FRINGE: Songs for Europe

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2013

Songs for Europe

Shaolin Punk

21 September 2013

Broken Mirror Productions

to 29 September

melbournefringe.com.au

Nul points at Eurovision. If you think a one-star review is humiliating, imagine getting 0 stars when the people around you got over 100 for also singing a cheesy song, with a perfect key change, while wearing a fabulous gown as millions of people watch you on the telly. Songs for Europe isn't about the fabulous hair and endless glitter of Eurovision; it's two stories about people who love the contest, but wish that it wasn't part of their lives.

The first play, by John Richards, is an imagined back-stage encounter with a woman who didn't get a single point. Years later, she is still performing, and is tracked down by a British journalist who is trying to interview all of the nul pointers.  Full of heart, it's a work that has a spike under every joke, gently questions its audience far more than the singer, and remembers that there are real people behind our wittiest mocking.

The second play, by Lee Zachiriah, is about a group of revolutionaries on the eve of the 1974 Portuguese Revoution. Waiting in a cafe, they listen to the radio waiting for the signal to storm the streets: a Eurovision song. One is more passionate about the song contest than the pending revolt, but all have to change their plans when a stranger orders a muscatel and possibly knows what they are waiting for.

Both are full of Eurovision facts and the blend of real and fiction is flawless enough to ensure that those who see it will be adding these stories to their own Eurovision memories, but the hugeness and glitz of their Eurovision background needs to be brought more onto the stage and into the world. 

Songs for Europe is on tonight and next week. The performers (Marta Kaczmarek, Nick Colla, Angus Brown, Noah Moon, Jack Beeby, Chris Broadstock and Petra Elliott) are consistently terrific and the writing surprises at every turn. At Broken Mirror in Brunswick (off Blyth St near the Mediterranean Wholesalers car park for anyone trying to find it with Apple or Google maps), it's away from the buzz of the Hub, but there's a bar, comfy couches and the chances of meeting someone who loves Eurovision as much as you do is pretty high. 

What to see at the Melbourne Fringe?

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2013

Hey, it's the first day of the Melbourne Fringe.

Woo hoo.

But don't look to people like me to tell you what to see, because I ALWAYS miss amazing shows.

Here's the Fringe page or there's a program booklet sitting in every cafe in the city.

Take a punt and see a show that grabs you're attention, has a great title, is on near your house or is  starting in 10 minutes.

Just see shows.

Fringes are open access festivals, so anyone can register and be in the program. This means that the quality ranges from I-can't-believe-I-get-to-see this to I-can't-believe-I-sat-through this.

It also means that the work is the stuff that artists and creators WANT to make. It's a chance to experiment and to find that audience that sees the world through the same eyes.

I'm planning to see my fair share. Not sure how much I can review, but I will be Tweeting (@SometimesMelb) and re-tweeting all the hints to amazing stuff.

Having said that...

If you're out and about tonight, it's the first night of Lisa-Skye's late night live chat show called Art, Sex and Snacks.

I first saw Lisa-Skye in the Comedy Festival with her show Songs My Parents Taught Me. I loved it. She's delightfully filthy, has amazing dress sense and makes me feel like an an old fuddy duddy for going back to a single hair colour and not wearing glitter every day. If you missed it, it's on again at the Fringe – and starting tonight. Details here.

But back to the chat show. It's at the Tuxedo Cat and one of her first guests is John Richards, who sometimes wears less glitter that Lisa-Skye.  I suspect that the conversation will be just like the publicity photo: all about cake, cream, glace cherries and how to fill a condom with glitter.

John wrote Outland (on the ABC last year), is a Dr Who Splendid Chap and has written a show about Eurovision for the Fringe called Songs for Europe. Details here.

Let me just sing, "My lovely horse".  If you now hate me because you know you'll be singing it for the rest of the day, Songs For Europe is for you.

AND it features Jack Beeby, whose Bunny Hutch was a highlight of the recent Container Festival.

Here's a taste of Lisa.

Chat: Splendid Chaps live podcats

Splendid Chaps: A year of Doctor Who

Ben McKenzie and John Richards  like Doctor Who, so they've decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the telly show by being Splendid Chaps and hosting a year-long performance and podcast project.

Starting this Sunday, 13 January, they're recording a live podcast each month until November. Each month is dedicated to a specific doctor, has a new theme and is at a different venue. This month is about the First Doctor, William Hartnell, explores authority and is at Trades Hall (The Annex, Bella Union). You can book here.

Each visit, hosts Ben (Dungeon Crawl, Pop Up Playground) and John (Boxcutters podcast, Outland – really ABC, why hasn't this been repeated and where is Series 2?) and companion Petra Elliott will be joined by special guests. First up are Lee Zachariah (The Bazura Project, Hell Is For Hyphenates podcast), Nerida Haycock (3RRR), Alexandra Tynan (Sandra Reid) who designed the original Cybermen, and musical guest Geraldine Quinn with an updated version of her "Doctor Who's Assistant".

More info and episode zero of the podcast is at splendidchaps.com.

(Before anyone, including me, has a hissy: "We realise chaps is a gendered term, but with a podcast titled Splendid Chaps, we don’t imagine we’d get away with calling ourselves anything else." And the Brigadier said it.)

Meanwhile, Ben answers some questions.

Who’s your doctor?
If I had to pick a top three, it’d be Troughton, Davison and Smith. But I really do like them all.

What episode do you watch any time you get a chance?

Not an episode, but a story: The Caves of Androzani. Still my favourite, though some have come close in recent years. The first episode of The Talons of Weng-Chiang is pretty great too. A Christmas Carol is probably my favourite from new Who.

Can you remember the first episode you saw?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t watching Doctor Who, so no! Probably middle period Tom Baker, that seems to be what was on the ABC around the time I would have started. The first book was Terror of the Autons. Frightening cover! The first video I obsessed over was The Five Doctors. I know it off by heart.

How many Doctor Who toys do you own?

I have a few Dapol action figures and a TARDIS from back in the day, and a couple of sonic screwdrivers and pocket watches; not that many toys! It’s the books I collected. I have hundreds of them!

If the TARDIS landed in your living room, where/when would you ask to go?

Dinosaurs. And space. And aliens. The future, to learn how we answer the questions and solve the problems of today (spoilers!). Oh, just everywhere, I reckon. But mostly dinosaurs.

Photo by Robert Young

Kissing and crying in Doctor Who. Discuss.

I don’t think there should be a taboo against the Doctor doing either, but when you make him a romantic lead, you lose the unique position the show used to occupy in not having one. It made him much more anyone’s hero; a character any of us could be. Now he likes pretty young girls just like every TV hero. Hardly ground breaking stuff there! I thought it was sweet the way Paul McGann did it; Ecclestone’s made no sense to me; nearly everything since seems a bit gratuitous.

Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures?

The Sarah Jane Adventures. It's everything her appearance in new Who should have been and more. I loved it. Though special mention to Torchwood: Children of Earth for being quite brilliant, in sharp contrast to the other series of Torchwood.

What other TV shows are you obsessed by?

Doctor Who was my gateway into UK television, and I still love Press Gang, Monkey, Sapphire and Steel, The Prisoner, Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, and Blackadder, of course. The Goodies   was hugely influential on me, it was far superior to Flying Circus in my book – I wish they’d release the whole series, not just bits and pieces. Hmmm…not much new on that list! I do love Lexx, but that’s a bit of a guilty pleasure. It’s delightfully weird. I am very keen on Game of Thrones, though I question it in some respects. The modern Sherlock is good, I’m a Holmes fan too from way back, so I’m also interested in Elementary. I was a huge Red Dwarf fan back in the day and I was incredibly (if pleasantly) surprised to find that the latest series is actually pretty good! The only show that has engendered anything like Doctor Who level devotion from me, though, is Community. Love every second.

Russell or Steven?

Steven, but only when he’s got his eye on the ball (and not working on twenty different things at once). I’m really interested to find out who’ll be next and what they’ll do, since we’ve seen several years of both these guys now.

Cyberman or Dalek?

I think they’re both equally interesting – when writers choose to make something of them. They’ve not been terribly exciting in recent history, with the notable exception of Rob Shearman’s Dalek.

Why should SM readers come to the live recording of Splendid Chaps?

Doctor Who is a show with a vibrant and wonderful fan community, and we’d love to share that with an audience. Plus, the live show will be around 90 minutes (with a break), but the podcast will be under an hour – so you’ll get bits you won’t hear on the podcast!

Outland preview

Writer John Richards has been a guest reviewer on SM, but what's he been up to of late?

He's been spending time with the lovely folk at Princess Pictures and made a TV show that will on ABC 1 in February.

 

Outland has already been seen at the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, where it won a people's choice award and John got a showbag.

Melbourne's movers, shakers and tweeters hit Gordon St for a preview screening on Wednesday night.

Melbourne's cultural mover and shakers

Outland is about a group of queer sci fi fans who are terrified of coming out of the nerd closet.

Richards's co-creator is Adam Richard (no relation; John has the plural surname), who also stars with Christine Anu, Ben Gerrard, Paul Ireland (The Slap), and Toby Truslove (Laid). It's directed by Kevin Carlin (Newstopia, BoyTown, The Extra) and produced by Princess Pictures (Angry Boys, Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes, John Safran's Race Relations).

Adam Richard and John Richards

I love this show. I laughed myself sick during every episode. That's all I can say.

Please Like away at the Facey page.

And tweet your excitement at #Outlandtv

The first fan-made fan site is Where's Outland?

And for the nerds who want to see where it all started out, the original short film is on YouTube.

Part one.
Part two.
Part three.

Fab TV Show Needs Fab People

 Wanna be on a brilliant telly show?

On Friday 26 November Princess Pictures and ABC TV need a crowd of people for the new series Outland.

Outland is written by Melbourne's John Richards, who (among other awesome things) has been a guest reviewer on here. He also blogs at The Outland Institute, which became a JOYFM radio show last year.

Princess Pictures have produced amazing shows like Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes and John Safran's Race Relations.

The show will be broadcast on the ABC in 2011 and is already being described as “The best gay and lesbian science fiction fan club themed comedy series ever." Yes, there are Dr Who jokes.

And you can be part of it! 

Volunteers will be the crowd for a re-creation of the Pride march.

To get all the info you need, email outlandpride@gmail.com

or go to this Facebook page and RSVP.

It's a great chance to spend a day seeing how a show is made and you might get your gorgeous face or elbow on the show

Outland is based on the only short film to play the Melbourne Queer Film Festival and the World Science Fiction Convention. It stars Christine Anu, Ben Gerrard , Paul Ireland, Adam Richard, Toby Truslove, is written by John Richards (Boxcutters) and Adam Richard, directed by Kevin Carlin (Newstopia, BoyTown, The Extra) and produced by Princess Pictures (Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes, John Safran's Race Relations, I Love You Too).

Guest Review: I Coulda Been A Sailor

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2010
I Coulda Been a Sailor
Nelly Thomas
1 April 2010
Melbourne Town Hall

Guest Reviewer John Richards (from Boxcutters and The Outland Institute)

If things had been slightly different, Nelly Thomas could have been a sailor. Or a manager of a fast-food chicken franchise. Or a BMX champion... Like all of us, Thomas has had many roles in life, with many roads and options that she did and didn’t take. I Coulda Been A Sailor is essentially an onstage biography that will connect with anyone who ever wondered where they were going in life.

Thomas has a warm, engaging delivery that feels like chatting with a friend. Her life story becomes fascinating through her skill in connecting to the audience and her deft turn of phrase. I Coulda Been A Sailor also incorporates an effective theatrical device in the re-enactment of certain moments with award-winning performer Kate McLennan (Debutante Diaries, Beaconsfield: The Musical, Dogstar). Incidentally, McLennan is already on stage when the audience enters and I’m sure I’m not the only one who assumed I was in the wrong room.

It’s been great to see so many comedians really working on their shows this year, rather than the “good enough” approach of previous years (the attitude that says “I’ve got a title and 15 minutes of on-subject material, the rest I’ll fill with recent stand-up and Lara Bingle jokes”. Sadly, we do still see a fair bit of this, which is both lazy and contemptuous of the audience).  Thomas has obviously spent a lot of time honing this show – there are no dead patches or extraneous material and the show is fluid and tightly paced.

Comedy is often about recognition, so I should point out that my childhood was alarmingly similar to Thomas – we both grew up in small country towns in WA, and Thomas’s observation that in 17 years she never once saw anyone go in or out of the local library rang true to me. And for the more Mediawatch-minded I should also disclose that Nelly Thomas and I are both alternate hosts of the Boxcutters podcast, although this was only the second time we’d ever been in the same room.

Nelly Thomas is rehearsed, confident, and extremely funny. I Coulda Been A Sailor will make you consider all the choices you’ve made in your own life and hopefully – like Thomas – you’ll come out happy with where you are.

 Nelly Thomas coulda been a sailor. Luckily for us she became a comedian. See this show.




This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Review: Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2010
Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane
27 March 2010
Victoria Hotel

Even though Damo really proposed to Donna this week, Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane affirms that Sammy J and Randy are still my favourite Comedy Festival couple.

Sammy J and Randy (puppeteer wonder Heath McIvor) are always terrific in their solo shows but like sparklie foil and chocolate eggs (not Nestle because of that baby thing in Africa – thanks for reminding us Sammy J) they belong together.

In Ricketts Lane, they are best friends and housemates . Sammy is a lowly underpaid shit-kicking lawyer-cum-pole dancer and Randy is divorced and in need of some quick money. When Sammy finally has a career-making tax fraud case...you know the rest.

But you will be always be surprised. J and McIvor are the most original duo on our comedy stage, who deserve every whoop and squeal that comes from their ever-growing young and gorgeous audience (and the rest of us who won’t miss anything they do).

I’d rave more, but John Richards was also throwing his underwear at the stage and had this to say about the boys:

Sammy J is amazing. Randy is amazing. Heath McIvor is amazing. The songs? Amazing. And the comedy! Amazing. In a word – amazing.

If you liked Sammy J In The Forest Of Dreams you must see this. If you like puppets you must see this. If you like songs about sleep, jokes about scrabble or Barack Obama audio cookery books, you must see this.

Honestly, JUST GO.

Ditto.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Guest Reviewer: Shut Up and Sing

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2010
Shut Up and Sing
Geraldine Quinn
28April 2010
Trades Hall

Guest Reviewer John Richards (from Boxcutters and The Outland Institute)

Why isn’t Geraldine Quinn a superstar? It’s a question she asks in her new show, but it’s one I sometimes ponder too. With her sensational voice, hilarious songs and smouldering sexuality she should be a household name, or at the very least as famous as Tim Minchin (and if you haven’t seen Minchin and Quinn performing Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ then get yourself to a YouTube now).

With Shut Up And Sing, Quinn returns with another set of sensational comedy songs, but this time she’s also added costume changes and a unifying theme. Shut Up and Sing sees Quinn trying to isolate the elements needed to have pop hit, looking at everything from lyrics to dance moves. It’s a loose concept that works extremely well and gives the show a nice sense of propulsion. There’s also some fantastic costumes, and it’s a much more physical show than in Quinn’s past (which is a polite way of saying there’s a lot of very alarming dancing).

The night we went she was battling a cold and audience numbers were – shall we say – “cosy”. Yet she managed to present a powerhouse show that makes you realise how spoiled we are in Melbourne to have such easy access to such amazing talent.

If you enjoy musical comedy, you will love Geraldine Quinn.

And finally I must note that the final number in Shut Up And Sing sets a new benchmark as possibly the most scandalous thing I have ever seen at the Comedy Festival. It contains no swearing, no racism, no misogyny and yet it’s conceptually shocking, a bravura idea excellently executed – I won’t give the joke away here, but if I tell you it’s an antipodean take on the Eurovision winning song of 1974 you might be able to work it out.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Guest Reviewer: The Cliff Young Shuffle

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2010
The Cliff Young Shuffle
Hannah Gadsby
28 April 2010
Melbourne Town Hall

Guest Reviewer John Richards (from Boxcutters and The Outland Institute)

Hannah Gadsby is an excellent performer. She’s funny, she’s warm and she generates an easy rapport with her audience. It’s only been a few short years since she won the Raw Comedy final and yet she has a presence and certainty on stage that makes her seem like a seasoned veteran. There’s no doubt she’s a real talent.

So I’m almost embarrassed to say I just couldn’t get into her new show, The Cliff Young Shuffle. While her delivery was impeccable and I laughed at many of the well crafted jokes, I just couldn’t find interest in the subject matter.

The Cliff Young Shuffle is about Gadsby’s attempt to walk across England (not the widest bit, she admits, but not the narrowest bit either. It’s presumably the walk from St Bees to Robin’s Hood Bay although the show is rather light on specifics). It’s the story of how someone with no interest in exercise (“I like sitting”) coped with this sudden exertion, and her decision to go off anti-depressants at the same time.

I love “quest” stories, but generally I tend to favour the huge and inherently meaningless (Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure, Tony Hawks’ Round Ireland With A Fridge) or the small and very personal (Lawrence Leung trying to find his first crush in The Marvellous Misadventures of Puzzle Boy, or Danny Wallace getting the old gang back together in Friends Like These). Gadsby’s story seemed too mundane for the former and not meaningful enough for the latter, and I found myself hoping we would both soon finish this journey. The fact that Gadsby herself kept repeating how pointless the trip was – and the lack of any dramatic impact in its conclusion – probably didn’t help.

I stress, however, that I was well in the minority. The capacity audience– as well as the friends I was with – all greatly enjoyed it, and many of them connected to specific moments in the show. Those with any experience of hiking or depression will get something out of this, even if it’s only the recognition factor. Otherwise, make sure you see Gadsby at a comedy night soon.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Guest Reviewer: Andrew McClelland's ... Roman Empire

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2010
Andrew McClelland's Somewhat Accurate History of the Fall of the Roman Empire
27 April 2010
Melbourne Town Hall Lunch Room

Guest Reviewer John Richards (from Boxcutters and The Outland Institute)

Just like clothing and venereal diseases, comedy is also affected by fashion. Something that seems new and exciting this year may well be ubiquitous the next, but even the overlying tone can be noticeably changable. Some years it’s blokes doing bloke humour (even the sheilas), other years are edgy and political, and the popularity of surrealism comes and goes on a regular cycle.

Last year comedy impresario Janet McLeod appeared on The Outland Institute radio show to discuss a trend she called “The New Niceness”. People were getting tired of shocking/offensive/gratuitous humour and were looking for something gentler. This year, for example, sees Sammy J, Tim Key and Josie Long all doing well, and Spicks & Specks continues to be a powerhouse for the ABC, driven by The Axis Of Adorable: Alan Brough, Myf Warhurst and Adam Hills.

This isn’t to say these comedians are lightweight, or sanitised in any way (Tim Key has a superb joke in his show featuring the “c” word, for example, but even that is more a play on the language of manners). It’s just that not every comedian now feels the need to treat the stage like it’s sodden with beer and they’re warming up before the Angels tribute band come on.

Which brings us to Andrew McClelland.

Andrew McClelland is nice. Brilliantly nice. Charmingly, engagingly nice and very funny to boot. His shows (whether by himself or with occasional co-conspirator Lawrence Leung) tend to take a theme and then explore it thoroughly, whether that be pirates, secret societies, or how to make the perfect mix tape. His newest show, Andrew McClelland's Somewhat Accurate History of the Fall of the Roman Empire is – unsurprisingly – about the Roman Empire. But it’s really about the Roman Empire. You will be amused, you will be entertained, but you’ll also be educated. McClelland knows his stuff, even asking the audience at one point to shout out names of Roman Emperors so he can share trivia about them, possibly the least hardcore thing you will see on a stage all year.

It’s a fast paced show, McClelland’s enthusiasm is always infectious, and this year he’s even brought some effects pedals with him. A historical theme plays to McClelland’s strengths as there’s always been something intriguingly out-of-time about him – he’s like an Edwardian gent who constructed a time-travel cabinet and is so excited to be visiting this land of the future. With his love of knowledge, wide-eyed eagerness and slightly camp persona he’s reminiscent of old-school Doctor Who (before it became all about kissing and EastEnders references).

A warning, there is audience participation – this reviewer was dragged out of his seat and instructed to stab Caesar to death with a shoehorn – so perhaps sit further back if you want to avoid that.

If you like your comedy erudite and slightly cuddly, Andrew McClelland is the man for you.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Guest Reviewer: Lorraine’s Hair and Face

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2010
Lorraine’s Hair and Face
26 April 2010
Imperial Hotel

by Special Guest Reviewer John Richards (from Boxcutters and The Outland Institute)

Business is slow at Lorraine’s salon but she’s certain things are about to change. She’s found some tins of International Roast by Merri Creek and with the help of her best friend Bev (and unpaid apprentice Jade) she’s going to turn things around. If only she could get the stamp of approval from Pam Panache…

As you may have guessed, this isn’t exactly The West Wing. Continuing Australia’s much-loved tradition of Suburban Gothic (which encompasses everything from Kath & Kim to the original Mrs Edna Everage), Lorraine’s Hair & Face presents a vista of synthetic fabrics, unflattering wigs and aspirational failure. This is a world where International Roast is the height of class, where people consider a pig shoot to be a romantic date and where you’re only ever a moments away from a double entendre (one of the characters is named Major Jizz, for example, and the Talking Poofy favourite “courtesy fingers” gets a guernsey here as well).

The cast are uniformly excellent. Andrea Powell presents Lorraine as a brittle but not entirely unlikable creation, and her Clara Bow lips are truly hypnotic; Scott Brennan manages the seemingly impossible task of playing two unconvincing women and two unconvincing men; and Geraldine Hickey is frighteningly real as the boganish Jade. Special praise must be given to Brennan’s turn as the Major, which sees him overplay every line in a way that makes even the most innocuous comment hilarious (he obviously learnt something from his recent stint on Neighbours).

There is perhaps too much reliance on the old “look-how-badly-we’re-doing-this” meta-humour, and the show certainly won’t give you any insight to the human condition, but it’s always a delight to see something in the comedy festival that strays from the traditional stand-up route. Lorraine’s Hair & Face not only has a narrative and characters (of a sort), but also a set, costumes and even an alarming stuffed cat. There’s even some extremely well-written songs which help stop the show from becoming too predictable (the cast do an excellent job of singing within character, although this occasionally makes the retiring Jade hard to hear).

It’s probably safe to say you’ll already know whether this show is for you – if you love good, uncomplicated comedy and appreciate the innate hilarity of wigs, Lorraine’s Hair & Face is the show for you. A perverted panto for the immature at heart, it’s well worth making an appointment.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
 
2009 Fringe review of Lorraine's Hair and Face.

Guest Reviewer: The Slutcracker

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL 2010
The Slutcracker
Tim Key
26 April 2010
Melbourne Town Hall Cloak Room

Guest Reviewer John Richards (from Boxcutters and The Outland Institute)

There was a level of trepidation at seeing Tim Key, who is possibly the least-known international performer the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has seen for some years. I was familiar with him only through his 60 second appearances on Charlie Brooker’s television series Screenwipe and Newswipe (only viewable here on YouTube and other legally-questionable sources, but highly recommended) and was uncertain how he could stretch that to an hour.

For Tim Key is a poet. Or possibly, a man playing a poet character named Tim Key. The twist is that rather than performing bad poems in a confident manner (in the manner of, say, Brain Nankervis’ poet character Raymond J. Bartholomeuz), Key’s poems are often well-constructed and the comedy comes from his vague, self-deprecating delivery - he’s like Philip Larkin as played by Hugh Grant (if you can possibly imagine that as a good thing).

Key does like to reveal “twists” in his poetry, playing with the pomposity of the form, but sometimes they’re genuinely great pieces in themselves. Who could not love the following, presented here in its entirety – “Tania googled herself/Still nothing.” There’s a love of words in this show, and beautifully constructed jokes such as Shakespeare being described as “almost Dickensian” and Key describing one of his own pieces as “quite poetic”.

Adding texture to the show is a continuous underbed of music (mostly classical) and the occasional abstract short film. The short films are beautifully produced, skating along the same thin line between pastiche and parody as the rest of the show.

There’s something charmingly personal about the world of Tim Key. Not only is he not like anyone else in comedy, but his poems are dotted with given names – this is not a show where “a man walks into a bar”, but one in which “Pat blew a bubble/Then he climbed into it/And he floated out of the orphanage”.

All up this is an engaging show, although it does run into some problems - a section where Key tries to cross the stage without stepping on the floor is rendered pointless by the fact that 90% of the audience can’t actually see it, and the show could be shorter, although it’s possible that it just needs a stronger end. Sadly The Slutcracker doesn’t “end” so much as “deflate” (curiously, one of the short films earlier in the show is a beautiful visualisation of an earlier poem, and seems so obviously the finale that everything after it feels slightly redundant).

The Slutcracker is not a show that’ll leave you with aching sides, but it’s funny and clever and well worth a look.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

STAGE LEFT ARCHIVE

The best source of Melbourne theatre reviews from 1998 to 2004 was Stage Left.

There are about 800 reviews on their archived site, which you can find here.

It's a brilliant record of what Melbournites saw way back at the turn of the century. A time when dial up internet was all the rage, and a time when I was working in Canberra, reading Stage Left and thinking how wonderful it must be to live in Melbourne and write about theatre.

Editor Tim Richards still reviews for The Age, when his travel journalism isn't taking him somewhere in the world.

Stage Left writer Narrelle Harris hasn't stopped writing. (I highly recommend her wonderful vampire novel The Opposite of Life.)

And you can hear writer John Richards on Joy 94.9s The Outland Institute and the Boxcutters TV podcast.

Chatting on The Outland Institute

Last week I had a lovely chat on Joy 94.9 with Daniel, who was pretending to be John, from The Outland Institute (every Friday from 12.00 to 2.00). Here's the podcast (episode 12).

John Richards also had a lovely chat with some terrific Fringe artists on episode 13. But have a listen to them all if you like literature, film, tv, theatre, crimes against pop or Almost Fabulous people who should have been gay icons, but somehow stayed in the shadows.

Or have a read of The Outland Institute blog. As radio hadn't been invented last year, I had to write about the 2008 Fringe.

Sammy J in The Forest of Dreams

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008

Sammy J and the Forest of Dreams
October 2008
Fringe Hub

Is it wrong to have a crush on a squirrel? Terry’s a lovely squirrel. He’s fuzzy, soft, has a great sense of humour, is easily manipulated, and appears in Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams.

If you have heard that Sammy J In The Forest Of Dreams is the must-see show of the Fringe - trust what you’ve heard.

Its ephemeral images delicately explore the role of fairy tales and childhood dreams in our contemporary existence...NOT! It’s an arse-raping, puppet-snogging, king-fisting hoot, that’ll have you snorting with laughter.

Local comedian Sammy J and puppeteer Heath McIvor made this show from the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. All jokes aside, it demonstrates a solid knowledge of genre, incorporates original, authentic characters and is tied together with a well-told, complex and interesting story.

And it is funny. Very, very, very funny. Just don’t let the puppets fool you into thinking it’s a kid’s show. The opening “Fuck You Disney” song sets the tone – and it’s all down hill from there.

The Fringe season is sold out. So, sucked in if you missed out!

GOOD NEWS
The season is now extended. October 16 to November 9 at the Lithuanian Club.

PS: If you want to see a terrific interview with Terry the Squirrel,  John Richards had a chat with him for The Outland Institute.
 
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Special Fringe Appearance at The Outland Institute

Guest appearance at The Outland Institute.