MICF: Jude Perl, Puffy Jacket

MELBOURNE INDEPENDENT CELEBRATORY FEMINIST
Jude Perl
Puffy Jacket
26 March-19 April
Melbourne Town Hall, Portico Room
comedyfestival.com.au

Jude Perl

I saw Jude Perl's I Have a Face last year and said, "Her work is personal and vulnerable and questions so many of the ridiculous expectations about femininity and sexuality that face women every day." And now I'm singing "I have a face"; her work sticks.

If you could see anyone (possible or impossible) in your audience, who would it be?
Maria Bamford.

What is one of your favourite comedy festival memories?
Drinking tea at the Malthouse after my shows.

Who is one of your favourite Melbourne Indie Celebratory Feminists?
Clara Cupcakes.

What three shows are you not going miss this comedy festival?
Kirsty Webeck Gosh
David Quirk Astonishing Obscurity
Patrick Collins Mime Sherriff

What else could MICF stand for?
Multiple Irrational Cluster Fun

GIVEAWAY COMPETITION

one double pass to

Jude Perl: Puffy Jacket
29 March
6.15
Melbourne Town Hall, Portico Room

EMAIL with JUDE PERL COMPETITION in the subject
Closes on 25 March 2020

Review: The Orchid & the Crow

The Orchid & the Crow
Button Eye Productions
13 February 2015
Tower Theatre, Malthouse Theatre
to 22 February
malthousetheatre.com.au

Daniel Tobias. Photo byAndrew Wuttke

Daniel Tobias is almost unrecognisable as Otto Rot of the endlessly wonderful comedy duo band Die Roten Punkte. There's no keytar and makeup in The Orchid & the Crow but there is rock, and rocks, in Dan's story of getting testicular cancer.

When I watched a too-young friend die from cancer, I couldn't watch or hear cancer stories for some time, but I think I would have loved this one. I certainly loved it last night. Loved it to bits.

Ten years ago Dan was 29 and feeling crook. He was asked the same questions by different doctors and was finally diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer, which had spread up to his neck. Yep, stage three (there's no stage five) and it and had spread through the lymph (that's not good). He doesn't have it anymore.

This isn't an earnest story about how to whip the big C. Mixing rock, cabaret and confessional, it's about faith and family, circumcision and being a yes-and-no Jew, and understanding what girls think about balls.

There's no preaching but he does reach out to a god. A god whom Dan found when a nurse handed him a book. A god who overcame the impossible and achieved the more impossible. A god who gave hope to the young man who was facing his very possible death. And if gods aren't for offering hope, what's the point of them?

Lance Armstrong was this god.

Athlete, cancer-beater, charity founder and winner of so many Tour de Frances that some people joked that the only way to do that was to artificially enhance oneself.

Dan's team – who are far more amazing and less injecty than Armstrong's – include Christian Leavesly (director); Casey Bennetto (dramaturg); David Quick (script consultant); and Clare (Astrid Rot) Barthlolomew, John Thorn and Jhereck Bischoff (music).

With such support, Dan's very personal story's been shaped to balance the personal with the distant, and the poignant with the piss-yourself funny, to tell a truth that reaches everyone who's sharing it.

It's gutsy, hilarious and honest. Or go for the song about God telling Abraham about the covenant about chopping bits of penis off.

It's a guaranteed ball.

This was on AussieTheatre.com.

Review: Kunst ist Scheisse

Kunst ist Scheisse
Eva Johansen & Jonathon Miller
30 June 2010
24 Moons (in ACDC Lane)

What do we want? More Kunst! When do we want it? Once a fortnight on Wednesdays. Where do we want it?  At an uber-cool bar in a dingy Melbourne lane named after rock legends.

The arty folk know that Kunst ist Scheisse means Art is Shit and should be lining up for this changing mix of the oddest and most gorgeous cabaret artists in town.

For their opening week, host and diva Eva Johansen got her knickers out and welcomed guests who have won so many awards that they'd need a really big shelf if they lived in a share house.

Wes Snelling left Tina del Twiste sulking at home and gave us a welcome taste of Wes unplugged;  The List Operators continue to be one of the most consistently original and strange acts around and offered a bite of the brilliance they are taking to Edinburgh (and Matt Kelly's Michael Jackson is burned into my retinas); Earl Shatford made sparklie shirts sexy again and reminded us how jaw-droppping awesome juggling can be; Jess Devereaux found the best 1980s school social dress ever to combine dance, comedy and fashion; comedian David Quirk shared some embarrassing moments of his past; the Suitcase Royale got some mates on stage to form a super band; and the Caravan of Love girls let a couple of strangers find their hidden treats with chop sticks.

While regular nights like the fabulous The Last Tuesday Society encourage experimentation in front of hipsters downing beers,  Kunst is more about showing some of the best acts around to uber-cool sophistcates who sip cocktails but never stop giggling at the word play of the title.

Kunst ist Sheisse has found its new home at 24 Moons. This place is so cool that I almost felt uncool in my flat MaryJanes and an old PJ top from a Bras and Things sale. Found at the top of a staircase at the darker end of street-art filled ACDC Lane, this place has no choice but to rock, and its cut out cityscape wall design, ivy covered moon lights and comfy seats that encourage intimacy or welcome strangers couldn't be a more perfect setting.

Throw in a cocktail list guaranteed to make us-who-love-Matt-Preston weep at its originality and beauty (the one with Violet Syrup or the one that comes with a chocolate truffle please) and cheap cold cider on tap, it'd be difficult to get a better night of Kunst.

The next line up (Wednesday 14 July) includes whimsical, Fringe-favourite and bloody funny poet Telia Neville (who has a new blog) and the voice guaranteed to break hearts, Simoncee Page-Jones.  With possibility of Eva and Simoncee singing together, get there early to grab the best seats.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com


Photos by Max Milne