Melbourne International Comedy Festival - various shows part 2

I saw Judith Lucy's show on Monday night, my favourite of the Festival. I have a soft spot for Judith, she's probably my favourite Australian comedian, but truly this show is gold. The laughs just come at you constantly and she somehow even turned a punch line ruined by a dud microphone into something hilarious. Warning, lots of audience participation for folks in the front row. One of my cousins I went with enjoyed it but wasn't quite as convinced as me because she 'doesn't like sexual comedy'. Judith's not afraid of working blue, certainly a fair but of that but all very funny.

Last night, in what I think will be my last night attending the Festival, was an interesting one. Saw Kate McLennan who was given a 4.5 star review in the Herald Sun (like Judith Lucy) and Geraldine Hickey who was given 3 by the same publication (different reviewer, a favourite of mine). Kate was up first in front of an audience of about 25. Intimate, you might say, especially on tight-ar5e Tuesday. I enjoyed the show, the story, the journey she took us on yada yada, but to be frank I didn’t actually laugh out loud that much. I trotted off to Geraldine next mainly because the time and location suited after Kate’s show. I had no expectations or interest beyond having heard her a few times on a favourite old radio show (Get This on Triple M, 2007-2009 approx). Her room was even smaller than Kate’s and had about 20 in the audience. Despite some of the material being a bit, umm, graphic, I really did laugh out loud quite a lot, as did most of the crowd. Her style is very droll which I guess does appeal to me personally but the whole room did seem to be cacking themselves a lot, certainly a lot more than in Kate’s show.

The juxtaposition of the two shows reminded me that a) comedy is so very subjective and b) expectations or lack thereof can be a huge factor.

I’m totes insightful, right?

The Festival finishes this Sunday. For (insert name of figure you worship)’s sake, go see something. http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2012/season/

Melbourne International Comedy Festival - various shows

I've seen a bunch of shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in the last few weeks. Thought I'd give you a bunch of quick reviews while the Festival still has a week to go. Get out and see something!

JUSTIN HAMILTON (Aus) - Great show by an Australian comedian who's been on the scene a long time. Very clever, works on a few levels, meaning if you've seen him before you might get a bit of extra bang for your buck but first-timers will enjoy just as much. Nice story-telling (even shed a tear or two at one point) combined with great laughs. He's said it's the last Festival show he'll do for the forseeable future, so get along while you can.

TOMMY DASSALO (Aus) - A young Aussie comedian, I think this is his first MICF show. Like Justin, he's a good story teller with lots of laughs and a few tears. The show is about his battle with cancer as a child, surprisingly funny stuff! Tickets are cheap because he's relatively unknown, easily worth the money.

ANNE EDMONDS (Aus) - A good show with a musical bent but not a stand out to be honest. Enjoyed it but have seen other shows that gave more laughs.

FELICITY WARD (Aus) - Definitely one of my favourites, excellent bang-for-buck when it comes to laughs. Go see her!

TOM BALLARD (Aus) - Saw him this year because I found his show hilarious last year. This year was not up to that standard & some of the material was really pretty gross. At the end of the show he was recommending another show to see and said something along the lines of "it's hilarious, like the last 10 minutes of this show"... an admission he hadn't nailed it, I think.

DAVID O'DOHERTY (Ireland) - I've seen David perform at MICF for I think 4 or 5 years in a row now. He's a reliable favourite and didn't let me down this year. His annual 'My beefs...' song is just hilarious.

MARK WATSON (England) - Have enjoyed his work in a few podcasts I've come across but the show was a let down. Definitely not worth $38 for mine.

NATH VALVO (Aus) - Was one of my favourites of the Festival last year, laughed constantly through his show and hoped for the same this year. Not quite as good the second time round but still really funny. (Friends who were there for the second time said they enjoyed it more than last year so, horses for courses.) Does an uncanny Judith Lucy impression which was gold. Beware of seats in the front row and aisle - audience participation is rife and he can be a real bitch!

SAM SIMMONS (Aus) - Went with trepidation to be honest (taking my nephew for his birthday - Sam was his choice) but found it really funny. Not everyone's cup of tea, his style is really pretty odd but if you like a bit of slightly physical, definitely absurd comedy, give him a shot. And bonus points for being totally lovely to my nephew when he came out after the show to say hi.

Got myself booked for Judith Lucy tomorrow night, first stand-up show she's done in a few years. Can't wait, she's one of my all time favourites. Fingers crossed she doesn't let me down. 'Cause it's about me, right?

YES, PRIME MINISTER - theatre

I feel the need to preface this review by saying that I’ve seen hardly any of the TV shows Yes, Minister & Yes, Prime Minister. The two shows aired for the first time when I was just 0-8 years old. (Finally, something that makes me feel young!) I suspect my reluctance to watch it in subsequent years when it aired was because I figured if my parents loved it so much, it couldn’t possibly be something I’d be interested in. But here I am, 31 years old, working in spin, interested in politics and loving a laugh. I assumed this would be right up my alley.

Alas, I was quite disappointed. I didn’t laugh much; the humour was all so predictable. For example, at one point there’s reference to blackmail and Sir Humphrey (Philip Quast) says something like “We don’t blackmail, we leverage”… cue laughter from most of the room in the 50+ age group, but not me.

I found the acting so hammy and over the top. I get that’s the characters, but for me, it just wasn’t enjoyable to watch. It made me dislike them rather than find them endearing. Caroline Craig’s English accent was a distracting let-down and I didn’t laugh much at John Lloyd-Fillingham’s physical comedy as Bernard either.

My mate enjoyed it a bit more than me but we agreed on the things I’ve mentioned. I hung around in the foyer for a while to listen to what people were saying and the stuff I heard was largely positive so I accept I’m probably in the minority. A young minority.

I’ve never been a big fan of the Comedy Theatre and this experience reminded me why. Hardly any leg room and it was so hot and stuffy in there that a woman two seats away from me had to excuse herself for about 20 minutes to go and get some air.

Coincidentally, I happened upon a box set (series 1-3) of The Thick of It DVDs on Saturday and paid about the same price for it as I did for my ticket to Yes, Prime Minister. (The Thick of It has been described by some as a sort of 21^st century version of Yes, Prime Minister.) For value-for-money & laughs when looking behind the scenes at UK politics, I’d choose The Thick of It ten times over.

http://www.yesprimeminister.com.au/

The Thick of It – season 3 extended preview

ANY QUESTIONS FOR BEN? – film

As I do with any Australian film, I walked into ‘Any questions for Ben?’ wanting to love it.

I wasn’t disappointed.

The central character Ben (Josh Lawson) leads a life that in some respects is hard to relate to. Glamorous parties , dating a famous sportsperson, sleeping around; it’s not a life I know or aspire to.  But as Ben’s dissatisfaction with that life grew, so too did my affection for him.

 Whatever you think of Ben, he’s surrounded by loveable characters who help carry the story with ease - David James as Malcolm, Daniel Henshall as Nick, Felicity Ward as Emily and Rob Carlton as Ben’s dad were my favourites.

Just about every review I’ve read has rightly acknowledged that the film is like a beautiful moving postcard from Melbourne. One of the surprises for this Melburnian viewer was seeing Chantelle Raleigh (Fleur), who grew up down the road from me in a small suburb in outer Melbourne. Wattle Glen girl made good!

In keeping with my ‘cut to the chase’ reviewing mantra, I’ll close with this... This is a great film that I recommend you go and see. Not because of some lame ‘Australians should support Australian films’ obligation that you often hear thrown about, but because you’ll enjoy watching it. 'Any questions for Ben?' is a lovely story matched by excellent performances and a fabulous soundtrack that almost steals the show.

Trailer here.

A FEW BEST MEN - film

Don’t see it. It’s terrible.

It’s certainly not worth $18.50 but also not worth 96 minutes of your life if you got a free ticket. Well, in my case it was about 60 minutes as I left when I couldn’t bare the lameness and predictability of it anymore.

Oh, and when did Olivia Newton John become such a terrible actress?

THE DESCENDANTS – film

One of my gripes about film reviews these days is that often they do little more than tell you the plot of the film. I don’t want to know the plot. I want to know if it’s any good, if I should go and see it.

So here’s my take on The Descendants… You should go and see it.  

This film deserves the buzz it’s generating, it’s such a great story and so well told. Unless emo 15 year olds have taken to reading my blog (they are totes welcome), I can’t imagine a reader who won’t enjoy it. Clooney gives an awards-season-fantastic performance and just in case you needed reminding, is a total dreamboat. There was a few times when I was getting very weepy (yes, take tissues) and I kept thinking to myself ‘focus on how hot George is, focus on how hot George is…’. That silver fox’s foxiness is a great distraction, for what it’s worth.

Though the story does require tissues from time to time, there’s a character in the mix who happily lightens the mood. At first I wasn’t wild about Sid because he seemed to be in the film for that purpose alone but as it progresses we do find out there’s a bit more going on upstairs than we thought.

For the comb over spotters, keep an eye out early on for a crackerjack one that’s more ‘comb up and over’ than over alone.

Official trailer here.

PS. Would an emo kid say “totes”? I have no idea.

WARRIOR - film review

I’m guilty-as-charged when my mate Liz calls me “so white bread”. I hate violence. I hate violent films. It makes me nauseous and distracts me from the bigger picture, if you’ll pardon the pun.

But in spite of that, I enjoyed the film ‘Warrior’, which centres around the unbelievably violent ‘sport’ Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Starring Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte & Tom Hardy (who played Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights!), the film has a strong enough story about family, redemption and forgiveness that the MMA can just be a vehicle that allows that to unfold if, like me, that’s all you want it to be. That said, the physicality of Edgerton and Hardy’s performances is admirable to say the least. Hardy especially has those chiselled muscles that can only be achieved with hours and hours at the gym. Hours and hours and hours.

I’ve heard a bit of buzz about Nolte in this film. He plays the raw and broken father of Edgerton & Hardy precisely as a seasoned, brilliant actor would, but I think the role was too small to really be anything buzz-worthy.

Edgerton’s Aussie accent crept in a few times but that only made him more endearing for me. It’s that ‘awww, local guy made good’ factor I guess. His performance was excellent and hopefully the start of more Hollywood fame & fortune coming his way.

I reckon a good test of how engrossed you are in a film is how many times you’re inclined to look at your watch. In this case it was just once, when at the two hour mark we still seemed a way off an ending. It went for another 20 minutes after that, so I’d advise against guzzling a giant frozen Coke in the opening minutes.

The story is predictable and heads to a fairytale ending but I was still engrossed enough to want to know which of the brothers was going to win the fight of their lives; a fight that was of course about much more than MMA.

‘Warrior’ opens in cinemas this Thursday, 27 October.

(You can see a non-fiction sample of MMA here)