Ernie and Dave, aka ElbowSkin, use nursery rhymes as the vehicle for this Vaudevillian-esque performance. The cheap homemade sets (think high school drama), and the fact that the boys tech the shows themselves, belies the intelligent, researched and politically aware material that keeps the audience laughing throughout.
ElbowSkin have made their name in Melbourne comedy as musical comedy larrikins, Hey Diddle Diddle sees them experiment with more straight stand-up, story telling, puns and visual gags to create segues between the songs. The experiment pays off. After the brilliant opening song, it took a few minutes for them to find their rhythm in the dialogue, but their retelling of the historically accurate version of Sleeping Beauty definitely wakes the boys up, if not the drunk guy who passed out early on in the show (it was better for everyone this way). They don’t miss a beat for the rest of the show.
ElbowSkin toy with the audience (including the unconscious drunk), both metaphorically and literally, as stuffed toys are distributed for the finale – Australian politics as a fairy tale.
Other highlights include the rap about “back when they were young”, the song to Hitler’s mother, and the very punny dialogue between Humpty Dumpty and the spoon.
My only disappointment was that I love music comedy, and this show did not have enough – leaving the audience wanting more.
Softbelly is a relatively small room, and ElbowSkin are only performing a few shows, so be sure to get your tickets early.
for more Melbourne International Comedy reviews check out The Pun www.anewleaf.com.au
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