What Melbourne loved in 2012, part 7

Today Matt Kelly talks about the "horrific flaying of one's dignity", Tom Molyneux says how LePage sent him to MacDonalds and Nicole Eckersley remembers No Child.

Matt Kelly
actor, poo aficianado

Matt and Richard Higgins (The List Operators) are in the middle of developing a new show (hooray), but he couldn't miss putting his favourites in.

photo by Max Milne: Matt and the giant poo

MATT: Summertime in the Garden of Eden and Miles and Simone's album launch.

SM: My favourite Matt moment was his playing an ass's arse and baby Jesus (in a rainbow adult diaper) in the Last Tuesday Society's Xmas ballet. It made me understand the meaning of "Good god".

MATT: That photo sums up everything that I love about Last Tuesday Society. It's a wonderful collection of weirdos who will do everything they can to make the audience laugh. Often it involves an unquestioned and horrific flaying of one's dignity. Miles playing a donkey, Richard dressing as a giant shit, Bron's jazz ballet. And well, the photo ... fuck it ... use it if it makes you laugh!

SM: It made me laugh. If that's not art, buggered if I know what is.

Tom Molyneux

actor

TOM: I've thoroughly enjoyed the smorgasbord of theatre in Melbourne in 2012; although, haven't been able to see nearly as much as I would have liked. Some memorable moments were the classy performances in The Wild Duck, the unrestrained hilarity and beauty in The Rabble's Orlando, the delicious mind-fuckery that was Enter Certain Outlaws as part of Short and Sweet, and just about everything that was On the production of monsters. 

But the one that stands out above all others was Robert LePage's Lipsynch. Despite being exhausted and hungover, despite the fact that it was nigh impossible to get any food at the Arts Centre (and Swanston St Maccas became the only viable option...) and despite the fact that this sprawling nine-hour epic could easily have been two hours long without losing a great deal, I came out the other end of it with a mile-wide grin and the satisfaction of having completed an endurance theatre event that challenged and provoked in more ways than I can remember. It was pretty rad.

Oh, and I can't neglect to mention the fantastic work that is coming out of the next generation of theatre-makers through universities. Some truly experimental and cutting-edge stuff being done there, it's a shame that so many people miss out on it!

SM: Tom was one of the wonderful cast of The Well, but it was his performance in Falling Petals that made me pay attention.

Nicole Eckersley
Skewers hapless artists in words for Artshub

There was so much deliciousness in theatre this year that I barely know where to start. 2012 has been a great year for genius off-kilter comedy. Fringe was a goldmine of joy, with Slow Clap's Truth, The Unspoken Word Is 'Joe' and The Lichtenstein Nursing Home Massacre burning little holes of hysterical laughter in the programme. At Next Wave, Wheyface's post-apocalyptic museum of 20th-century ephemera was utterly fascinating and deadpan hilarious, and Karlis Zaid and Karin Muizniek's Australian Horror Story (which ran for about 43 seconds at Chapel Off Chapel) had me mopping tears of laughter from my eyes with my delicate lace-edged handkerchief. Okay, so it was my sleeve.

On the serious side, it's hard to go past Nilaja Sun's astonishing No Child at the Melbourne Festival, which was everything a one-human show should be: funny, insightful, immaculately characterised, tearjerking and totally, utterly brilliant. Usually it takes a good thirty seconds for a standing ovation to properly get going; this one took about two. I have never seen an audience leap out of their seats that fast.

SM: I met Nicole at the nine-hour experience of Lipsynch. May we never forget the inspirational bliss of such endless cheese. Not the art, the catering. (Sorry, Tom. We didn't have to go to evil Ms.)

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

part 8

part 9

part 10

part 11

It's stopping at part 10, so if you're thinking of sending your moments in, now is time.

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

GIVEAWAY: Kunst ist Scheisse

We can’t go to a dingy club in 1930s Berlin for a taste of Weimar Kabaret, but Melbourne has some fine dingy alleys and we can speak some German at the long awaited return of Kunst ist Scheisse on Wednesday 30 June and sample comedy, circus, burlesque and ‘arty shit’ from the Melbourne’s finest alternative cabaret artists.

Long before Australia Has Talent, artists would gather in clubs to discuss culture and politics over espressos and absinthe – and perform. With critical eyes and adventurous spirits, these dissident performers took risks, took liberties and took their audience somewhere shockingly new.  And the cabaret tradition still thrives.

Kunst ist Scheisse (Art is Shit) first appeared six years ago in a Brunswick Street bar and the monthly show featured many artists who are now among Melbourne’s favourites (and mine).  After a three-year run, the organisers developed their own shows and regularly appeared at The Last Tuesday Society.

The welcome back Kunst show is at 24 Moons, Melbourne’s newest cocktail bar in ACDC Lane, and will rock all night long with host Eva Johansen (part clown, part ingénue), house band The Suitcase Royale (before they head off to the UK again) and a program that reads like an award ceremony with a line up who have won Golden Gibbo, Green Room, Barry and Melbourne Fringe awards and wowed the toughest critics in Melbourne, the UK and the US.

With most of the performers regularly selling out their individual shows, this is an extraordinary opportunity to see The List Operators, Wes Snelling, The Caravan of Love and David Quirk. And check out record-breaking juggler Earl Shatford and dance artist Jess Devereaux.

Kunst ist Sheisse promises a different line up each fortnight and it’ll pay to arrive early as the venue is intimate.

More information is on their Facebook page. Or be at 24 Moons in ACDC Lane from 8pm on Wednesday.

GIVEAWAY

Kunst ist Scheisse has free double pass for a Sometimes Melbourne reader. If you'd like to come along on Wednesday 30 June, email your name to kunst@internode.on.net by 5 pm on Tuesday 29 June with Sometimes Melbourne as your subject.  The winner's name will be drawn out of a bowler hat and the winner will be emailed on Tuesday night. 

Photo by Telia Neville

The List Operators for Kids

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2009
The List Operators for Kids
Matt Kelly and Richard Higgins
30 September 2009
Fringe Hub, Lithuanian Club

Jumper? Check. Moustache? Check. The List Operators for Kids is bum burping its way through the Fringe kids program and after this hour, your children may burn their High-4-Wiggles DVDs in protest against sanitised, nice kid’s entertainment.

TLO have given us groan ups some serious giggles with their witty discussions about semiotics and their Santa visual gag, but this is the audience they really deserve; this is the crowd that let Matt and Rich reveal their true selves.

Anyone who has spent more than three seconds with anyone who still calls animation ‘cartoons’ and prefers wascally wabbits to anime porn, knows that there are really only four very funny things: farts, poo, rude words and men pretending to be old ladies. And how could I disagree.

Luckily, this show has an abundance of all four (and I am glad that some of my favourite rude words didn’t make an appearance). TLO4K never doubts that kids are smarter than adults and, at times, play near the edge. And their audience love every second of it. And I mean the adults as well. 

Take every child you know to see The List Operators for Kids. If you don’t have access to any little tackers to take along, kidnap some. Or cut your legs off, pull out your old Scooby Doo t-shirt and find a grown up willing to take you.

Riley (5) sat with me and, although he had a bit of trouble reading the signs on the stage and he wasn’t chosen to work the computer, it didn’t really matter because his favourite bit was the Ninga Nan.

More 2009 Fringe reviews.

The review originally appeared on AussieThearte.com.

The List Operators

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2009
The List Operators
The Last Tuesday Society
3 April 2009
Melbourne Town Hall

Simmering underneath the populist level of “fuck, cunt, wank”, “bogan slut in ugg boots” and “our train system sux” bonza Aussie comedians is a seam of independent work too good to ever be seen on a footy show. Topping the list is ... forgive me ... The List Operators.

The List Operators (Matthew Kelly and Richard Higgins) first appeared at early Last Tuesday Society performances and their Melbourne Fringe season sold out. They continue to leave me bleeding internally and have destroyed my ability to watch a certain ABC show without running to the screen and touching you-know-who in the you-know-what area.

With lists as diverse as “10 alternative ways to open a show” ,“Things that are hard to spell” and “Countries it’s OK to be racist about”, the Operators had me squirming at the most-wrong-ever Santa joke, joyously giggling at a wind up puppy and pretentiously sniggering about semiotics.

Their recipe-list for bad stand up comedy may be too close for many comedians about town, but it proves how well they know their genre. The uptight, angry, straight (as in conservative/boring/rod up his arse) bloke and adorable idiot is an over-used formula, but Higgins and Kelly add enough illegally imported and drunkenly-bought-on-e-bay-at-3am ingredients to create characters we recognise, but haven’t met before. Their lists are a hoot, their sketches rib cracking, but the unrelated material wouldn’t gel without these cementing characters.

There’s nothing wrong with seeing your favourite telly or radio star rant on a stage, but you know exactly what you’re going to see. Grab a ticket to something smaller and be thrilled by the experience of something original. And when these artists start appearing on the telly in a couple of years – you can boast that you saw them before they became famous.

For a choice grab of the best, The Last Tuesday Society (including the Operators) is meeting at on the first Tuesday of every week during the festival.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

The List Operators

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008
The List Operators
Festival Hub

Eleven reasons to see The List Operators

1. Finally, a show that explains and discusses linguistic theory and the relationship between the signifier and the signified.

2. Really crappy t-shirts that may, or may not, be referencing Flight of the Conchords.

3. A chance to win a prize.

4. If you have never seen the film The Bodyguard, the plot is summarised – so you will never have to see it.

5. You may discover if Matt and/or Richard would shag you.

6. The opportunity to cathartically and publically apologise to someone you once wronged.

7. Juicy fruit puns.

8. Jesus on a ping-pong bat. Oh, Yeah!

9. Learning and applying the phrase ‘swimsuit area’.

10. You can get a present that could help you with Number 3 if you arrive 75 minutes early and also see Nothing Extraordinary Ever Happens in Toowoomba. (Ever.) in the same venue. This show is nothing like The List Operators, but the writing, performance and direction are totally grouse – and you get that helpful present.

11. The List Operators is refreshingly original, surprising and bloody funny. With immaculate comic timing, Matt Kelly and Richard Higgins deftly balance character and personality, as they try to camouflage their intelligence with some really bad props.

Five reasons not to see The List Operators

1. You may discover that Matt and/or Richard would shag you.

2. If you have seen the film ‘The Bodyguard’, you could publically humiliate yourself by quickly recognising the plot.

3. You are recovering from recent abdominal surgery and your doctor has advised you not to laugh in case you burst your stitches.

4. It’s so good, it might sell out.

5. If you find yourself sitting near the front, on the left side of the room,  you will see Matt’s arse crack.