Beat’s Guide to
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018
Aunty Donna debut album The Album out 6th April
THU 29 MAR - SUN 22 APR, 9.45PM (8.45PM SUN) | MAX WATT'S AS SEEN ON CONAN, THE GALA & HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION?
SWISS CLUB
(MONDAYS AT MELBOURNE TOWN HALL)
“MASTERFUL”
THU 29 MAR – SUN 22 APR 8.15PM (7.15PM SUN, 9PM MON)
HERALD SUN
“HILARIOUS” ARTS AWARD (UK)
BART FREEBAIRN SUPER JOKE VOLCANO
29 MAR 22 APR, 7.30 (6.30 SUN) POMODORO SARDO, 111 LONSDALE ST, MELBOURNE
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2016-18
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FLAT-OUT HILARIOUS
NOMINATED
Mirror
best new talent AACTA 2017
NEW SHOW ADDED!
SAT 21 APRIL
WINNER
THE FAMOUS SPIEGELTENT
director's choice
WED 18 - SUN 22 APRIL
MICF 2015
CHAPEL OFF CHAPEL
WINNER
best comedy release ARIAS 2015
NOMINATED
best comedy performer HELPMANN AWARDS 2015
THE HAT GAME HERALD SUN
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL
7PM THU 29 MAR – SUN 22 APR (6PM SUN)
`
‘SLOSS IS A FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHT. SEE HIM’ The Age
‘SIMPLY WORLD CLASS... HILARIOUS’ Herald Sun
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ACMI
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BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
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LIVE NATION PRESENTS
“The Crown Prince of Aussie Comedy” Herald Sun THU 29 MARCH - SUN 22 APRIL FAIRFAX STUDIO, ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE “Laugh Out Loud... bloody funny”
HERALD
THU 29 MAR - SUN 22 APR FORUM THEATRE UPSTAIRS H HHH
“Smith’s show is a rollicking, laugh frenzy” HERALD SUN
over 45 million Facebook video views! THU 29 MAR - SUN 22 APR
THE GREEK CENTRE Cnr Lonsdale & Russell Sts
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BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
‘THE OUTRIGHT KING OF LIVE COMEDY’ THE TIMES
THU 29 MARCH- SUN 22 APRIL FORUM DOWNSTAIRS AS SEEN ON
HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION? AND THE OXFAM GALA
SOLD OUT 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017 THU 29 MARCH - SUN 22APRIL FORUM DOWNSTAIRS “Edgy material snappy never sappy Bishop has judged this one beautifully” The Age
The Guardian, UK
THU 29 MARCH – SUN 22 APRIL The Greek Centre Cnr Londsale & Russell Sts
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Contents 8 Matt Okine 10 Alice Fraser Elli Matthewson 12 Gerald McGowan Angella Dravid 14 Dane Baptiste DeAnne Smith 16 Lucy Peach Natalie Palamides 18 Arj Barker Ross Noble 20 Guy Williams Lady Rizo 22 Urzilla Carlson Joel Creasey 24 Em Rusciano
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018
Daniel Sloss
Editor’s Note With James Di Fabrizio
26 David O’Doherty
There is much to be said about our global state of affairs at the moment, as I’m sure you’re aware. It often seems like each passing week is commemorated by an increasingly absurd news cycle. But if the inherent absurdity of life isn’t something to laugh at, I don’t know what is. In times like this, I’m reminded of the words of Stephen Hawking: “Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny”. Perhaps there’s something we can take
Emily Tressider 28 Lawrence Mooney Ismo 30 Alexis Dubus Faulty Towers 32 Hannan Azlan Josh Glanc 33 Kuah Jenhan 34 Simon Taylor Stephen K Amos 35 Alan McElroy Guy Montgomery 36 Nazeem Hussain
Editor: James Di Fabrizio Sub-editor: Kate Streader Advertising: Kris Furst, Georgia Spanos Contributors: Claire Morley, Natalie Rogers,
from that. Whether it’s to slow dance in the wake of imminent nuclear warfare, or to simply cast aside the troubles of the world and just go out for a night filled with what makes life truly worthwhile – laughter, friends, and a chance to be part of something larger than ourselves. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is an opportunity to do just that. There are literally hundreds of shows to get
Lexi Hebert, Chris Swan, Andrew Nardi, Nick Mason, Joanne Brookfield, David James Young, Meg Crawford, Adam Norris, Peter Hodgson, Tarnay Sass, Zachary Snowden Smith, Claire Garratt, Kate Streader, Jacob Colliver, Deanna Makregiorgos
involved in. Whether it’s an international favourite or an independent discovery, get out there and experience it. Embrace the catharsis of laughter. Be prompted to think deeply, or switch off and forgo cognitive thought altogether – the choice is yours. It’s my honour to share this guide with you for another year. Here’s to the magic of laughter, and the power it holds to bring us together.
Illustration, Design, Art Direction, All Round Magazine Maker-Person: Michael Cusack Helper Magazine MakerPerson: Ben Driscoll
Published by Furst Media © 2017 Furst Media Pty Ltd. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder.
Paul Chowdhry 37 Mark Swivel Laura Daniel x Joeeph Moore 38 Neel Kolhatkar John Kearns 39 Nick Cody Gosha Bodryi 40 Nath Valvo Morry Morgan 41 Sean M Elliot HActresses Julia Rorke & Elysia Hall Ivan Aristeguieta 42 Amity Dry Cath Styles Darien Brown Danny Sgro & Friends 43 Impro Melbourne Gillian English Kate Jenkinson, Pinky Beecroft & Friends
Lindsay Foyle 44 Michael Shafar Ross Purdy Squirly Simon Wright 45 Dom & Dumber: The Sketch Comedy Magicians Tim Batt Zoe Broughton Woah, Alyssa! 46 Blake Everett Marcel Lucont Will Sylvince & Andy Curtain Kaitlyn Rogers 47 Special Events 8
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Matt Okine
The Hat Game In the quest to avoid complacency, Matt Okine has worn many hats. The last few years have seen him move between mediums, from radio airwaves, free to air television, and subscription streaming service, Stan. Although he’s conscious to never get stuck doing one thing, comedy keeps drawing him back. The Hat Game is his seventh stand up show, and he’s got no plans to hang up that particular cap. “[Performing comedy] is just something that I continue to look forward to, every night, over and over. It’s so exciting to go up on stage and just talk shit to audiences from all over the world,” says Okine. “Radio, it just sort of goes out into the world, and really you’re just two idiots in a room talking rubbish. With stand-up, you’re still one idiot in a room talking rubbish, but at least there’s 300 other people that are going along for the ride as well.” All that Okine loves about stand up comedy is a stark contrast to the qualities of radio, a medium through which many may have first discovered Okine’s voice. Alongside Alex Dyson, Okine presented Triple J’s prestigious breakfast slot from 2014 to 2016, before leaving at the height of the show’s popularity. “I don’t want to get stuck in one place; it wasn’t because it stopped being fun. Alex and I felt like the show was in a really good place and we didn’t want to lose that spark.” That being said, Okine is quick to point out he’s not ruled out the possibility of jumping back in the booth alongside his on air partner. “Alex and I talk about it all the time. I think it’s more a question of when rather than whether we will. But who knows,
I might end up in LA working in a coffee shop as another failed actor.” So far, however, his acting career is far from a failure. Okine co-wrote and starred in the Stan series The Other Guy, an adaption of his awardwinning semi-autobiographical stand up show of the same name. The experience of creating a show that pushed the boundaries with its approach to sex and relationships has coloured his latest stand-up show in a way that he admits is a little more risqué than his usual style. “I talk about doing my first sex scene, which is a terrifying thing. You have to pretend to cum in front of a room of film and TV people. There’s a camera guy there, and sound guy and a makeup lady. And I’m standing there pretending to cum. What if the way that I cum was fucking weird? And I thought it was normal?” These changes are what drive him, living and dying by his own sword – even if that sword is simulating orgasm on stage. “I wanted to make a show this year that feels like a Matt Okine show, but doesn’t at the same time. There are people that have seen every single show – there’s this girl, Dani, who comes every year with her mum, and when I’m writing a show I always think about someone like Dani…because I don’t want her to feel like she saw this show three years ago. I feel there’s a real ability for comics to do that, to basically rewrite the same recipe using slightly different ingredients.”
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“With stand-up, you’re still one idiot in a room talking rubbish, but at least there’s 300 other people that are going along for the ride as well.”
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall – Supper Room Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22, excluding Mondays and Friday April 20 Tickets: $25 - $35
By Claire Morley
WE’RE ON!
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TIM KEY
MARK WATSON MEGADATE I'M NOT HERE ‘Flabbergastingly funny’
★★★★ The Times
★★★★★ Time Out
★★★★★ The Times
‘If this is love, Key’s hard to resist’
TWO WEEKS ONLY!
★★★★ Metro
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL TUE-SAT 7PM, SUN 6PM 29 MAR – 9 APR MON 9 APR 6.15PM
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL 29 MAR – 8 APR
TUE-SAT 9.45PM SUN 8.45PM
David O’Doherty YOU HAVE TO LAUGH FORUM THEATRE 29 MAR – 22 APR
TUE-SAT 7.15PM SUN 6.15PM
PHIL WANG ‘HUGELY ENTERTAINING’
★★★★
SUFFER, FOOLS!
The Times
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL 29 MAR – 22 APR
TUE-SAT 8.15PM SUN 7.15PM
★★★★★
LARRY
DEAN ACMI, FEDERATION SQUARE 29 MAR – 22 APR
‘COMEDY GOLD’ The Herald
★★★★★
‘UNMISSABLE’ Ed Fest Mag
TUE-SAT 9.30PM SUN 8.30PM
nding “ n ashtoouur’ A ★
‘Bugeja has an eye for original comic detail that’s all his own’ The Guardian
★★ ★★ IST THE L
ACMI, FEDERATION SQUARE TUE-SAT 7PM 29 MAR – 22 APR SUN & WED 4 APR 6PM
FIN TAYLOR
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL MON 7.15PM 29 MAR – 22 APR TUE & THU-SAT 6PM, SUN 5PM
EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARD BEST SHOW 2017 NOMINEE
LEFTY TIGHTY RIGHTY LOOSEY
‘Gleefully provocative’
‘ENTERTAINING AND INSPIRING’
ACMI, FEDERATION SQUARE 29 MAR – 22 APR •
TUE-SAT 8.15 PM SUN 7.15PM
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL 29 MAR – 22 APR
Guardian
★★★★ THE TIMES
TUE-SAT 7.15PM SUN 6.15PM
GRAND FINAL SUPERCHARGED STAND-UP FROM COMEDY’S NEWEST HEROES
ROWAN THAMBAR BONNIE TANGEY ZACK DYER (NSW)
MAX WATT’S • SAT 31 MAR 3.30PM MON 9 & 16 APR 6.30PM & 9PM
#youhadtobethere
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TRADES HALL 29 MAR – 22 APR Granny Bingo
Don’t You Know Who I Am?
(VIC)
NATIONAL OPEN MIC COMEDY COMPETITION
BLAKE FREEMAN (VIC)
HOSTED BY
JACK GRAMENZ (QLD)
MON-SAT 8.15PM SUN 7.15PM (NO WED Stampt own
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL SUN 15 APR, 5PM
Rob Hunter Late O’Clock
dy Bonanza
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Alice Fraser
ETHOS
When Alice Fraser – corporate lawyer, writer, director, producer, podcaster and comedian – flew halfway around the world to complete her Masters in English Literature at Cambridge, she felt as if she had been transplanted into one of the stories she cherished as a child. James Smith Pleasure Enthusiast
Featuring on Flight of the Conchords, Conan or Just For Laughs, James Smith has been taking the world by storm, becoming the only Aussie ever to have a regular spot at New York’s lauded Comedy Cellar. When he returns home, you’ll get to see exactly why Chris Rock personally selected him as a special guest for his Total Blackout tour. Catch Pleasure Enthusiast at Trades Hall’s The Meeting Room from Monday April 16 to Sunday April 22 (bar Wednesday). Tickets are $25 - $34.90.
Ari Shaffir Heretic
Growing up within a religious orthodox Jewish family, Ari Shaffir lost his faith when he returned home from Israel after two years in a Jerusalem seminary. Two decades and three television specials later, he’s finally ready to chat about his experiences with faith and his transition into the cynical atheist he always knew he was. You can see Ari Shaffir from Tuesday April 17 to Saturday April 21 at the Comic’s Lounge. Tickets are $30 - $35.
Puppetry Of The Penis
The worldwide phenomenon Puppetry of the Penis has seen thousands upon thousands of people around the world - including all Europe, the US and South America - bear witness to a very unique talent. Direct from Las Vegas, this is one show that truly bares all - prepare to see the likes of “The Pelican”, “The Eiffel Tower” and “The Loch Ness Monster” in a whole new light. Puppetry of the Penis plays at the Athenaeum Theatre from Tuesday April 3 to Sunday April 8. Tickets are $44.90 - $49.90. 10
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“I was very much in a fantasy world when I was younger,” says Fraser. “I wasn’t very popular in high school. I was the weird kid and I had this idea of what uni in England was going to be like, which I knew logically wasn’t going to be a reality. But I got there and it was. It was a dream.” Finally living her dream, Fraser says she threw herself into campus life immediately. “I remember during O Week I wanted to go join every club,” she says. “I went along to the Equestrian Club meeting and it was exactly what you’d expect with all these horsey aristocrats talking about polo and their thoroughbreds. It was amazing.” Deciding the saddle club was not for her, Fraser found her voice among the theatrical crowd at the prodigious Cambridge University Footlights Dramatics Club, home to alumni that include Britain’s biggest comedy names, such as Eric Idle, David Mitchell, Simon Bird and Richard Ayoade. “I did monologues, sketch and musical comedy in the Footlights, but I first tried stand-up comedy in New York,” says Fraser. “I was working as an intern at an investment bank and I was miserable. At the time, I wanted to do sketch comedy but I didn’t think that I was good enough or charming enough to do it there. So just standing on the stage of a dingy cellar with a microphone in hand doing jokes, that was my first experience of stand-up in
New York. It’s a harsh place to start but it’s also a great place to start, as you can do up to eight spots in a night if you want to.” Having cut her comedy chops in front of arguably the world’s most unforgiving audiences, Fraser is back at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for the fourth time this year with her seriously clever and insightful show, ETHOS. ETHOS explores artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. “AI is a really interesting area and it’s one subject that feeds into other issues I wanted to explore,” she says. “Another is the fact that I’m a woman in a male-dominated industry. Unfortunately there are a lot of industries that women get told that they’re not good at, and one of them is science, technology and engineering. “Today artificial intelligence is one of these cutting edge areas. Half the people think it’s going to enhance the world, the other half think it’s going to be the catalyst for the apocalypse. I’m fascinated by it, so I wanted to explore it in comedy.”
“I went along to the Equestrian Club meeting and it was exactly what you’d expect with all these horsey aristocrats talking about polo and their thoroughbreds. It was amazing.”
Venue: Chinese Museum - Tea Room Dates: Thursday March 29 Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $15 - $27 By Natalie Rogers
Eli Matthewson
Snort With Friends
One of the greatest aspects of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is the variety of shows on display. There’s everything from stand-up to variety acts and even impressively talented improvised shows like those provided by festival favourite Snort, the popular New Zealand-based improv troupe who’re bringing their show to this year’s festival for the fourth consecutive year. Chatting with one of the group’s founding members, Eli Matthewson, Snort couldn’t be happier to be heading back to Melbourne. I’m looking forward to seeing all the amazing shows and I’m excited to be back in Melbourne. It’s everything that’s great about Wellington but just bigger, better and cooler.” Matthewson is no stranger to Melbourne, having travelled over to perform with Snort for the past few years. “We always find we need to prove ourselves in Melbourne, but that’s exciting and part of the challenge.” Snort have built a reputation as Auckland’s most beloved improv troupe, developing a strong cult following from their loyal audiences at their weekly sold-out shows. “A few of us used to do an improv show in Christchurch that was kind of like a more theatre sports-style of improv,” says Matthewson. However, he and the group were looking for something a little different. “I really didn’t want to do theatre sports, or
party-quirk kind of games.” It prompted them to start a new troupe based on the improv style made famous by the Upright Citizen’s Brigade (most notably that of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler). “We saw the way they were doing improv, which was way more loose, and so we just watched a bunch of shows like that and then just started working on it.” Snort are bringing 13 members of their troupe along to this year’s festival, offering a rotating roster of performers over their three weeks of shows. “There’s a few of us coming and going week in, week out,” he says. “Then you have people like Rose Matafeo and Guy Montgomery who are here all season because they have their individual shows.” Ultimately, it’s a marathon effort considering nothing is planned and everything is made up on the spot. “It’s always a real workout for us. The first week you’re really excited and then by week two you’re like, ‘I’ve done every idea that I could possible do.’ Then you rise like a phoenix from the ashes. That’s when I think the best ideas come out.” Improv is as an exciting form of live comedy, forcing the performers to think on their feet and live in the moment. “You have to rely on those core instincts. That’s when the real magical stuff comes out.”
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“You have to rely on those core instincts. That’s when the real magical stuff comes out.”
Venue: Victoria Hotel - Acacia Room Dates: Thursday March 29 Sunday April 22 (bar Tuesdays and Wednesdays) Tickets: $18 - $22
By Chris Swan
A NIGHT OF SOCIAL AWKWARDNESS, OUTRAGEOUS FLIRTING AND HILARIOUS PUTDOWNS.
A BIGAIL’S PARTY BY MIKE LEIG H
NOW PLAYING SOUTHBANK THEATRE
Opening Night Partner
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CAST ZOE BOESEN, PIP EDWARDS, DANIEL FREDERIKSEN, BENJAMIN RIGBY, KATHERINE TONKIN DIRECTOR STEPHEN NICOLAZZO SET DESIGNER ANNA CORDINGLEY COSTUME DESIGNER EUGYEENE TEH LIGHTING DESIGNER KATIE SFETKIDIS COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER DANIEL NIXON VOICE & DIALECT COACH GERALDINE COOK-DAFNER
MTC is a department of the University of Melbourne
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Gerard McGowan
Only Getting Funnier
Rose Callaghan No Way Rosé
Coming off the back of a sold-out 2016 run, winner of the Best Comedy award at the 2016 Sydney Fringe Festival Rose Callaghan is returning to Melbourne to debut her hilarious new show No Way Rosé - where you’ll get to discover some of the best and worst things you’ll encounter while enjoying a drink. Rose Callaghan will be performing at the Forum Theatre’s Ladies’ Lounge from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $22 - $25.
Shit-Faced Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet
Have you ever wanted to see the prose and wit of Shakespeare interpreted through the lens of a completely smashed actor? You will now. No two of these internationally acclaimed shows are ever the same, with a genuinely inebriated cast member chosen every night to chaotically dismantle the classic tale of two star-crossed lovers. Catch Shit-Faced Shakespeare at The Coopers Malthouse’s Merlyn Theatre from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 1. Tickets are $32.90 - $39.90.
The Stevenson Experience Spot The Difference
Since picking up a Best Comedy Nomination in 2017 for the third year in a row at Perth’s Fringe World, the Stevenson twins are returning to the Comedy Festival with a whole host of new music, great laughs and their trademark bickering banter that has seen them sell out entire festival seasons in Melbourne and Edinburgh. Catch them at the Victoria Hotel’s Acacia Room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22, excluding Mondays. Tickets are $20 - $29. 12
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After ripping up Sydney’s comedy scene and winning multiple awards, including securing a place as a RAW Comedy State Finalist twice (2013 & 2015), Gerard McGowan has rightfully earned his spot as one of Sydney’s best up and coming comedians. Now he’s ready to bring his show to Melbourne, before heading off to Edinburgh later this year. As the first full hour set McGowan has done in Melbourne, his new show is sure to be full of surprises. He claims it took six years of collecting material and of trial and error in different venues before Only Getting Funnier was good enough to tour Australia. Speaking of Australia’s unique humour, McGowan has a brutally honest and brutally Aussie approach to comedy with his new show. When asked about the material of the show he says, “It’s mostly a show about having worked in civil construction and also a Tinder date I went on where this girl stole some money off me.” Does it really get any worse than that? “Just working with psychos basically,” he says. McGowan is also often described as the master of the self-piss-take, which he owns as his angle. “No one complains when you hang shit on yourself,” he says. It’s this approach that led to his career choice in comedy. “I’ve always loved Ronald McDonald and guys like that and I was always a funny kid,” McGowan says. This explains his tendencies to turn his focus back onto himself. But despite these early signs, McGowan’s dream was to be an astronaut –
which is not too far off the mark, really. McGowan laughs when talking about his start in comedy. “I did my first gig six years ago and it went really well, and then I sucked for two years after that.” But the nature of choosing comedy as a career means you have to get used to the turbulent, and constantly changing, nature of the profession.“It mostly comes down to work ethic in comedy. I’ve seen some very talented people that don’t work hard and I’ve seen some very hard workers that probably aren’t that talented and the latter always pays off,” McGowan says. With his increased popularity over the last few years, McGowan has had the opportunity to tour all around Australia. The increased touring schedule has meant that McGowan has had to remain entirely adaptable. “It usually takes a couple of shows to figure out what works and whether the audience knows about this and that. Sometimes a section of the joke doesn’t work as well as it does somewhere else and you definitely do need to change certain things. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 60 or 14, you’re going to laugh at something. An older crowd will get as much of a kick out of it as some hipster dude from Brunswick.”
“I did my first gig six years ago and it went really well, and then I sucked for two years after that.”
Venue: Greek Centre - Zeus Dates: Thursday March
29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $15 - $20
By Deanna Makregiorgos
Angella Dravid
Down The Rabbit Hole Award winning kiwi comedian Angella Dravid is making her Australian debut at this year’s Comedy Festival with her acclaimed show Down The Rabbit Hole – something which she is excited yet nervous about. “When I started comedy you hear about Melbourne because it’s the biggest comedy festival, so it’s a little surreal to be here,” she says. For those unfamiliar with Dravid, she has a unique performance style which embraces her personality. “I’ve always been a little odd,” she says. “At all my jobs, people always said ‘Gosh, you’re very odd, or weird or awkward.’” It’s those kinds of remarks that led to her starting her career in comedy, initially using stand-up as a means of mastering public speaking. “I was in a secretarial job that was quite client facing and my boss said that I was making her clients feel uncomfortable,” Dravid chuckles. “Standup comedy was happening in the lobby of my apartment, so I just did an open-mic. The goal was never to get into comedy, the goal was to be a better secretary.” Angella owns her uncomfortableness on stage, however, wonderfully weaving it into her shows. The show, Down The Rabbit Hole, has Dravid telling a deeply personal story, taking the audience on an adventure. “A lot of my friends are saying Down The Rabbit Hole sounds like psychedelic drugs or something. I don’t think that’s it. Whenever I tell this story, it’s going through a whole period of my
life that I haven’t really talked about in any depth, so it feels like a very strange journey.” The simplest way to describe Down The Rabbit Hole would be to say it’s a love story that went wrong. “It starts off pretty strange and it keeps getting worse and worse and worse, and I think a lot of people don’t know where it’s going to end up. The title, Down The Rabbit Hole is supposed to show that.” Whilst being a hilariously wild ride, the story on display is very personal for Dravid and something she has been working towards since starting her career in comedy. “It seems to be that personal stories and very deep stories about yourself seem to be appreciated nowadays, so I felt like this could be the right story to tell at the right time,” she says. “You kind of want to reveal your skeletons in the closet before other people discover them. It’s kind of like declaring things before you get into the country.” With Down The Rabbit Hole being awarded the Billy T Award at last year’s New Zealand Comedy Festival, as well as her work being recognized with the Best Newcomer award by the NZ Comedy Guild, Dravid’s unexpected career change seems like fate. “It was very liberating, it felt like people accepted me,” Dravid says of the shows success. “It made me feel like the industry supported me as well.”
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“You kind of want to reveal your skeletons in the closet before other people discover them. It’s kind of like declaring things before you get into the country.” Venue: Forum Theatre – Ladies’ Lounge Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $15 – $20
By Chris Swan
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
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13
Dane Baptiste
G.O.D. (Gold. Oil. Drugs.)
Jimeoin The Ridiculous
What is a comedy festival without Jimeoin? A master of observational humour and a fundamental figure of the Australian comedy circuit, Jimeoin has been entertaining audiences around the world for decades with his dry and witty takes on everything from the ridiculous to the mundane. You can catch the legend on Friday April 6, Saturday April 7, Friday April 13 and Saturday April 14 at The Palms at Crown Casino. Tickets are $44 - $49.
Bev Killick Crummy Mummy
Bev Killick takes no prisoners when it comes to being a mum - she won’t play the silly game of competitive parenting and she’s proud of it. In her new show Crummy Mummy, Killick will be sharing the grisly truths and hilariously brutal honesty of her home life with her trademark in-your-face attitude. You can catch Crummy Mummy at Melbourne Town Hall’s Powder Room on Monday April 2 and Monday April 16. Tickets are $28 - $30.
Karl Chandler Shit List
As co-host of one of Australia’s most popular comedy podcasts The Little Dum Dum Club, Karl Chandler has earned a knack for quick, razor-sharp wit and brutally honest observations. In his new show Shit List, he’s compiled a compendium of the 50 shittiest things around - and he’ll be roasting each and every one. Don’t miss Karl Chandler when he performs at European Bier Cafe from Sunday April 8 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $25. 14
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London born dead-end office worker turned internationally renowned stand up, Dane Baptiste made history in 2014 when he became the first black British comedian to be nominated for a comedy award at the Edinburgh Fringe. That was enough to turn heads, but it was his distinct knack for geopolitical commentary with a touch of silliness that had Baptiste selling out shows across the UK. Despite his roaring success in Britain, the Lewisham stand up is still making ripples over here in Oz. “The first couple of times I did this in Sydney, I think a lot of people were getting used to the fact that they would hear, ‘this next act is from the UK,’ and then they would see me, and they’d have a face like, ‘is that U for Uganda and is that K for Kenya? ‘Cos he doesn’t look British.’ But for the most part, they’ve been receptive, so it’s been cool.” Baptiste’s new show, G.O.D. (Gold. Oil. Drugs.), is nothing short of ambitious. Motivated by what Baptiste describes as the human race’s new idolatries – capitalism, consumerism and gratification – he intends to walk audiences through all the ways they’re slowly killing themselves, while promising deeply clever jokes in the process. “There’s plenty of distractions that we have nowadays that keep us away from that high level of consciousness or spirituality,” he explains. “I’m just trying to remind us that we’re still human beings.” Juggling such grim subject matter, Baptiste’s
ability to draw laughter from his audience speaks to his incredible talent. “I’m trying to be imaginative and playful. In terms of performance and social commentary, it’s about understanding that sometimes, the more surreal and exaggerated the point is, then the easier it is to digest.” Baptiste understands that, regardless of the topic, it’s about dressing up his words and making them appetising. “Before anything else, my job is to make sure that my audience is enjoying themselves as well as getting food for thought,” he says. “If laughter is the best medicine, then it’s about making the sugarcoated pill as psychedelic as humanly possible. I apply this principle to actually be prepared to laugh at myself and not take myself too seriously.” Regularly cited as Britain’s answer to Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle, Baptiste’s insightful stand up, which he dubs “everyman and everywoman relatable comedy”, is born from the many years he spent working in an office job that he loathed. “While I’ve definitely hated being in the corporate world, it was a massive benefit so far as being able to make observations that a lot of people can relate to,” he explains. “I always need to take time to reflect on the aspects of my working life and, I guess, social life that got me to this point. It’s like you’re confined to a wheelchair, and then one day you’re able to walk and run. It’s an amazing, and a very humbling phenomenon to have as a part of your life.”
“There’s plenty of distractions that we have nowadays that keep us away from that high level of consciousness or spirituality.”
about escapism and laughing and having a great time. To be satisfying, to me personally, I like there being a little extra layer there.” As for Smith’s brand new show titled Worth It, to be performed at this year’s festival, the make-up of the segment was somewhat of a mystery - even to Smith herself - until quite recently. “[Months before] I’m always submitting a show that doesn’t exist yet and I’m writing a hopeful, aspirational blurb of what I think I’m going to write about, “ she laughs. “The show is much less about money than the blurb would indicate and much more about larger concepts of worth and self-worth - which, as I tell you, does not sound very funny, but I am very excited about the show.” “This sounds cheesy but I was working on a show that I wanted to create when the show that needed to be written was right in front of me. The show that I’m bringing needed me to write it now and not necessarily the one I thought I was making back in October.” Smith is excited to return to the festival, expressing her appreciation for a city that now, more than ever, embraces her comedy. “Melbourne audiences are very comedy savvy and they’ve been seeing comedy for a long time, and they’re up for it.”
“The whole setup of stand-up is so strange in that there’s so many people in the room and only one of us is allowed to talk and share their ideas.”
Venue: Mantra on Russell Mantra Two Dates: Tuesday April
17
-
Sunday April 22 Tickets: $35
By Andrew Nardi
DeAnne Smith
Worth It
Last year’s visit to Melbourne was big for DeAnne Smith, the comedian striking gold with a hilarious Gala spot. As an audience member that evening, you knew that you had witnessed something special. It was Smith in, arguably, the finest form of her stand-up career and it came as little surprise when the showstealing bit ultimately went viral. To make such a connection with such a vast number of people was a rewarding outcome for Smith. “For me, the point is about connecting and creating conversations, but also creating space for people to be themselves,” she explains, “so they maybe go, ‘Somebody shares my perspective - it’s not just me, I’m not crazy!’ To me that’s what it’s about at the end of the day.” Naturally, Smith is keen to make the most of her platform as a stand-up comedian and have a positive impact. Still, her occupation gives her pause for thought every now and again. “Ever since I’ve done comedy I’ve always thought - and this could be me overthinking or having been socialised [as] a female my whole life, or whatever it is, me or society - but I’ve always thought ‘why am I on stage, why am I the only one talking?’ The whole setup of stand-up is so strange in that there’s so many people in the room and only one of us is allowed to talk and share their ideas,” laughs Smith. “I’ve always tried to have a reason, a point for being up there and for speaking. I can’t say that I always hit the mark, but that is on my mind a lot,” she explains. “Not every comedian approaches things that way. That’s fine. Sometimes it is just
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Greek Centre, Mykonos Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $20 - $30 By Nick Mason
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Lucy Peach
My Greatest Period Ever
Yianni Agisilaou Teaching A Robot To Love
The award-winning Yianni Agisilaou’s erudite social commentary has been charming and delighting Melbourne for years now. His latest offering addresses the fears and fascinations of Artificial Intelligence, promising to shine a lighthearted light upon what will hopefully not become the upcoming apocalypse. Should we be worried, or are we going to be just fine? Catch Teaching A Robot To Love at the Greek Centre’s Aphrodite’s Room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $20 - $27.
James Nokise Talk A Big Game
New Zealand’s James Nokise has had a big few years performing biting political satire and social commentary, but for the Comedy Festival this year, he’ll be turning his focus onto something that unites Aussies and Kiwis alike - the world of sports. Be it cricket controversies, rugby, AFL or Olympic athletes, there’ll be plenty of moments for him to skewer. James Nokise will perform at the Forum Theatre’s Ladies’ Lounge from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays). Tickets are $18 - $25.
Battle of the Superheroes: The Great Superhero Debate It’s been a massive decade or so for superhero fans, with film adaptations and comic book reboots seeing a massive roster of beloved crime-fighters re-enter the social spotlight - so it’s time to determine who the greatest is, once and for all. Come along and be part of the debate as four of the festival’s funniest duke it out for their favourite fictional champions. The battle takes place at The Elephant & Wheelbarrow every Saturday and Sunday night of the festival. Tickets are $15 - $20. 16
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It was against a backdrop of a carpet of wildflowers in Western Australia when Lucy Peach was preparing for a music video shoot that a clown from Cirque du Soleil gave her the idea for this show. “I was getting ready for a scene and I was saying to him, ‘What am I going to wear? How am I going to choose which lipstick to wear? I’m in my expressive phase and I think I’m going to go for hot pink.’ He was like, ‘Sorry, what are you talking about?’ ” “I gave him the synopsis of this idea of what it means to pay attention to your phases and to use them and he said, ‘You have to turn that into a show’. I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous, who’s going to want to see a show about my period?’ ” Turns out, a lot of people do. Peach, who has gone from being a “stadium-folk singer” to a “musical menstrual edutainment sensation”, is making her Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut with My Greatest Period Ever. The show, which details the four phases of a woman’s monthly menstrual cycle, was a sell-out hit in her home state of WA and collected awards at both the 2017 and 2018 Perth Fringe World festivals. “It just blew me away that people were so pumped to have this conversation,” she says of the success of the show so far. Although a relative newcomer to the comedy stage, Peach has been performing as a musician for ten years and also been a sexual health educator in that time as well. “I was like the sex lady going into schools talking about puberty and all sorts of things,” says Peach. It was through this that she discovered a
book called The Optimised Woman by Miranda Gray and the show is based around her philosophy. “The hormonal phases in each month actually break down into being four quite distinct phases that each come with their own benefits.” Peach, who as a musician won Best Folk Act at the 2016 Western Australian Music Industry Awards, sings original songs and tells stories in the show while her husband, Creative Director Richard Berney provides the visual dimension. “He has this iPad-pro that he’s projected onto a screen and he basically illustrates live. I call him a live doodler and he elucidates what I’m saying and doing.” Peach feels having a male presence on stage helps make the content universal. “It shows everybody that men can be part of this conversation. That whole ‘red tent’ situation has traditionally been pretty closed off to them and we really feel like this is an invitation.” Menstruation has traditionally been diminished or demonised, but Peach is reclaiming the power of periods and celebrating them. “It’s absolutely time to turn up the good bits,” she says. “We are celebrating the heck out of everybody. People just routinely leave saying they feel really empowered and excited and looking forward to their next period and are really in love with their bodies and they laugh and they cry and all the things”.
“It shows everybody that men can be part of this conversation. That whole ‘red tent’ situation has traditionally been pretty closed off to them and we really feel like this is an invitation.”
a fruitful collaboration, which Palamides notes was instrumental in getting the show off the ground. “I obviously can’t watch myself, and if he wasn’t there then I’d have to video myself and just go over it again and again in my own head,” she says. “Phil gets what I’m doing,” she says. “ A lot of the time we’re building ideas off one another. We’re similar, but not to the point where we agree on everything. There’s definitely moments in Laid that I kept in that he didn’t think should be there – although he came around to them eventually. It’s good to have someone that’s able to help with shaping the concepts and ideas as they come.” With her Melbourne International Comedy Festival run, Palamides will not only be making her Festival debut but also her maiden voyage to Australia. “I’ve asked a couple of people, but I’ve never really gotten much detail. Everyone has insisted that I’m going to love it, though. They tell me Melbourne is the most beautiful city, and the coffee is amazing. I’m looking forward to seeing it, and hearing the accents. I’ve also been told to go visit the penguins – that’s definitely on the cards.”
“I’ve done it so many times now that I feel like I’ve got a solution for basically everything that could possibly go wrong.”
Venue: The Butterfly Club Dates:
Monday
April
9
-
Sunday April 22 Tickets: $25 - $32 By Joanne Brookfield
Natalie Palamides
Laid
Natalie Palamides is in a state of flux. The Hollywood-based comedian, actor and podcaster is currently trialling and work-shopping a new stage show in Los Angeles. Simultaneously, however, she is preparing an encore presentation of Laid, her 2017 stage show, for her Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut. “I have to go get my costume ready again while I’m trying to prepare a new show,” says Palamides. “Right now, I have a little toy motorcycle and a mannequin in my car from the show that I’m workshopping – so now I’m going to have that plus my egg costume in my car. I’m not even sure how I’m getting my stuff across yet. Hopefully, I can find the stuff that I need while I’m over there. You guys have party stores in Australia, right?” Laid is introduced with one peculiar sentence: “Laying an egg every day, a woman faces the decision: To raise it or eat it.” Full of costumes, props and mess, Palamides knows the show inside-out by this point – meaning its Australian run will be a liberating send-off. “I’m way more loose with it when I’m doing the show now,” she says. “I love performing, obviously, and I’m proud of the show. That said, I’d say I’m definitely less careful now – I just throw it up into the air. I’ve done it so many times now that I feel like I’ve got a solution for basically everything that could possibly go wrong in a single performance. The most important thing is to have fun with it.” Laid was devised and co-written with Phil Burgers, who also directs. Best known for his character Dr. Brown, Burgers has worked closely with Palamides on every last aspect of the show. It’s
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse Rehearsal Room Dates: Thursday March 29 Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $26 - $33
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Arj Barker
We Need To Talk
Comedians Against Humanity Hosted by Yianni Agisilaou
Having sold-out shows in Melbourne, Edinburgh, Perth and Sydney, Comedians Against Humanity is back to throw some (highly inappropriate) curveballs towards some of Australia’s best improvisers and comedians. Armed with cards from the risqué Cards Against Humanity party game, audience members will plunge special guests and performers into chaos, challenging them to create material on the spot. Hosted by Yianni Agisilaou, you can catch the madness at Athenaeum Theatre every Friday and Saturday night during the Comedy Festival. Tickets are $24 - $27.
Put down your phone. Arj Barker would like a word with you. In his new show, We Need To Talk, Barker finds the funny side of oh-so-serious topics like child-rearing and social media addiction. Despite hailing from California, Barker has found his biggest fanbase Down Under, where many know him as the non-sequitur-spouting pawn shop owner from the TV show Flight of the Conchords. “Melbourne has some of the best audiences, and I think they’re going to dig my show,” says Barker. “I’m not coming out there with some bullshit. I worked hard on this, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.” Like many of us, Barker wonders if his smartphone doesn’t have too much of a grip on his life – if social media hasn’t made it harder to be social. His solution is getting up close and personal with audiences and making a connection through laughter. “When I can really connect with an audience, that’s the best moment for me,” says Barker. “I love seeing people laugh. That’s what makes life gratifying in a broader sense – connecting with other people. Friendships and even passing interactions with strangers, when you have a connection, that makes you feel human.” With Flight of the Conchords, Barker performed for audiences upward of 15,000, but he also likes the intimacy of smaller venues. “The benefits of performing in big venues should be pretty obvious, especially to anyone with a mortgage,” says Barker. “But a small venue can be as fun as a big venue. In a café packed with 50 people, you might not even need a microphone.”
A chosen few are born with “funny bones,” says Barker, but the rest of the comedy world has to rely on hard work and a smidgen of luck to put on a topnotch act. Barker preps for each tour with a smaller pre-tour where he fine-tunes his material, carrying a notebook to jot down ideas as they occur. “There’s no magical source for funny ideas – you have to work at it,” says Barker. “An idea is like a fleeting little hummingbird that shows up and then zips away. You have to grab it – you have to be quick with the pen. “I have to admit, I’ve slacked a little bit, because I’ve always got my phone on me. With technology, you can become a little complacent.” In We Need To Talk, Barker also offers his many insights on parenting, undaunted by the fact that he doesn’t have kids himself. “Every kid can’t be special,” exclaims Barker. “That defies the definition of ‘special’. Over many years, I’ve learned that I’m just one of the gang. And it’s actually easier to be happy when you accept your normality.” Barker also runs Do It Myself TV, a YouTube show where he muddles his way through building shelves and staircases alongside Steven Gates of Tripod.
“An idea is like a fleeting little hummingbird that shows up and then zips away. You have to grab it.”
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall - Main Hall Dates: Thursday March 29 Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays, Sunday April 15 & Wednesday April 18) Tickets: $36.90 - $45
By Zachary Snowdon Smith
Craig Quartermaine The Quarterblood Prince
Making his Comedy Festival debut, Craig Quartermaine has already been winning audiences over around the world with his noholds-barred, power-packed humour. From lauded performances in London’s West End to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, there’ll be no slowing down for his first run on home soil. Don’t miss Craig Quartermaine when he plays Mantra On Russell from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 8 (excluding Monday) and Melbourne Town Hall’s on Monday April 2. Tickets are $15 - $25.
Titus O’Reily A Thoroughly Unhelpful History of Australian Sport
Bringing his bestselling book A Thoroughly Unhelpful History of Australian Sport to life onstage, writer and broadcaster Titus O’Reily will be sharing the scandalous, bizarre and interesting moments that pepper our national history and have helped to shape our great – but often strange – love affair with sports of all kinds today. Catch Titus O’Reily at the Imperial Hotel from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Wednesdays). Tickets are $20 - $34.90.
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Ross Noble
El Hablador When audience members aren’t lining up their shoes on the stage at interval for a lark (it’s a show ritual the comedian clearly enjoys), Noble’s doing something like inciting them into public disorder and leading a conga line to the nearby vegan food truck, encouraging patrons to demand sausage rolls. Given that the bulk of his shows are improvised and led largely by audience interaction, Noble’s gigs are renowned for inspired mayhem. Of his knack for turning a mind meander into comic gold, Noble himself once put it this way: “If it’s in the head, it comes out the mouth.” Which begs a few questions – is he like this off stage, and does it get him into much trouble? Predictably, we don’t quite get a straight answer. “Oh god, yes, so many times,” Noble says. “What happens is that onstage whatever pops into my head comes out of my mouth, but weirdly sometimes offstage. It’s in the head, rattling around, and I disappear into it and then I end up going into some sort of human-screen saver mode – people go, ‘What is wrong with him’. I’ll just be staring off into space. “My wife goes mad at me for doing it in the middle of a sentence. It’s fine on stage, because I can interrupt myself and go off and do whatever, but sometimes I’ll start talking. I’ll say something like, ‘You know that couch that we used to have?’ and she’ll go, ‘Yeah,’ and I’ll go, ‘Well, I was thinking maybe,” and stop in the middle of the sentence. In my head I’m going off on some sort of delightful
wander through my brain, and then return later. And that’s great onstage, but offstage it can be a bit disconcerting.” Frustration with school (Noble is dyslexic), led the comedian to ditching it in his teens. First for street juggling, and later becoming hooked on stand-up after winning tickets to a local gig. So, why comedy over the circus? “The main thing was that I realised you could do a show where you didn’t have to be covered in paraffin all the time,” he says. “I also realised, you didn’t have to carry loads of stuff. I think it was laziness really.” Mirroring the randomness of his shows, Noble’s career has been similarly kooky, doing everything from writing and appearing in an episode of Peter Helliar’s show It’s A Date as a dude going on a date with Ian Smith (ie. Harold from Neighbours), to horror movies (including one in which he’s a murderous clown) and appearing in a Billy Bragg film clip. But maybe this one takes the cake. “I once did a show called Storage Hunters. Ever heard of that show? Basically, I spent a day in a storage unit with the Happy Mondays”.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“In my head I’m going off on some sort of delightful wander through my brain.”
Venue: Palais Theatre
Dates: Tuesday April 10 - Saturday April 14 (bar Wednesday) Tickets: $46.90 - $54.90
By Meg Crawford
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
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19
Guy Williams
Started From The Top
Pauly Fenech The Bogan Bible
Actor, comedian and filmmaker Pauly Fenech has been a huge part of the Australian media landscape for decades now, coming to prominence through cult TV series’ Housos, Bogan Hunters, Fat Pizza and Swift And Shift Couriers. A Logie and Tropfest Award winner, his latest show uses a mix of standup, multimedia and audience interaction to celebrate and learn about the classic Aussie bogan. You can catch The Bogan Bible at the Comics Lounge from Tuesday April 10 to Saturday April 14. Tickets are $34.90.
Rosie Waterland Mum Says My Memoir Is A Lie: The Live Event
In 2015, author and writer Rosie Waterland published her critically-acclaimed memoir The Anti-Cool Girl, detailing her childhood with mentally-ill alcoholic parents. In 2016, Rosie’s mother unexpectedly got sober, read the book and asserted that it was mostly lies - which Rosie then discussed with her on her podcast Mum Says My Memoir Is A Lie. Now, the duo are bringing their funny (if brutally honest) conversation to the stage. Join them at the Comic’s Lounge on Saturday April 21 and Sunday April 22. Tickets are $39.90.
Emma Malik If You Can’t Train It, Eat It
Animal trainer-turned-comedian Emma Malik has experienced some incredible things in her life - stories that have to be heard (and seen) to be believed. With a show that sold out at the 2017 Sydney Comedy Festival, she’ll be sharing tales and introducing you to some of her animal friends in a truly unique show. Catch Emma Malik at Radio Bar from Tuesday April 10 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays) and at Melbourne Town Hall’s Lunch Room on Monday April 9 and Monday April 16. 20 BEAT.COM.AU
Guy Williams has been making waves in the New Zealand comedy scene for years now, however 2018 marks his Australian debut. “Don’t you hate it when people say dreams come true?” Guy chuckles. “I’ve been going to Melbourne for the last 5 or 6 years for the Comedy Festival as a fan, just watching and enjoying all the best shows, so now it’s quite terrifying to finally step up and be a performer. It’s like stepping up to the big leagues.” While it’s his first time performing here in Australia, Williams is certainly part of the big leagues back home in New Zealand. Since starting his stand-up career in 2007 he has gone on to have an impressive career in both TV and radio. “In Australia absolutely no one knows anything about me or who I am or what I’ve done in the past. It’s quite a weird experience to go back to square one again” Williams has always had a socio-political slant to his comedy, taking aim at hypocrisies he finds in politics and social justice. “The best thing about comedy is it’s like scratching an itch. It’s a great way to release the tension or take out your frustration, in a way.” Last year, Guy recorded his first stand-up special, In An Election Year, which dealt heavily with the current political climate. “I actually studied politics at University, so my career has taken a weird arch. I loved politics, and what I really enjoyed was comedic politicians, politicians who use comedy in
their presentation and their way of marketing. So, what I realised was what I really liked about politics was the comedic angles, and so I ended up getting into comedy from there.” Williams is bringing his unique satirical style of comedy to his brand new show, which deals with gender and racial privilege in 2018. “For me, it’s just interesting seeing comedy in 2018 because so often it’s a bunch of white guys just having a whine about political correctness gone mad or how weird it is that some people choose to live lifestyles different to themselves, and it’s become kind of embarrassing. They’re just whining about absolutely nothing and pushing back against the most basic changes, and for me it’s funnier to just kind of joke about privilege.” Guy is aware the issues of gender and racial privilege in our current climate can be touchy subjects, especially when being addressed in a comedic light. “I’m very careful not to overstep my bounds as a privileged white man, but I think there’s a lot of comedy to be had in the recent events. While it’s very sad and very dark it also can possibly be comedic. There’s a lot of funny irony in the way people are covering stories I think.” The title for Guy’s show, Started From The Top, is taken from a Drake song. Williams jokes “If it was me, that song would be ‘started from the top and continued at the top, had a very privileged life now we’re here, probably underachieving if anything. Should’ve been a doctor or some shit but is now doing a gig at Trades Hall in Melbourne.’”
“The best thing about comedy is it’s like scratching an itch. It’s a great way to release the tension or take out your frustration, in a way.”
is much better than the execution, too. But I was studying at Upright Citizens Brigade. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and other comedians who came out of Second City started this long-form improv training ground below a supermarket in New York. I really thought that I would go into comedy. I was always a comedic actress who sang, and I really loved doing improv and really excelled at it. But I couldn’t handle the atmosphere of comedians who were desperate for success. I found this weird thing where boys who got into stand-up comedy were nerds, and they finally got some sort of power if they were good, and they got drunk with that. I found it very cliquey, and it was made very clear to me that it wasn’t my scene.” From this setback however, Lady Rizo has carved her own hilarious path and, with film and television pitches in the works, is more in-demand than ever. She has also found a whole new community of creatives to keep her performance passions fresh. “Even though I perform as a solo artist now, I’m a very collaborative artist. I love making art with others, and I find it quite hard to work in a vacuum. What I do now is work with musicians. It took me forever to share my own songs, even though I’d been writing them all along, because I saw songwriting as such a high form. I couldn’t imagine being in that pantheon. So I found connection in a scene, in that same queer Downtown-New-York-cabaret-burlesque-wonderful weirdos-with-sparkles-on-them realm.”
“It’s important that when people think I’m burlesque, that they’re not going to see much striptease.”
Venue: Trades Hall – The Archive Room Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 8 (bar Wednesday) Tickets: $20 – $27
By Chris Swan
Lady Rizo
Red, White and Indigo The Melbourne International Comedy Festival attracts the best and brightest talents from across the globe, and so it stands to reason we would find a representative from that city of cities, New York. A celebrated regular on the Big Apple’s cabaret scene, Lady Rizo has been calling Australia her temporary home since January, and her paean to ‘bad boyfriend’ America, Red, White & Indigo, has been evolving since she hit the ground. “The [New York] scene is very dissected,” she says. “I feel like there is a Downtown alternative cabaret scene that is very, very separate from the Uptown, classical cabaret or musical theatre realm. I think the Downtown scene overlaps with the burlesque and vaudeville world. There’s more identification with queer performance culture, and artists that work on their own shoestring budgets. But I think that it’s important that when people think I’m burlesque, that they’re not going to see much striptease. I don’t want expectations to be shattered, but I do take off a glove.” The Grammy Award-winning performer laughs. To watch Lady Rizo perform is to see someone in the cups of comfort; suggesting she was born for the stage is surely not much of a stretch. Yet a life of cabaret wasn’t always on the cards, and I wonder if there may have been some Sliding Doors moment where an alternate performance path presented itself. “I think that movie’s idea was better than the execution. I think the idea of Gwyneth Paltrow
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: The Famous Spiegeltent at Arts Centre Melbourne Dates: Tuesday April 3 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $30 - $45
By Adam Norris
Marcel Lucont’s
Whine List
April 10th - 22nd - 9.40pm (8.40pm Sunday)
“Comedy doesn’t get much better than this”
*****
Adelaide Advertiser
RHUBARB
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21
Urzila Carlson
Studies Have Shown
Craig Low Name Dropping with Lowie
Craig Low has spent over 15 years in both the Australian and American media industries. In that time, he’s had his own radio shows, been on television, studied at Chicago’s world-famous Second City improv comedy school and copped his share of terrible runins with celebrities - which he’s finally ready to share with Aussie audiences. Craig Low will perform at The Upstairs Lounge at Hairy Little Sista from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $18 - $29.90.
Jeff Green 30
It’s been 30 years since Jeff Green first tried his hand at stand-up. Since then, he’s racked up numerous awards, written best-selling books and been featured on TV specials - most recently scoring a 2018 Comedy Award nomination at Perth’s Fringe World festival. Come celebrate this titan’s three decades in the comedy world at Swiss Club from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays and Tuesday April 10), as well as at Melbourne Town Hall’s Supper Room every Monday this Comedy Festival season. Tickets are $22 - $34.90.
Alex Williamson So Wrong, It’s Wrong
With a staggering three million online followers, the prolific musings of Alex Williamson have seen him amass an army of fans eager for his twisted takes. Returning to the Comedy Festival once again, he’ll be packing his trademark banter alongside new characters, songs, jokes and unfiltered thoughts. You can catch Alex Williamson’s So Wrong, It’s Wrong at the Athenaeum Theatre from Wednesday March 28 to Sunday April 1. Tickets are $24.90 - $29.90.
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By splitting her time between her native New Zealand and Australia, South African-born Urzila Carlson knows all about what it’s like to be both a big fish in a little pond and a little fish in a big pond. Her upcoming tour of her new hour, Studies Have Shown, will see her run rings around her homeland’s festival circuit – such is the nature of the beast. “It’s funny... I’ve already performed this show at festivals in New Zealand, but all that really means is that I’ve done the show eight times,” says Carlson. “What a lot of comics would use as their trial shows, that’s our entire festival run – just because our comedy festivals are nowhere near as big.” Rest assured, however, Carlson has come prepared. As the title of the show suggests, Studies Have Shown is Carlson’s reflection on some of the more fascinating experiments and research initiatives that have reflected on both human and animal-kind alike. It’s changing all the time, too: “The beauty of this show is that there are new studies coming out pretty much every week,” says Carlson. “When I started performing it originally, I’d heard about a study that was yet to come out – the effect of cocaine on bees. That’s in the show now! I’m always learning something new.” Carlson originally conceived the idea for Studies Have Shown after growing bored with the usual small-talk that filtered through chats with acquaintances and friends. “I listen to small talk and I see what we have in common,” she says. “It’s all
the same sort of stuff – work, what’s for dinner, kids, partners, that kind of stuff.” “There’s all this stuff though – even on the surface – that we’re all aware of but never talk about.” A one-off conversation at a barbeque ended up as the moment of epiphany. “I don’t even remember how it came up, but I mentioned that I’d read an article about a study that found the average house pet could understand 20 different languages. Someone else there was like, ‘Oh yeah, I heard that too.’ Somehow we all knew! Why weren’t we talking about it?” Outside of performing Studies Have Shown, Carlson has been busy with other work. Recently, she found herself in Sydney to report on the Mardi Gras for SBS. It was there the openly queer Carlson had a true gay pipe dream of interacting with the guest of honour herself, Cher. “She was going to walk in with all the other Cher impersonators, but she got there like 20 minutes before them,” says Carlson excitedly. “When I turned around, she was right there. Holly, who was working the camera, said to me that she would keep filming. ‘Just go,’ she tells me. I stood right by the guard rail and started talking. She could hear me, and she just locked eyes with me – we were in! She was just so lovely – I could have gone home then! How could things get any fucking better?”
“When I started performing it originally, I’d heard about a study that was yet to come out – the effect of cocaine on bees. That’s in the show now! I’m always learning something new.”
His latest stand up show Blonde Bombshell, which he’s performing at the Arts Centre as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, promises plenty more tell-all tales. “I’ve got all the stories that my publisher was like ‘Joel, you can’t put that in your book! You can’t say that about these people!’ Oh please, I don’t have proof that Guy Sebastian murdered someone but I can guess that he has at some point. So a lot of those type of things [were] where the publisher was like, ‘Joel, tone it back.” He’ll also be talking about how he played “a slut” on Neighbours. “I take the character Rory, in my first scene, I literally coax him into a bathroom and we have sex. So yeah, that was my debut in neighbours, so I’m really method acting that one.” Then there’ll be “all the silly shit I’ve got up to in the past year, being backstage at the Logies, the ARIAs, and all the tales I’ve gotten up to on the road. The only problem is writing this new show is that I’ve been in a relationship for the past year and being happy and in a relationship is nowhere near as funny as being depressed, drunk and single, so I’m having to make the best of that I can”.
“I’m not going to change the way you view the world. You’re just going to come along and have a really good laugh and escape your world for an hour and laugh at some ridiculous shit.”
Venue: Forum Theatre – Downstairs Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $30 – $39.50 by David James Young
Joel Creasey
Blonde Bombshell Blonde Bombshell Joel Creasey has had another big year. Not only has he been busy bringing the funny to television events such as Eurovision and Mardi Gras, dishing the dirt in his best-selling memoir Thirsty and doing some acting in shows such as Sisters and Neighbours, he’s also fallen in love – with his brand new air conditioner. He shared the unfolding romance with his 90,000 followers on social media earlier in the year. “Oh my god! People have really loved my Insta-stories about my air conditioner,” he says. “I just said to Jack ‘That air conditioner is the best thing to ever happen to me’ and he goes ‘Oh, okay. Thanks.’” he says, imitating the crestfallen response of his actualhuman boyfriend Jack Stratton Smith. “Honestly, I love it so much.” Creasey made his Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut back in 2010, earning himself a Best Newcomer nomination in the process. These days, thanks to appearing on every panel show in the country, hanging out in the jungle on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and, most recently, appearing as team captain on Ten’s Show Me The Movie!, he’s now a household name. While other comedians talk about politics and changing the world, Creasey is happy to persist with sticking the knife into celebrities and pop culture. “I’m not going to change the way you view the world. You’re just going to come along and have a really good laugh and escape your world for an hour and laugh at some ridiculous shit,” he says.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $25 – $29 By Joanne Brookfield
NER WINEST B EDY COM WORLD GE FRIN 2017
APRIL 9—22 10PM
THIS FABULOUS PERFORMER HAS AN INCREDIBLY BRIGHT FUTURE
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Blake Everett BlakeYouFilthyCow blakeverett
Tickets available at comedyfestival.com.au
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL
6PM
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29 MAR - 22 APR (not 9th) Sundays 5PM | Mondays 8.30PM
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Em Rusciano
Evil Queen
Frenchy Sex, Drugs & Rollerblades
Frenchy’s already had a huge year, selling out 2018 Australian festival seasons and the Edinburgh Fringe in the UK. Having accumulated a whopping three million social media followers, Frenchy’s set to hit the Comedy Festival once more with a brand-new fan-pleasing show filled with bogan ballads, stories, cheeky one-liners and unapologetically rough jokes. You can find Frenchy at the Comic’s Lounge from Thursday March 29 to Saturday April 7 (excluding Sunday and Monday).
Bart Freebairn Super Joke Volcano
An understated veteran of the Australian comedy circuit, Bart Freebairn has become a disarming master of his uniquely intelligent craft. He’s done festivals, podcasts (including We Are Not Doctors with Demi Lardner) and cruise ships, earning himself a loyal following for his simultaneously dry and surreal stylings. Don’t miss Super Joke Volcano when Bart Freebairn performs at Pomodoro Sardo from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $20 - $27.
Cam Knight Get Rich or Die Crying
A prominent professional, Cam Knight has performed for the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival at the Sydney Opera House in 2015. This Comedy Festival, Cam Knight will be packing an arsenal of his quick fire one-liners and brutally honest stories. Get Rich or Die Crying plays at Mantra On Russell’s Mantra Three room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays) and every Monday at Melbourne Town Hall’s Cloak Room. Tickets are $20 - $27.50.
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Podcaster. Australian Idol. Television and radio raconteur. Comedian, mother and sequined storyteller. Call her what you will, Em Rusciano can now add Evil Queen to her repertoire. It’s a performance that would make Maleficent proud and, much like the classic Disney villain herself, has its roots in personal tragedy. “It’s pretty morbid, but I’m not afraid of those topics,” Rusciano explains. “At 2am the night before I had to have my baby removed after a miscarriage, I was Googling ‘where should I bury my foetus?’ That’s so dark, if you don’t laugh you’ll cry. I was online and felt so alone, and I remember being on forums and realised that there are hundreds of thousands of women who’ve had to Google this thing, and why did I feel so isolated? “And I realised it’s because we don’t talk about that stuff, even though one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. I think the genesis for the show kind of started then. When I was so caught up in grief and frustration, but knew in the back of my mind that I needed to get these women together, to make them feel less alone. “I think my job as a comedian is to find the humour in that to soothe the soul. The title came easily, because I’ve always loved the evil queens. I mean, Malificent was a wonderful person until she had her wings hacked off. You can have that one catastrophic event that makes you hate everyone. And I’m camp and like a dramatic sequin and have been called all manner of things. So it was a natural fit.” It also doesn’t hurt that Rusciano is a natural
storyteller, and her ease with keeping conversation sprightly and hilarious is clear. That’s no surprise after honing her skills across radio and television for years, though it was never a path she had intended to take. “I’m a storytelling comic first and foremost ... which probably evolved most fiercely when I was on breakfast radio in Perth. I did Australian Idol in 2005, and was a good enough singer that they asked me to do a radio show. I had never been in a studio, I’d never been into broadcasting. But they realised I had a bit of a knack for storytelling, and I think it was born there! “I didn’t take up stand-up until I was 33, and that was because I’d been on The Project and Charlie Pickering commented that he thought I was really funny, so I started working on my first stand-up show with no idea what I was doing. I put in some singing, because I knew I was good at that, and that led to my first solo show for a ten-seater in South Melbourne. Some nights there were more people on stage than the crowd, but I had so much fun that I kept growing it, practising, and now I’m playing the Palais! I can’t believe it, so I’m trying to just enjoy it in case it all ends tomorrow.”
“The title came easily, because I’ve always loved the evil queens. I mean, Malificent was a wonderful person until she had her wings hacked off.” Venues: Sydney Opera House & QPAC Dates: Thursday April 12 Friday Arpil 13 & Friday April 20 - Saturday April 21 Tickets: $49.90 – $159.90
By Adam Norris
Daniel Sloss
Now
For a time, an odd phenomenon defined Daniel Sloss’ comedy, couples inevitably calling it quits shortly after seeing him perform. In fact, it occurred with such alarming regularity that the Scottish comic began keeping count. The tally has soared since last year. “I think we’re around about four or five hundred [break-ups], and that includes one divorce and three cancelled engagements,” he reports. “I knew it was going to be a slow-burner because it’s very rarely an instant break-up,” Sloss reveals. “The show just puts doubt in your mind. So I always knew I would be reaping the rewards a lot, lot later on - several months afterwards. And I was not wrong.” Given this strange consequence of Sloss’ comedy, the direction of his latest show, Now, makes sense. “It’s me trying to work out whether I’m a sociopath,” he explains. “Because of last year’s show, people kept calling me a sociopath. It’s not the first time I’ve been called a sociopath. I’ve been called a sociopath at several different points in my life and [I] have a general rule that if someone ever accuses you of being something more than three times, have a check.” “If three people told me I was racist, if three people told me I was creepy, if three people told me I was an alcoholic... one you could doubt, two and you’re like, eh, they could be in cahoots. But when it gets to three, that’s a lot of fucking evidence.” That’s not to say that Sloss necessarily backsdown from anything he preached during his last run of performances here. Now fittingly represents an
organic progression from old to new ideas. “It’s not really a rebuttal to last year’s show but it definitely tacks on.” “I don’t theme shows intentionally. I never sit down and go, right, this is what the show’s about, this is what I want to discuss,” Sloss clarifies. “My brain lets me know what’s at the front of my fucking mind. I write jokes about that. Sometimes I get lucky, with this year’s show especially, that the jokes all sort of join together naturally and there’s a natural order. But I’m not one of those comedians with a fucking process.” Whatever shape the jokes take, Sloss is keen to make an impact through comedy. “I’ve seen all these amazing comedians before and I’ve laughed so hard but if you were to ask me now, I don’t remember what any of the jokes were but I just remember laughing,” he explains. “Whereas I could quote you a lot of the stuff from Jim Jefferies’ show that I saw ten years ago or Tim Minchin or Bo Burnham or Tig Notaro, these people that actually, while being funny, said something and made me question my opinions and my stance.” “I’ve always enjoyed that, making people think and see things my way. It’s great making people laugh and that is always my number one priority, but I want to make sure that I’m not insane, so I express my opinions to an audience and see if they agree.”
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“It’s great making people laugh and that is always my number one priority, but I want to make sure that I’m not insane, so I express my opinions to an audience and see if they agree.”
Venue: ACMI – Cinema 2 Dates: Thursday March
29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $22 – $32
By Nick Mason
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TUE–SAT 8.15PM, SUN 7.15PM
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David O’Doherty
You Have To Laugh
“There’s a really dark bit in
Shayne Hunter Blaze Against the Machine
A comedian and political activist once selected to tour as part of the prestigious Melbourne International Comedy Festival Comedy Zone, Shayne Hunter’s debut Melbourne International Comedy Festival show pulls no punches, exploring the world of drugs. Delving into themes of addiction and sociopolitical hypocrisy, Blaze Against the Machine is set to be both a funny and exploratory night out. Catch Shayne Hunter at Pomodoro Sardo from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $15 - $20.
Luke Heggie Tiprat
A winner of the lauded Piece of Wood Award at last year’s Comedy Festival for his show Rough Diamante, the no-nonsense teller of rough wisdom Luke Heggie will be returning with Tiprat - which is no doubt brimming with the dry sardonic observations he’s garnered a dedicated audience with. Catch Tiprat at Mantra On Russell’s Mantra One room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays) and every Monday at Melbourne Town Hall’s Cloak Room. Tickets are $22 - $30.
Sam Campbell The Trough
Sam Campbell does not mess around the winner of the 2016 Comedy Festival’s Directors’ Choice Award and the 2015 Sydney Comedy Festival’s Best Newcomer Award is set blend his surreal and joyously silly stylings into a wholly original experience. You may have seen him as part of YouTube collective Skills in Time or on ABC’s The Checkout, but you can now see Sam Campbell at Melbourne Town Hall’s Lunch Room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $20 - $27. 26 BEAT.COM.AU
Slaughterhouse-Five, the Kurt Vonnegut novel, where the characters come up from underground and the whole city is bombed to smithereens and everyone’s dead and they all just start laughing,” explains Melbourne International Comedy Festival favourite David O’Doherty. “The Germans with them just start laughing because it’s incomprehensible to the human mind, this level of desolation. And while I don’t think the world resembles the bombed city of Dresden, it is a strange time.” And with that, the title of his latest show, YOU HAVE TO LAUGH, has context. This latest hour reflects a trend in O’Doherty’s comedy. “I think my shows in recent years have been an odd mixture of quite personal stuff about things that are going on in my own life, with the backdrop of a very strange era that the world is going through at the moment,” he says. The keyboard-savvy comic insists upon the all-caps show title, too. “A retired golf professional looking back on some light anecdotes about their life – that would be if it were lower case,” he says. “However, I put it in capitals. It’s a screaming imperative. It’s the only way to survive in the modern world.” O’Doherty’s more thriving than simply surviving of late, with plenty keeping him busy. “I’m writing all the time and doing odd bits and pieces. I’ll have a month or two where I’m doing shows
for kids and I’ve been doing a fair bit with Flight of the Conchords recently and then playing with a few bands in Ireland, doing odd things.” Though it’s a world away from arena tours with Bret and Jemaine, O’Doherty is excited for the next chapter – his return to Melbourne. “I will have a shit keyboard in a sports bag that I bought on eBay for $10 and I can do anything I fucking want.” O’Doherty is set to return to The Forum Theatre, a kind of home away from home for the Irish comic. It comes as no surprise that by now, its “shabby chic” has special place in his heart. O’Doherty reflects upon the feelings that tend to rush in moments from showtime. “You’re in the sort of roof of the downstairs, looking down and you’re standing beside a Greek statue with a big wanger and it’s a glorious sort of showbiz moment, where you’re thinking of the stuff that’s been on – those old shows – and it’s quite inspiring really to stroll out on stage and do your own thing there.” And then it dawns on O’Doherty that, little by little, he’s creating his own legacy. “I mean, I’ve probably played that venue now for, I don’t know, eight or nine years? Maybe I’m part of the history of the Forum at this point. I love the idea that one day I’ll look up and one of those naked Spartans with a bow and arrow will have my face and a slightly overweight and hairy belly and I’ll go, ‘Finally, I’m commemorated in stone in The Forum.’”
“I will have a shit keyboard in a sports bag that I bought on eBay for $10 and I can do anything I fucking want.”
2015, 2016’s Crazy Is and last year’s Not Your Ex, all receiving critical acclaim. “I feel like everything in this show has been tried and tested, and I definitely feel like I’m in a better position than I was this time last year,” she says. “I have a quiet confidence with this show, but I’m really excited to bring it to an audience.” Over the last 12 months of putting this show together Tresidder has had plenty of chances to try out potential material on her much-loved weekly podcast Vic and Em’s Comedy Gem’s and admits she was pleasantly surprised how relatable some of her more outrageous material was to her test audiences. “It’s a really harsh and bleak time for our planet, and I think that it’s been really lovely that the human experience is not as alienated as we thought,” says Tresidder. “It’s nice to know that we all have the same sort of hang-ups, and the same sort of craziness – for want of a better word – as well. In some strange way it’s comforting.”
“My new show, in a nutshell, is about our hang-ups. It’s little things in day to day life that are emotional or mental irritations.”
Venue: Forum Theatre Upstairs Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $32 - $39.50
By Nick Mason
Emily Tresidder
No, You Hang Up!
On stage Melbourne-based Sydney comic, Emily Tresidder, has a way of capturing your attention. Her huge smile, quick wit and perfect timing has the audience along for the ride before she has even dropped her first punchline, and it’s a joy to watch. In person, Tresidder is just as engaging, but there’s a seriousness and assuredness to her that’s also intriguing. Beat sat down with her ahead of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival to chat about her new show, her new gig as a podcaster, and how to deal with life’s daily annoyances. “Basically my new show, in a nutshell, is about our hang-ups. It’s little things in day to day life that are emotional or mental irritations,” Tresidder says. “Nothing too serious. Just road rage-type stuff: people cutting in line, people walking slowly. Just little things that irritate us throughout our day, and making light of them. It’s really just me picking fun at these things and how we deal with them.” Known for her penchant for involving unsuspecting audience members in her shows, she says this show is no exception. “It’s interactive to a point, but all of my shows are interactive. So anyone who reads this and thinks, ‘It’s interactive. That’s really frightening and it’s not for me,’ I say, ‘challenge accepted.’ Come to the show and I’ll show you that audience interaction is not always the devil.” 2018 will mark Tresidder’s fourth appearance as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, with her previous offerings, Absolutely Ridiculous in
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Imperial Hotel - Tony Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Wednesdays) Tickets: $15 - $25
By Natalie Rogers
KAITLYN R
OGERS PRE
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AMEN?!
1997 Volleyball Champion
9.30pm
29th March - 22nd April
Trades Hall Evatt Room
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
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Lawrence Mooney
An Evening with Malcolm Turnbull Sammy J Hero Complex
Back by popular demand for one show only, Sammy J will be returning with his sell-out award-winning 2017 show, Hero Complex. A true story spanning 20 years of his life, Sammy J reveals a ride filled with real photos, video and new songs in his coming of age tale about a schoolboy and a gardener bonding over the comic book hero The Phantom. Don’t miss Sammy J at the Athenaeum Theatre on Sunday April 22. Tickets are $34.70 - $38.75.
Nath Valvo Show Pony
Self-described “show-off ” Nath Valvo has long been a staple of Australia’s comedy landscape, performing at the Comedy Festival Gala and the Just For Laughs Festival at the Sydney Opera House. He’s also hosted ABC’s Comedy Up Late, recorded his debut TV stand-up special and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2016 Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Catch him yourself at ACMI’s Cube from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays and Wednesday April 4) and at Melbourne Town Hall’s Backstage Room on Monday April 16.
Randy Randy’s Anti-Crisis
In the time since we’d last left Australia’s favourite foul-mouthed purple puppet Randy, he seems to have quit comedy, found God and moved to the suburbs. His new-found spiritual awakening, however, apparently couldn’t dull his fiery rage - and he’s coming back with a few things to say about the concept of faith. Come see Randy at Melbourne Town Hall’s Supper Room from Thursday March 29 to Saturday April 14 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $25 - 38.
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Malcolm Turnbull is something of an enigma. He’s not as easy to make fun of as Tony Abbott or John Howard, he never held a beer-drinking record like Bob Hawke, he never told an opponent he was going to “do you slowly” during question time like Paul Keating, and he’s never segued mid-sentence from happily endorsing marriage equality to bitterly warning of crocodile attacks like Bob Katter. He’s an anomaly in Australian politics. And that’s exactly what draws Lawrence Mooney to him for his show An Evening With Malcolm Turnbull, which is fresh from a successful Adelaide Fringe Festival run. “Malcolm has had such a full CV,” says Mooney. “He’s been the Prime Minister of Australia, a Rhodes Scholar, a world-renowned barrister, he’s owned his own bank and been chairman of Goldman Sachs in Australia. But he’s never had his own tonight show. And that’s the premise of my show. Malcolm has been given his own tonight show, and it’s a show within a show. He spends the first half talking to the audience and warming them up, and then the show starts and there’s a special guest every night. “Thus far, in terms of political guests, we’ve had some good ones. Sam Dastiyari, Amanda Rishworth, Senator Murray Watts, the leader of the Sex Party now the Reason Party - Fiona Patten, and the Premier
of South Australia, Jay Weatherill. Sometimes the guests are punters out of the audience, sometimes it’s somebody else. Then there’s a wine tour of Italy and a big musical number.” The majority of the show is Malcolm’s audience warm-up, where he tries his hand at topical political humour. “I worried that the show wasn’t going to sustain so I did two trial shows at the Melbourne Fringe Festival at the end of last year, and to my surprise, I’ve had to chop out some parts and allow other parts to come in.” So how do the audiences react to Mooney’s Malcolm? “There’s this combination of things going on in the audience. There’s comedy but there’s also hope. People want to love their leaders. They don’t want to have to be critical of them all the time. Malcolm as played by me is very frank and forthright and crosses the line sometimes, and you think ‘God I wish he’d really do that,’ because politicians are so carefully managed by the party. “Even when you get to meet people at the very sharp end of politics you realise they are very heavily managed by the party. Even Turnbull and Bill Shorten. And I’ve become quite fascinated and a bit obsessed with Malcolm Turnbull, so I’ve put in a few ad breaks during the tonight show of Turnbull telling his actual story. He’s a very complex character. His mum left at the age of nine and I think there are some inherent flaws in the glass when that sort of thing happens, and to a certain extent he’s an animal – he’s a political animal. Whatever he sets out to achieve, he does it.”
“There’s comedy but there’s also hope. People want to love their leaders. They don’t want to have to be critical of them all the time.”
him as a writer, forcing him to constantly generate new material so as not to disappoint his returning audiences. “Nobody else speaks the language so you really have to tour the country a lot and you have to write new jokes all the time. People are coming to see you many times, so my main thing has always been writing lots of jokes.” Ismo will be making his Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut this year with his show Words Apart. Even back home, he says his take on the world was always seen as a little different or unusual, but he promises the show to be universal and relatable and as the title suggests, taking a look at language. “One of the phrases I like to use is ‘the hidden obvious’. My goal is for people to say when they are leaving my show, ‘How did I never see that before?’ That’s definitely what I’m going for – pointing out things that are so obvious that people do not even see them and then take them further and twist them around”.
“That’s definitely what I’m going for – pointing out things that are so obvious that people do not even see them.”
Venue: Athenaeum Theatre Two Dates: Wednesday March 28 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $30 - $42
By Peter Hodgson
Ismo
Words Apart When a comedian performs on American late night talk show Conan, it’s a pretty big deal for that performer. When Finnish stand up Ismo Leikola first performed on US television, it was a big deal for his whole country. “Me doing Conan was the number one news story in Finland that day,” he says. “I’m the first export of Finnish comedy so far,” he says from Los Angeles, where he is now based and performs under his first name. When you think of countries known for their comedy, Finland probably isn’t one that springs to mind. Probably wouldn’t even make most people’s top ten. Yet, tucked so far north it juts into the Arctic Circle, Finland has a healthy comedy scene. Ismo first began performing comedy in 2002 as part of the second wave of the growing circuit there. He says that while live comedy existed during the ‘90s, it wasn’t until the early naughties that stand up really took off there. “It happened quite fast for me,” he says of his success. “I started in 2002 and then in 2003 I was making a living doing comedy. I got on TV right away, so it happened really fast. Since then, Ismo has toured across the country to sold-out theatres, released three comedy specials and starred in his own sitcom. “It was based on my life,” he says. “I played a comedian called Ismo and it was very exaggerated. It was about my life – touring, my crazy manager, stuff like that. And I have a wife in the show and the actor was picked by my real wife.” Finland’s relatively small population of five and a half million people created a good discipline for
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Greek Centre Parthenon Dates: Tuesday April 10 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $30 - $35 By Joanne Brookfield
PJ_39F_a2 poster.qxp_PJ_39F_a2 poster 11/1/18 9:30 pm Page 1
Melbourne Comedy Festival Premiere! Popjam Productions presents
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Alexis Dubus
Versus The World
Ivan Aristeguieta Matador
The winner of the Best Comedy Weekly Award at the 2017 Adelaide Fringe, Venezuelan-born Ivan Aristeguieta wanted to become a brave matador after his grandfather took him to bullfights as a child – but now, he’s dating a vegetarian and realised that killing bulls may not be a glamourous pursuit. A show about the internal fight between love and principle, you can catch Matador at the Victoria Hotel’s Banquet Room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $20 - $32.
Heath Franklin’s Chopper Bogan Jesus
Ever since Ronnie John’s Half Hour presented Heath Franklin’s interpretation of the notorious Mark “Chopper” Reed as a foul-mouthed, charismatic clown prince of the criminal underworld , our nation can’t seem to get enough of him. This year, it seems Chopper is starting his own religion, in his own image. God help us all. You can catch Bogan Jesus at the Athenaeum Theatre Two from Wednesday March 28 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $25.50 - $38.75.
Harley Breen Flat Out Doing Nothing
The winner of the Comics’ Choice Award at the 2011 Comedy Festival, Harley Breen has since travelled the world festival circuit, from Edinburgh to India. Frequently selling out shows and regularly headlining around Australia, Flat Out Doing Nothing will be his twelfth show, where he’ll be chatting about the perks of avoiding full-time employment. Kick back and relax at the Mantra on Russell’s Mantra One room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $20 - $32. 30 BEAT.COM.AU
UK comedian Alexis Dubus doesn’t just follow the classic standup formula; he likes to add the challenge of performing his whole show in carefully crafted prose. That’s right - if you hadn’t already picked up on it from the witty wordplay of the title, Verses The World is an hour filled with hilarious poetic verse. “I’ve not been to Melbourne for four years, and the last time I came the show was a bit of an epic fiftyminute poem, and this year it’s not epic in any way,” says Dubus. “It’s just silly, it’s just lots of silly poems and a few songs thrown in, some stories, and some ridiculous one-liners.” Verses The World is a collection of weird stories from Dubus’ last few years living on the road and touring the world. In fact, he admits that he’s one of the lucky ones who never really had a ‘proper job’, falling straight from university into full time comedy. “I went straight into it after being a student. I did the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards, which is our UK version of Raw, and I mainly did sketch comedy.” That background in sketches has inspired a second stream of shows from Dubus’ overactive brain. He also plays a character called Marcel Lucont – his French alter ego. Dubus likes to keep the gigs he performs as a poet and the gigs he performs as Lucont completely separate, as they draw utterly different crowds and inhabit completely different comedic spirits. “The two shows is just something I’ve always
done, I guess I don’t like an easy life. They both get such different audiences, it’s really interesting.” Dubus trialled Marcel for the first time at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and found that crosspromoting the Frenchman with his usual stand up confused audiences, as some came to see Marcel’s debut expecting the epic poetry of Dubus’ first show. “I remember I was doing a show about the history of swearing, and then I said at the end ‘Oh I’m doing this character show afterwards, come along if you fancy it’, and a lot of people did and I remember I could hear backstage someone saying ‘Oh god, it’s almost like he was a completely different person’. Well yeah, that’s what character comedy is.” The point then, is crystal clear – to enjoy Dubus’ hilarity in full, make sure you think of Lucont and Dubus as two separate entities, albeit formed in the one creative brain. The poetic gig is slightly more highbrow, whereas Dubus intriguingly describes Lucont as a “Shakespearean arsehole.” There’s a heavy musical element to Verses The World that also sets it apart, and although Dubus himself is not a musician, he’s hired Doc Brown’s rap writer, Mikis, to create some backing track magic for his spoken word poetry. “It’s like watching magic when he puts a track together for me, I’m entirely un-musical myself, it just boosts the poems and the full-on songs that I do in the show – a guy singing acapella at a comedy gig, now that’d be odd.” So what’ll it be: comedic poetry or French slapstick?
“The two shows is just something I’ve always done, I guess I don’t like an easy life.”
traditional dinner theatre is basically a meal with a show. This is completely flipped the other way. This is a show that happens to have a meal component with it. The meal is almost a prop… because if you were to dine in the real restaurant at Fawlty Towers hotel, you would be served a meal, while all this mayhem is going on around you.” And as we already know, mayhem sure does ensue. Sottile plays the clumsy Spanish waiter and, although a third of the show is scripted, spends the rest of the time reacting to audience member’s heckles and unexpected behaviour in true Manuel style. “There’s a moment in the show when Mrs Fawlty is telling Manuel off, and as Manuel cowers away from her, he falls onto a gentleman’s lap and throws his arms around his neck in a ‘save me’ kind of way. During one particular show, this gentleman was a very big, brick house of a man, and he literally just scooped his arm underneath my legs, picked me up and proceeded to walk out of the room with me in his arms. Sybil and I looked at each other and I could see she wanted to crack up laughing.” Luckily, neither Manuel nor Mrs Fawlty broke character during that particular moment of audience-driven script change, however, it just goes to show that no two Faulty Dining Experiences will ever be the same. “Most people come out and tell us that their faces hurt from laughing so much. Be prepared to spend the whole night laughing.”
“There are elements in the show that everyone can relate to and I think that’s why it stands the test of time.”
Venue: The Upstairs Lounge at Hairy Little Sista Dates: Tuesday April 10 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $21 – $25
By Tarnay Sass
Faulty Towers
The Dining Experience Mayhem, absolute mayhem. That’s the best way to describe the Faulty Towers Dining Experience, according to Athony Sottile who plays one of three starring roles in the interactive and hilariously slapstick theatre show. A homage to the classic 1970’s/80’s UK sitcom of the same name – though with slightly different spelling – the Faulty Towers cast have toured their skit all around the world. The original television series, for those who haven’t seen it, starred John Cleese as downright dreadful hotel owner Basil Fawlty, Connie Booth as Basil’s domineering wife Sybil and Andrew Sachs as their hapless, but wellintentioned Spanish waiter Manuel, who struggled with even the simplest of English phrases. Although you wouldn’t dream of eating out with such a terrible hospitality trio in real life, that’s exactly what has kept the Fawlty charm alive, more than 20 years later. It’s funny, relatable and also somewhat nostalgic for those hardcore Fawlty fans. “We’ve all had that experience, so it rings true, there are elements in the show that everyone can relate to and I think that’s why it stands the test of time,” says Sottile. “Either you’ve been served by someone who’s just horrific, a horrible waiter or waitress, or, if you’re working in hospitality, you’ve had that nightmare customer.” The Faulty Towers Dining Experience isn’t something you can just sit back and watch. The audience is in the very thick of it, as you’re literally served your dinner by Basil, Sybil and Manuel. “It’s a three course meal, but it’s funny because
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Stamford Plaza Melbourne Dates: Tuesday Aril 17 – Sunday April 22 (bar Monday) Tickets: $89 – $99
By Tarnay Sass
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31
Hannan Azlan
Comedy Zone Asia
Demi Lardner I Love Skeleton
Demi Lardner has risen to take the country by storm, and rightfully so – her madcap comedy powers know no bounds. Weaving a vast range of surreal characters and imaginative worlds at breakneck-speed, her unique approach has seen her win the 2017 Comedy Festival Directors Choice Award and the 2017 Adelaide Fringe Underbelly Award. Don’t miss Demi Lardner at the Victoria Hotel’s Acacia Room from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22 (excluding Mondays). Tickets are $20 - $28.
There’s no such thing as an overnight success. And yet, Hannan Azlan sure has come a long way rather quickly. From her first tentative steps in 2015, to winning the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition a year later (becoming both the youngest, and first female winner), and appearing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (again), the Malaysian comic is a singing, uke-wielding wunderkind. “Usually on a Sunday I’d be recovering from a weekend show, but this is different,” Azlan says. “I’m about to go to Singapore and I’ve just remembered it’s tomorrow and I haven’t packed. And then I’m going to Melbourne in a week. And I just finished a different kind of project, where I composed a musical for an art NGO. It was my first time creating so much material that I didn’t perform myself, or wasn’t involved in the performance. Just the composition. That’s a new thing.” There have been many new things for Azlan – international touring, encountering hecklers for the first time (thanks, drunk Aussies.) – which isn’t that surprising given this is still a recent success. And while further forays into musical theatre may develop, there is still a whole world of traditional stand-up to explore. “I think with comedy, it’s similar to musical theatre. It was never a goal. It was never even really an option. I was never interested in doing stand-up until my friend said I should try it. When I started,
I did straight, regular stand-up. I think about it sometimes. What if I never brought along the uke? What if I never tried songs? Maybe I would have turned into someone just like everyone else. So now I analyse my onstage persona. But it’s tough. I think the beauty of stand-up is that a lot of it is about intention, what you’re trying to say with your work, as opposed to just laugh-a-minute things. I haven’t been doing this long, so I’m still working that out.” Azlan will return to Melbourne as part of the Comedy Zone Asia showcase, and while previously she has floated her willingness to represent Asian people in entertainment, she is also much more than a nationality. “When I first started, I was just so nervous,” she says. “There’s so many people in front of you and you have to make them laugh. I was deadpan. I never paused. I wasn’t relaxed on stage, and that’s what made it funny. This girl would just sing this song, and move straight on to the next. She doesn’t give a fuck. But the Asian thing, it’s not like I want to go on stage and go, ‘OK, I’m Asian, and this is what it means for me to be Asian, this is my experience being Asian.’ That’s not really what I do. I’m a version of myself that’s just being dumb and gross on stage. And, I’m Asian. Comedy and music is more a form that I just happened to stumble upon.”
“I’m a version of myself that’s just being dumb and gross on stage.”
2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The first show he ever toured, 99 Schnitzels (Veal Ain’t One), has also won Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe World. It’s becoming clear that Glanc’s big career move may have been exactly the right decision. In his previous two shows, Glanc focused on one hilarious, silly and surrealist character, adhering to more skit show than conventional stand-up, giving the audience minimal chance to get to know the real him. Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chamedian is less clean cut, more random, and has parts in between bizarre fictional characters where Josh comes out, just as himself. “In Edinburgh, I just saw people just kind of doing what they wanted to be doing, and I was inspired to create a show where I just fill it with everything that I love to do. Just over a year ago, Glanc was working full time as a lawyer with a stable life and steady income. He seems proud of his recent comedic success, but says that the down time – in between his hectic touring schedule and numerous award acceptances – makes him “really existential.” But this existential, introspective perspective might just be the reason that Glanc’s obscure brand of comedy is relating so well to audiences around the world. His plunge into the creative world after years in an uptight office setting seems to have given him a sense of having “nothing to lose”, meaning that he is the guy who’s happy to dance around with bread on his ears and a schnitzel chain around his neck.
“Previously, I played one character and I told a story. For my next show I knew I wanted to do something different.”
Venue: Chinese Museum Silk Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $22 - $34
By Tarnay Sass
Josh Glanc Rich Hall
Everybody’s favourite cranky yank is back, with another collection of wry observations on human behaviour. By now he’s definitely a festival legend, unrelenting and blistering in his delivery. Catch Rich at the Lower Town Hall every night except Monday, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 8. Tickets are $31 - $40.
The Opening Night Comedy All Stars Supershow
It’s the annual mega-show that kicks off the month-long Melbourne-based smorgasbord of hilarity. It’s the festival favourites and MICF legends, ready to hit the stage, score some laughs and leave you wanting more. Catch this televised spectacle in person at the Palais Theatre on Wednesday March 28. Tickets are $65 - $190. 32 BEAT.COM.AU
Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chamedian He’s joined Shaun Micallef’s ilk as a lawyer-turned-comedian and has won awards for performances that involved singing whilst wearing bread on his ears and donning absurdist alter egos, but in real life Josh Glanc is an introspective, earnest and calm fellow. Not at all what you’d expect from someone who once wore a schnitzel around his neck for a press shot. According to Glanc, you don’t need to know anything about Culture Club to appreciate his 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chamedian. He likes to keep his comedy “random” and this irrelevance between title and content is living proof of that claim. “Besides having a title that either tickles people or is completely lost on them, the show is part of a response to my previous show and my experience in Edinburgh last year,” says Glanc. “Previously, I played one character and I told a story. For my next show I knew I wanted to do something different.” Glanc was presented as part of the Edinburgh Fringe’s Gilded Balloon program last year with his show Manfül, where he played an “American beefcake” character in a send-up of hyper-masculine culture. He then returned home to Australia where Manfül collected the Best Comedy Weekly Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and was shortlisted for the overall Best Comedy Award. He finished his winning year by selling out every single show at the
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall – Lunch Room Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Monday April 9) Tickets: $21 – $28
By Tarnay Sass
Kuah Jenhan
Electric Butterflies Sean Patton Number One
A comedian who likes to give a nod to his ‘drunken voodoo pirate city’ origins in New Orleans, Sean Patton is threading a tale of his southern life and family in his Australian solo comedy debut. Patton will bring his rapid-fire comedy to Melbourne Town Hall’s Cloak Room every night excluding Mondays, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $26 – $33.
Rose Matafeo Horndog
Horndog is due for a comeback. The phrase has been absent from the Australian lexicon for far too long. Luckily for us, Rose Matafeo is bringing it back with her new show, delving deep into sexuality and the inherent laughter that’s implicit in every awkward romantic interaction we’ve ever experienced. Hailing from New Zealand, Matafeo brings her lackadaisical style and sharp wit to the stage in a must-see performance. Catch it at the Melbourne Town Hall - Regent Room from Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays).
At last year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Kuah Jenhan told an epic tale of personal discovery and cultural clash with his show Perfect Stranger, recounting a trip to Uzbekistan. Now returning to this year’s festival for the fourth time, he’s ready to tell a very different side to that story. A rom-com adventure set in Uzbekistan once more, Electric Butterflies revamps the tale by revealing that the fresh faced 20-year-old Kuah flew from his home in Malaysia to chase his sweetheart – who happens to be a central Asian beauty queen with a very different culture. Of course, things go awry in his search for love – but he learns a lot along the way. “You know how sometimes, people go to a bar, or they go to a pub, and they see that one person they like?” Jenhan says. “Maybe they don’t talk to them that first time, and then they go back every Friday and hope that they meet this person, and one day something happens and it all falls into place? You know that feeling? The difference is, I kept doing that in a different country. I won’t give away what happens in the end, but I think that that idea is preposterous, even at the very core.” An enthusiast for narrative-driven comedy, Jenhan savoured the opportunity to tell a funny story that was both personal and gave the audience something more than just jokes. Looking back on his past self, he now sees “why he didn’t achieve what he wanted to achieve” – and appreciates how much he’s learned since. “Sometimes, when you leave things up to chance,
you really do find new experiences,” Jenhan says. “Just the differences in pursuing romance are so different, even from Malaysia and Australia. In general, we are a lot more reserved in Malaysia. We are a lot more shy.” Jenhan describes the show as a fun exploration into the human condition – not just about love, but also about cultural expression, the universal pursuit of happiness, personal development and how he “constantly fails to learn things”. Excited to share what he personally considers the best show he’s written, Jenhan is looking forward to telling tales on the nature of growth. “My childhood dream was to go to Disneyland, because as a child, I’d always wanted to go but we could never afford it,” Jenhan recounts. “As a 30-yearold man, I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to bring myself to Disneyland to fulfil a childhood dream’ – which, in essence, the idea is a very introvertedcentric idea. When I got to Disneyland, I didn’t like the experience at all, because there’s just too many happy people everywhere. “In my head, I’m like, ‘I knew I was an introvert – why did I do this to myself ? Why did I think that a seven-year-old Jenhan would know what to do when this 30-year-old Jenhan can’t even decide on lunch?’ [When] you see yourself in your past, you wish you’re not that person – but the fact is, that had to happen for you to get here.”
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“Sometimes, when you leave things up to chance, you really do find new experiences.”
Venue: Mantra on Russell Mantra Three Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday March 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $19 - $24
By Jacob Colliver
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Simon Taylor
Happy Times Simon Taylor has become a staple at the Melbourne International Comedy festival with his 2018 show, Happy Times, marking his eighth year performing.
The Indian All-Star Comedy Showcase, Westside Preview
Direct from the Bengaluru Comedy Festival in India, the City of Maribyrnong and the MICF 2018 are proudly presenting a preview performance of the Indian AllStar Comedy Showcase, introducing the four top talents from the Indian comedy scene. Featuring Sorabh Pant, Aditi Mittal, Azeem Banatwalla and Rahul Subramanian, this special preview is happening on Thursday April 19 at the Kindred Bar in Footscray. Tickets are $20 - $25.
Simon is well and truly a “real comedian”, having established himself as one of Australia’s sharpest and wittiest performers. Currently based out of New York, Taylor has had plenty of time to hone his delivery with his latest show, performing it around the world in the lead up to this year’s festival. “I actually started making this show in New York,” he says. “So I’ve been performing it in New York, LA, and then in Perth, Adelaide and now here in Melbourne, so it’s actually been around the globe already. What’s funny to people in Australia is funny to someone in Singapore and Malaysia and Hong Kong and Europe and America. It’s a real gift to be able to connect with people using jokes and gags.” Taylor’s comedy has a rare quality to it. He captivates his audiences with his unique and personal brand of comedic storytelling – something he has finely tuned over the years. “I’ve always really enjoyed telling stories, so every year my stories have kind of gotten bigger and bigger,” he says. Starting off as smaller, more self-contained stories, Taylor has developed his comedic yarns into masterful cautionary tales of sorts. “It’s grown and grown. Last year it was a 30-minute story and this year the show is a 45-minute story. It’s all one story pretty much. I’m wrapped with that. It was kind of my goal this year to just tell one long story.” This year’s show, Happy Times, is about the hilarious mess that erupted when Taylor was recently told he might be becoming a dad. However, in typical form, the show is about so much more
than the possibility of impending fatherhood. “It’s about this strange shift I’ve had now that I’ve turned 30. I get to talk about my 20s like I was an idiot, because I was in my 20s, even though it was only a couple of months ago. There’s this beauty in getting older and it doesn’t necessarily change anything, but you get to pretend it does. It’s a nice excuse to start behaving a little more responsibly, so this show is about something stupid I did in my 20s and making it sound like I’ve learnt so much now that I’m 30 even though I make the same mistakes.” While being a somewhat satirical reflection of past mistakes, the show’s title Happy Times is far from ironic. “In the show I talk about the happiest moment I’ve ever experienced in my life,” says Taylor. “And what’s interesting is that it comes at a time when all sorts of madness and confusion are happening all around potential fatherhood. So it was this little gem of a human moment amongst all the mess. The hilarious mess. It’s a cautionary tale of ‘don’t do what I did’. It’s not a ‘let me tell you what to do’ [story]. You can say a wise phrase but following it is a very different situation. It’s been a running theme throughout my comedy.”
“There’s this beauty in getting older and it doesn’t necessarily change anything, but you get to pretend it does.”
Amos, whose Wildean stage persona is unmistakable, believes that a unique voice is the biggest asset an aspiring comedian can have. “In this day and age, anyone can put something on YouTube and build a following,” says Amos. “But if you make the transition to stand-up, you’ve got to take knocks and grow a thick skin. When you’re starting as a stand-up comedian, you’ll have loads of terrible gigs, but that’s part of learning.” Amos has had his share of bumpy evenings. He recalls chatting with an audience member who, in a miscalculated attempt to get laughs, went on to compare Amos to a golliwog. “I could have gotten offended and put him down in a really harsh way, but I made a decision not to,” says Amos. “If there’s someone in the audience who says something outrageous, I’ll take what they’ve said and try to weave it into a joke that lets us all laugh together.” “If you want to come have a laugh without necessarily expecting any deep meaning and pathos, then come to the gig,” says Amos. “If I stir the pot along the way, that’s just a bonus.”
“What I don’t want to do is to stand on stage and do jokes about Brexit and Syria that people are sick to death of.”
Venues: Trades Hall - The Quilt Room, Trades Hall - The Music Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Wednesdays) Tickets: $22 - $29 By Chris Swan
Stephen K Amos Reel Funny What We Do In The Shadows
Curated by Gus Berger, The Melbourne International Comedy Festival along with the Thornbury Picture House, is proudly presenting a screening of What We Do In The Shadows, the masterful brainchild of two of New Zealand’s finest comedic talents: Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement. The gory mockumentary will be screening at the Thornbury Picture House on Thursday April 19. Tickets are $15 - $17.50.
Yo-Yo Guy
Many yo-yo based questions will be answered in this show: can a yo-yo save the earth? Can a grown man still play with yo-yos? John Higby will be performing his 20-year strong yo-yo spectacular, using his special skills to enter outer space’s zero gravity and save us all. The five time Guinness World Record holder will be performing at the Fed Square Pitch and Fed Square Main Stage every night bar Monday, from Wednesday April 4 to Sunday April 15. Entry is free. 34 BEAT.COM.AU
Bread and Circuses
Donald Trump, Facebook leaks, North Korea – Stephen K Amos would like to help you forget it all, at least for an hour. His new stand-up show, Bread and Circuses, aims to turn Melbourne’s Athenaeum into a shelter from the chaos of the world at large. “People just want a laugh, and I accept that,” says Amos. “What I don’t want to do is to stand on stage and do jokes about Brexit and Syria that people are sick to death of.” In his 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival appearance, Amos took Australia to task for failing to legalise same-sex marriage, despite the fact that even “marginally more racist” South Africa had managed to do so. However, Amos chooses not to use topicality as a crutch. “If I’m just standing onstage, spouting my personal political beliefs, all I’m doing is attracting an audience who agree with me,” he says. “You stop getting laughs and you start getting rounds of applause because you’re just saying things the audience agrees with. What’s harder to do is getting an audience onside who don’t share your beliefs.” Travel is another way Amos has found to have fun without courting complacency. He recently travelled from a gig in Hong Kong to do some exploring in mainland China. “If you spend your whole life hanging out with people who look the same as you and have the same political agenda as you, that’s a safe space to be,” he says. “Finding yourself in a position where you’re slightly more uncomfortable can be a learning experience.”
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Athenaeum Theatre Dates: Wednesday March 28 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $36 - $54.90
By Zachary Snowdon Smith
Alan McElroy
Wingin’ It
Reel Funny Red Hot Shorts
Gus Berger and the Red Hot Shorts have put together some of the funniest short films you’ve ever seen in this showcase at the Thornbury Picture House. The program’s highlight is The Eleven O’Clock, an AACTA award-winning short about a delusional psychiatric patient who believes he is a psychiatrist. Red Hot Shorts is screening at the Thornbury Picture House on Thursday April 12. Tickets are $15 - $17.50.
Comedy Up Late
Launching on Easter Saturday, Comedy Up Late is the perfect chance for festivalgoers to be in the live audience for five special filmed shows for ABC Comedy. There’s sure to be huge stars on the line-up, but you’ll have to wait for the nights in question to find out the big reveal. Comedy Up Late is on at Max Watt’s, on Saturday March 31, Monday April 9 and Monday April 16. Tickets are $20 - $30.
WTF Renaissance
The online sensation WTF Renaissance will be leaping from your hectic Twitter feed and heading to the Comedy Festival for the very first time. Presented as a gallery of Renaissance and Medieval paintings, each piece comes accompanied with a modern caption that completely changes its focus. It’s absolutely not what the artists intended and it’s all the more perfect for it. WTF Renaissance will be available from Wednesday March 28 to Sunday April 22 at The Coopers Malthouse. Entry is free.
You might need to go and see Alan McElroy’s show Wingin’ It more than once, because the creative, quick-thinking comedian does just that: wings it. Every show will be totally different, because McElroy’s background as an MC, along with his fast-talking Irish charm, means that he’s found his comedic strength in ad-libbing off the crowd instead of writing a script. “I love bantering with the crowd. I was at Edinburgh Fringe and a lot of comedians were doing sad shows about depression et cetera, and I was just out of a marriage so I thought that was the way to go,” says McElroy. “But when I got back home to Auckland, I was talking to the manager of the comedy club and she was shaking her head and telling me to do what I did on stage there. I had spent 20 minutes on stage making people laugh without going anywhere near my material. It was a lot fun and she was right.” McElroy attributes his skills in quick banter to his short attention span, knowing a scripted show would not only bore him but mean a lesser delivery for the audience, night after night. “If I banter with them, it’s organic which means more laughter.” McElroy was also wary of writing a sad show about his divorce that would mean reliving a painful memory every night that he performed his show. It’s been five years since his last Melbourne International Comedy Festival foray, and the IrishNew Zealander says that he wants to come back every year, having not spotted “a single arsehole so far”. That’s high praise from such a well-travelled man. McElroy moved from his home country of Ireland to NZ eight years ago and has since cemented himself on
kiwi television, having had cameos and MC duties on a number of prime time shows. He’s well known at the Dunedin Fringe, and his combination of fast Irish cheek and laid back kiwi cool has garnered him a reputation as the person you go see if you want pure entertainment with “no chance of getting bored.” There was a transition period though, where McElroy had to adapt his material from the Irish comedy scene to the New Zealand. “Irish audiences make a night of comedy - they’ll meet friends before the show in the pub, have a few drinks, laugh a lot and continue the night after. Some audiences in NZ are known to be a little more reserved and low key. I have had to slow down my delivery, because in Ireland I spoke so fast.” He’s also had to cut out some of the darker humour and sarcasm that just doesn’t play quite as well for a kiwi crowd. Mostly, McElroy just gets distracted from his planned material. “There was a funny argument between an old couple while I was getting on a plane to Dunedin and they ended up in the audience that night so that became the show, it was amazing and everyone loved it.”
“I love bantering with the crowd.”
Recognising that an inherent part of the process of learning the craft of stand up involves being not very good at it for a while, he decided to speed that process up and move to a city with a much bigger live comedy circuit. “So the logic was I would go to Canada and do essentially a very intensive year of training there,” he says of Toronto, where he cut his teeth quickly by doing ten gigs a week.” The appeal of doing it in Canada was I could do it away from prying eyes and sort of arrive as, if not a finished product, at least someone who’s not an absolute atrocity on stage.” It paid off, with Montgomery winning New Zealand’s top comedy award and The Billy T Award, in 2014. Doesn’t Check His Phone For An Hour will be his fourth time appearing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In 2015, he did a split bill with Rose Matafeo, the following year he picked up a Best Newcomer nomination for his show Guy Montcomedy and last year he did Let’s All Get In A Room Together. While here, he’s also performing with impro in Snort and Friends, which will feature kiwi performers plus local and international guest comedians. Montgomery will do the festival circuits here in Australia and New Zealand before returning to New York in May. “So this, in essence, [is] an opportunity for me to rebuild my bank account and ego before returning to the cold hard streets of America and having it taken away from me all over again.” But at least he’ll be able to check his phone then.
“I’ve always wanted to move to New York and in doing it, I did not immediately find it to be the experience I imagined.”
Venue: Boney
Dates: Wednesday March 28 – Tuesday April 10 (bar Sundays & Mondays) Tickets: $15 – $20
By Tarnay Sass
Guy Montgomery
Doesn’t Check His Phone For An Hour “Could you do it? Could you not check your phone for an hour? Just let those emails, texts and social media notifications beep away at you while you resist, wondering. With our universal obsession with our devices bordering on a mass addiction, kiwi stand up Guy Montgomery is going to do it. “Certainly, first things first, the show does what it says on the tin. I will be resisting any desires to check said phone,” he says of his brand new show, Doesn’t Check His Phone For An Hour. “In essence, it’s a stand-up show thematically driven by a relationship to my phone,” he says. While he will analyse how and why this happens, Montgomery will be tackling other topics as well. “Isolation and getting older, removing yourself from your comfort zone and finding out that might not be the smartest thing to do. I’ve always wanted to move to New York and in doing it, I did not immediately find it to be the experience I imagined, or the experience I convinced myself it would be.” “I have theories on buying fresh produce, the challenges contained therein and then – also tying into fresh produce – different people’s applications of fresh produce and cooking. It covers a bit of ground.” Now based in New York, Montgomery grew up in Christchurch, went to uni in Wellington and then moved to Auckland. While he gigged there for several years, he actually got his start in comedy in Canada.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall Portico Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $20 - $27
By Joanne Brookfield
BEAT.COM.AU 35
Nazeem Hussain
No Pain, No Hussain
The 29th Annual Great Debate
It’s something festival fans look forward to every single year: The Annual Comedy Debate pits the sharpest and quickest comedic minds against each other in a night of critical thinking and comedic timing. Debaters will take the lectern at Melbourne Town Hall’s Main Hall on Saturday April 7. Tickets are $38 - $59.
James Veitch Game Face
Mischievous and hilarious geek comedian James Veitch is back with his second show, which discusses Donkey Kong, online dating and time travel, among other age-appropriate topics. Veitch’s PowerPoint-driven show is on at both the Lower Town Hall and Supper Room at the Melbourne Town Hall, every night excluding Mondays from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $27 - $35.
Fin Taylor Lefty Tighty Righty Loosey
Western politics is at the centre of Fin Taylor’s new show, a topic that drags his white male privilege through the mud while calling bullshit on the moral high-ground of our present day Lefties. Taylor will be hitting the stage at ACMI every night, bar Mondays, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $26 - $33. 36 BEAT.COM.AU
It never rains for Nazeem Hussain – it pours. The 31-year-old is about to wrap filming on a brand-new sketch show, he’s expecting his first child at the end of next month and he’s gearing up for some of his biggest-ever shows in both Sydney and Melbourne for their respective Comedy Festivals. Needless to say, Hussain has a lot to reflect on. “My shows tend to be a reflection on the year that just passed – it’s like a diary,” he says. “Stuff will happen to me, and I honestly won’t even have time to process it. It’s weird, I can’t really write my shows in advance. I just kind of have to wait for life to happen.” Even with TV work ranging from Bill Nye Saves the Universe to Hughesy, We Have a Problem, Hussain always finds his way back to stand-up. By maintaining a connection, he finds himself easily able to fill up an hour come festival time. “I like to keep active with performing – I’ll try and get up on stage a few times a month,” he says. “There’s plenty of awesome rooms around the country that are always operating outside of festival season. It helps me to work through my stories – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Really, any excuse to talk some shit, I’ll take.” Hussain is the first to admit there is an element of l’esprit de l’escalier in his material – i.e. thinking of the right thing to say long after the opportunity has passed to say it. With No Pain, however, he’s done his best to try and keep it real. “In the moment, a lot of the time, you can be
really stuck for words,” he says. “It can be fun to have the last word, but you can’t always be the guy who wins in your stories. The humour can definitely come from you coming off as the idiot. Whatever the case, sometimes the best way to figure out how you feel about a certain scenario can be by going through it as a part of your act.” Originally rising to prominence as one half of Fear of a Brown Planet – alongside Aamer Rahman – Hussain has spent the last decade, and then some, essentially growing up on stage. He’s proud of how far he’s come, as well as of his current standing as a theatre-filling act. “When you’re starting out, you’re under this impression that you have so much to say and that you’ve got all of these great jokes and observations to make,” he says. “I look back on my earliest days of stand-up, and I think ‘Why did anyone think it was a good idea to put me on stage?’ I was just a kid. Maybe it’s just maturity in general, but you start to get a more natural sense of what’s funny for you as you get older. It sounds wanky, but all I’m doing is just trying to get a laugh.”
“It can be fun to have the last word, but you can’t always be the guy who wins in your stories.”
Venue: Forum Theatre – Upstairs Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 Tickets: $30 – $39.50 By David James Young
Paul Chowdhry
Live Innit
Paul Chowdhry has become a representative of Britain’s Muslim community – hindered only slightly by the fact that he isn’t one. “If Slumdog Millionaire’s on at the cinema, then you’re Indian, and if something Muslim starts going on, then you’re Muslim,” says the Punjabi-descendant comedian. “People are quite driven by what they see on TV.” With a swaggering demeanour and a beard that would put a Fitzroy hipster to shame, Chowdhry has become an increasingly recognisable figure in British comedy. After appearing at the Hammersmith Apollo, Chowdhry is bringing his streetwise standup to Australia for the first time, including a drop-in at the Athenaeum for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. “I’ve been getting so many messages on social media from Australians that I think it’s finally time to give in and sit on that flight for a while,” he says. “This is my first-ever time in that part of the world and I can’t wait to see what the audiences are gonna be into. I’m looking forward to seeing all the Neighbours.” Chowdhry has been whittling down several hours of material to a concentrated one-hour dose for the festival. He prefers performing at small and midsized venues like the 1,000-seat Athenaeum, which allow him more easily to connect with - or confront - his audience. “There’s a lot of improvisation,” says Chowdhry. “It’s probably entertainment in its purest form; a man with a microphone, exposing himself. Well – not exposing himself.” Chowdhry’s popularity got a bump in 2014 after he took to YouTube to roast the trolls who left insulting, and often ungrammatical, comments on his social media pages.
“I treat them like a heckler at a comedy club,” says Chowdhry. “What people are told to do is ignore them. Why feed the trolls? I didn’t feed the trolls, I gave them a three-course meal.” His fascination with the absurdities of the Facebook era continues into his current Live Innit tour, where he’s taking a moment to talk about online dating. “Tinder and Bumble is where it’s at now for people,” says Chowdhry. “You remember, 15 years ago, if you had a date with someone online, people thought you were gonna get murdered. Now, if you have a date with someone that isn’t online, people think you’re gonna get murdered.” Chowdhry’s upcoming projects include the film Madness in the Method, the directorial debut of Jason Mewes of Jay and Silent Bob infamy. At the conclusion of the Live Innit tour in June, Chowdhry has an additional TV project in the pipeline. “But, you know what they say – when they’re in the pipeline, they don’t really exist,” he says. Chowdhry looks forward to finding out what tickles Australian audiences, assuming his beard and surname don’t get him locked up by airport security. “I like to bring something more emotional and deeper to the shows sometimes, especially with this show,” he says. “Whether people take it home or not is up to them.”
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“I like to bring something more emotional and deeper to the shows sometimes, especially with this show. Whether people take it home or not is up to them.”
Venue: Athenaeum Theatre Dates: Saturday April 21 & Sunday April 22 Tickets: $54.90
By Zachary Snowdon Smith
Mark Swivel
Alternative Prime Minister
Larry Dean Fandan
He’s a storyteller with an honest, confessional style to his tales, and he’s back with a new show that will showcase his charismatic personality. Larry Dean will be performing at ACMI Cube and Melbourne Town Hall Powder room every night bar Mondays, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $27 - $33.50.
New Order
Five of the brightest comedy sparks from the UK and Ireland are on the bill for this exciting line up of up-and-coming comedic talent. Brennan Reece, Darren Harriott, Eleanor Tiernan, Ivo Graham and Lauren Pattison are ready to each bring to you their individual funniness. New Order is on at the Melbourne Town Hall in both the Powder Room and Supper Room, every night bar Wednesdays, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $25-$34.
To put it kindly, the world’s in an interesting socio-political situation right now. Fear and greed seem to overrule reason, corruption feels rife and no one seems willing to accept the responsibility of ethical leadership. The outlook is dire, but luckily, Mark Swivel has the courage, determination and – most importantly – a snazzy ten-point plan to help him run for the top job. “It’s part of the theme of the show, generally, to save the nation from itself,” Swivel says. “It’s very difficult doing political satire at the moment, of course, when the real thing is so much funnier than anything a comedian could come up with. The ‘Ten Point Plan To Create A Country Worth Living In’ will be “embargoed” until the opening night of his new show Alternative Prime Minister, of course, but highlights include a flag tax, a Ministry Of Cricket, and a policy Swivel’s “very committed to” called the “Responsible Service of Capitalism”. A takedown of our nation’s more absurd political machinations in the tradition of Mark Steel or the late John Clarke, Swivel blames it on a friend he exchanges political banter with on Facebook who jokingly encouraged him to run for Prime Minister. “He’s got to me, I guess,” Swivel says. “It’s all to do with Saul. I don’t think anyone would actually want to be Prime Minister. There’s an old saying: ‘Power should only be given to those people who really, really don’t want it’. I think that’s the only basis on which anyone would give me power, for
She sold out three Edinburgh Fringe runs purely via word-of-mouth, and now Scottish stand up Fern Brady is making her Melbourne debut. Suffer, Fools! is a show that is bold, brush and brutal in it’s dissection of the human condition. Brady is performing at the ACMI Studio and the Melbourne Town Hall Cloak Room every night excluding Mondays from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $26 - $33.
“I try during the second order of the show to convince the audience that I’m unfit for public office. But as we all know, being unfit for office is practically compulsory these days.” Venue: Loops Project Space & Bar Dates: Monday April 9 Friday April 13 Tickets: $20.30 - $25.30
By Jacob Colliver
Laura Daniel x Joseph Moore
Two Hearts: Melbourne World Tour Comedy duo/real-life-couple Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore are unleashing their own brand of superwoke, pop musical spectacular on Melbourne, fresh from rave reviews at the NZ International Comedy Festival.
Fern Brady Suffer, Fools!
sure. I blame Saul. I blame my man Saul. “There was a long period of mourning in our house when the sainted Mr. John Clarke passed away,” Swivel continues. “A long period of mourning, which continues – I’m wearing black right now, as a gesture of respect. I would hope that at its best I’m heading in the direction of that sort of comedy. That’s what we’re looking at, that style: a kind of mordant – but warm, ultimately – humour that rips the shit out of everything, but just wants to bring people together in a beautiful way.” It’s Swivel’s third year at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where he’ll be both performing in Alternative Prime Minister and appearing as part of the hybrid game and panel show extravaganza Rhubarb with Kate Jenkinson, Pinky Beecroft and more. Swivel will be packing twists galore in his own show, featuring surprise song choices, hula hoops, Venn diagrams and a “truly appalling” folk ballad he wrote at 13 years old. Armed with a sharp and sardonic wit, Swivel’s ready to make a difference – for all of us. “I try during the second order of the show to convince the audience that I’m unfit for public office. But as we all know, being unfit for office is practically compulsory these days,” Swivel says.
The kiwi comedians are bringing their all-singing, all-dancing hit show Two Hearts to the Comedy Festival this year – a pop riot that is part parody, part tribute. Already killing it in New Zealand with the success of TV shows Funny Girls and Jono & Ben, this comedic power couple have taken their relationship to the stage in a spoof of a modern pop duo that Daniel describes as “confident, but misguided. We’re super woke, but we’re not,” she says. The duo have been compared to Flight of the Conchords, but as Laura observes, the pop-spectacular thing “makes it very different to your usual sit-down with guitars; it has a lot more physical comedy.” She says that punters can expect “a full popshow experience, but in a much smaller venue. Everything they could experience in an arena kind of concert but it’ll be on our kind of touring budget,” she laughs. “It’s quite loud so if people try to heckle we probably won’t be able to hear them, and that’s fine. It’ll be a noisy, fun party.” With a name like Two Hearts, the show seems sure to hinge on an overly sentimental and hilarious romantic vibe between the two stars, but Laura says
that when they started working on the show, she and Joseph weren’t dating. “We worked on the TV shows back here [in New Zealand] so we’ve kind of been a collaboration for a while but we were friends, and – well, we may have slept together once,” she admits with a laugh. “Way back five years ago, and then I guess [the relationship] became inevitable but that was our running gag, that we were just good friends who had slept together once, and we had to change a bit of the show.” Now, she says, their romance is “strongly a part of the comedy, there’s a tension between us on stage.” Laura thinks that it works pretty well, taking the piss out of their relationship and each other. “It’s been part of our shtick. We’ve kind of owned it I guess.” Evidently, Two Hearts completes the parody/ tribute with a real undercurrent of sexual tension, essential to any pop duo worth their sequins. If you’re looking for a big expensive show, in a stadium, probably with fireworks and fancy lights, then this isn’t for you. But if you’re on a budget, Two Hearts promises confetti – lots of it. For all those who are into pop song bangers (i.e. everyone), but who want lyrics that make them laugh, Two Hearts seems like a winner. And an “arena sized spectacle in a non-arena sized venue” sounds like way more fun than the real thing.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“It’ll be a noisy, fun party.”
Venue: Trades Hall – Music Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Wednesdays) Tickets: $18 - $25
By Claire Garratt
BEAT.COM.AU
37
Neel Kolhatkar
Live
In 2017, Australian wunderkind Neel Kolhatkar set out to make a brown sex symbol out of himself. Directing his audience to overtly sexualise himself and his Indian background, Kolhatkar propelled the hashtag #ObjectifyNeel into his socials. A year later, the results are in.
Sophie Willan Branded
This is Sophie Willan’s Australian debut, and she’s going to make sure it’s a good one. Performing her new show that is all about pigeonholes, labels and identity, all delivered in her trademark upbeat, Northern English lilt. Willan will be hitting the stage at the Melbourne Town Hall Cloak Room every night bar Mondays from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $26 - $33.
“Yeah, it did get me a few dates,” Kolhatkar laughs. “Let’s not go too deep into it. But let’s just say, yeah, definitely, it did. It was a good meeting strategy and for my dating life as well.” #ObjectifyNeel was Kolhatkar’s effort to encourage more brown sex symbols in popular media, of which even he can identify few. It also comes under one of the broader motivations in Kolhatkar’s comedy, to bring down walls between Indian and Australian cultures. “I think when we can all laugh about our differences and understand that those differences aren’t really a barrier to getting along with each other, that certainly helps us,” he says. “That helps break down the barriers and I feel like my comedy has aided in that pursuit.” Getting his head start in comedy at 15 years old, Kolhatkar took out the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Class Clowns competition in 2010. At 17, he went viral with his crude impressions video, Australia In 2 Minutes. Now 23, he’s written and acted in a handful of short films and TV shows, including his own program on ABC Comedy, Virgin Bush, which true to its title, saw Neel going bush in the Aussie outback. Kolhatkar’s style of cultural critique has matured alongside him, yet he remains unafraid to push the envelope with what’s appropriate in his comedy. “There’s been a few [impressions] that have
always garnered some form of criticism. But I think with the nature of the impressions I do, they are quite unapologetic. I wouldn’t say they’ve completely backfired, but there’s always been a percentage of people who have been critical. But you know what, the longer I’ve been doing this, I’ve learnt to revel in that. I actually don’t mind the material that is provocative, starts a discussion and is controversial – in fact I quite enjoy doing that sort of material more than removing face on a joke.” Given Kolhatkar’s provocative content, it’s no surprise that his audience’s reactions are precisely where he gets his thrills. “At first, I was a bit concerned when people would have a go at me and make their criticisms very clear online, but now – I don’t know, maybe it’s a bit of a masochistic kind of thing – but I like it.” There’s no denying that Kolhatkar’s caustic style comes with its set of risks, but it’s clear that he’s formulated his jokes to ensure he lands laughs without being senselessly inflammatory. “I’ll make the audience think that I might make them uncomfortable, but then, I bring it back. If you can bring them back to somewhere that there’s common ground, the laughter and the response is even greater as a result.”
“I actually don’t mind the material that is provocative, starts a discussion and is controversial.”
International Comedy Festival for the first time since 2015 with his show Don’t Worry, They’re Here. Kearns notes that it’s within the structure of an hour-long performance that he’s been able to make the most of his comedic abilities. “What I’ve learned is that you really have to try and keep people’s attention,” he says. “If you’re just doing an hour of five-minute bits that you’ve taped together from working rooms, it’s easy to lose people and for them to become bored. You have to hold their focus the entire time. I’ve been honing this hour for awhile now – I did it in Edinburgh last year, and I’ve just finished a tour in the UK. I’m really happy with where it’s at right now.” Australia will more than likely be the last place to see Don’t Worry, They’re Here before Kearns moves onto his next festival show. Kearns is looking forward to the run, although he’s making sure it translates to an audience outside of the UK. “The curious thing now, bringing it to Australia, is making sure the references make sense,” Kearns laughs. “I can say how well I think it’s constructed all I want, but the fact is, if I’m up there yelling the names of people in the opposition party in the House of Commons then no one in Australia is going to know what the fuck I’m on about.”
“I’m writing for myself on the stage now. When I was starting, it was very much throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Now, I feel like I have a greater understanding of the persona I’m trying to convey.”
Venues: Comic’s Lounge
Dates: Saturday April 21 & Sunday April 22 Tickets: $24.90 - $29.90
By Andrew Nardi
John Kearns Phil Wang Kinabalu
A Malaysian-born son of Chinese and British parents, Phil Wang’s MICF 2018 show focuses on a close-to-home topic: ‘immigrant patriotism’. He weaves in charm and silliness to stories that are personal and political. Wang is playing at the Melbourne Town Hall Powder Room, every night excluding Mondays, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $26 - $33.
Spencer Jones The Audition
The child-like alter ego of Spencer Jones, The Herbert, will come out to play for this show. Bringing to Melbourne for the very first time his original mashup of music, visuals, prop and character comedy. Jones is performing at the Playhouse Rehearsal Room at the Melbourne Arts Centre, every night excluding Mondays from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $26 - $33. 38 BEAT.COM.AU
Don’t Worry, They’re Here John Kearns is a curiosity on several fronts. The English comedian has props, but he’s not a prop comic. He’s got a costume for the stage, but he’s not being anyone else but himself. Donning a wig and some Jerry Lewis-esque false teeth, Kearns will arrive on-stage and perform as usual – never once addressing either aesthetic choice. “It’s not a character in the sense that I’m trying to convince people that it’s real,” says Kearns. “I’m not trying to convey that the monk’s wig is my real hair – people see it and can clearly see that’s a man who’s just found a wig and put it on. The teeth, on occasion, will just straight up fall out of my mouth. When I first did it, it was just to see what would work. I was trying to experiment and see what people liked – but I should have been careful what I wished for, because the one thing people really liked was the fucking wig and the teeth.” Think of it like David Byrne’s giant suit in Start Making Sense – no rhyme or reason, just a key eccentricity. “As time has gone on, I’d like to think it’s gotten a bit slicker,” says Kearns of his performing persona. “The writing goes to more comic territory, in that I’m writing for myself on the stage now. When I was starting, it was very much throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Now, I feel like I have a greater understanding of the persona I’m trying to convey.” Kearns is returning to the Melbourne
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall Cloak Room Dates: Thursday March 29 Sunday April 22 Tickets: $27 - $33.50 By David James Young
Nick Cody
Loose Unit
Andy Zaltzman Right Questions, Wrong Answers
Host of popular podcast The Bugle, UK comedian Andy Zaltzman returns to Australia to ponder the biggest questions facing our naughty planet. He will ask, confront, evade and incorrectly respond to audiences at Melbourne Town Hall every night bar Monday, from Tuesday April 10 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $28 - $36.
Headliners
North America’s finest are calling Melbourne home for one month as they bring their “more American than PB&J” style comedy to Australian shores for MICF 2018. Headliners features Kate Willett, Jared Logan, Zainab Johnson, Dulcé Sloan, Beth Stelling, Seaton Smith and Joel Kim Booster. The all-American extravaganza goes down at Max Watt’s, every night except Mondays, from Thursday March 29 and Sunday April 22. Tickets are $28 - $37.
Nick Cody may be known for his luxuriant ginger beard, but this Melbourne comedian is no hipster. “There’s men with beards, and then there’s nerds with facial hair,” says Cody. “I’m definitely not a hipster. I wear skinny jeans, but I also do deadlifts and play sport.” Experiencing Cody’s matey, down-to-earth standup is like overhearing a story at the pub. His act has taken him to clubs across Europe and onto the stage of Conan, and has made him a fixture on an unmanageably long list of Aussie TV programs. He’s now gearing up for appearances at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival where he has performed so many times he’s lost count. “The Melbourne festival is definitely my favourite show, because my buddies from all over come ‘round my city for a month,” says Cody. “I also like Melbourne shows because I get to sleep in my own bed.” Travel is a passion for Cody and he doesn’t like to spend tour downtime sitting around in his hotel room. Cody’s last European tour took him not just to typical stop-offs like London and Amsterdam, but also to Serbia, Bulgaria and the Baltic states. “I don’t see myself as an ambassador for Australia – I’m just an ambassador for me,” says Cody. “I think that’s the government’s job – they have actual ambassadors.” YouTube and Netflix have fuelled the growth of a new stand-up culture in regions like post-Soviet Europe. Getting Estonians and Lithuanians to laugh at Aussie jokes isn’t actually that challenging, says Cody. “In a lot of the countries where English is
their third language, they’re more switched-on than around the Gold Coast, which I find quite amazing,” says Cody. “The Gold Coast beaches are too nice – people there don’t have to focus too much.” Cody has also blurred the line between business and pleasure by becoming a beer spokesperson. Moët & Chandon has Federer, Nespresso has Clooney and now Carlton Dry beer has Nick Cody. “After recording the ads, I’ve just gotten to drink a lot of beer,” says Cody. “It’s a pretty good job, all things considered.” Cody’s act isn’t what you’d call edgy, but some things do push his buttons. Loose Unit, Cody’s 10th solo show, touches on his aggravation with people who do things like go through airport scanners with their keys still in their pockets. Even the most easygoing bloke is bound to have a few pet peeves. “It’s hard to correct strangers, but I try to do it through stand-up,” says Cody. “I just put things that I’m very angry about in there, and hopefully people who do those things will notice.” The show will also give audiences a view into the debates Cody and his wife have had about kids. “What do I want my kids to be like?” muses Cody. “Do I want them to have as much fun as I had? I just don’t want them to be nerds, pretty much.”
“It’s hard to correct strangers, but I try to do it through stand-up. I just put things that I’m very angry about in there, and hopefully people who do those things will notice.”
sense of Australian life through the eyes of an immigrant. “This is a show about Russians living in Australia,” explains Bodryi. “It gives people a way to look at their everyday lives from a different perspective, from the perspective of an outsider, from the perspective that happens to be Russian.” When asked how they all came together to put the show on, Bodryi says they joined forces after running in similar circles. “[Comedians] pretty much just mingle together and it’s pretty easy to spot a Russian name that sounds like a complicated wi-fi password,” he says. It seems that, for Gosha and his fellow performers, the language of comedy is universal. When asked about the differences and challenges of performing in both Russian and English he explains. “It’s pretty much the same, to be honest, because people laugh at the same thing.” While there are some obvious differences, “the principles of making comedy and the principles of making people laugh at a very basic level, they’re actually all the same.” Regardless of the language, it seems that Symon, Tugushev and Bodyi are are already making waves at this year’s festival with the first show of G’day, Commrade! already being sold out. The show promises to provide a hilariously entertaining and unique take on Australian life from a perspective that many may never have considered or heard from.
“[Comedians] pretty much just mingle together and it’s pretty easy to spot a Russian name that sounds like a complicated wi-fi password,”
Venue: Victoria Hotel – Banquet Room Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $22 – $32
By Zachary Snowdon Smith
Gosha Bodryi
G’day Comrade! Ari Eldjárn Pardon My Icelandic
He is Iceland’s biggest comedy star and now Ari Eldjárn is bringing his critically acclaimed comedy show to Melbourne to perform in English. It’s an exploration of Scandinavian stereotypes that is not to be missed. Eldjárn is performing at the Greek Centre, every night bar Mondays, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $26 - $33.
Loyiso Gola Unlearning
It’s his second time in Australia, after being nominated for two Emmy awards and winning his home country’s South African Comics’ Choice Award, and Loyiso Gola is ready to challenge societal norms with his philosophical contemplations on politics, race and history. Gola is charming audiences at Mantra on Russell every night bar Mondays, from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 22. Tickets are $27 - $34.
Multiculturalism has always been one of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s strongest points and 2018 is no different. Among this year’s lineup is the hilarious G’Day Comrade!, a stand-up show featuring Russian comedians who are now based in Australia. The bill consists of Kaychu Symon, Gleb Tugushev and Gosha Bodryi. It’s Bodryi’s first time performing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the exhilaration is building, “I’m absolutely excited” he says, “and I’m actually already having a migraine because I feel that nothing is ready. But it’s all good.” While he’s only been performing stand-up in English for just over two years now, Bodryi has been performing in his native tongue for quite some time. “I was doing sketch comedy in back in Russia,” he says. “Then in 2011 I moved to Melbourne where I was part of a Russian comedy troupe.” However, the shift from sketch to stand-up occurred when he moved to Queensland. Not knowing any other performers he still felt the desire to get on stage and make people laugh. “I was very nervous when I started doing standup in English, but the reception was very warm actually. I feel that the English-speaking audiences are much easier to make them laugh than Russian people in Australia for some reason.” G’day, Comrade! finds Bodryi joined on stage by fellow Russian comedians. During the show the three of them (along with a guest comedian appearing straight from Russia) will try to make
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venues: Imperial Hotel
Dates: Wednesday March 28 - Sunday April 1 Tickets: $10.30 - $15.30
By Chris Swan
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Nath Valvo
Show Pony
Horrendus! The Bizarre True Trial of a Very Dead Pope
A black comedy based upon the all-tootrue historical events of the Cadaver Synod, Horrendus! is a farcical tale about how far some go to grab power – like exhuming a dead Pope, for example. Set in the Dark Ages, Cardinal Theodore wants to bow out of the running for a coveted position as Pope – but a cast of devious figures have other plans for him. Horrendus! will play from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 15 (excluding Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays). Tickets are $25 - $32.
After receiving a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it’s been onwards and upwards for Nath Valvo. Receiving critical acclaim for his shows Happy Idiot and Not In This House amidst regular appearances across the festival circuits, Valvo has sparked many a laugh with his sharp wit which takes aim at everything in sight. His ability to find the funny side of anything has become exceedingly evident with his latest show, Show Pony, which pokes fun at everything from Melbourne hipsters to the recent same-sex marriage plebiscite. “As awful as this is to say, I actually found so much comedy in it – the whole time it was happening, I just thought it was so surreal and so insane that it was happening,” Valvo says of the postal vote. “It’s not a political show as such, but I’ve tried to make it as funny as I can about what we had to go through. “Obviously it hurt as well, I’ve been with my partner for nearly five years and it affected us. I don’t know, maybe it’s the comedian blind – when something shitty happens, from that, some really good comedy can come out of it. Of course, I wouldn’t want it to happen again but I can’t deny that there’s a lot to discuss, there’s a lot to take the piss out of. It was a really weird double-edged sword.” When he’s not poking fun at Australian politics, Valvo is usually setting his sights on something equally close to home – “taking the piss” out of Australian-isms, even if it is admittedly slightly hypocritical at times. “We’re just sheep and it’s so funny. We just do
night markets and cafes and acai bowls and different cool weddings. Everyone’s like, so cosmopolitan – it’s just so fucking hilarious to rip into because it’s such a wank. But the entire time, I sign up to all of it. I am totally on board lining up for having a good breakfast.” While many would shudder at the thought of standing centre stage at the world’s most renowned comedy festivals and baring their souls, Valvo finds this to be the most effective method, drawing “close to 100%” of his material from his own life, and well, the proof is in the pudding. “I think some people think comedians are liars – we can definitely tell a good yarn, but I can’t really seem to find comedy in something that hasn’t happened to me. That’s kind of the only tool I have.” Don’t expect any major revelations to come from a Valvo show though, his main goal is simple: to make people laugh. “There’s some comedians out there that are actually amazing at making audiences think about stuff. I don’t go at it like that. There’s a couple of brutally honest, insightful things about the postal vote, but they’re funny – hopefully. So if some of those stories have a deeper effect on people, that’s really cool, but that’s an added bonus, it’s not the aim.”
“When something shitty happens, from that, some really good comedy can come out of it.”
Venue: ACMI – Cube
Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 (bar Monday April 2 & 9 and Wednesday April 4) Tickets: $20 - $32 By Kate Streader
Morry Morgan
Douglas Lim This Is Nice
A Malaysian comedian who likes to address all meaningful issues with honesty and candid humour, Douglas Lim is performing his new show that learns to laugh at racial idiosyncrasies. Lim is returning to Melbourne for the second time to perform at the Chinese Museum’s Silk Room, every night bar Mondays from Thursday March 29 to Sunday April 15. Tickets are $25 - $35.
First Dog on the Moon Surviving the Apocalypse
Labelled as “potentially live saving” this useful and also entertaining live performance of one dog and his behaviour in the face of the world’s demise is fun for all the family. Surviving the Apocalypse is on at Melbourne Town Hall from Friday April 6 to Sunday April 8. Tickets are $28 - $32. 40 BEAT.COM.AU
The Best of the School of Hard Knock Knocks “There’s ways of getting into any form of art – whether that be painting, whether that be learning guitar, or learning how to sing,” cofounder Morry Morgan says. “Some people just pick up a guitar and go for it. Some people watch countless amounts of YouTube videos, and they learn that way. Others, on the other hand, they prefer a structured methodology. They go to a singing lesson, they get a guitar coach, or in the metaphor of a gym, they go to the gym.” One of the only institutions in Australia for those new to stand-up, The School of Hard Knock Knocks is a five-day course that works with budding comedians through hands-on workshops and mentoring from experienced professionals. The graduation ceremony sees you perform your own five minutes of comedy to an audience as large as 1200 people. “Over the last three years – and we’ve had close to 100 graduates – no one, by hand on my heart, has ever bombed,” Morgan says. “For some reason, it’s just a very warm room when they graduate – and that’s partly because the room is full of mums, dads, brothers and sisters of the performers – and no one bombs.“ With a background in adult learning, a business built overseas and even as a producer of a Chinese run
of The Rocky Horror Picture Show stage production, Morgan found that many of the diverse elements that he’d acquired within those seemingly different realms were surprisingly applicable to stand-up. “How do you get adults to do something two days ago they couldn’t do?” Morgan asks. “I just applied all of those skillsets to a very different medium, which is comedy. Strangely enough, even though comedy’s very unstructured – it’s very different than learning to drive a car, because obviously you can measure the success of driving a car very quickly. Unstructured learning process like comedy, you can break it right down into little pieces of structure. After five days, someone who is funny around the barbeque can now be hilarious onstage in front of 60 to 100 people.” At this year’s Comedy Festival, The Best of the School of Hard Knock Knocks will see 39 of the school’s brightest rising stars performing over the course of 12 days. With each night offering a variety of styles, it’s a cornucopia filled with some of Australia’s best new comics. The comics themselves share a wealth of different backgrounds and experiences. There are criminal lawyers, published authors, keynote speakers and character actors, who all share that same love of the stage.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
“Over the last three years – and we’ve had close to 100 graduates – no one, by hand on my heart, has ever bombed.”
Venue: The Moat
Dates: Thursday April 5 Sunday April 15 (Bar Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays) Tickets: $20 - $25
By Jacob Colliver
Sean M Elliot The Onion of Knowledge
HActresses Fully Hacked
Tell us about your show.The Onion of Knowledge is all about the quirky and surprising stories from science. Like the time the Greek philosopher Hippasus proved a mathematical argument. His opponent graciously acknowledged the truth and pushed Hippasus into a lake and watched him drown. Did I mention it’s a family show? What does your show teach the audience? Like an onion, learning science is all about learning in layers. As my grandmother used to say: “You can’t do Quantum Physics without first putting a cat in a box – just don’t let them catch you doing that, boy. Now, get me a prune juice.” Bless her enlarged heart. What’s a fun fact about the show? A fun fact about the show is that it is a show all about facts. Yes, that is the sort of metahead-spin you can expect from The Onion of Knowledge. Facts all the way down. Also, the audience gets to contribute their very own fact. (Veracity of facts not guaranteed.) Who are your biggest influences? For the way they tell a story, I’m a big fan of Ben Elton, Eddie Izzard, and Neal Brennan. Can you describe the journey of creating a show?This show came about because I was burnt out after a job I had organising a science festival. I didn’t want to write, talk, or look at science again. It has been slow work pulling my creative mind back into the passion I used to feel for talking science, and this show is the result.
Tell us about your show. Are you no good at life? Shit job? Maxed-out credit card? Fitbit failure? Tinder trainwreck? Highfunctioning alcoholic? Well, fear not, because the totally unqualified yet highly intuitive Evie Stevens (Belinda Kirwan) and Lucy Lew (Nina Nicols) are here to help in their show Fully Hacked. What does your show teach the audience? What doesn’t it teach? We dish out our expert advice on how to overcome porn, drug and alcohol addiction, class warfare, dating disasters, health and beauty cons and misogyny. Think of it as group therapy, only in front of a live audience of strangers. You’ll come away feeling at least 20 percent more enlightened. How have the events in your life turned into material? Some of our life mottos are: ‘If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry’ and ‘Happiness is only skin deep.’ In times of trouble, you need vodka or champagne to wash away all the pain. You also need a shoulder to cry on, as well as hours of advice that you didn’t ask for. In Fully Hacked, we prove that it is actually possible to be everything to everyone. What do you love about the Melbourne performing arts community? Everyone is nuts (in a good way), so we fit right in. It’s a very supportive, diverse and accessible community and there’s so much on offer that it’s a feast for any artist or anyone who enjoys the arts. Describe your show in three words. Hack-tastic, hack-er-if-ic and hilarious.
Venue: Imperial Hotel – Hooper Room Date: Friday March 30, Monday April 2, and every Saturday & Sunday during the festival Tickets: $18 - $22
Julia Rorke & Elysia Hall Not Another Fucked Bitch in India
Tell us about your show. Not Another Fucked Bitch in India is a sketch comedy show about dumb white bitches with not-sosecret vegan eating disorders, cooked people on Instagram, fake hippies, and everyone you want to uppercut in the health café. It’s a mockery of white people using spirituality as an identity ploy, who clop up our Instagram feeds with quotes about wellness, abundance and gratitude, when in reality these people are the most unstable, egotistical and spiritually handicapped of us all. The idea for the show was born when… The show was inspired by our neighbours, our high school peers, our ex’s, our colleagues, our Instagram networks and all the privileged, white, hippy wannabes we met backpacking through India and Indonesia. For years, we’ve seethed, squirmed, cried, laughed and wretched over people posing as enlightened, bohemian, nomads who believe they’ve transcended their sorrows because they’ve travelled to a developing country to rip bongs. Who are your biggest influences? Julia and I both relish brutally honest, unapologetic and often unsettling comedy which aims to redefine, explore and break social norms. Creators like Lena Dunham, Michaela Cole, Phoebe WallerBridge and Bill Burr are some of our biggest influences. Can you describe the journey of creating a show? Getting drunk in Julia’s kitchen and stalking Instagrams of idiots we went to school with. We live on the Northern Beaches in Sydney (AKA a douchebag mecca), so the show pretty much wrote itself.
Venue: Missing Persons Dates: Thursday April 12 - Sunday April 15 Tickets: $20 - $24
Ivan Aristeguieta Matador
Venue: The Coopers Malthouse - Shell Room Dates: Tuesday April 10 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $20 - $25
The idea for the show was born when…I was checking out my post-divorce moving boxes and I found a photo of me dressed up as a Matador when I was three years old. I thought how much I’ve changed since then; from a Venezuelan-Spanish kid who wanted to be a Matador to a divorced progressive-ish immigrant comedian living in Australia with a vegetarian girlfriend. What does your show teach the audience? I take from chats with my audience after my show so that immigrants learn more about Australians and vice versa. It looks like I’m a sort of cultural mediator. What inspires you about Melbourne International Comedy Festival? This is my sixth year doing this festival and the excitement is as fresh as the first. I can’t believe that I made it to be part of one of the most prestigious comedy festivals in the world doing comedy in a second language. How have the events in your life turned into material? My shows are a one-hour synopsis of the major events in my life and most important things I have reflected on the last 12 months. My job is to tell these stories and explain my reflections in a funny way. Who are you looking forward to seeing this year at the festival? I always try to watch as many acts as possible. I’m a stand up comedian, comedy nerd and comedy fan. The list is long. To mention a few: Damien Power, Nath Valvo, Kyle Kinane, Phil Wang, Celia Pacquola, and Demi Lardner.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Victoria Hotel Banquet Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $20- $32
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Amity Dry Is 39 Forever
Tell us about your show. It looks at the innocence of growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s and the efforts women go to to maintain the beauty ideal through our different life stages. It questions how things like motherhood, social media, Botox and approaching the big 4-0 affects how we see ourselves. The idea for the show was born when… I was about to turn 39. I was feeling pretty daunted about the next birthday being 40 and started to write down all my feelings one sleepless night. What does your show teach the audience? That we all feel the same way! We all feel insecure at times and look in the mirror and think ‘how did that happen?’. It’s also great to have an ‘80s and ‘90s sing-a-long, because who doesn’t love that. What inspires you about MICF? This is my first MICF! I’ve been doing shows at the Adelaide Fringe Festival for 9 years now and although I’ve brought some of them to Melbourne ,I’ve never been part of the MICF before. So I’m really looking forward to getting amongst it and seeing some fabulous shows while I’m there. How have the events in your life turned into material? I wrote a musical about marriage and motherhood so I have been milking stories about my experiences in that area for years, and obviously I turned my insecurity about turning 40 into a show. I am always looking for the humour in a situation even when it’s really tough. I am not afraid to share my weaknesses, especially if it makes someone else feel better about theirs.
Cath Styles Accidental Cougar
Venue: Chapel Off Chapel - The Loft Dates: Wednesday April 18 - Sunday April 22 Tickets: $25 - $30
Darien Brown Lumourous
Tell us about your show? My show is essentially about life, various events that have happened in my life and just what the future might hold down the road - things that we can all relate to. What inspires you about MICF? Just the fact that there’s so much diversity and how people of different nationalities, disabilities, race, religion and gender can emerge together as one in a performing arts festival such as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. That’s what truly inspires me. Who are your biggest influences? My biggest Influences are my family, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Chris Rock and KISS. Describe your show in three words? Life, changing, experience. Who are you looking forward to seeing this year at the festival? Oh man, there are so many good acts this year but if I had to narrow it down to just one I would say Cal Wilson.
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Tell us about your show… It’s about finding yourself in the very situation you’ve been taking the piss out of your entire comedy career, and working out what to do with it. It’s a love story. It’s a postcard from my life. It’s a TED talk. It’s personal, it’s relatable, and it’s hilarious. What does the show teach the audience? Never say never. You don’t know what’s around the corner, so make your life memorable. And most of all, never, ever, grow up. It’s SO overrated. What inspires you most about MICF? Knowing that you’re starting with something raw and having faith that it will evolve into something completely different by the end of your run. Also, I love seeing what everyone has created. A show is like a baby, but no one calls Child Protection if you throw it out when you’re sick of it. Can you describe the journey of creating a show? Sure. Come up with a catchy name for a show, write a few lines that are loosely related to the name, then spend the weeks leading up to the festival trying to write something that seems like it might fit that concept while you question your life choices that led you to this situation. How have the events in your life turned into material? I think most comics use comedy as a way of processing stuff they’ve been through. Sometimes you’ll just notice the funny bits in the most terrible situations and reflect on it and want to make something entertaining out if it. When life hands you lemons, comedy is a great way of making Limoncello.
Venue: The Upstairs Lounge @ Hairy Little Sista Dates: Wednesday March 28 – Sunday April 22, (bar Mondays) Tickets: $20 - $25
Danny Sgro & Friends Cultural Sgropropriation
Venue: Basement Cafe Dates: Thursday April 5 - Sunday April 8 Tickets: $10 - $15
Tell us about your show. From the mean streets of Alice Springs come Danny Sgro and Christopher Little. They’re nice guys. They’re gentle. They do comedy. Danny’s main topic of contention is racism as it affects us in our day to day relationships - romantic and otherwise. Chris will delve into the origins of Bitcoin. What does your show teach the audience? The show actually teaches the audience that laughter is the best medicine - if that medicine is coming at you full throttle in a spoon that hasn’t been sterilised by two dudes who don’t have medical degrees. Also those who don’t joke, teach. And that you should stay gold, pony boy. Can you share a moment your cast has always remembered? The cast will never forget the ghastly, yet majestic, face of Chris Little. When he utters the words “yeah right” after a tirade against someone remotely famous, man the crowd goes into uncontrollable ecstasy and fits of laughter. (Chris hands out tablets of ecstasy and laughing gas before the show). Does your show have any audience participation? The audience participates by shutting the hell up and laughing when they’re told. End of story. You want audience participation go see The Wiggles. See if you can wake up Jeff. While you’re at it get in your big red car and drive away from Melbourne, drive to bloody Sydney.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venues: Caz Reitops Dirty Secrets & Cage Me A Peacock Dates: Tuesday April 17 - Saturday April 21 Tickets: $7.80 - $10.30
Impro Melbourne Wild Card
Tell us about your show. Wild Card is our new improvisation show for the late night slot in 2018. We want elements of fun and surprise for both the audience and the players, to keep us all on our comic toes. The audience will have a chance to offer suggestions which go onto cards in a pack which are then randomly drawn out by the players on stage. The players, or the host, can also call for ‘Wild Card” - a special pack of ‘wild’ ideas, to add to the scene. The idea for the show was born when… The idea was born when we looked at our 20 year history with the Festival and the late night slot. We love continuing to invent and create for this late night time, knowing audiences want to laugh and, with impro, also want to have some input into the show. What’s a fun fact about the show? We have purchased a red siren light for when the ‘wild card’ is called! This is our 22nd year in the late night slot at the Comedy Festival - we started it all in 1996. Describe your show in three words. Unexpected, funny and wild. Does your show have any audience participation? Yes, a lot. Before the show as we will be gathering all the suggestions for the night from them. Who are you looking forward to seeing this year at the festival? We love seeing our impro friends and Alumni players in their shows. Rama Nicholas in Death Rides a Horse, Russell Fletcher, John Thorn and the talented improvisers in Spontaneous Broadway and whatever Watson (Adam McKenzie, Tegan Higginbotham and Liam Ryan) bring to the Festival.
Gillian English Comedy of Errors for Kids
Venues: Melbourne Town Hall - Cloak Room & Melbourne Town Hall - Portico Room Dates: Every Friday & Saturday from March 30 - April 21 Tickets: $16 - $22
Tell us about your show. Comedy of Errors for Kids is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s very silly play Comedy of Errors. My puppet friend Bip and I dive into the crazy world of mistaken identities and try to sort things out. The show uses the cleverness of Shakespeare’s word play, storytelling and the magic of puppetry to take kids on a fun, interactive journey – all the while, making Shakespeare easy to understand and love. What does your show teach the audience? Comedy of Errors for Kids teaches children how important it is to communicate and co-operate. A lot of times, if we just wait a moment, take a deep breath and make sure everyone around us understands how we feel, a lot of problems can be solved. Of course, you have to listen to how the other person feels too. Shakespeare wrote for the masses, and his works have universal appeal. The love or disdain of Shakespeare starts in childhood. If kids associate the works of Shakespeare with fun and silliness, we can encourage a whole new generation of children to have a positive and exciting relationship with reading, classical literature and theatre. Does your show have any audience participation? Indeed it does. There’s heaps of audience participation. I need the kids to help me and Bip figure out who’s who, and how it all ends. There are lots of opportunities for the kids to get involved, and play along. It’s a very fun time for the whole family.
Kate Jenkinson, Pinky Beecroft & Friends Rhubarb
Lindsay Foyle 2018 Cartoon Exhibition
Tell us about your show. Rhubarb is a lying competition. Live on stage. Myself [Pinky Beecroft] versus Kate Jenkinson, with help from different friends each night. Mostly Kate tells strange and perverted stories and I try to figure out what’s true and what’s not. Then we swap. My stories are much less perverted, because I’ve led a pure life. The idea for the show was born when… I realised that Kate Jenkinson had lived a more fucked-up existence than I had. That was a new experience for me, finding someone more irresponsible/messed-up/damaged/peculiar than myself. It’s a beautiful feeling. What does your show teach the audience? It teaches the audience that even on their worst days, they’re not as lost as the people on stage. Can you share a moment your cast has always remembered? My cast has always remembered the time we performed the show in western Africa, in Guinea, on a huge stage under the stars. And hundreds of people turned up, and nobody could understand a word we said, but it was beautiful, and I cried. Everyone cried. What do you love about the Melbourne performing arts community? Most of all I love that it’s in Melbourne. And that it mostly stays in Melbourne. (It would be less convenient if it was in Iceland, for example) Describe your show in three words. Diverse, inappropriate, hypersexual.
The idea for the show was born when… When the ABC TV broadcast a number of programs called Stop Laughing This Is Serious. The name was taken from one of the best-known cartoons in the world, drawn by Stan Cross in 1933, but the ABC ignored it. This cartoon exhibition is an attempt to redress that oversight. Can you share a moment your cast always remembers? At the 1990 Stanley Awards, Paul Keating was addressing a large gathering of cartoonists. He said, “One of the worst things about being a politician is seeing yourself being lampooned everyday by the cartoonists”. He then added, “There is only one thing worse, seeing some other bastard being the centre of attention.” What do you love about the Melbourne performing arts community? Melbourne has a long tradition of cartooning going back into the 1850s, when Melbourne Punch was first published. Since then, there has been a rich contribution made to cartooning by some of the best cartoonists in the world. Can you describe the journey of creating the show? Some of the cartoons in this show have been gathered from cartoon history books and others from some of the best know cartoonists working in Australia. It is probably the largest cartoon exhibition ever held in Australia. The need to be laughed at is strong in the cartoon community. How have events in your life turned into material? Everyday politicians produce inspiration for cartoonists, without them they would be reduced to making fun of everybody else. But not everybody is as funny as a politician trying to be serious.
Venue: The Melba Spiegeltent Dates: Wednesday April 4 – Saturday April 7 Tickets: $28 - $35
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: Kicks
Dates: Friday March 30 – Sunday April 15 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $18 - $70
Venues: Glen Eira City Council Gallery Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 22 Tickets: Free
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Michael Shafar Kosher Bacon
Ross Purdy Clownbaby
What’s the show about? It’s called Kosher Bacon, and it’s about contradictions like ‘round squares’, ‘hot ice’ or ‘yummy tofu’. A lot of the show is about the things we tell ourselves to feel good about our food. Last week I went to a café that said it only serves eggs from ‘happy’ chickens. I haven’t seen a chicken recently, but from memory, they are pretty hard to get a read on. Tell us about the title... I’m a Jewish guy, but I don’t keep kosher. I have one friend who keeps kosher, but only at home, because according to him ‘God only watches you at home’. So when he leaves the house he eats bacon. I think it’s amazing that he believes in an all-powerful God that he can also outsmart. Where does the material come from? I get a lot of my material from things that made no sense in my childhood, like how our local politician was also the DJ at all of our bar mitzvah parties. We thought that was normal. What’s the process for putting the show together? I gig pretty much every night of the week, usually a few times a night, plus I tour the show around the country before bringing it to Melbourne. I build up the show pretty much line by line, joke by joke, over 12 months and then connect it all into a narrative that flows. It’s a lot of work. Describe the show in three words... Definitely not kosher.
Tell us about your show. Clownbaby is a full-on absurdist comedy about one man’s quest to enter into show business in order to gain a platform and positively influence the minds of the masses. Along the way he encounters political assassinations, Dominos Pizza, entry into the corporate world and milk that gives you infinite knowledge. Who are your biggest influences? The Simpsons, Tim & Eric, Eric Andre, Brett Gelman, Xavier: Renegade Angel, Chris Morris, South Park, Mr. Show and Neil Hamburger. I’m probably more influenced by TV comedy than live acts, generally, and I think that comes through in the show. Describe your show in three words Messy, chaotic, weird. How have the events in your life turned into material? Events from my life don’t necessarily turn into material, as much as thoughts, ideas and obsessions I’m having spin off into ideas. I had a bad experience at a Dominos in Adelaide that helped birth an idea for a bit in the show that definitely veered off into something else. Who are you looking forward to seeing this year at the festival? Neal Portenza, Demi Lardner, Viggo Venn, Louise Reay, Seymour Mace, Josh Glanc, Zoe Coombs Marr, Duff, Ben Volchok, Martin Dunlop, PO PO MO CO, Double Denim, Dr. Duck. This Late Night Party Boyz show also looks pretty good ,but that’d be harder to see while I’m performing in it.
Venue: Trades Hall Music Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22, excluding Wednesdays Tickets: $20 - $25
Venue: The Sub Club Dates: Wednesday
March 28 – Sunday April 8 (bar Wednesday April 4) Tickets: $20 - $24
Squirly Squirldog-Millionaire
Simon Wright Totally Plucked
Tell us about your show. Squirldog-Millionaire is a fun time, free from the pretences other shows are burdened with. Squirly is unashamedly focused on nothing other than making the audience laugh. He tightropes the line of being fantastical and real with his laid back country manner mixed with his wild stories. What inspires you about MICF? The MICF is the focal point of Australian comedy, where every comedian wants to be and the only place where a show and performer can seriously be measured. Making the Raw Comedy National Final in 2016 and performing at the Melbourne Town Hall was great and being able to come back with my first full show is a dream come true. What’s a fun fact about the show? Squirly talks about Shark drum lines in the show. He also appeared on the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week documentary Bride of Jaws tagging Great White sharks off the WA coast way back in 2014. Who are your biggest influences? Carl Barron, Bill Burr, and Eddie Murphy all influence my comedy style in different ways. Whilst I definitely have a style all of my own, they all show that there are so many different ways to go about how you present your stand-up. How have the events in your life turned into material? Pretty well all of the material in the show is based on real events that have happened in my life - the crazier the story sounds, the more likely it is to be true. My upbringing has always been a source for my material and I think everyone can relate with having a little craziness in their childhood.
The idea for the show was born when… I was in hospital last year after dislocating my foot during a performance and I was told that I might never be able to run again, let alone walk. When I was put under with Fentanyl - medical grade cocaine - for the operation, I blacked out from the pain and had a dream that I was on stage doing a comedy show, had a heart attack on stage in the dream and then went into another dream where I met “god” and he/she was about to tell me the world’s funniest joke when I woke. And I thought ‘f**k I got to write that down!’ Who are your biggest influences? Trygvey Wakenshaw, Frank Woodley, Dr Brown and Mr Fish. Can you describe the journey of creating a show? While waiting eight months for my foot to heal and sitting in a moon boot, lots and lots of writing and exploring my own thoughts, which is strange for a circus/physical performer. Describe your show in three words. Bizarre, surrealism and parody. Does your show have any audience participation? Yes, heaps. We play bingo, catch ping pong balls in my mouth while I ride a unicycle and I ‘fly’ through the audience as a sperm in a balloon.
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Venue: Tasma Terrace
Dates: Tuesday March 27 - Sunday April 8 Tickets: $18 - $22
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venue: The Melba Spiegeltent Dates: Friday April 13 - Sunday April 22, excluding Monday Tickets: $15 - $25
Dom & Dumber: The Sketch Comedy Magicians Gone Girl
Tim Batt My Outrage Is Better Than Your Outrage
Tell us about your show. Packed with a colourful cast of characters, Gone Girl takes you on a shameless parody of Hollywood thrillers, following one man and the perilous quest to save his kidnapped dog. We think it’s best described as Harold and Kumar meets Taken, sautéed with a dash of David Copperfield (because magic is great when you don’t have a special effects budget). The idea for the show was born when… I think we were watching the seventh, eighth or twentieth Saw film and just realised that a sketch comedy thriller was something the world desperately needed. What’s a fun fact about the show? The show is packed with references to some of our favourite Hollywood thrillers. It’s always fun to see which ones our audiences spot. Does your show have any audience participation? We couldn’t call ourselves magicians if there wasn’t! We routinely call upon our audience to contribute items and ideas that add a unique flavour to each show. Describe your show in three words Liam Neeson approves. Well, we’re at least pretty confident he would approve. Can you share a memorable cast moment? We have a little competition to see who can drop the funniest ad lib moment into each show. Obviously the audience doesn’t know when this happens, but the giveaway is usually one or both of us suddenly trying to act through suppressed laughter.
Tell us about your show. We are the generation of outrage. This show is about that. Also, I’m bringing a drum kit all the way from New Zealand and I can’t even play the drums good. Also, what are those kids up to over there? What inspires you about MICF? Melbourne is such a wonderful melting pot of people and performers from all walks of life which is awesome. Seriously, that kid is looking at me real f***ing weird. Is that a boy or a girl? They’ve got purple hair?! What’s a fun fact about the show? There is almost no way for me to recoup the costs it’s taken to buy a beautiful kimono, drum kit and flying said kit around New Zealand and Australia. That’s fun! Hey, someone needs to talk to that kid. Can we get a cop over here? Can you describe the journey of creating a show? I opened my show in my home town of Christchurch, which is a great city in the South Island of New Zealand, it was cold. Officer, thanks for coming. That kid is up to something and I’ve been watching them for a while. Who are you looking forward to seeing this year at the festival? I’m definitely looking forward to seeing my kiwi mates at this year’s festival. Go kiwi! Hey, I don’t care if they’re not doing anything! They’re looking at me real weird. Don’t get me, get them! I’ve seen these punks here before. They’re huffing fly spray!
Venue: The 86
Dates: Thursday April 12 - Saturday April 14 & Thursday April 19 Saturday April 21 Tickets: $20 - $25
Zoe Broughton The Best of The School of Hard Knock Knocks
Tell us about your show. An unflinchingly honest yet lighthearted portrayal of a human and canine pregnancy. The show asks the questions we have, until now, been too afraid to ask – how does IVF in humans compare with AI (Artificial Insemination) in standard poodles? The idea for the show was born when… I learnt I was pregnant at the same time as my dog Sassy. Pregnancy and IVF threw up so many strange and funny moments, I thought the best way to deal with them was to write and perform my first comedy show. What does your show teach the audience? That a human pregnancy lasts for 9 months, a dogs for 9 weeks, however many of the lessons are the same. As my vet said “Put the bitch first”. Can you share a moment your cast has always remembered? I had a very fixed view that I should be carried on stage in a gold chair by four men wearing tuxedos. At a pinch, I thought they could wear tuxedo t-shirts. They flatly refused. Who are your biggest influences? They are many and varied – Ali Wong, Wanda Sykes, Bernie Mac, Anne Edmonds, Stewart Lee, Gina Riley, Magda Szubanksi, Jane Turner, Amy Schumer. Does your show have any audience participation? The extent of the participation will be dependent upon the flexibility, courage and intelligence of the crowd. If they are worthy they will be called upon to demonstrate that worth. All I can say is be ready.
Venue: The Moat
Dates: Friday April 6 Tickets: $20 - $25
Venue: Caz Reitops Dirty Secrets Dates: Thursday March 29 – Sunday April 8 (bar Monday & Tuesday) Tickets: $10 - $15
Woah, Alyssa! Woah, Alyssa! 1
Tell us about your show. Ok, so it’s not boring, pretend this in a really silly voice, (eg. Iago from Aladdin): Woah, Alyssa! 1 is an absurd, queer sketch comedy created and performed by two cute and cool boyfriends. It’s full-throttle as we dash between utter nonsense, clever nonsense and serious social issues swaddled in nonsense. The idea for the show was born when… Every sketch is born at a different time based on real world observations. Whether it’s something very silly, like noticing a deep connection between mums and Minions, or something kinda dark, like when a homophobic mum posts a depressing meme with a Minion on it. What does your show teach the audience? Our comedy is the spoonful of sugar for some cool and maybe even radical ideas. Like, one sketch is about the constant educating that minorities have to do, but it’s not preachy. Having people laugh their way through something real is a great way to start a conversation. Can you describe the journey of creating a show? For us personally, creating our shows is a beautiful and holistic journey of writing every day, talking about work all the time, eating garbage, having no money, skipping the gym, missing deadlines and phoning it in during sex! We cannot recommend it enough! Who are you looking forward to seeing this year at the festival? We caught snippets of PO PO MO CO’s show in Adelaide, and we can’t wait to see the whole thing! Super keen to catch Helen Bidou - Ann Edmonds’ show was one of our faves last year. Also, Hit By A Blimp and Leaky Bucket are super groovy, check them out!
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venues: Hare Hole (Hares & Hyenas) & Cage Me A Peacock Dates: Wednesday April 4 – Saturday April 7 & Monday April 16 – Sunday April 22 Tickets: $12 – $24
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Blake Everett Unknown Comedian
Marcel Lucont Whine List
Tell us about your show. It is a collection of ‘bits’ (an industry term that refers to a joke, a story, a song, or… a ‘bit’) exhibited in the form of stand-up, sketch and musical comedy - or as I like to call it, ‘The Poor Man’s Triple Threat.’ What does your show teach the audience? Basic algebra, the history behind the Battle of Dunkirk and how to file a tax declaration. Or if you’d like a less comedic answer, I suppose the shows deals with the idea of recognition and it ultimately teaches the audience who I am. Can you describe the journey of creating a show? It involved trying new stuff in Melbourne, showcasing my ‘Greatest Hits/ Bits’ interstate, registering for the festival, procrastinating for a few months and then stressing non-stop during the two weeks before your show (or lack of show) starts. How have the events in your life turned into material? I am an unknown comedian. That’s my life. But now, it’s also my show. My uncle saw it on the comedy festival website and thought it was the festival’s description of my comedic-status. But, no, all the credit is mine. Who are you looking forward to seeing this year at the festival? I’m trying to promote my show and you want me to throw admiration towards others? Fair enough. Real keen for Sam Simmons, Spencer Jones, Double Denim, Gillian Cosgriff, The Bear Pack (multiple times) and Seaton Smith.
Tell us about your show. I create a unique ‘whine list’ each night using the past gripes, woes and misdemeanors of my audience. Do not fear, it is still mostly about me. There will be bawdy chansons and louche poetry to cleanse the palate after each selection of whines. The idea for the show was born when…I realised I should get to know a little more about my fans, but still charge them money for this interaction. After appearing on Set List I thought I had been thrown some bizarre things to deal with, then I met the general public. What does your show teach the audience? That, while we cannot change the past, we can at least laugh about our past in front of 150 strangers. Can you share a moment you have always remembered? At Edinburgh Fringe, a demure Scottish speech therapist informed us she had prevented a man from masturbating during a session by saying “tea time, tea time.” I then called upon her to get some idiots ejected from the show using the same method. A truly bizarre show. Does your show have any audience participation? Of course. Otherwise, we would never have learned of the woman who cancelled her wedding after seeing “a ghost of her future self ” in the church, or the man who proposed to his girlfriend at the bottom of a ski lift, was told no, and then had to spend 15 minutes in icy silence.
Venue: Tasma Terrace
Dates: Monday April 9 – Sunday April 22 Tickets: $25.30
Wil Sylvince & Andy Curtain Legal Aliens
Tell us about your show. Wil grew up in New York in a Haitian immigrant family and I’ve been living in China for 9 years. We’ve on-and-off been gigging around Asia and NYC for years together and our comedy really connected, feeling like fish out of water. The idea for the show was born when… Wil asked me to do the show with him, and I thought he was joking. I still think he was joking. What does your show teach the audience? How to speak English with a heavy accent. What inspires you about MICF? Running around the CBD during the fest is like comedy Disney. There are huge shows, little shows, things you didn’t know could be shows. I watched Richard Gadd run on a treadmill for an hour, with comics from Bombay, and when we talked outside, a guy was busking with punchlines. Can you share a moment your cast has always remembered? We shot a video in Shanghai’s marriage market, trying to match Wil with suitors. It was a disaster. Chinese people were confused, the white guy pitching Wil looked like a plantation owner, and 30 police appeared out of the bushes and nabbed us all. I don’t know how we got out.
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Venue: Greek Centre, Aphrodite’s Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $21 - $28
Venue: The Coopers Malthouse, Beckett Theatre Dates: Tuesday April 10 - Sunday April 22 (bar Mondays) Tickets: $23 - $28
Kaitlyn Rogers Can I Get An Amen?!
What does your show teach the audience? On the surface, the whole show is structured as a sermon to teach the audience how to be sass. On a deeper level, the show teaches people to listen to one another and be empathetic. It really feels connected to the current shift towards women feeling able to share our experiences. Does your show have any audience participation? There’s a point in the show where I give the audience control, and it can really go anywhere. Sometimes, no one wants to interact, but I truly feel that everyone has something to say, and more often than not the reluctance to talk comes from thinking that no one wants to listen. What’s a fun fact about your show? At a point in the show, I really open up to the audience and lay myself bare. There’s never once been the same reaction, which makes for a different show every night. Who are your biggest influences? Whoopi Goldberg and RuPaul have essentially inspired the show. I recently met Courtney Act when I was presented with the Emerging Artist Award for Adelaide Fringe and my inner-fangirl was screaming. For a Drag Race queen to present an award for a show inspired by RuPaul was pretty god damn special. What do you love about the Melbourne performing arts community? My mentor, Tessa Waters. Her support means so much to me - not only because I think she’s bloody fantastic, but also because she’s been through exactly what I’m experiencing right now, which makes her advice invaluable.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
Venues: Trades Hall The Evatt Room & The Archive Room Dates: Thursday March 29 - Sunday April 22 (bar Wednesdays) Tickets: $18 - $25
Special Events The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is upon us once again, and the 2018 programme is brimming with incredible talent across a huge selection of acts. Showcasing female, Indigenous, international and fresh comedians, this year’s contingent of special events. Whether you’re down to check out some intercontinental heavyweights at Comedy Zone Asia and Indian Comedy Showcase or if you’re keen to see the next wave of comedy legends at Raw Comedy, there’ll be laughs to be had no matter where you end up.
By Kate Streader
Raw Comedy National Grand Final Australia’s biggest comedy competition, Raw Comedy National Grand Final pits the nation’s top emerging comedians against each other in a bid for a spot in the acclaimed Edinburgh Festival Fringe. After fighting their way through heats and semi-finals, the only thing bigger than the stakes will be the laughs. The top contender will join a long list of greats who have also won the Raw Comedy title, including Hannah Gadsby, Josh Thomas, Tom Ballard and Claire Hooper. Hosted by Venezuelan-born national treasure Ivan Aristeguieta, this year’s Raw Comedy Final is going down at Melbourne Town Hall’s Main Hall on Sunday April 15.
Upfront
Festival Club
Upfront brings Australia’s top home-grown comedy queens centre stage, where nothing is off limits. Bringing razor sharp wit, often with a side of grit, this all-female lineup will induce some side-splitting laughs while tearing down female stereotypes in the best possible way. With past Upfront ladies like Cal Wilson, Hannah Gadsby, Susie Youssef leading the evening, 2018’s Upfront program is equally massive, featuring the likes of Becky Lucas, Geraldine Hickey, and Urzila Carlson. Upfront is happening at Melbourne Town Hall’s Main Hall on Wednesday April 18 from 7.30pm. .
The Festival Club will take over Max Watt’s to bring you a huge selection of comedy events as well as some after-party action across the Comedy Festival. Key events include Don’t You Know Who I Am hosted by Josh Earl on Tuesday April 3 and Tuesday April 10, Stamptown Comedy Night on Wednesday April 4 and Wednesday April 11, Rob Hunter Late O’clock on Wednesday April 18, 10 Comedians for 10 Bucks every Thursday from March 29 until April 19, Comedy Bonanza every Friday and Saturday and Haus Party! on Sundays April 1 to Sunday April 15. Plus, get your latenight comedy fix with Lip Sync Battle and Geraldine Quinn’s Spandex Ballet after midnight.
Indian Comedy Showcase
Granny Bingo Comedy Night
Coming in hot on the tails of the Bengaluru Comedy Festival, the Indian Comedy Showcase is set to raise the roof as some of the biggest voices in the Indian comedy scene make their Comedy Festival appearance. Join international stand-up superstar, YouTube icon and author Sorabh Pant, alongside the brains behind Netflix’s Things They Wouldn’t Let Me Say Aditi Mattal, as well as multiple comedy competition winner Rahul Subramanian for an unbeatable lineup of laughs. It’s happening upstairs at the Forum Theatre from Friday April 20 - Sunday April 22.
As part of this year’s Festival Club, Granny Bingo Comedy Night is bringing you a fast and loose game of bingo with a side of laughs that is guaranteed to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen on your Sunday visits with nanna. Hosted by 2017 Golden Gibbo winners Edith Vale, Maureen McGillicuddy and Caroline Springs, the old gals will show you a good time. There’ll be bingo balls flying, special guests aplenty and loads of prizes to be won when Granny Bingo Comedy Night takes over Max Watt’s. It’s going down on Tuesday April 17.
Comedy Zone Asia Returning for its fourth year, Comedy Zone Asia isn’t only back but it is bigger than ever. Melding culture and comedy for a gut-busting program full of laughs, Comedy Zone Asia is making its mark. This year, catch India’s Azeem Banatwalla as he showcases his style of intellectual humour, the youngest Hong Kong International Comedy Competition winner Hannan Azlan, Maylasian comedy heavyweight Prakash Daniel and Takashi Waka as he brings the laughs through firsthand experiences of life in Japan and Australia. It’s all happening at the Chinese Museum’s Silk Room every day bar Mondays, from Thursday March 29 until Sunday April 22.
Comedy Up Late Good Az Friday
Deadly Funny
Trades Hall Comedy
Comedy Up Late brings five special performances to the Festival Club, with each set to be recorded for ABC Comedy. Witness the full force of the punchlines firsthand by taking part in the live studio audience as some of comedy’s breakthrough acts take over the stage. Comedy Up Late has seen performances from the likes of Michael Che, Josh Thomas, Trevor Noah, Urzila Carlson, Aunty Donna and Anne Edmonds so the bar is set high. Comedy Up Late will be happening on Saturday March 31, with back-to-back shows going down on Monday April 9 and Monday April 16 at Max Watt’s.
For the twelfth year running, Deadly Funny will be uncovering Australia’s top Indigenous comedy talent. Showcasing the talented array of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island comedians, Deadly Funny is the only program of its kind. Hosted by last year’s champion Ghena Gela, who will be joined by a slew of special guests who are yet to be announced, the winner will take home a $2,000 cash prize. It’s happening at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Fairfax Studio on Saturday April 14 from 3pm.
What could be better than heading down to catch a killer comedy gig at Trades Hall? A three-show pass, that’s what. You’ll score access to thrice as many laughs at a trio of events of your choosing. You can make your way to an entirely improvised musical courtesy of The Impromtunes, catch PO PO MO CO’s adults-only take on a 1922 German vampire film performed by queer clowns, or witness Soothplayers’ comedic take on Hogwarts through their previously sold-out show Completely Improvised Potter. The events are all taking place at Trades Hall between Thursday March 29 and Sunday April 22.
Hosted by triple j’s Morning showmen Ben and Liam, Good Az Friday brings a massive day of laughs from across the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, sprinkled with a whole heap of tunes. The huge Easter show is always a smash hit and whether you want to catch it in the flesh by popping down to Melbourne’s Town Hall or you plan on kicking back on the glorious public holiday and tuning in, Good Az Friday is worth getting around. It’s going down on Friday March 30 from 1pm.
BEAT’S GUIDE TO THE 2018 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
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FRONTIER COMEDY BRINGS THE HOTTEST
COMEDIANS TO MELBOURNE! PAULY FENECH THE BIBLE
C E L E B R AT I N G 30 YEARS IN C O M E DY
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