Review: Nina Conti - In Your Face

Now a regular at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Nina Conti expands on her previous concept of fitting a ventriloquist dummy face-mask to an audience member into a full show involving half a dozen audience members.

The routines involving audience members were wickedly funny. Not only does Conti demonstrate her wonderful abilities as a ventriloquist, but an enviable skills as an improviser.

Despite having some audience participants that were no where near as funny, talented or clever as her, Conti masterfully wrangles them to create a truly uniquely entertaining show.

Her set pieces with “Monkey” draw on some standard ventriloquist dummy tropes but to which Conti brings new twists, surprises and laughs.   The hypnosis piece was genius.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/in-your-face-nina-conti

Review: Tripod - 101 Hits

Tripod are celebrating 20 years of performing together having started on Hey Hey It’s Saturday: Red Faces. Now easily one of Australia’s  if not the world’s greatest music comedy acts.

To celebrate their two decades together they are performing 101 hits. Each show contains approximately 10-12 songs but the list of songs will be different each night. To select the songs  there are 101 numbered balls in a bingo spinner. Each number links to a specific song, so if the number is selected they sing the song. Simple.

Although the songs themselves are unpredictable the show guarantees laughs, even better harmonies, word play and musicianship.. The repartee between the boys is smooth and refined, as expected of a group who have performed for so long together. Every now and again they surprise and genuinely amuse each other.

For people who argue that Tripod found an easy way out of writing material for a show I say this may be the hardest most ambitious show any act is performing in this year’s festival.  In an hour long music comedy show there is normally 8-12 songs. Scod, Yon and Gatesy have rehearsed and memorised 101 songs to a level that is stage ready and can sing any of them with only a moment’s notice.

Stick around after the show to grab an autograph,  photograph or to by the song book. All three of the guys are very generous and warm towards their fans taking the time to chat to all of them.

Here’s to another 20 years!

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/101-hits-tripod

Review: Grant Busé - The Late Night Sexy Show

Let the title, promotional image and time slot of this show be a big clue  that this show is not for the prudish. It is all about sex, peoples likes/dislikes and Busé’s five simple rules for a successful sex.

On the night I saw his show the audience was relatively small and very quiet, the material is great and deserves a larger crowd, a rowdier crowd, a bawdier crowd.  This is definitely a show that the more an audience puts into it the more they will get out of it. Let me be clear there is no question of Busé’s performance he literally puts everything out there.

Many people are fearful of audience participation, sometimes with good reason. Not this show, Busé is a warm and generous performer any interaction is to laugh with the audience not at them.

The show is full of innuendo and entendre – single, double and more. And music, the show is full of music. As a fellow music comedian I am extremely envious of his work on the guitar.

The bottom megamix is a stand out.

He is only doing a limited season, so be sure to not miss out!

Review: Frank Woodley - Extra Ordinary

It is fitting that in the 30^th anniversary year of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival that the first I see is Frank Woodley, an Australian comedy icon whose career started at the very first festival.

30 years on his style of clowning is still steeped in idiocy, word play and astonishing physicality. 30 years on he is still hilariously, laugh out loud funny.

As a clown he does not wear a red nose but he unashamedly loves a cheap costume something that creates the very lose thread to this perfectly crafted ramshackle and deceptively random performance.   So much comedy from a paper placemat!

The K-Mart and cricket stories are Woodley at his best  before  he finishes with his version of Shakespeare.

Be warned however as great as Woodley is a comedy he is equally poor at timekeeping. The 60 minute show lasted 90 minutes - not that it ever felt long, it was 90 minutes of strong laughs - but might become an issue for people planning on seeing more than one show on the same evening.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2016/season/shows/extra-ordinary-frank-woodley