MICF: Geraldine Hickey – Things Are Going Well

Things Are Going Well
Geraldine Hickey
27 March 2019
Imperial Hotel, Hooper Room
To 19 April
comedyfestival.com.au

Geraldine Hickey

My review is in Time Out.

How to Fringe 2017: Geraldine Hickey

Geraldine Hickey
Comedian and broadcaster

Geraldine Hickey – It’s My Show
19–29 September
The Imperial Hotel

SM: I first saw Geraldine back in 2009.

Geraldine Hickey

If you could invite anyone to your show (and you knew they would come), who would it be?
Tina Turner

The Melbourne Fringe in three words?
Joyful Chaotic Good times.

A favourite Melbourne Fringe memory.
Doing a sound tech for the 90s night with the band all thinking that I could sing and quickly realising I could not. The suggestion was that I could just speak the lyrics. I chose to sing. Badly, but most importantly proudly.

What is your experience as an independent artist being part of the Melbourne Fringe?
Pretty great and supportive.

Your advice for choosing what to see in the Melbourne Fringe?
If you are looking at a show in the guide and you read the blurb and can’t work out if it’s going to be the most amazing undiscovered gem or a steaming pile of rat poo, you need to go and see that show.

Do you think there’s a better system than star ratings for reviews?
Replace stars with cakes. If it’s a one star show, the performer gets one cake. The reviewer has to hand over the cake in person to the performer then give the review while performer gets to eat the cake.

Five shows/events that you will not miss at the 2017 Melbourne Fringe.
Tessa Waters: Volcano
Adam Mckenzie: Laser Light
Rama Nicholas in The Lucky Ones
Pee Stick
Lady Bunny in Trans-Jester

Midsumma quickies

Fag Boy and the Married Guy
La Mama, Tunks Productions

18 January 2013

La Mama

to 27 January

midsumma.org.au

The oddest thing about Fag Boy and the Married Guy is that the plot is detailed in its program guide description (and the title does away with the need for the first few minutes of the show), so there are no surprises and no tension if you've read it. Maybe don't read the program guide if you want to see it.

Cock

La Mama, An Untitled Theatre Company

18 January 2013

La Mama

to 27 January

midsumma.org.au

Meanwhile, also at La Mama, Cock isn't what its title suggests.

Written and devised with his cast (Hikaru Freeman, Daniel Kilby, Josh Dore, Richard Manzart, Grant Morrisey), Kevin McGreal's work is an experiment in form that uses the unique talents of his cast to look at questions about gay male culture from different perspectives. And, of course, it's not just about cock.

Using dance, song and monologue, some pieces work better than others and as a whole the work needs some shaping, but it's made from the hearts, frustrations and loves of its makers, which is why I haven't written any cock jokes. 

Turns out I do like sundried tomatoes

Geraldine Hickey

17 January – 9 February

midsumma.org.au

I saw Geraldine's show in the comedy festival last year. It was terrific then and I expect it's even better now.

Here's my review.

MICF review: Geraldine Hickey

MICF 2012

Turns Out I Do Like Sun Dried Tomatoes

Geraldine Hickey

29 March 2012

Portland Hotel

to 22 April

comedyfestival.com.au

I saw Geraldine Hickey in a Fringe show in 2009 and I'm finally seeing her standup. Yay. Gorgeous, filthy and deliciously satisfying, Turns Out I Do Like Sun Dried Tomatoes celebrates the realisation that being yourself really beats trying to fit in.

Geraldine loves (really, really loves) crocodiles, thinks John Masden writes brilliant books and has short neatly trimmed finger nails. I have three pairs of Crocs (that I really love; yes, really), read Marsden's Tomorrow series in my late 30s and have long finger nails painted in glitter that chips off. One of us is celebrating coming out.

This Comedy Festival, Geraldine looks back over her life and wonders why she didn't see the signs. Well she did, but there was a bit of in and out (and a bit of in and out) in the meantime. 

Confusing her bogan tendencies with being a lesbian, growing up in conservative Liberal-voting country Victoria, and dealing with her Christian faith and the ridiculous tenets of Catholicism didn't help. She thought that the hating of skirts, the Melissa Etheridge posters and her passion for cricket should have made her realise, but then even her loving having sex with women didn't do it.

Fortunately for her (and I'm sure some very lucky women), that's all changed and, even if her mum might give the show a miss, we'll all celebrate with her and keep fighting until she can have a caravan park wedding just like her sister's.

This review appeared 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.

Lorraine’s Hair and Face

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2009
Lorraine’s Hair and Face
Bella Union
29 September 2009
Trades Hall, Old Council Chambers

How we love laughing at bogans, bad coifs and atrocious coffee, so what better place to set an Aussie musical than an outer-suburb hair salon? Being a bit ‘obsessed by hairs’ myself, I booked in for a cut-price special and cup of International Roast* at Lorraine’s Hair and Face.

Andrea Powell, Scott Brennan and Geraldine Hickey are co-owners and creators of Lorraine’s. Powell’s Lorraine runs the salon with an ironing tong fist and her long-time assistant Jade hasn’t been paid in years. When local beauty guru, Pam Panache, books in for a treatment, the tide seems to be turning and Lorraine may even outshine her rival, Joyce from Price Cuts.

From Major Jizz to a courtesy finger, the word play has the subtlety of a diamante g-string pulled over the fold of a bulging muffin top, but as Lorraine buys her biscuits at Aldi**, any class would just seem out of place.

Powell and Brennan are always funny, but Hickey stands back and steals the show. With immaculate timing and a deep understanding of joke, she makes the audience love her downtrodden Jade, so we’re with her on every laugh. We’re laughing at the other characters, who, as hilariously grotesque as they are, could be approached with a touch more love to create the recognition and empathy that leads to belly laughs.

Being preview night, there was room for a bit of tidying up at the salon, but the improvised interaction between the performers (rather than the characters) added to the fun. The songs are a hoot, but it’s not really a musical, as the singing could easily disappear without distracting from the story. However, I’d love to see the musical side of Lorraine’s develop and leave us singing our way out into Lygon Street, grateful that espresso and biscotti are within reach.

*I didn’t really drink any International Roast, or any instant ‘coffee’ for that matter.
** I don’t like food from Aldi either.

And here's what John Richards wrote about the next season.

More 2009 Fringe reviews.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.