fire. Eric #4 was fire, NZ guy #5(bottom left) was fire. Indian guy #7 was fire, and #8 Hing was trying new stuff, ie, novelty of 1st time hearing, so was ok, ie, it was Hing being Hing - lol -. The crowd on the other hand was probably the worse part, ie, you would think 50 people would make more noise, but halfway through I started getting in the mood and started laughing loud, and that started other people joining in. I think this is worth going to on a regular basis. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.75] [T-$22 + F-$0 + C$6]
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04.03.23 : Comedy Canteen - Saturday Night Stand Up : East Sydney Hotel
The first half was killa, and the second wasn't too bad either. The MC(Alex) was insanely good, and so was the next 2 - 3rd was Jonas Holt and he's still super good -. I did get tired during the last comic, and I think the audience did as well because they got quiet, and I was wondering why they do the full 2 hours when they could do 1½ hours, ie, less comics, and end on a high. 1st half was a 4, tapering to a 3 for the last 10min because the night was long and it was getting late. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$15 + F-$10 + C$6]
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03.03.23 : The Laugh Inn - Comedy Club - Anya Volz(USA) + Friends : The Newtown Hotel
They should've really put the draw-card on earlier. Basically if there isn't enough laughs, by the second half people get fatigued, ie, the first half will run on enthusiasm laughs, but when there is nothing to do, ie, no laughs, the second half gets very quiet. Tonight was like last night, by the end of the night no one wanted to clap/make noise. To be truthful, I didn't find Anya that funny, in fact a comic that came in the group with her was slightly more interesting. I made the first half decent with the extra laughing/clapping, but in the 2nd half I was spent and couldn't contribute any more. [Crowd : 3 - Me : 2] [T-$26 + F-$0 + C$6]
On a side note, the upstairs room got closed because of a noise complaint - it has no air-con so they leave the windows open -, so we were stuck in the worse lower room that has a lot of noise from the people in the pub leaking in, ie, the wall is fake prop and is not sealed, ie, it needs a permanent wall so it stops the chatter from the rest of the pub.
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02.03.23 : Joke Lab Workshop : Factory Theatre
Well that was a mistake. What it was is 2 comics doing a full 1 hour trial run of their new show for the up-and-coming comedy festivals. The problem is, I've seen Chris Ryan 3 times in the past couple months and Luke Heggie about 6 times, and to make matters worse I was trying to avoid Luke because I have full price ticket for him in May at the SCF, but now I've seen him so many times trialling parts of his new show, that I already know it, ie, I just wasted $30. Even worse is Luke's full show isn't very good. Chris was ok, but Luke's got very tedious because it's very word heavy without many laughs - even the crowd was exhausted by the end and didn't really applaud -. [Crowd : 2.5 - Me : 2] [T-$8 + F-$0 + C$6]
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01.03.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
Unfortunately the mic wasn't working in the first half, but the bigger problem was that the crowd was dead/quiet. Even I was a bit dead, ie, not using enough exaggerated laughing and clapping to spur people on to join in, but I was still way better than the rest of the audience. It was fine, and I hope my extra laughing made it more funny for the audience, ie, they'll come back for another show. PS: It's weird that Hinger's goes to therapy, because all his shows are about venting his daemons, ie, he is already working through it - lol -. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$16 + F-$10 + C$6]
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27.02.23 : Cocaine Bear - movie
Comedy - Thriller : An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converge on a Georgia forest where a huge black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine.
It said comedy, and the first 20sec of the trailer I saw was funny, but the movie wasn't funny, nor remarkable, ie, not a cult film. They introduced a lot of wacky characters for comedic effect, but none of them were actually funny. Ok, but not much to do when nothing is funny. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$0 + C$0]
25.02.23 : Comedy Canteen - Saturday Night Stand Up : East Sydney Hotel
I F-ed that one up - lol -. Last week was good because the room was full(50-60 people), ie, good crowd laugh-track, but I had forgotten Mardi Gras was on a couple-of streets across, because it looks like everyone went to that instead because only 20 people turned up, ie, it was a bit quiet. To tell the truth I was regretting buying the ticket and wanted to stay at home, and coupled to the empty room I just wasn't in the mood to give it a chance, ie, even I didn't laugh. Oh well, them's the breaks. [Crowd : 3. - Me : na] [T-$15 + F-$5 + C$6]
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23.02.23 : LOL Comedy @ Cronulla Golf : Cronulla Golf Club
Andrew Barnett(MC), Peter Meisel, Peter Berner
Holy cr@p, Burner is just as sharp as in the old days. It kind-of started with Burner maybe 2 decades ago, and since he's been absent for the last decade I kind-of figured he would've lost his sharpness/sarcasm, but he is as good as he's always been. Barnett was what I expected, ie, decent, but the crowd let him down by not laughing enough. I kind-of expected a problem with Meisel, because I saw him 2 years ago and he wasn't as good as in the past, and in fact an old woman in front of me was so offended - Meisel went with the hard/disgusting stuff instead of his old cute stuff, to the point she went of a tirade to her friends. There was about 50-60 people, but they weren't very good, ie, too quiet, and it is quite far to drive and quite expensive, so I don't think I will be a regular. Basically Burner was brilliant, ie, 4 stars, and the people organising it are very friendly and nice, but the vibe in the room wasn't that good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$35 + F-$0 + C$8]
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23.02.23 : Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - movie
Action - Adventure - Comedy : Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, along with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, explore the Quantum Realm, where they interact with strange creatures and embark on an adventure that goes beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.
It's not fun like the earlier movies, because there is no comedy in it. There is nothing in the first half, ie, no story, so it's filled with crazy abstract stuff. It's like they got a bunch of graphic artists to draw any garbage they could think of, and then stuffed that into this movie to fill time, ie, think of the boring Cantina scene in Star Wars(1977). The second half got better when the meat of the story started, but then it switched to action fighting, which got a bit same-old by the end. Bit of a let-down compared to the previous films. [2.5] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$3]
22.02.23 : The Legendary Oatley Hotel Comedy Club : Oatley Hotel
Chris Radburn(MC), Chris Nugyen, Laura Coleman, Fady Kassab, John Cruckshank
Now that one of my favourite comedy rooms ended - I had already figured The Old Manly Boatshed was in trouble when only 10 people turn up for a show, hence why it only last for 4 shows -, so I looked at what was around on Wed, and this original OG comedy room had started up again. After seeing so many newbie nights, this, like the Boatshed, is a bit better because it has a higher level of comic, ie, semi-pro's. I think what became the biggest hang-up here in the past, was that it was on every week, so it was the same comics over and over again, ie, everyone already knew the jokes due to repetition so didn't laugh. Tonight 25-30 turned up, and it was like they didn't know the gags, so they actually made noise and laughed, ie, they made the laugh track - I also help by purposely laughing loud, lol -. Fady Kassab was very good - he always is -, and even though I had just see John Cruckshank last night, he produced some new stuff and won the crowd over. Good. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$10 + C$4]
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21.02.23 : Laughing Taps Comedy : The Beer Bar
It's all-right, it's just that the rain spoilt it somewhat. This is a converted factory unit with a steel roof, and just at that time it happened to start raining very heavily, and the problem with heavy rain on a steel roof is that it made it very hard to hear what the comics were saying. The first half was a write-off, but the rain stopped for the second half when the pros came out, so at least it ended good. It's got the advantage that a decent sized crowd turned up, ie, 50-ish, people, and in that crowd were old people that actually let out a laugh, ie, laugh-track, which made the second half pretty good. Negatives for me is that it's hard to get to, and the big empty unit with hard surfaces made it a bit hard to hear because of the echo - echo blurs/muddies words for my hearing difficulties -. Not my favourite, but the crowd seems to like it. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : na] [T-$16 + F-$3 + C$7]
21.02.23 : Triangle of Sadness - movie
Comedy - Drama : A fashion model celebrity couple join an eventful cruise for the super-rich.
That's a NO from me. I get what they were trying to do, ie, ironically show the ridiculous lives of the elite and rich, but when they did a gag they just keep going with it to the point it became more a drag than anything funny. The Capt's dinner/sinking Pt2 was the best part, but even that got tedious half way through. I left after 2hrs because it bogged down again at the island Pt3. [2] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$3]
18.02.23 : Comedy Canteen - Saturday Night Stand Up : East Sydney Hotel
It's the same usual format of new comics, ie, lots of them doing short sets, but here there was a lot of comics I haven't see before or don't see that often down my area. The stage is smallish, and this looks like the pub restaurant, but a lot of people turned up, ie, 50-ish, and they did listen intently, it's just that they didn't make that much noise - I was making the most noise, and that got some people to make more noise -. This is kind-of the MO for crowds in independent comedy rooms, don't make much noise during the set, but cheering whooping and clapping a lot at the end of sets - lol -. It's probably the best of the newbie independent nights. [Crowd : 3.7 - Me : 3.75] [T-$20 + F-$5 + C$6]
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16.02.23 : Biggest Comedy Show On Earth : Manning Bar
Sam Bowden(MC), Bronwyn lewis, Jess Fuchs?, Annie Boyle, Mick Meredith, Chris Ryan, Gerard Mcgeown, Ben Kochan, Laura Hughes, John Cruckshank
This is basically a Comedy Store show - Manning is run by Century Venues -, but it wasn't a Comedy Store crowd, ie, they were quiet. The crowd looked keen lining up outside, but they just didn't react enough, and that could because they are mainly foreign students, ie, Europeans don't react as much, either way, it's just the way it goes sometimes. I thought it was good, I just wished the crowd was louder. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$24 + F-$4 + C$6]
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15.02.23 : Joke Off Comedy : Kelly's on King
It's a large room, but it was a small crowd, ie, 10, but it had a good feeling, ie, it feels more cosy than The Laugh Inn shows. The crowd didn't laugh that much, but they were good-natured and clapped a lot at the end of each set, and even though the MC Rohan Arnell wanted to start as a downer, because there was only 10 people, he said we're going to make it good so he pushed-through and put the effort in to make it good, and it was. Peter Green turned up, and he did have a new/good cat joke - rofl -, but he would've impressed the crowd if he did his "first kiss" joke - lol -. Everyone was good, in fact I've seen a lot of them at other venues were they didn't do that well, but here they kind-of felt more at-ease and did better sets. Good room, shame about the crowd, but then again The Old Manly Boatshed had 12 people 2 weeks ago with pro comics. Ironically there was 10 comics for 10 people - lol -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$16 + F-$4 + C$6]
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11.02.23 : Happy Endings Comedy Club : El Rocco
It's ok, it's just that you are better off doing the Comedy Store on Thur because it's cheaper and has more atmosphere/laugh-track, ie, a bigger crowd. I remember when this room started - maybe 10 years ago - and thought it was expensive at $35, so never went. These-days $35 is about par for the course, but I have this stigma when tickets are more than $25, ie, I expect quality, and this didn't feel like a $35 show. It's been $35 forever here for every show on any day - CS vary prices depending on the popularity of the day - , and since this is still going after all this time, I guess it's what a paying audience will accept. The format is newbie comics doing 5min sets in the first half, with a main newbie/semi-pro doing a longer set at the end. The second half is the MC and a pro comic. I saw Gavin Semple doing 10min at the CS 2 weeks ago and thought he was a newbie, but tonight he was the MC and had a lot of material, ie, better than I though he was. Ro Campbell was the pro comic, and was good. Tom Witcombe(2021 RAW Comedy National Grand Final) did some risky comedy, and even though he was right that this is comedy and made-up, it's still makes people uneasy, so the crowd did laugh. I think the problem is that the crowd is a bit small/reserved, ie, quiet, and with 2 shows on Sat with half audiences I reckon 1 show with a full audience would make it better, ie, bigger laugh-track. There was 2 comics I hadn't seen before, and that's when I remembered not all rooms book all comics, so it is an opportunity to see someone different. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$35 + F-$4 + C$6].jpg)
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09.02.23 : The Big Thursday Showcase : Comedy Store
Julia Wilson(MC), Kathryn Thomas, Leon Filewood, Dave Hughes, Jordan Raskopoulos, Alex Hines, Bonnie Tangey, John Cruckshank
Maybe the crowd knew something I didn't, ie, Dave Hughes was going to turn up, because there was a lot more people this time, ie, 2/3rd full. Dave was trying new material for his new show later this year, and stupidly I didn't book tickets because I though it was going to be the same show I saw a couple of months back - DOH! -. Extreme standout was John Cruckshank, who killed, and Julia Wilson(MC). Another that stoodout was Bonnie Tangey - I like her routine, but tonight it stepped-up to a higher level -. Alex Hines was interesting as Slug-woman, ie, cute. Jordan Raskopoulos did another Erotic Fan Fiction, and even though the genre is kind-of passe/boring with me, it was the constructed stuff around it that was good. She gave a choice of 2 stories to read, a EFF, or one about Beef, with the crowd choosing the EFF. But when it got to the grouse bits where the crowded groaned in disgust, she say it was the crowd fault because they could've had the Beef story - rofl -. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$25 + F-$3 + C$6]
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08.02.23 : Comedy at The Old Manly Boatshed : The Old Manly Boatshed
Jake Howie(MC), Rohan Arnell, Tommy Dean
I was wondering why so many people turned up - last week it was 12 -, but then I realised it's because Tommy Dean is well known/famous. - lol -. It was a good one, good crowd, good, comics, good routines, good laughs. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75] [T-$10 + F-$13 + C$6]
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05.02.23 : Yeah The Girls Comedy! : The Chippo Hotel
Bridget Hassed(MC), Robyn Reynolds, Jennifer Wong, Sarah Gaul, Chloe Maddren, Rubee Sookee, Tiang Lim, Maddie Stokes
It's the same as other newbie comedy rooms, eg, Powerbomb, Erskineville Comedy Club, The Laugh Inn, etc, it's just that it didn't feel like it had the same atmosphere. It could just be me because last night ended up being a drag, ie, not in the mood, but what I think happened is most of the audience were comics that have heard all the gags before, so didn't react as much, ie, not as much of a laugh track. Standout was Maddie Stokes, with Rubee Sookee being interesting. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$12 + F-$4 + C$6]
04.02.23 : Comedy Showcase : The Newtown Hotel
It started off good, ie, the crowd was enthusiastic, but nearing the end of the first half the heat sucked all the energy out of the room ie, no air-con in that room, and that killed the crowd's response. What made it worse was half the comics turned up with no material and tried to wing-it with crowd-work, which wasn't very funny. Mikey Mileos turned up after 12 years, and it looks like he's been living in the US, but the odd thing was he left with a decent routine but tonight had nothing, ie, mainly boring crowd-work. Started 3.75 but by the end it sank to a low 1 point for me, ie, I felt so uncomfortable/bored I left before the end. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.5] [T-$26 + F-$0 + C$6]
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02.02.23 : The Big Thursday Showcase : Comedy Store
MC:Turner Sparks(USA), Gavin Semple, Rose Callaghan, Michael Hing, Alexandra Hudson, Gerard McGeown, Sean Woodland
Even this place has a dying crowd, because it was barely half full, ie, a much reduced audience laugh track. Standouts were Gavin Semple, Michael "over-analysing everything" Hing, and Sean Woodland. It was fine, even though it was a quite night. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$24 + F-$3 + C$6]
PS : stuck on the train for 1hr because the driver didn't turn-up for work.
PS : stuck on the train for 1hr because the driver didn't turn-up for work.
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01.02.23 : Comedy at The Old Manly Boatshed : The Old Manly Boatshed
Sam Bowden, David Truong, Chris Ryan
It was a tiny crowd(12-ish) but a good one, ie, they listened intently and laughed more than you would expect, and coupled with the comics making the effort despite the small crowd, it ended up being quite good. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$10 + F-$19 + C$6]
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31.01.23 : My Old School - movie
Documentary - Comedy - Animation : In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years became the stuff of legend.
Finally something good. I couldn't figure out if this was worth watching from the blurb so I looked it up, and even though it gave away the surprise, it was still good/interesting. The first half was interesting, then mid-way it goes crazy as the truth comes out, but then it questions the truth and you don't know if the truth was even the truth - lol -. Worth watching. [3.75] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$3]
PS : had to walk 7km due to a house catching fire, ie, firetrucks blocked the road so the bus couldn't continue.
30.01.23 : What's Love Got to Do with It? - movie
Comedy - Romance : A cross-cultural romantic comedy.
This is not a feel-good RomCom, it's more like real life where both parties have previous lives, ie, expecting more out-of life. You've got these parents that are treating you like a kid wanting something superfluous like candy, so they force you in one direction, when they don't realise that this is someone real life, ie, not a flippant whim. It probably worked in the old days when people were arranged very young, ie, before they knew anything, and life was more simple, ie, no wants or needs, but these days even the kids in poor countries have lives before these arrangements, ie, you need two submissive parties were the girl has no life. The movie is fine, but to me it's just a bunch of characters that are oblivious to body language, ie, stop looking only at yourself and think of others. [3] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$3]
28.01.23 : Lunar New Year Comedy Festival : The Concourse
Diana Nguyen(MC), AJ Lamarque, Ting Lim, Nina Oyama, Harry Jun, Kevin Jin, Jenny Tian, Chris Nguyen.
I was expecting 2 sets with this many comics, but they crammed all 8 into 1hr, which probably made it better. This short time-frame made it feel like they came and went so fast you wished they had been given more time, but that was because they only had time to do their best stuff, and at that level you wanted them to go on longer, ie, no faffing about to slow down the laughs. The mainly Asian crowd was a bit conservative, ie, should've made more noise, but the few Ozzies did laugh a lot. It's basically PowerBomb Comedy, but only the good stuff. [Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75] [T-$40 + F-$0 + C$6]
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27.01.23 : Night Time News Network National Nightly News, With Osher Günsberg : Factory Theatre
I figured it out beforehand from the blurb, ie, "real news, fake stories", and it's the usual, improvise sketches from a separate conversation. This was a news based one with Osher Günsberg playing a mock newsreader reading real news stories - he also improvised comments -, with the Improv troupe mainly doing mock interviews. The problem is the Improvisers aren't top-level, so not that funny, and because I didn't laugh much I got bored. That being said, even with better improvisers, which there aren't any around anymore, I have never found this format funny, ie, low level Improv is bad enough, but the conversation part ranges from boring to depressing for the news based ones. It's ok, but it's not my thing, at least at this level. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$20 + F-$0 + C$6]
26.01.23 : The Big Thursday Showcase : Comedy Store
Joe Shaffer(MC), Pat Doherty, Andrew Hamilton, Robyn Perkins(USA), Elliott Stewart, Steph Broadbridge, Turner Sparks(USA)
It was a quite one, ie, ½ the crowd, ½ the audience produced laugh track, ½ the laughs, but it was still good. Standouts were Andrew Hamilton and Elliott Stewart. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$25 + F-$3 + C$6]
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25.01.23 : Comedy at The Old Manly Boatshed : The Old Manly Boatshed
Billy Darcy(MC), Jenny Tian, Jackie Loeb
It's kind-of a shame less people turned up, but it was a decent enough show. I hope the annoying people from last week didn't turn people off and kept people away, because this show could get canned due to lack of interest. I practically see Billy every week - lol -, so I know his stuff. You don't get to see Jenny around much, and she does a tight/packed set, so she was good. I haven't see Jackie for ages, so she was also good. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$10 + F-$19 + C$6]
PS: DOH!. Forgot to take a phone, which suxed because gulls flew alongside the ferry at night all the way back to the SOH - lol -.
23.01.23 : Someday or One Day - movie
Drama - Fantasy - Romance : After reunion with LI Ziwei (starring Greg Hsu), HUANG Yu-Hsuan (starring Alice Ko) and LI live a peaceful life in Taiwan. But the calm days are broken when HUANG is informed one day she will be on secondment to Shanghai. Though the couple is parted in discord, HUANG still misses LI deeply, and she even usually dreams of a scene where LI falls from a building. One day when she wakes up again from the nightmare, she finds all trails of LI are simply vanished, and it looks like she has never been together with LI. Worse, her nightmare is soon proved to be true by Mo Jun-Jie (starring Patrick Shih), the closest friend of LI, that LI is actually died from falling a building several years ago. On her way to find out the truth, HUANG receives a mysterious cassette player. By pressing the play button of the song Last Dance, is HUANG able to change their fate and save LI by travelling through time and space?
I think it's good/clever, but I couldn't really follow it that well. It's the same idea in the latter Press Play(2022), ie, you time travel back when you listen to a special cassette tape, but in Press Play there was a liner story with only one character time travelling back. This was multiple characters going back, and to top that off, there were hidden stories all along the way. Basically you had to get to the end of the movie before you knew everything, and then had to piece together what happened in your head, ie, you really need to see it twice to know exactly what happened. And to add to that, they going back in time by listening to a cassette tape, but not when they returned back to the present, ie, it could've done with an indicator for the past time. To be fair, I'm old and more stupid these days - lol -, and I can't recognise faces that well, ie, prosopagnosia - this is understandable because you are reading all the time and can't concentrate on faces -, but to give you an idea how difficult it was, there were 3 girls played by the same person, ie, a past girl, a present girl, and a look-alike girl, plus doubles of 3 men characters. If you're smart/quick it's a good movie, otherwise, good luck -lol -. [3.5] [T-$11 + F-$4 + C$3]
21.01.23 : Crazy Funny Asians! : The Newtown Hotel
The place was packed with around 50 people, but this crowd wasn't as good as the comedy, ie, they were dead/unresponsive. In the second half some people started to cotton-on to what I was doing with all the exaggerated clapping and laughing, and then joining in made the second half better even though it wasn't as funny. Basically you get what you put into the show, so the more noise you make the louder the audience laugh track, and the funnier the show. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25] [T-$26 + F-$0 + C$6]
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20.01.23 : Avatar: The Way of Water - movie
Action - Adventure - Fantasy : Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home.
It's like the first, lots of CGI visuals to cover-up that it's long and there isn't that much to it. Basically it's ok to watch, but it's that "in one ear out the other" type stuff. [3.25] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
19.01.23 : The Big Thursday Showcase : Comedy Store
Sam Bowden(MC), Jordan Barr, Tom Cashman, Luke Heggie, Jenny Tian, Fady Kassab, Nikki Britton
I think it's because this place has the biggest enthusiastic crowd out of all standup nights, ie, big natural laugh track, that makes every joke gets the laughs it deserves. We got Luke again - lol -, and this time his new routine was a bit funnier, ie, it might be ok by May for the SCF. Good as always. [Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75] [T-$24 + F-$3 + C$6]
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18.01.23 : Comedy at The Old Manly Boatshed : The Old Manly Boatshed
Ellen Briggs(MC), Annie Boyle, Chris Radburn
It's a smaller show, ie, 2 pros 1 newbie, and even though the audience was a bit quiet, they were very tolerant when there wasn't laughs all the way, ie, they listened intently and they applaud more than a crowd of 30 should, ie, they were very happy/keen to be there. It's just in the second half some 18 year-olds got drunk and keep interrupting and absolutely killed the show. I'm not a fan when comics give-up, ie, phone it in, I would prefer they just power on and ignore/talk over them - they become white-noise and people tune them out, but I kind-of can't blame Chris when he couldn't get any gags out. Good except for the annoying kids, lets hope it doesn't happen again. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$13 + C$6]
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You have to sail the seven seas for this one - lol -
17.01.23 : Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre - movie
Action - Comedy - Thriller : Special agent Orson Fortune and his team of operatives recruit one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars to help them on an undercover mission when the sale of a deadly new weapons technology threatens to disrupt the world order.
The first half was this interesting clandestine skulking-around tension, but then this nothing of significance tension went on and on, to the point the second half became grating. It's like a Rube Goldberg machine, in that it looks like something interesting is happening, only for you to realise it was just filler for something that ultimately has a weak ending. It went from 3.75 to 2.5 in the second half. [3] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$0]
16.01.23 : Comedy Dojo : Town Hall Hotel Newtown
It was better than I thought a talent night would be, but then again I couldn't stay that long because it's too uncomfortable for an old person. Basically a lot of people turn up so there are no chairs, and on top of that you can't hear unless you are in the far side of the room near the speaker, ie, even less good seats. This is a show for young people that can endure the conditions. [Crowd : na - Me : 3] [T-$0 + F-$4 + C$6]
14.01.23 : The Laugh Inn - Comedy Club : The Newtown Hotel
It's like Powerbomb Comedy, ie, a lot of newbie comics doing short sets, but there is no breaks, ie, a non-stop 80-90min block, it's $10 more, and the crowd is not as good, ie, more silence. PB is actually a bigger room, and it did have a bigger crowd at the start, but by the end the crowd was pretty small, ie, maybe 10, and it also had a better atmosphere. This seems to have a slight higher level of comedy, and is a smaller room, ie, maybe 20-25, but there is enough interest to do 2 show sessions a day, ie, 7pm and 9pm. I like PB and Erskineville Comedy Club better, but it's fine. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3] [T-$26 + F-$0 + C$6]
13.01.23 : Wil Anderson - Whatchu Talkin’ ‘bout Wil? : Comedy Store
I've been following Wil from the start, ie, I've seen a hell-of-a-lot of his shows, and yet I never realised he has a specific crowd/Improv/riffing show that he has done numerous times over the last decade - DOH! -. I thought this was a pre-lockdown properly written show that got cut short and he was recreating it for the people that missed out the initial run, but the whole thing was just talking to the crowd, ie, you mainly listen rather than laugh. I'm kind-of way past these off-the-cuff crowd shows, ie, I've seen high level Improv, and standup's crowd Improv is low level, so for me it felt like newbie comic's time-filler/talking to the crowd stuff, ie, not funny, just trying to pad-out the set. I was a bit bored over the 90min set and didn't laugh much, and the majority of the crowd didn't make that much noised either, but if riffing is a novelty to you you might find it good. For me I'm going to try and avoid riffing shows because I haven't found many that were that funny, and that's going back a decade to the Adam Hills crowd riffing/finding material shows. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3] [T-$36 + F-$3 + C$6]
12.01.23 : The Big Thursday Showcase : Comedy Store
Daniel Townes, Codie Grimsey, Alia Lievore, Tom Cashman, Facundo Herrera(ARG), Floyd Alexander-Hunt, Luke Heggie,
An average night here is still better than most other places, so you can't really complain. The annoying thing is that I've seen Luke a bunch of times recently trialling his new show, that is not that good, and I've got tickets for that show in May - ouch -. [Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5] [T-$25 +bf-$6 + F-$3 + C$6]
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10.01.23 : A Man Called Otto - movie
Comedy - Drama : Otto is a grump who's given up on life following the loss of his wife and wants to end it all. When a young family moves in nearby, he meets his match in quick-witted Marisol, leading to a friendship that will turn his world around.
With Tom Hanks you would think light-hearted, but this story comes for Sweden, and Northern Europeans are pragmatic realists that tell you how it is, ie, bleak. It's not super sad/depressing, but it is on the side of real life, and how bad it is to get old, ie, there is only bad news in the second half of your life. Not really a comedy, more a "not too depressing" look at being old. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + $0]
06.01.23 : The Fabelmans - movie
Drama : Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.
It kind-of feels like a long-winded way of telling a story that isn't that remarkable or special. It's ok, it's just that it has no meaning or significance beyond an everyday unremarkable story. Probably should've picked something more interesting - lol -. [2.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$3]
05.01.23 : Erskineville Comedy Club : The Hive Bar
A small room with a full crowd that know the score and are happy with that, ie, a $12 level of comedy, and that makes it a warm and friendly and cosy show. [Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5] [T-$12 + F-$0 + C$6].jpg)
04.01.23 : The Lost King - movie
Comedy - Drama : An amateur historian defies the stodgy academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, which were lost for over 500 years.
Nice. [3.5] [T-$10 + F-$4 + C$3]
