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.

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.