Tall Tales Of The Woodland

"Cute, yet filthy" is how my wife described 'Claire Hooper's Fables' after we had been to see the show, a description which is perfectly fitting for a show containing tales of anthropomorphised woodland and farmyard creatures engaged in acts which range from poor sportsmanship to filthy furry perversion.
Hooper walks on to the stage to the strains of 'Peter and the Wolf', smiling sweetly and gazing at the audience with wide blue eyes, carrying a large red tome of fables which she places on a stand and opens.
We are regaled for the next 50 minutes with hilariously silly and some downright ridiculous tales in which various creatures lie, steal, cheat and stomp their way to a (im)moral ending.
Hooper tells the tails with a lightness and humour which is immediately engaging as she begins and carries through to the final line, with relevant mimes which illustrate which animal she is voicing at any one instant.
Her audience was kept highly amused by her antics and we laughed throughout. The twisted variations on familiar morality tales kept the humour flowing and were all well told.
This show is on at the Fringe Hub in North Melbourne until October 5th.

Twice The Prejudice, Twice The Fun

Presented as a series of vignettes exploring what it means to be gay in the traditionally robustly heterosexual black community, 'Black Faggot' is a though-provoking, touching and often amusing performance at the Rehearsal Room of the Fringe Hub in North Melbourne.
There is the young man who is too scared to come out to his family and friends for fear of rejection (despite many of them being perfectly aware of his orientation), the happily married man who 'accidentally' finds himself in a gay bar and the gay couple who are very active in the bedroom, which has unfortunate consequences for any fabrics in the line of fire - so to speak.
The vignettes present as criss-crossing windows into the lives of several recurring characters whose stories gradually develop over the course of the 50 minutes we spend with them. Some characters resolve the issues in their lives which arise from them being gay and some have new issues develop, but they all are changed by what they encounter.
This is a highly entertaining and enlightening show with two excellent central performances and is showing until October 5th.

Confused Gender Comedy

The Butterfly Club is a fine cabaret and comedy venue which relocated from the South of the city into the very heart of it some months ago, bringing along its eclectic collection of dolls, trinkets, pictures, furniture and nick-nacks.
Last night I was there to see 'Corps(e)' a play with musical interludes concerning itself with the fascinating tale of Le Chevalier d'Eon who was a spy and bon vivant during the reign of Louis XV performed by drag artiste Simon Morrison-Baldwin.
Sadly, that's about all I can tell you about the story as my wife and I could make neither head nor tail of due to the rambling nature of the exposition, the forgetfulness of the performer and the sudden insertion of songs which did not appear relevant to the tale.
Perhaps I am judging this production too harshly as it garnered decent amounts of applause from the majority of our fellow patrons and perhaps it will improve over its run, but - given the brevity of the run and the fact that this was the second night - I have my doubts.
This show clearly needs further rehearsal time to allow Morrison-Baldwin time to become more familiar with the character and his lines. The accompanist was effortlessly professional, providing the necessary prompts throughout and leant the necessary air of refined restraint to the production.
All-in-all this was a disappointing show which could have been so much more given the time and effort.

Magical Moves

Today's Fringe adventure took me out to the South of the city and the Gasworks Arts Centre where two young female performers - magician Lee Cohen and acrobat Emma Shephard - have a show.

Titled 'Voila' this is a show the whole family can enjoy featuring dancing light people, hula-hoops, doves, songs, a mermaid performing aerial acrobatics and a guinea pig. There may also be a rabbit, but that all depends on how large your wand is, apparently.

The audience interaction is good gentle fun with a slight hint of pantomime and the occasional piece of participation on stage required.

Both Cohen and Shephard expertly hold the attention of the audience for the entire 50 minute runtime - no mean feat when much of the audience is under 12 - and have a warm, friendly stage presence.

If you're looking for something to keep the kids entertained in what remains of the holidays this show certainly fits the bill. There are two remaining performances on October 5th at midday and 5pm at the Gasworks Art Centre near Albert Park.

Circus Transformed

I had been invited by the mysterious Ella Bella to bear witness to something strange and wonderful.
My instructions were to meet at the Wonderland Spiegeltent in Harbour Town. So, leaving the relative warmth of the People's Republic of Brunswick, I ventured across and through the CBD and out to the windswept concrete and steel expanse that is Docklands.
Finding the Spiegeltent itself out behind the shopping precinct I stepped inside to discover what could possibly be worth all the cloak and dagger. I emerge into a space containing many foldable wooden chairs arranged around a central, circular stage with a larger, more conventional stage at the front.
'Papillon' commences with a balancing act in which the two usherettes and a stagehand drop whatever they were doing and perform some breathtaking feats of acrobatics and balance, culminating in a three-tier balance that has the packed house cheering and clapping madly.
Our ringmaster, Idris Stanton, then bounds to the stage and warms up the audience ready for the next act. Idris, dressed in a well tailored cavalryman's tailcoat complete with epaulettes and shiny gold buttons, is a consummate  showman who knows how to keep the audience entertained between acts without overshadowing any of the acts he introduces.
And what acts we get! The stagehand from the initial routine (a very agile and strong Vincent Van Berkel) returns and takes to the circular stage to perform some truly incredible hand balancing and aerial leg work supported only by two tiny plinths. This act culminates with a piece that had many parts of the audience wolf-whistling and clapping madly.
Petite, sultry chanteuse Minnie Andrews is next and blows the audience away with her silky smooth, rich vocal tones.
Act after act the audience is entertained by Elena Kirschbaum, Amy  Nightingale-Olsen, Joshua Phillips, as well as the aforementioned Stanton, Van berkel and Andrews.
This is excellent family entertainment which, as the title suggests (papillon being French for butterfly), will transform any evening into something wondrous.
Papillon is on at the Spiegeltent until October 5th.

Blood, Guts And Greasepaint

As the audience enter the room in which 'MKA: Kids Killing Kids' will be performed they are first offered some dried mango to chew on as they are directed to wander about the space for a few minutes, reading the pieces which have been posted on the walls and inspecting the various objects on tables before they take their seats.
An unconventional beginning to a show which is part lecture, part performance and part social commentary. The four actors on stage are the writers and producers of a production in the Philippines inspired by 'Battle Royale' - a book from 1999 by Koushun Takami and later adapted into a film - and the subsequent cult status it garnered, along with the consequent criticism including that from the UN. For those unfamiliar with 'Battle Royale', the story follows a group of teen students who have been drugged and dumped in an unknown location where they are given weapons and ordered to kill one another until only one survives.
This show, however, is the story of how a theatre group in the Philippines creates a production so involving for the audience that not only would getting too close to the action be hazardous to life and limb, but also that inspired near-obsessive levels of character worship from those who attended.

Using a variety of media and performance styles - monologue, rap, dance, collage, video, slide-projection - to get their message across, the performers - David Finnigan, Sam Burns-Warr, Georgie McAuley, Jordon Prosser - eloquently and effectively convey the bizarre nature of what transpires in Manila and acknowledge their own complicity in what becomes a discomfiting craze of hero-worship for mass-murdering school kids. Albeit - fictional ones.

This is a thought-provoking piece which looks at the relationship between art and real life and the possible effect one has on the other. There is no final judgement here, only a statement of the facts and the audience is left to make their own decisions.

'MKA: Kids Killing Kids' is on at the Warehouse theatre in the Fringe Hub, North Melbourne until Thursday 3rd October. 

We're All Going To Hell!

Take one room, seating about 60 people and fill it with an audience consisting mostly of comedians and other performers and the occasional unsuspecting punter who just wanted a show to see.
On the stage place two long planks of wood in a cruciform arrangement to which the arms of Josh Ladgrove are taped at the wrists.
Let the heckling commence!
'Come Heckle Christ!' was a one-performance show at the Imperial Hotel, Bourke Street last night which people either loved or hated. It is most certainly not for those whose idea of comedy or performance begins and ends with Morecambe and Wise.
Fifty minutes of insults and abuse were hurled at Ladgrove's messianic noggin, punctuated by some pauses as the crowd regrouped for another volley. As the show progressed Ladgrove had his Tech - Mary Magdalene - produce a Bible from which he would recite randomly selected passages and the heckling would grow louder.
The vast majority of people in the room were very much in the spirit of things with shouts and laughter aplenty from all sides, but there were one or two who appeared baffled and unstirred by the events surrounding them.
Were they Catholics? Lost?
This show is not for everyone. Actually - this show is not for most people, but I certainly found it funny as hell, appropriately enough. Let's hope he brings it back for the Comedy Festival.

You Know How to Laugh, Don't You?

Beau Stegmann is a very funny young man and his new show 'Here's Looking At Me' is a solid one with a central stand-up performance from himself which had the audience in fits of giggles throughout.
There's a central thought running through this show - is Beau as manly and cool as Bogart? And if not, can he try to be?
We are taken on a journey, via comic tales of everyday adventures and mishaps, through Stegmann's attempts to give himself purpose and perhaps emulate the man he has come to idolise - Bogart.
There will be tales of trying to watch as many of the best films ever made as possible, attempted fame, drunken encounters with AFL stars, romance and being fired.
Stegmann's delivery is always bright and affable, dealing with heckles in a no-nonsense manner.
I look forward to where this young man goes next in his career. Surely it can only be up.
Hilarious observational comedy from a young professional. Highly recommended.
Beau Stegmann is performing at the Imperial Hotel until October 6th.

WTF Comedy

Some things defy explanation or description.
Dr. Prof. Neal Portenza is one.
This clown of a man (portrayed by the very talented Josh Ladgrove - see my other review) takes to the stage wearing blue eyeliner and rouge and dressed in what appears to be a surgical gown over which is a lab coat, a red beret perched atop his hirsute head.
'Love Muffins' at the Tuxedo Cat on Wills Street is a selection of 'the best bits' from previous shows and includes multiple-choice interactive quizzes, Sean Connery, Fishboy, Irn Bru, self-defence classes and the return of the fearsome Gary Portenza - Neal's evil twin.
The whole event culminates in a participatory moment of joyfully mad chaos that has everyone in the room throwing stress balls everywhere.
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this show and laughed ourselves silly - although, we have absolutely no idea why...
Portenza as a character is bumbling idiot of a man with long hair and beard and a childlike innocence which encourages the audience to just go along with his stupidly mad schemes. It takes a lot of hard work to make something look this seemingly shambolic and it pays-off in spades.
If you can't afford or don't trust LSD, this show is possibly the closest to a trippy experience you are likely to get for very little money.
'Love Muffins' is playing until the end of the Melbourn Fringe.

The Comedy of Coincidence

'Twice Shy' - on at Loop off Bourke Street in Melbourne CBD - tells a light and charming tale of two young souls who literally bump into one another on the street one evening and fall in love.
We meet our protagonists separately during little vignettes which illustrate the disappointment and lack of romance present in each of their lives.
One is a PA to a boorish man at a nameless company who treats her like a doormat and ignores all of the creative ideas which she tries meekly to propose at meetings.
The other is a Palaeontologist whose daily grind of being jammed on trams and trying to avoid the attentions of one of his co-workers leaves him tired and feeling alone.

This is a great little piece of theatre with excellent performances from Joel Checkley and Shannon Woodford who play over a dozen characters each including one another's pets. Who knew that seeing someone perform as a goldfish could be so delightful?

The on-stage performances are assisted in their storytelling by carefully placed segments of slide show projection and video footage which help illustrate each protagonist's past.

This show is a delight to watch and a lovely contrast to some of the more intense shows on at the Fringe. It is on until October 1st.

Shock And Awe Theatre

As last night's performance of 'MKA - Unsex Me' ended, my wife turned to me, saying, "Review that!" throwing a metaphorical gauntlet at my feet.
Well - challenge accepted!
Firstly, let me say that this is not a show for the squeamish. Or those who dislike overt sexual content, audience participation, heteronormative zealots or Andrew Bolt (although watching his blood-pressure rise throughout until his head went 'Pop!' would be diverting).
You will no doubt hear about this show through its notoriety and the outrage it will provoke in those bastions of morality and purity - the mainstream press. Most of this will focus on one single scene which is the most confronting act I have witnessed performed live on stage. I won't spoil the surprise just in case you happen to be curious enough to want to see this show.
In isolation, with no supporting context, the scene has no justification other than to shock and disgust, but in the context of this full performance it establishes a back story to the twisted and perverse personality of our protagonist, the award-winning actress Mark Wilson.
Yes - you read that last part correctly.
Wilson's performance here is astonishing. Full of passion and utterly fearless, he dominates the small stage of Son of Loft at the Lithuanian Club for the entire 50 minutes of the show's run time, never once betraying any signs of trepidity. He handles the spectrum of performance required of him very professionally and is equally convincing when answering dull questions from an unseen interviewer as he is during the more intense scenes later on.
The venue was completely sold-out and when we arrived, there was another room full of people loitering in the hopes of sneaking-in at the back. They were to be sorely disappointed.
If you have an open mind and very few hang-ups, then give this a try - but you have been warned.
'MKA: UnSex Me' is on at the Lithuanian Club until October 5th.

Sinclair's Full Spectrum

Neil Sinclair's show 'Charmingly Useless', on at the Imperial Hotel on Spring Street, is a greatest hits selection of the best bits from his previous shows at MICF and Fringe.
In the case of this comedian familiarity does not breed contempt, but only becomes more hilarious with the growing anticipation of what one knows will follow.
The venue was packed for the performance and the audience responsive, laughing loudly at Sinclair's absurd observations and silly one-liners.
Sinclair shares his observations on life such as the remarkable similarity betwixt his cat vomiting and a more intimate area of his life; how people are not always entirely honest in their interactions with each other; just how encyclopaedic his knowledge of AFL is and being sold a slightly shonky jingle for promoting his electrical repairs venture.
There are jokes aplenty in this show and a good night will be had. 'Charmingly Useless' is on until October 6th.

Peerless Wireless Comedy

Remember the thrill of sitting beside the wireless, tuning into the latest adventures of 'Dick Barton - Special Agent'? Or listening late at night to terrifying stories in 'Haunted Tales of the Supernatural'?
No? Neither do I, but now we all have the chance to experience the thrill our parents and grandparents experienced thanks to the good people of 'Radio Variety Hour'.
The cast of actors - Bert Maverick, Una Broben and Herb Dunstone - lead the audience through fifty minutes of hardbitten detective drama, swoonsome teeny bop crooning and chilling terror in suburbia.
This is a love letter to the days when the pictures were always better on radio - only this time we actually get to see those pictures for real.
The real-life cast of Lauren Bok (Broben), Sam Marsden (Dunstone) and Bert Goldsmith (Maverick) effortlessly slip from character to character and keep the audience entertained in between the On-Air segments with some acidic sniping and banter as disharmony is sewn between our heroes with the arrival of the flickering temptress that is television.
Will our heroes reconcile their differences? Or will Una hit the big-time and jump ship for the allure of Channel 9? Why is there a cabbage on stage?
If you want an answer to those questions and so many more, then get yourselves down to the Lithuanian Club before October 5th.

Laughter Is Good For The Soul

Can you write a soul song about absolutely anything?
Well - Kai Smythe gives it a red-hot go and produces a series of belting tunes which knock the socks off those in attendance.
Swaggering on stage to a rousing accompaniment from the backing band, his whole body swallowed by a ridiculous fur coat, Smythe stands with his back to the audience and draws the microphone to him from its place embedded in a polystyrene rock at the front of the stage using his special soul-inspired Force powers.
What follows is fifty-minutes of great tunes and off-the-wall comedy which has the audience tapping their feet and laughing loudly.
Smythe certainly can sing and the band are very good indeed, the brass section being worthy of special mention in particular for vibrant bursts of horn during the songs.
A fun show with energy and enthusiasm from all concerned, 'Hairy Soul Man' is on at the Lithuanian Club Fridays and Saturdays until the end of the Festival.

Heisenberg Rules The Stage

A young lady wearing a blindfold feels her way on-stage and takes her seat. Remaining blindfolded she unwraps a package beside her chair and we are informed through a series of written cards that we are now watching 'Homage to Uncertainty' - then the stage goes dark.
What follows is a peculiar combination of monologues, situationist comedy and gentle clowning performance. There are great stretches of silence during this performance and great dollops of confronting honesty. Sometimes it appears that Emma Beech has lost her thread and she even leaves the room at one point, apparently on an errand.
The show is one of the most interesting and confusing pieces I have yet seen at this Festival and is very true to the title. Nothing is certain here. Not even who the audience are.
It's a show that prompts one to think about unfinished business, missed opportunities, the unexpected nature of life and what the hell is actually happening on stage.
Beech is an engaging performer who, despite her supposed uncertainty in some matters, knows precisely what she is doing and manages the situations she presents with an effortless naturalness which makes some of the odder aspects of the show just as engaging as those which are more conventional.
I thoroughly enjoyed this performance and, appropriately enough, I'm not entirely certain why...

Comedy In Sweet Harmony

Our fringe adventures continued last night with 'Lady Sings It Better' in which four female singers take to the Ballroom stage of the Lithuanian Club in North Melbourne and perform renditions of tunes one would normally associate with male performers.
The beginning six-minute Jacksons medley is beautifully performed with alternating vocals between the four members and well-placed mugging and pantomime acting.
This is no-nonsense entertainment with great songs sung with real passion. In between the pieces it is explained that some songs may have hidden messages which may not immediately be obvious from either the lyrics or the melody but which we can hear when sung from a different perspective as they are here.
Hearing Usher, Queen and others delivered in this unique manner is both entertaining and enlightening as the fresh interpretations cast new light on familiar messages.
The banter between the four performers is light and frothy and constantly funny with the audience laughing throughout and the cabaret element adds a welcome element of uncertainty and fun as the four descend from the stage and prowl the audience seeking laps on which to sit and shoulders over which they can drape themselves as they sing.
This show provides a great hour of musical entertainment which will be enjoyed by anyone who loves cabaret and is playing at the Lithuanian Club until the end of the Fringe.

Dancing The Night Away

Scary, stary, hairy, Irishman Dave Callan takes to the stage in the Ballroom at the Lithuanian Club in North Melbourne and the audience gasps in disappointment. His arm is in a sling. It's broken.
This is a blow to an audience who had hoped to see this Billy Connolly doppelgänger bust some moves.
Thankfully it's all a ruse and Callan soon discards his sling, his backing dancers join him and we get a quick summary of dancing through the ages, from whatever it is that cavemen did (Walk The Dinosaur?) through the daintiness of Tudor dancing all the way up to the subtlety and finesse of Twerking.
Callan is accompanied throughout by two professional dancers - Clare Nica and Melissa Bruce - who gamely dress in some ridiculous costumes and join-in the more ridiculous and sillier aspects of the show. The night on which I saw the show there was a brave attempt at that moment from 'Dirty Dancing' which was breathtaking.
A word of warning to anyone sitting in the front row - there will be pelvic thrusting and it may be directed toward you. Try to remain calm. I just laughed hysterically and then got compared to Kenny Loggins.
This is a funny, energetic and surprising show. The very fact that this statuesque, gangly and hirsute man can work his way through so many dances, culminating in some impressive pole work is nothing short of impressive.
I saw this on the last night of the current run, but am assured it will return at MICF 2014 so would urge you to see it.

Does Comedy Belong In Science?

RAW Comedy finalist Andy Matthews' new show 'String Theory' is silly. Very, very silly. It is also very, very clever. To explain how the two are connected you may need to be far cleverer than this reviewer, all I know is I laughed myself senseless.
So - what is String Theory?
A series of tall tales told on stage by a man with thick glasses and blonde hair, accompanied by a wandering live soundtrack provided by a keyboard player (Matthews' brother) from the rear of the stage.
During the show the audience learns the innermost thoughts of Captain Flinders; hears of the videogaming triumphs of an octogenarian farmer and peers into the decision-making process for selecting a new national anthem.
Are any of these things connected?
It depends on your perspective and whether or not you can see in eleven dimensions.
This is a show full of intelligent, surreal comedy which brims with ideas and which leaves the audience laughing and thinking.

Cabaret With Balls

Imagine the Joker from Batman as ballad-singing cabaret artiste with a nice line in filthy humour. In stack-heeled slingbacks.
King Kohonas as portrayed by Simon Palomares is a brash, confident character who takes the stage by the scruff of the neck and rattles it about enthusiastically for the best part of an hour. He is assisted in this endeavour by three excellent musicians playing drums, piano, accordion and sax who occasionaly look slightly terrified at the antics happening around them. Actually, the pianist seems to be the one person who can bring Kohonas back on-script - usually by pointing to the score.
The tunes on offer range wide and far. There is Piaf, there is tango, there is blues and more, all delivered in a characteristically belting style by Palomares.
This is not a show for the meek or those unwilling to participate and interact with the performer as Kohonas prowls the aisle between songs conversing with his audience and looking for people to invite on stage.
One highlight comes during a touchingly romantic Spanish ballad during which Kohonas and his latest helper twist tissue to form a gardenia. This forms an oasis of gentle calm in an otherwise  manic show and all the more touching for it.
King Kohonas is performing at the Butterfly Club until October 5th.

Love And Death In VIC

Take one talented actress, a wild-west setting, one spunky cowgirl, a flamboyant flamenco dancer and Death as it might be portrayed by Danny Dyer. Add a sprinkling of oddball characters and stir. Now you've got the makings of 'Death Rides A Horse' a one-woman show about the hunt for purpose, love and revenge featuring a cast of over a dozen characters, each ably realised and performed by Rama Nicholas.
The show opens in a small town in the Wild West where we meet Katarina, a young cowgirl living in a whorehouse. Her parents are dead and she was abandoned on the steps of the whorehouse as a baby to be raised by the Madame there who has steered her away from wanting to join the ranks of her employees.
When the sleazy and corrupt town Sheriff - Boo! Hisss! - shoots and kills the Madame in an argument following Katarina's refusal to throw a horse race, our heroine shoots the Sheriff, killing him and goes on the run across the desert.
It is here that she encounters a delirious Flamenco dancer named Augusto who is trying to find and kill Death itself for taking his bride on their wedding day.
What follows is fine mismatched buddy comedy with romance and songs and quite a few surprises.
Nicholas herself is simply astonishing in this. She leaps from character to character - sometimes within the same song - effortlessly and appears to have boundless energy as she dances across the stage inhabiting each different perspective. The lyrics of each of the songs act as exposition and flesh-out the characters well.
Currently on at The Fringe Hub in North Melbourne it finishes its run on September 27th, this is an energetic and fun production with a stand-out central performance. Brilliant.

Première League Comedy

Luke McGregor's persona is not one which obviously implies someone suited to stand-up. Nervous, shy and stammering slightly, he interacts awkwardly throughout with the audience and they respond warmly.
There is always the sense that we are all waiting for the other shoe to drop and McGregor's true, aggressive persona to suddenly burst forth and surprise us with a barbed jibe - but this never happens.
'My Soulmate Is Out Of My League' - on at the Fringe Hub in North Melbourne - is self-deprecating stand-up which guides the audience through the trials of the comedian's love-life and more besides. There are musings on the awkwardness of chat-up situations, the etiquette of pre-sex bedroom preparation and how best to politely escape from a stilted conversation.
The laughs are plenty and I genuinely found tears of mirth rolling down my cheeks at various points. McGregor's jittery, bashful delivery belies the well-crafted nature of his act which effortlessly draws humour from painfully familiar situations in real life where you might wish for the earth to open-up and swallow you.
If you're early enough or lucky enough to see this at Fringe, I heartily recommend you do so. Just think twice before accepting the offer of the 'Premium Seating'.

Heart Felt Comedy

Puce muppet Randy sits atop his sofa, his trusty housemate and guitarist lying before him on the upholstery.
In his new show 'The Last Temptation of Randy' our felt-faced hero tells us a romantic tale of two star-crossed lovers and a chimney-dwelling squirrel which is touching and hilarious in turn with unexpected diversions prompted by some audience interaction.
If you've seen Randy before you'll be familiar with the Sesame Street on amphetamines performance and the fact that it takes only a matter of seconds for everyone to forget that they are watching a puppet and not just another stand-up.
There are points in this show where it sometimes appears that it is about to go completely off the rails as Randy goes off-piste and has a rant about something which has his accompanist corpsing beside him. However, he always manages to steer himself back into safe waters and carry-on.
This show takes us through the painful emotional uncertainties of life and the magical coincidences that light-up otherwise dull encounters. It even features a boat appearing from a sofa.
This is a funny, occasionally foul-mouthed, but ultimately touching show about those little insecurities within us all which, if we're not careful, can sabotage our lives and lead to daft decisions. It is on at the Fringe Hub in North Melbourne until October 5th.

Cage Reciting

There is a cage in front of the audience. It contains two young women, three skulls and half a mirror ball. The young women are slowly prowling the cage, devouring oranges segments hungrily, stripping flesh from skin and wiping the juice away from their mouths with the swipe of a hand. The stage is plunged into darkness and we begin.
'They Saw A Thylacine' at the Festival Hub in North Melbourne is a performance piece conducted by two young actresses each reciting accounts from people who had encounters with the now-extinct creature also known as the Tasmanian Tiger.
One tale comes from a young female tracker hoping to capture her quarry and sell it to a zoo. The other concerns the story of a woman zookeeper whose family falls on hard times during the Great Depression.
Although it seems slow to get started, both stories intrigue and draw the audience in quickly thereafter.
The lighting at the commencement of the performance is well-judged, slowly elevating from total darkness to a subdued form of lighting which casts the performers on a warm glow. This is animated by the occasional dance of incidental light reflected from the half mirror ball.
This is a show about the arrogance of mankind, our connection with nature and the uncaring treatment of both humans and animals.
Highly recommended.

Where Everybody Knows Your Theme

How well do you know your favourite sitcoms? Bert Goldsmith wants to find out, and if you know enough he'll throw sweets/lollies/candy at you as a reward.
His Fringe show - 'Sitcom Theme Song Sing-along' at the Imperial Hotel - is part group karaoke, part trivia show.
It's a simple and winning premise - count down the ten most popular theme tunes from sitcoms, sing along to each with the audience, intersperse with random trivia about people on those shows and quizzes about unlikely sitcom pilots.
This is a perfect show for a big crowd who just want a lot of silly fun - and lollies - after a night-out.

Outback Acrobats

Two ocka blokes sit on camping chairs by a tent, staring at the wilderness in the distance and drinking VB.
"Mate?", says one.
"Maaaaaaate!", the other replies.
Thus begins 'Cirque du Bloke' at the Lithuanian Club in north Melbourne.
There then follows fifty minutes of impressive acrobatics, juggling and deft physical comedy as these two blokes challenge one another to ever more ridiculous physical contests.
Highlights include balancing two eggs on a single stick, some potentially emasculating acrobatics in the camping chairs, a very physical drinking game and a 'Dirty Dancing' reference which had the audience in stitches.
The dialogue is sparse, yet hits the funny bone at precisely the right points and there are even the occasional topical political reference to surprise and delight.
This is one of those rare shows where I feel the need to mention the direction which has clearly been painstakingly conducted to ensure maximum efficiency from the performers in their routines.
There is not an ounce of flab in this tight, muscular show and I would certainly recommend it to all.

Dressed To Joke

Coming to the stage looking like the love-child of Chuck Norris and Slash from Guns 'n' Roses, Xander Allen certainly makes an impression even before he has opened his mouth.
His free show at The Imperial Hotel, 'Glam', is a non-stop 30 minutes of relentless stream-of-consciousness stand-up which will have you laughing hard and forgetting that rubbish day at work you just had.
On the night I attended there were noticeably quite a few comedians in the audience, which to me is certainly an indication of quality of humour. Xander's act covers his unusual appearance, his drunken exploits and his realisation that his target audience may be dentally challenged. All delivered with a pint of beer in one hand and a mike in the other.
Although it's a free show (gold coin donation on exit if you feel inclined), I've paid far more for shows far less enjoyable. Highly recommended. 

Stand-up That Jumps Out

How would you like to be remembered when you're dead?
This is the central idea behind Adam Knox's stand -up show at the Imperial Hotel 'People Crying "Adam Knox" As They Leap From Planes'.
This is a show which hits at the heart of something we all think about at the back of our heads, but never seriously acknowledge - what will our legacy be after we're gone? Will we even have one?
Knox takes his audience on a journey through the merits or otherwise of a number of ways in which they can be remembered after they have died. His affable, slightly self-deprecating style of delivery won the audience over the moment he took to the stage and his rendition of 'Sabotage' by The Beastie Boys is certainly unique. This is thoughtful, silly comedy with a nice through-line which pays-off satisfyingly at its conclusion.

Lab Coats At The Ready

The final show of the evening was 'The Experiment' in which our hosts - Asher Treleaven (real-world Terry Gilliam animation), Geraldine Hickey and Oliver Clarke - use the established scientific methodology of inverse audience response to determine if a small dog is more entertaining than a string of comedians.
Last night's comedians were Anne Edmonds, Claire Hooper, Simon Keck and Pat Burtscher. All competing against two small dogs one of which was wearing a bumble-bee balaclava which made it look like a Richmond supporter (yes, I had to look that up too).
The dogs won.
The line-up for this show is different each night and last night was the first night on which they had managed to get any dogs, but it's definitely worth it. The show runs until October 5th and there are no performances on Mondays, so go along and laugh yourself silly. Oh - and if you're thinking of being a smart-arse and heckling, it would seem that Asher is only too happy to verbally spar you into submission. You have been warned.

The Singer Who Fell To Earth

An alien from a distant, more technologically advanced, more evolved race comes to Earth to offer us the secret to ascending to a higher plane. All does not go to plan.
This was the second time that my wife and I had been to see Geraldine Quinn's show 'Stranger' having previously been during the Comedy festival. Since then Geraldine has been tweeking the songs and dialogue and the result is solidly entertaining.
It goes without saying that the woman can sing and write a good tune, but her sense of comedic timing is what makes this show. There are moments where she grimaces or glances sideways in a particular manner which have the audience giggling and laughing and are a real joy to behold. Her pratfalls jar perfectly with the self-proclaimed perfection of the character she is portraying and the way in which this character demonstrates their contempt and confusion for the foibles of we humans drives their development and foreshadows their undoing.
This show is worth going to to see multiple times and I would strongly urge anyone with an appreciation of musical comedy to do so.

Uniquely Singular Humour

Are you an only child?
I'm not - but I'm married to one. I mention this because Aleisha McCormack's show at Melbourne Fringe 'One of A Kind' is all about only children and how different societies and the media depict them.
There are gross generalisations about only children - selfish, pushy, overachievers, those sorts of things. This show tries to address some of those and vent a few frustrations at a society which still considers it cruel to only have one child.
Along the way there are little facts about only children and insights into the life of an only child.
There's an amiability to McCormack's performance which carries the show through and keeps the audience entertained throughout, ensuring that there is never a lull.
This is certainly a show to see if you want a bit of light humour or just want to find out how the other half lives. Alone. With fewer presents.

The Comedy Of Tragedy

Simon Keck's Fringe show 'Nob Happy Sock' shouldn't be funny yet it is. Hilariously so. There will be points where you'll wonder if you're sick in the head for laughing, but I can't comment on that - I'm still giggling at some of the lines.
At first glance (and second, and third) predicating 50 minutes of stand-up hilarity on a moment in life where the performer wanted and attempted to commit suicide sounds like the last thing you'd want to see for entertainment, but I encourage anyone to go to see this show.
Somehow simultaneously touching, hilarious, horrible and very, very honest, Simon Keck frankly talks about that slow death of the soul many of us endure in our daily lives, working jobs we hate so we can have money to pay for life's essentials and how that whole process can lead some of us to the darkest of places and, for the lucky few, out the other side to somewhere clearer, brighter and more hopeful.
If you are someone who has trouble admitting that, no, you're not alright or just a bloke, you should really see this show. If Beyond Blue ever wanted to get their message across more effectively then they could do much worse than hook themselves to Keck's train.
And next time I go past a mirror I'm high-fiving myself.

Up The Creek

'Wolf Creek: The Musical' is hilarious. Hands down one of the cleverest, most unexpected shows I have seen. Who knew that murdering backbackers in the Australian outback could prove such fertile ground for musical comedy.
Presented rather like an amdram production complete with dodgy cardboard props and shoehorned-in references to the fictional sponsor, this is a slick and deft comedy with excellent performances from the cast and delightful live accompaniment on piano.
I cannot recommend this show too highly, but a word of warning - you may find yourself humming a few of the tunes for days afterwards.

Comedy for Music Geeks

The final show of our first night at Tuxedo Cat during Melbourne Fringe was 'Fear of a Blog Planet - Al's Musical Rant' in which Al Newstead holds forth on the current state of the music industry, ably assisted by Anna O'Bryan, through stand-up, sketch and musical meddley.

If you've ever wanted to know how to correctly pronounce Bjork or Sigur Ros; learn how the collaborative process works (or doesn't) or find out if it's possible to play 60 songs from the 90's in 6 minutes then this is the show for you.

The performances are perfectly pitched and the humour sharp. Highly recommended.

North American Greats

As you may have gathered by now, the first night of the Fringe saw me take up residence at Tuxedo Cat to get my fill of some of the wares on offer.

The second show of the evening was brought to us by Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall and Pat Burtscher - both old hands from the stand-up circuit of Melbourne with differing styles which complement one another perfectly.

Alasdair was first on stage and his nerdy, slightly reticent delivery style won the audience over in a matter of seconds. The next 30 minutes contained gentle comedy fed by random observations and queries on the nature of life.

Pat's first few lines were barely out of his mouth before he stopped and berated a member of the audience (quite rightly) for texting during the performance. What followed was a very funny stream of gags and observations occasionally prompted by small pieces of paper drawn from a pocket.

Both of these comedians are very funny and will definitely keep you entertained for an hour - just remember to switch-off your phone.

Safety First

Tuxedo Cat is a favourite venue. Interesting shows in an interesting venue. Our time at MICF was largely spent here, attending some startling and original comedy and shows which take a lot of explaining.
'Safety First' is predicated on the simple notion of a workplace Health and Safety course. Dylan Cole greets members of the audience at the door and hands each a standard safety questionnaire for completion by the audience during the show.
Many of the gags were very funny and the framing device worked well with an unexpected tea-break midway through the performance. Running jokes involving people with the same names as movie stars were peppered throughout, but lost their humour potential rapidly.
I saw this on the first night of performance, so expect that it can only improve as the run continues and those involved learn the rhythms of the humour which occassionaly faltered, but this show was overall a direct hit to the funny bone (they may need to conduct a risk assessment for that).
This was pleasant amiable character comedy performed well and I can certainly recommend it for anyone who has been bored to tears by workplace health and safety presentations.

Spooky Melbourne Tails

We arrived for the Melbourne Ghost Tour at the appointed time and place - 8:30pm on the corner of Federation Square - to be met by small groups of lost souls seeking the same supernatural thrills as my wife and I. After a few minutes we located our guide who explained our route and what the tour entailed and then led us to our first port of call outside St. Paul's Cathedral where we were asked which of us believed in ghosts and which were sceptics. We were then lead on an hour-long walk through the back alleys of Melbourne and told of terrible tales of murder and ghostly goings-on which, whilst they may not have exactly chilled the blood, certainly proved entertaining and interesting.
Our guide, Ross, was a very personable and chatty chap with an appropriate sense of the silliness of the tour not to become too earnest about what he was saying. This is in contrast to some previous ghost walks on which I have been where the guide has seemed a bit too sincere in their belief in the supernatural.
All-in-all I can certainly recommend this tour as a pleasant diversion during the Melbourne Fringe and a good way to get some exercise and see some of the lesser-viewed areas of the CBD.