Quick MICF: Inside

Frank Woodley and Simon Yates: Inside
Token Events
2 April 2013
The Famous Spiegeltent at Arts Centre Melbourne
to 21 April
comedyfestival.com.au

I can't decide if Inside is a work of comic genius or the kind self indulgence that needs a tissue at the end.

Either way, it works.

If you're expecting bumbly sweet Frank Woodley, he's gone. New Frank is joined by circus performer Simon Yates, who, as brothers Viktor and Vissilli, are locked in a prison in somewhere like eastern Europe. With shaved heads, handlebar moustaches, scars, symbolic tats that we don't understand and questionable accents, we don't know what they've done to be there, but it's a pretty nasty place to be.

It's dark without being bleak with a humour that loves the grotesque, but often relies on moments of sweetness to get a laugh. Yates's physical skills complement Woodley's physicality and the two of them make an odd couple like no other.

Music review: Miles and Simone

Miles and Simone
Valentine's tour
9 Feb 2013
Spiegeltent, Arts Centre Melbourne
milesandsimone.com
facebook page

I've had a bit of a crush on Miles and Simone since they released their first CD, Home in Your Heart, last year, but on Saturday I watched a full Spiegeltent fall completely in love with this too gorgeous Melbourne duo.

Simone Page Jones wears an extra frilly dress with a floral print, red tulle and black tassels. She bought it in Barcelona in the hope that one day she'd wear it in the Spiegeltent. The only thing stopping her from floating off the stage in happiness is the the grounding influence of Miles O'Neil, who (even with fluffy ginger thighs) continues to re-define hipster op-shop style with a cream jacket that makes the 60s Vegas Rat Pack look uncool.

And they sing.

A Black Velvet cocktail has a base of rich stout that's topped with a crisp and sweet fizz and served in a curvy flute.  I have no idea how anyone thought these drinks should mix and make something quite perfect, but they do and it's like how Miles's chocolaty deep voice sounds so unexpectedly perfect with Simone's clear and sparkling sound – which isn't a like posh and over-priced Champagne, but more like a far better local wine with the kind of light sparkle that makes you smile with every sip.

Photo by Leila Koren

They talk like best friends and share stories about their songs with their besotted audience and each other, and I hope that they never lose the ability to surprise each other on stage. There's a song about a holiday in Apollo Bay, one set in a Fitzroy pub, songs about loves lost or run from, and now that I know Simone's song "Birdy" is about the galah that sits chained to a stand in a Bourke Street tobacco shop, I don't think I can listen without making sure that I go and give that bird a scratch.

With just Miles's guitar, their music is a little bit country, but with a loving and gentle sound that feels like they wrote them on an inner-city patch of grass on a perfect warm day. They remind me of the early 90s duets by the UK's The Beautiful South and their reminiscing tone is almost like The Go-Betweens "Cattle and Cane".

I took a friend who after two songs turned to me and said, "Do they have a CD? They're sublime." What more can I say. Miles and Simone are sublime.

You can buy Home in Your Heart here and they are launching the album in Sydney on Tuesday night at 8.30 at 107 Projects in Redfern (tickets at the door) and in Brisbane on Wednesday at 9.30 at the Brisbane Powerhouse (free).

More photos by Leila Koren

MICF review: Dixie's Tupperware Party

Dixie's Tupperware Party
MICF
30 March 2012
The Famous Spiegeltent
to 22 April
comedyfestival.com.au

Why did the walrus go to a Tupperware party?
He wanted to find a tight seal.

This is the only Tupperware joke I knew before a night with the outrageously wonderful Dixie Longate selling me plastic crap. I'm most proud of myself for getting out without buying anything because I love colourful, air-tight seals that keep the moths and or keep celery crunchy for weeks and Dixie's Tupperware Party is a Tupperware party.

Yes, one of those things where housewife-types make devilled eggs and fruit punch and hope that their friends will buy enough plastic crap so they can send their kids to camp and buy lots of shoes. Never been to one? Really? You must and Dixie's is a damn good one to start with.

Dixie lives in a trailer park, has three kids and three dead husbands. Her first Tupperware candy bowl was a gift that still shines like crystal and may bring a tear to your eye by the end of the night. She needed a way out (of jail) and found her role model in Brownie Wise, the woman who realised that women can sell to each other and have fun and she held the first Tupperware party over 60 years ago.

As the home page of the Tupperware site says: "For over 60 years Tupperware Brands has made a difference in the lives of women around the world by offering an independent business opportunity." And they do. Within a year Dixie was the top selling Tupperware seller in the USA. Who ever said drag performers won't earn a living, didn't factor in the power of charm, sass and innuendo. If you're not sure, Dixie is frocked and tucked.

Dixie's Tupperware Party is a tribute to every woman who has ever earned money by selling Tupperware and a ever-fresh night of high-camp, low-class fun that'll leave you singing about rimming. Stop sniggering, you close a Tupperware bowl by rimming it.

Take neighbours, nannas, husbands and anyone who has ever rolled their eyes when you mention the T word.

PS. If anyone wants to buy me a present, I have the celery keeper, but I love the Crystal Wave containers that go from freezer to microwave.

This review was on AussieTheatre.com

Guest Review: Dead Cat Bounce: Caged Heat

MICF 2011

Dead Cat Bounce: Caged Heat

1 April 2011

The Famous Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre

to 24 April

www.comedyfestival.com.au

Review by Josephine Giles

When researching Dead Cat Bounce I came across a definition of the term in, of all places, a site called Investopedia. In the world of finance it means: A temporary recovery from a prolonged decline or bear market, after which the market continues to fall.

Considering the stellar reviews which DCB garnered in their previous visit to Melbourne, I’m beginning to think the finance market may not be as stupid as it seems. This “international rock and roll comedy supergroup”, as they describe themselves on their website, feels like it peaked some time ago. Their new show, Caged Heat, has several clever songs but the concept lacks unity and is crying out for a strong directorial hand.

The four member of DCB continue a tradition of rock parody made famous in the movie This is Spinal Tap. In songs ranging in style from stadium rock, rap, boy-band and even love ballad, the general tone is in the “offend as many people as we can” vein – reinforcing the image of the faux group as testosterone charged, morally vacuous, wannabe rock gods.

The strength of DCB lies in its songs, which are far better developed than the links. Led by the attractively pouting Jim Walmsley on guitar and vocals, the band give creditable renditions of the variety of styles. Despite the generally puerile humour, probably best appreciated by folk much younger than myself, some lyrics betray an underlying intelligence and even sensitivity to gender politics. "Overly Enthusiastic Contraceptive Lady" should be required listening for any bloke on what not to do, especially if planning a visit to Sweden (I don’t want to get sued here, but just think Wikileaks and join the dots...).

The show falters in the banter between the group members between songs. By flagging and then over explaining songs that should be allowed to speak for themselves (like the surprisingly historically accurate and informative "Easter Island Song’"), they give the impression they are desperate to let us know that they are actually really nice guys just pretending to be arseholes. Maybe they’re just getting to old for their own brand of humour.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

PS: I also saw DCB and "ditto" to everything Jo says. If you keep telling us that you're a joke band, then the band really does become a joke. 

Review: Misanthropology

MICF 2011

Eddie Perfect in Misanthropology

A Token Event

1 April 2011

The Famous Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre

to 24 April 

www.comedyfestival.com.au

Misanthropology may be the wankiest show title around, but not to worry because everyone will recommend Eddie Perfect in the always-gorgeous Spiegeltent because musical cabaret doesn't get much slicker than this.

From Shane Warne The Musical to his unforgettable Mack in Threepenny Opera and his musican-next-door sweetness in TV's Offspring, Eddie never fails to impress – but in his solo show he's free to share his concern that our society seems to be stalling in its anthropological progress. 

There's our obsession with the intrinsic goodness of "primitives", the faux caring of eco-lodge visitors and the obscene fashion sense of cyclists.  All are easy targets because they are us; or our neighbours if we don't want to admit our own hypocrisies.  And this kind of work would be enough to leave most Comedy Festival audiences happy enough to buy another bottle of fizz. But why settle for audience love when you can push them further?

Boob jobs could be controversial and "Daddy's Tits" should become the hold music for every cosmetic surgery.  Parents paying for their daughters's fucked personal image is one thing, but it's a brave performer who tackles rape to get a giggle. A failed rape joke is one thing that will assure that I never waste my time seeing a comedian again. I will see Eddie again. His material about professional footballers attacking a child for not being an adult is the best I've seen this issue presented on the stage – and the best Kerrie-Ann ever.  

Director Craig Ilott (director and and co-creator of the divine Smoke and Mirrors) has ensured  Misanthropology is perfected to a level that surpasses most on the cabaret circuit. Working with someone as awesome as Eddie is a good start, but Ilott understands the need for story and connection and shapes a performance that is created to be shared with an audience, which is so different from a show created to be watched. I've only become aware of him this year and will try to make up for missing his earlier works by seeing anything he directs from now on.

In true self-reflection style, the last song of the night is dedicated to the theatre and another great director, our own Barrie Kosky.  (And it's an even braver performer who takes on Barrie... )  If you haven't seen a Bazza show, Eddie's "Too Fucking Long" song is so spot on that you might not need to see a Bazza show. It's everything that keeps people away from "serious" theatre and everything that the people who go hate "but say that they love it." If there isn't an Oz Co grant that can send Eddie around to sing it to every director and soon-to-be director, perhaps we can send a collection bucket around during the interval(s) of any show over 90 minutes.

Oh Eddie Perfect ... dammit, you are.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Review: The Wau Wau Sisters' Last Supper

The Wau Wau Sisters Last Supper

the Arts Centre

2 March 2011

the Famous Spiegeltent

spiegel.theartscentre.com.au

If the Wau Wau Sisters end up in hell for being sacrilegious, well I'll be there with them. So will you if you're reading this; and the good folk who got in upstairs because the thought of going down on God or their sister was too much for their sensibilities will be looking for a loophole that gets them down below for the fun.

At The Wau Wau Sisters' Last Supper in the holy temple of the Speigel, I had my first communion wafer in many years – from a scantily clad schoolgirl with glittery stigmata. I felt almost pious. So much that I was almost jealous that one sister had Jesus coming in her room.

As the sisters say, they're not dirty; they're fucking filthy. Filthy meaning fucking hilarious, sexy as all-go-get and so taught and bendy that you really want to take them home to play with.

The last time I sat at the temple of Wau Wau, I thought their awesome acrobatics outshone their comedy and am thrilled to say that The Last Supper leaves me choking on such a statement. Their material is now as tight as their abs, but feels as free as their onstage morals.  Throw in one of the best double trapeze acts around and audience participation that left reluctant participants dancing, there's no wonder they now sell out wherever they go.

And, where can we get those Fuck Yeah undies?

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Review: Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors
the Arts Centre
12 February 2011
the Famous Spiegeltent
to 25 February
spiegel.theartscentre.com.au

The Famous Spiegeltent is back at the Arts Centre forecourt and it's already hard to get tickets for  Smoke and Mirrors, the show that sold out in Sydney, blew Edinburgh away and won a pile of Helpman Awards.

With the velvet-voiced gender-challenging rock god iOTA is at its centre, fans like me know that we have to see it. Leaving out his genre-defining performances as Hedwig and Frank 'N' Furter, his original albums and solo shows leave all who experience them wondering why (and rejoicing that) we can still see him in intimate venues.

Smoke and Mirrors isn't all about iOTA and surprises with the wholeness of its story, the collaboration and input from its remarkable and diverse artists and the mesmerising mood that refuses to let its audience go.

Describing it as a live concept album, Craig Ilott and iOTA devised Smoke and Mirrors specifically for the Spiegeltent; an old place that travels the world and makes countless performers and freaks feel like they belong. With a sexy-as-hell design by Nicholas Dare and dramaturg guidance by Sakia Moore, it captures the momentary ecstasy, passing connection and lingering darkness of travelling performers and draws the audience into a surreal world where time and memory hold no truth.

 iOTA is a ringmaster of sorts whose songs dream about running away to the circus. Visited by the ghosts and memories of forgotten circus act,  he is soon caught in a lost vaudeville world where acrobats refute all laws of gravity, a cheery tap dancer sings in a brown houndstooth suit, a bearded lady seduces and an old school magician makes us believe the trick is real. With a live band, who redefine rock and sex, he is drawn into acts and his presence leaves each in an place they never expected.

From mind blowing numbers like "Fuck me into my happy place" and  pin-drop moments like Queenie Van de Zandt's bearded reprisal of the ringmaster's "I'm just a simple girl" (Tina Harris as musical director has to be mentioned – and she looks mighty fine in her shorts and braces), the completeness of Smoke and Mirrors shows how cabaret and vaudeville are art.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

photo by Jamie Williams

A Company of Strangers

ADELAIDE FRINGE 2009
A Company of Strangers
Strut & Fret Productions
11 March 200
The Garden of Unearthly Delights, Spiegeltent

It didn’t take long among the company of strangers (and an old friend) to be reminded of the things that Adelaide does well.

Adelaide’s not just 1950s attitudes with great beer; this city knows how to create mouth-watering salt and pepper eggplant, affogatos and Fringe festivals. The Adelaide Fringe is the biggest on this side the world, because it’s the best. Audiences flock to shows; they see anything and everything – not because they’re among the arty farty “in” crowd, but because they know that taking a punt on a Fringe show is likely to be a lot of fun. And if the show sucks, they will enjoy it anyway, because they’ve paid and there’s still beer drinking and hanging around with the cool folk to be done.

Strut & Fret productions have captured the essence of the Adelaide Fringe in the Garden of Unearthly delights. Teenagers, dressed for nightclubs, line up alongside their grandparents, dressed for a possibly chilly evening, to get into the Garden. The food is delicious, the coffee is great, the bar has plenty of overpriced beer, the craft stalls are worth a look and there are more theatre spaces than you can count on both hands. I love the Spiegeltent when it sits by the Melbourne Arts Centre, but the tent feels at home in the Adelaide parklands.

Melbourne-based and world-travelling Martin Martini MC’s the Garden’s showpiece: A Company of Strangers. He declares Adelaide his favourite place to play – and it doesn’t take long to figure out why. This crowd doesn’t care about deconstructing the artistic merit of the piece– they want to enjoy the wackiness. So this show of strange people performing amongst the company of strangers is the perfect show for this perfect festival.

The company is a collection of wonderfully-odd musical cabaret performers. There’s no theme and no cohesion -it’s just meant to be fun.

The most-loved of the permanent strangers is the UK’s Le Gateau Chocolat. He knows that larger folk can appear svelte in flowing layers of black – so he has a collection of glossy, coloured lyrca body suits. With an opera-trained voice he belts out soprano-favourites as a bass and even has a play with Rhianna’s about an umbrella – whilst looking like a cockless telly tubby on acid. Drag is no longer a drag.

Lady Carol strums a ukulele and professes to be a “’lady” from Ireland. Her husky voice encourages the crowd to sing along, but she needs to decide if she is herself or her character on the stage.

Our own Paul Capsis should never be off a cabaret stage. Resplendent in red velvet he channels Janis Joplin and even sobers the mood with a composition co-written with Tim Freedman about his Nanna’s migration to Australia.

For all of the Strangers’ wonderfulness, none shone quite as blindingly as their special guest: Meow Meow. Lost in her own glamorous time-warp, Meow wraps herself around the audience and demands their support – literally. After forcing the audience to undress her she is carried to the stage with her thighs wrapped around the neck of the best looking man she could find. (I wonder if Mr Gateau is thinking of doing the same one night…)

With a temper rivalled only by her ego, Meow answer a less than modest “I know” to her rapturous applause. She thinks it’s for her, but we know it’s for someone else. Creator and character are so distanced that it’s hard to imagine them as one. Meow is too selfish to ever let us glimpse the woman behind her. She also knows that an illusion fails if we see the sleight of hand, and Meow’s magic would fade if we could see the work, the skill and the understanding of form that creates this exquisite parody.

A Company of Strangers is ideal Fringe fare. There are different special guests throughout the season, but be assured the Strangers will make you feel like you’re one of them in no time.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Sammy J’s Wagon of Friendship

Sammy J’s Wagon of Friendship
November 29 2008
The Speigeltent

Hail down Sammy J's Wagon of Friendship before it high-tails out of town and Sammy is forced to cut off his limbs in order to please his family for Christmas.

I first saw Sammy J early this year when he sang about shagging Brittney Spears and Germaine Greer (not at the same time). Now, after a journey through the Forest of Dreams, he’s singing about his soon-to-be wife, and not embarrassing her at all.

Every time I see Sammy, I like him more. In the course of a few months, I’ve gone from a (possibly condescending) ho-hum-to-OK to a (genuinely enthusiastic) oh-my-god-don’t-miss Sammy-J.

My cheap rhyme of OK with J was inspired by Sammy’s lyrics. Anyone who rhymes Ingrid with fingered has to be on the road to stardom - or infamy.

From his opening auction of a comic routine (a giggle won’t win, but try a chortle and see what happens) to the metaphor challenge and it’s devastating consequences, Sammy J effortlessly charms with his blend of slightly-naughty cabaret and I’m-trying-to be offensive-but I’m-just-too-nice stand-up. Even the cunt jokes are as welcome as the cute, furry shoulder-sitting mole meditation. (Not sure about the rape joke though. It needed more context to make it funny, rather than just under-grad annoying. Germaine would agree with me.)

We were expecting Sammy-J and his piano to be driving the wagon alone, but Randy (ably assisted by puppeteer Heath McIvor) insisted on a roadside hijack, decked out in a how-can-you-call-this-racists ‘Red Indian’ costume. Randy isn’t as loveable as Terry the squirrel (from the brilliant Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams), but he’s still pretty cool and the unique McIvor/J pairing is as endearing as Bert and Ernie – but with more swearing and less homoerotic undertones.

Along the way, Sammy’s wagon found Ali McGregor hitching hiking along Swanston St and offered her the guest-spot of the night (this time I loved the dress Ali), got the audience pushing when the road was a bit muddy, but failed to entice Geoffrey Rush into the cabin.

Sammy-J's Wagon of Friendship is parked at The Speigeltent until Saturday. You’ll only be disappointed if you decide not to go.

This review origianlly appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Spontaneous Broadway

Spontaneous Broadway
November 8 2008
The Speigeltent

The original Spontaneous Broadway premiered in New York in 1995. The Australian version has been around since 2000 and I’ve yet to see anything as consistently hilarious.

If you like your musical theatre original, controversial and topical, you could become a Spontaneous Broadway addict. There’s no Vietnamese-US angst or French class wars in these shows. Instead there’s the topical anger of a hopeless, privatised train provider that strands thousands of drunk bogans in their fascinators and tuxedo t-shirts, and the inner-city despair of a compromised couple whose relationship might not survive, “Inappropriate carpet burns”

If you feel the urge to release your inner-Sondheim or closeted-Lloyd-Webber, grab a ticket - because your work could be discovered, published, produced and performed at Spontaneous Broadway. The catch is - it’s a once only thrill, as every show is improvised.

Audience members place their song and musical suggestions into the ‘Bucket of Dreams’. As host-extraordinaire Russell Fletcher introduces the show, the cast select their finds. It’s then time for the wonderful Dame Helen Highwater (Genevieve Morris), Chad Bradley (Geoff Paine), Sally-Anne DeFinklestien (Julia Zemiro) and Gordon Supwell (Ross Daniels) to share their improvised numbers, accompanied by the musical genius of John Thorn.

Everyone is as-close-to-perfect-as-you-can-be-when-you’re-making-it-up-on-the-spot, but Thorn’s flawless creations never cease to astound. Zemiro asked for a dramatic, German, dark cabaret number and they created the never-to-be-forgotten “Vomit over my love”, followed by the cast’s rendition of the sing-a-long-in-the-car-until someone-pukes “Are we there yet, Mum” – which I’m still singing at inappropriate moments.

After the tease numbers, the ever-reliable audience clapometer selects the final, mini-musical. One has to wonder why anyone bothers to rehearse when shows this good can be made up in an instant. This week, Flemington was rejected for The Sneeze that Kills. Seeing train-provider Connex pummelled in song was tempting, but the visceral lyrics of “Spitting in the moat” refused to be resisted. And Daniels must be awarded the Rhyme of the Year award for survivor/saliva.

If you managed to miss Spontaneous Broadway at the Melbourne Fringe, don’t despair because there are still a handful of Saturday afternoon performances at The Speigeltent. Just get in early, because, when it’s this good - once is never enough.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

David Bridie and George Telek

David Bridie and George Telek
22 November 2008
The Speigeltent

David Bridie and long-time collaborator George Telek made the Speigeltent dance at their Australasian World Music Expo performance. There wasn’t actually room for the audience to dance, but the weather made the velvet canopy undulate for us, as the mirrors and coloured glass kept us safe and dry from the unseasonal Melbourne storm.

David Bridie founded my second favourite 80s band, Not Drowning Waving, and (I think) favourite 90s bands My Friend the Chocolate Cake. With film soundtracks and solo projects, he’s continued to produce an ongoing supply of his evocative and haunting sounds, smooth voice and personal lyrics.

Telek’s web site describes Telek as “a band, a man and, in some parts of the world, a legend”. With legions of fans in Papua New Guinea, he has been at the forefront of the PNG music scene since the 70s.

David met George in 1986 when he was holidaying in Rabaul, PNG, and two years later Not Drowning Waving recorded Tabaran with Telek and other musicians from the area. David Byrne declared it his favourite album of the year and Peter Gabriel was so impressed that Telek performed at WOMAD festivals and has since recorded on Gabriel’s Real World label.

Journalist Jon Casimir describes Tabaran as, “Neither exploitative nor the slightest bit anthropological ... a genuine, joyous integration of cultures, a landmark album which sounds as startlingly right today as it did in 1990.”

I bought my copy after being gobsmacked by Telek and Not Drowning Waving one hot night in the gardens at WOMADelaide. The unique fusion of traditional with contemporary sounds didn’t diminish or demean either, and it was such a joy to hear the same music, so many years later, and realise that it’s still so original and powerful.

David also pleased the assembled fans with a selection from his most recent album Succumb and favourites “Dive” and “Salt” from Act of Free Choice. He performs with a sometimes disconcerting distance from his audience, but his passion for his music is absolute and addictive.

George, David and their band sent us back into the rain with “Melbourne City”, the first song George wrote when he came to Melbourne in the late 80s – and David insists that there are still beetle nut stains on the footpath alongside Elwood beach from that visit.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Lea DeLaria is Naked

Lea DeLaria is Naked
November 14 2008
The Speigeltent

Whether your tastes were with you from birth, influenced by your upbringing, or revealed as you grew older, Lea DeLaria will convert you. You may still be in denial, but by the end of Lea DeLaria is Naked you will be an out, proud, badge-wearing jazz fan.

Oh my, can this gal sing. With a 25-year career and rave reviews, she’s belted out tunes in Broadway shows, is no stranger to Carnegie Hall and her latest album is on the Grammy ballot. Her upbeat “Miss Otis Regrets”, bebop scats and swinging “Ballad of Sweeny Todd” brought the cheering Speigeltent audience to its stamping feet. (If perchance she misses the story of swinging Sweeny - stop the show and beg her to tell you the tale. Let me just say that it involves The Rocky Horror Show, Joan Jet, marijuana, free drinks, a piano bar full of first-year music theatre students, Mr Sondheim himself and a three album contract with Warner Bros.)

Often hailed as one of the greatest jazz singers of our time (check out her MySpace page to have a listen), DeLaria stuffs every stereotype of a precious jazz ingénue into a mincer, turns it into a burger and serves it up with the best damn sauce, salad and extra-large serve of hand-cut fries you’ve ever had.

Lea won’t be offended if I use the term big, fat lesbian; in fact, she may be offended if I don’t. In 1993 DeLaria was the first openly gay comic to appear on US television and her showstopper “Butch Woman Blues” lets anyone who wasn’t sure know exactly where her tastes and preferences lie. As she has been known to yell back at fuckwits, “I’m twice the man you’ll ever be and twice the woman you’ll ever screw.”

Jazz and stand-up isn’t the most obvious coupling, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. DeLaria had me crying, snorting, spluttering and almost begging her to stop just so I could catch my breath. She made me laugh, too.

There’s nothing G rated about her humour – unless we’re talking spots. If fisting demonstrations (and you will be showing everyone this at the bar after the show), pussy chasing, eating Sarah Palin’s Moose burger from behind, and fucking the Bush twins isn’t your style of giggle – just go along anyway and listen to her sing.

It is so liberating to see a totally authentic performer and person. There is not a millimetre of Lea DeLaria that is not her honest, genuine and meant-to-be self. Maybe if more people believed that there is nothing wrong with how they look, think or feel there would be a lot more very happy people and amazing performers for us to enjoy.

A two-night-stand with Lea wasn’t enough for Melbourne. We only just met her and she headed off to Feast in Adelaide (and perform at the Feast festival this week), but let’s hope she comes back soon and often because she’s fucking fabulous and I’ve no doubt that she’s also a ...

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac

The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac

14 November 2008

The Speigeltent

As thousands paid far-too-many dollars to encourage regression and waltz at the world’s largest transportable Viennese castle, sitting inside a sports stadium; an elite group filled the Speigeltent supporting Taylor Mac, his Pandora’s suitcase and his belief that we can over turn mediocrity with pizzazz.

Taylor Mac used to share his “plays” with fellow Americans, but success at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe has led him further afield. His plays are a fusion of ukulele accompanied songs and stand-up monologue. The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac is more than just a typo; he describes it as subversive juke-box musical of the best of his Bush-era work. (Having also seen Lea DeLaria earlier, can I say how glorious it is to see artists from the USA being proud of their country’s recent voting decision.)

Taylor believes whole heartedly in beauty, but not in perfection. He is among the many bringing drag out of the Danny La Rue closet into a world that embraces the masculine and feminine in all of us. Taylor’s “finery” includes outrageously coloured and glittery make up, fishnets, dread-locked wigs or his bald head, and a changing op shop collection of frocks and high heels (which may be oppressing to women – but to him they are liberating). There’s a lot of femininity about Taylor, but it never hides or distracts from his male self.

He’s incomparable and, as he says, “Comparisons are for people who don’t have enough adjectives in their vocabulary”. Fuck-me shoes, too-much sparkle and jokes about language and grammar – what’s not to adore!

However, Taylor’s work comes from times when he wasn’t adored and from the hate that has caused pain and death to people who dare to step away from the accepted middle line. There’s a lot of fun in this show, like his piece about having to masturbate to stereotypes, but it’s supported by a backbone of material about the loss of love, and sobering reflections like his song about the 2007 shooting of 15-year-old Lawrence King.

Taylor sings that the revolution will not be masculinised. Welcoming the hetero queers in the audience, he defines queer as, “Someone who was shunned by society so much as a youth that they can never shun.”  He knows he’s usually preaching to the converted, but reminds us that we go to church to be inspired.  By the end of the night the entire “queer” audience was inspired and reminded that, “Nothing is worth doing if it doesn’t make you feel nervous”.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Guest Review: Charles Dickens performs A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens performs A Christmas Carol
Eagles Nest Theatre
2 November 2008
The Speigeltent

Review by Laura Hamilton

This production tells Dickens’ story in a way I imagine is close to how he would have wanted it told, staying true to the traditional English way of performance.

Conveying a tale about the values of money versus humanity, Phil Zachariah is Charles Dickens, alone on stage for 2 hours as he enlightens us with a lively, animated interpretation of Dickens’ famous Christmas Carol story. In embodying Dickens, it is obvious Zachariah has done plenty of period characters throughout his acting career – he completely looks and sounds as if he belongs in the year 1840. In what is a massive undertaking for one actor, what Zachariah does best is personify a storyteller. With hardly any props or set, the challenge is obvious, and his changes in vocal intonation and physical embodiment meant he was incredibly successful in creating the illusion, the image; a very important factor in this type of show.

The Spiegeltent is an ideal venue for hosting a show with such traditional beginnings. It made it easier to imagine the creation of this production – I could see Dickens’ reading his own prose to an adoring audience of all ages in a quaint cabaret-type venue. At times this production had me slightly restless, but I think that is more a result of the action-packed, a-scene-a-minute type theatre that we are increasingly presented with in the industry. James Adler’s production of A Christmas Carol challenges the audience to rely on nothing but the script and the actor, and that’s certainly not a bad thing.

I really enjoyed seeing such an old story told to a packed out, thoroughly modern mix of audience members ranging in age from 6 to 86 – proving that so may years on, Dickens’s appeal still remains widely varied.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

iOTA and The Beauty Queens

iOTA and The Beauty Queens
15 December 2007
The Famous Spiegeltent

What do you do when you have a full Spiegeltent full of devoted fans, a show dependant upon the sound you’ve spent weeks perfecting on the computer and the gods of technology decide to curse you? You do the show anyway – of course.
 
iOTA and the Beauty Queens (Sharpy & Timmy) didn’t expect to be doing a semi-acoustic show with lots of bass and drum. They did describe the sound they created and it sounded like it would have been amazing. But I didn’t really care and neither did anyone else there.
 
I wanted to see iOTA perform. I’m still chastising myself for missing the Melbourne season of Hedwig and now know that I will need a trip to Sydney to see him as Frank.
 
iOTA is a rare genuine mix of rock, punk, gender bending and pure charisma. You don’t want to take your eyes off him. Combine that with a well trained, honeyesque voice that lovingly embraces the harshness of rock without losing any tone or control. It must be scary to be called enigmatic, but IOTA lives up to his reputation.
 
I don’t know his original music enough to comment on the effect of the technical problem, but I was mesmerised and would have bought a CD if they’d been selling them. I’ll go and find myself one this week.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Spontaneous Broadway

Spontaneous Broadway
10 November 2007
The Speigeltent

The plots, characters and tunes improvised in Spontaneous Broadway are more engaging, original and downright hilarious than most popular musicals.
 
I’ve been singing “Chickens Dream Too” all weekend. It was an unknown ballad until Saturday afternoon - when Dame Helen Highwater created it. Spontaneous Broadway is improvised musical theatre.
 
Thank God You’re Here gives telly fans an idea of what impro is about. But compared to Spontaneous Broadway, the TV impro is like paddling in a pool with floaties compared to a swimming Bass Straight in a winter storm, tied to five other people. There are no costumes, supporting cast or film editor to make you look clever on stage.
 
Spontaneous Broadway are the totally fabulous Genevieve Morris, Geoff Paine, Julia Zemiro, Ross Daniels, Russell Fletcher and pianist extraordinaire John Thorn. They play characters plucked from every community musical group – each aspiring to me so much more than they ever will be. In character, they work with audience suggestions and improvise a song from the potential musical.
 
The audience vote for their favourite and then the whole cast improvise the entire musical. “Port Phillip: the Musical” won, due to its unforgettable romantic duet “Dredge My Bay”. Ok - “Port Phillip: the Musical” won, due to the innuendo as its lesbian leads sang “Dredge My Bay”. Relevant, local, environmental and sexual politics – what more could you possibly want!
 
This is an absolute must for musical fans. Parody only succeeds when the performers intimately know and love a genre. This group know their musicals, but its appeal is much broader. See it for the skill of the impro or just because you will be assured an afternoon of non-stop laughter.
 
Spontaneous Broadway is at The Famous Spiegeltent on Saturday 17 and 24 November. As it was standing room only this week, booking is recommended.
 
PS – I have to mention Chad Bradley, just so he gets a mention in at least one review.
 
This review originally appeared on AussieThearte.com.

The Wau Wau Sisters

The Wau Wau Sisters in
12 Steps to Redemption!!
Or God Save The Wau Wau Sisters!!
6 November 2007
The Famous Spiegeltent

The Wau Wau Sisters are truly at home in the Spiegeltent. The Wau Wau Sisters in 12 Steps to Redemption!! Or God Save The Wau Wau Sisters!! parody all things circus, cabaret and burlesque; whilst embracing each genre in their taught, tight and totally to die for thighs.
 
They open with an acrobalance/strip to the 70s soft rock anthem “Sister Christian”. It’s sublime in its blasphemy. Character, content and superior skill combines to create superb burlesque. I was ready for something as good as our own The Burlesque Hour.

The Wau Wau’s are astonishingly awesome acrobats and brilliantly bawdy burlesque beauties. But their comedy writing isn’t ready for alliteration. It’s by no means bad. It’s just not as good as the other elements of the show. Lyrics like “I’ll cut the cocaine if you cut the cheese” aren’t as compelling as catholic school girls with stigmata.

I thought they were different characters from scene to scene – until they pointed out it was a through narrative of their life. The characters are original and very funny, but not consistent and are regularly visited by the performers own characters. The “real” Tanya and Adrienne that appear are actually more intriguing and interesting than their fictional selves. I would have liked to see more of them.

Part of their act is being the ditzy girls who don’t understand all that “bullshit” about transitions and timing. Nonetheless their transitions are original, fun and a little bit frightening for audiences who fear participation. And their bad timing is simply perfect.

Their transition from born again country singers (and yes there was the expected “count” joke) to 80s coke fed popsters is wonderful. As is the Duran Duran “Rio” routine which follows. Is there anything better than black humour in bright spotted bikinis? Like the opening, this routine was so much more powerful than their comedy interactions.

See the Wau Wau Sisters just for the opening, Rio and their amazing double trapeze routine. It’s a lot of fun, but it is a series of characters and routines that is developing into a show. It may need a director and a writer to tone the narrative and the characters as tight as their biceps, and make the comedy/skill balance as steady as their one minute handstands.

Photo by Sara Brown

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com and on GayDestination.net.au.

Topping and Butch

Topping and Butch
4 November 2007
The Famous Spiegeltent

Sadly, Melbourne only had a two night stand with Topping and Butch, but they will be defiling Adelaide for a couple of weeks at the Feast Festival. I laughed ‘til I cried and left feeling so much better than when I went in. This is bloody good stuff. No wonder they sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe.
 
Michael Topping and Andrew Simmons are Topping and Butch. Simmons has a singing voice as delectable and smooth as his body. Topping is a fat old queen.

This comic duo doesn’t need a straight man. Barely clad in red leather, they carry on the British tradition of high camp and combine it with immediate satire, sharp observation, a touch of innuendo and a bucket load of good old fashioned smut. Alright, there’s a lot of innuendo and double entendre. Come to think of it, there’s a lot of single entendre - and let’s hear it for the return of the beaver joke.

But “clip your nails” and frottage jokes are not going to sustain a show. Their material is so up to date - if you missed today’s news you might not understand it. They only arrived in Melbourne yesterday and have already mastered an Elsternwick Jewish joke. Kerry Ann gets a look in, as do Ben Cousins and Cameron. Their Johnny and Kevin material is as observant as any local comedian and - please - a bottle of champagne for pulling off a Julia Gillard wanking joke.

For the less politically interested, they play with pop hits and, what gay cabaret is complete without, musical theatre satire. Pull down the barricades to hear Les Vegetables - about Aubergine the fat and Courgette the slim - and Chess is so much better with "I Know Him Too Well" – where Topping plays a predatory old queen and Butch takes the part of a young straight male. Straight men, if you want to see how straight women really see you - watch a gay man satirising you.

Yes, us girls love Topping and Butch and they love us right back. They embrace the well known fact that the natural accompaniment to a straight woman is a gay man. "Fag Hag" (think "Down Town") may well be my favourite song of the year.

Their material is very good, but they are not master satirists. The strength of this show is the genuine lovability of the characters. They make their audience feel totally comfortable. Even the self confessed Liberal voters were made to feel welcome as the lesbians, straight men, gay men and the one bi-sexual asylum seeker.

Topping and Butch are inoffensive in their outrageousness, but they never tone down their material to create comfort. They are always embracing diversity and ensure that their outrageousness is always a celebration.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com and appeared on GayDestination.net.au

La Clique

La Clique
28 October 2007
The Famous Speigletent

Perhaps it was the fizzy wine, perhaps it was the perfect summer evening, perhaps it was the fabulousness of The Fabulous Spiegeltent tent or perhaps La Clique really is the best night out in Melbourne this hot, sweaty season.

If you’ve seen La Clique in previous years, don’t hesitate to come back for more, because its better than ever and there are a selection of new acts that you just can’t miss. Some old favourites also return. Yes - David O’Mer is back in the bath!

See La Clique for the very hot people, see it for its wit, see it for its vulgarity or see it because each act has taken their circus skill, perfected it, added something new then twisted it into something very sexy, very funny and slightly perverse.

La Clique is so successful because the performers are so much more than just a sexy choice. Each is a true masters (or mistresses) of their genre. Even if they weren’t so damn hot, these are the kind of circus and burlesque acts you want to see for their skill and originality.

New to the clique this season is Cabaret Decadanse from Montreal. This is surely what the Sesame Street Muppets fantasise about. If you’re not turned on by foam rubber, the Decadanse divas may just change your mind.

Mario, Queen of the Circus, has found his way down under. Don’t think drag – think Queen and the greatest (and butchest) rocker of all times. Actually Mario makes Freddie look quiet and reserved. With full Freddie leather and facial texta; he also gives us the one thing Mr Mercury didn’t give (well not in public) – juggling and unicycling. Seriously, he does things with three balls that very few can manage.

Also new is Krin Maren Haglund. She is from Montreal’s amazing Cirque Éloize (last seen here in 2006). Using every centimetre of height, her tissue routine is dynamic, expressive and original. And she’s funny. Very funny. Her routine lampoons the ridiculous stereotypes that define femininity.

The English Gents continue to amaze and prove that you can do acrobalance with a stiff upper lip. Marawa’s faultless hoop spinning looks at a giant, seductive kaleidoscope and own beloved Captain Frodo continues to make rude and amazing shapes out of himself. If you have seen him move through one tennis racquet – hold on to you tender bits – because now he goes through two.

And – just in case you missed it – David O’Mer is back. His aerial work is strong and expressive – but his work in the bath continues to make most of the audience wet.

Throughout this season the dysfunctional La Clique family will be joined by special guests. We saw the exquisite rope trapeze of Erna Sommer. Aerial isn’t just about strength and trick. It’s about dance, style and grace.

La Clique sells out because it’s a fabulous night out. That is if you like laughing a lot, cringing a bit and watching good looking people do things that are amazing and breathtaking.

This review originallly appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Tina C: Sometimes I Frighten Myself

Sometimes I Frighten Myself
Tina C
The Famous Spiegeltent
1 November 2006

Saddle up cowboys and girls, as Tina C is in the Spiegeltent, and she may just be the best ride in this lil’ ol’ town.

Tina C is a true superstar. With politics as sharp as her stilettos and material as tight as her hotpants, she shines as garishly bright as the rhinestones on her Elvis inspired cape.

All the way from Throat Holler, Tennessee, Condy Rice has sent her on an anti-anti-American tour. She tells us she is an example of the soft power of America, rather than their hard power; because cultural imperialism is better than “What did it used to be called? Oh yea – war”.

She proves that white trash has nothing to do with colour or income; it’s a state of mind, nay a state of grace. Remember – to quote the title of Tina’s first album – “It ain’t easy being easy” and, just like the Virgin Mary, we can all open our hearts and feel like we have a little Jesus inside of us. Makes me kind of wish I’d married a cousin when I was 12.

Moonee Ponds is a long way from a Tennessee trailer park, but Tina C has a lot in common with our own superstar Dame Edna. Outstanding taste in clothing and amazing legs aside, she knows that the only thing funnier than relevant political satire is a count joke (pronounced as in country) and I do want the “No Dick is as Hard as My Life” cd and t-shirt.

Tina C is the creation of UK actor and writer Chris Green and she is always “she”. Like Barry Humphries, the performer never lets the actor interfere with the character. Tina C may be a parody of American-white-trash-conservative-country-music-singing-Christians, but she is real and completely believable. I had trouble accepting that she isn’t really American.

Tina C is appearing on November 8, 15, 24, 25 and 26 at the Spiegeltent. Her show was a delightful surprise to me. I didn’t stop laughing. She is one of the best who deserves her “whole” (rather than just her parts) loved by many.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.