Best show I've seen so far this festival! It has everything. Fabulous delivery and belly laugh after belly laugh.
This show is masterfully crafted, clearly honed over many stand-up gigs in the lead up to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
After Celia's show I felt just like I did after Wil Anderson's show last year - that I'd just seen one of the best in the biz. I hope Celia's performing to crowds as big as Wil's soon, she deserves it.
Highly recommend this show (der)... go and see it!
Monday, 7 April 2014
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Karl Chandler in 'Karl Chandler's got talent' - MICF show
This show documents Karl's ill-fated audition on a talent show and if any of the judges from that show who made his life difficult saw this stand-up, I reckon they'd be feeling pretty stupid because it shows he's a bloody hilarious comic. I laughed heaps and heaps - arguably the most accurate measure of how good a comedy show is. He makes a living from comedy (performing and writing for TV etc) but without a huge following, the tickets to his show are damn cheap. You won't regret what you spend on seeing this.
Lawrence Mooney in 'A stupid liar' - MICF show
I'd read the Herald Sun's review of this show before I saw it so I went in with low expectations - they gave it 2.5 stars. But I already had the ticket so away I went and you know what, I bloody loved this.
It's a bit smutty and crass in places but I laughed a lot and loud and what better measure of a comedy festival show can there be than that?
I was surprised by how many empty seats there were (especially given it was tightar5e Tuesday)... what's wrong with you, Melbourne?! Get amongst it!
Adam Richard in 'Gaypocalypse' - MICF show
Adam Richard has been doing stand-up for 15+ years and it shows. He's smooth as thanks to the years of practice. (As a side note, can I also just say he looks a million bucks, I suspect has lost a bunch of weight.)
Like Cal Wilson, I saw Adam this year because he's on of those ones who's been around for yonks and I'd never quite got there. I watched this and enjoyed what he delivered (some of it a bit odd and some of it definitely GROSS!) but it wasn't until I went straight into another show and was cacking myself laughing in it that I realised that was what had been missing from Adam's show. Laughs. I enjoyed listening to him, it was well-crafted and well-delivered but I just didn't actually laugh that much.
Like Cal Wilson, I saw Adam this year because he's on of those ones who's been around for yonks and I'd never quite got there. I watched this and enjoyed what he delivered (some of it a bit odd and some of it definitely GROSS!) but it wasn't until I went straight into another show and was cacking myself laughing in it that I realised that was what had been missing from Adam's show. Laughs. I enjoyed listening to him, it was well-crafted and well-delivered but I just didn't actually laugh that much.
Luke McGregor in 'I worry that I worry too much' - MICF show
I loved this. Every awkward, unprepared, hilarious moment of it. And it was unprepared - he referred to notes many times and it seemed a bit all over the place! But this is what happens when you're so nerdish and lovable... people can see past it or forgive you for it.
For those unfamiliar with Luke, he has OCD and comes across as very awkward and nervous. As I observed when I saw him for the first time last year, somehow it just works.
Go and see this guy. His star is on the rise!
PS. The one complaint I do have about this show was that the room he was in was so cramped it was utterly ridiculous and it was so hot in there I really thought someone might pass out. I have since read on Twitter that he's moved to a bigger venue - thank goodness.
For those unfamiliar with Luke, he has OCD and comes across as very awkward and nervous. As I observed when I saw him for the first time last year, somehow it just works.
Go and see this guy. His star is on the rise!
PS. The one complaint I do have about this show was that the room he was in was so cramped it was utterly ridiculous and it was so hot in there I really thought someone might pass out. I have since read on Twitter that he's moved to a bigger venue - thank goodness.
Cal Wilson in 'It could have been me' - MICF show
For years I've been meaning to see Cal Wilson do stand up comedy. She always seems so damn funny, lovely and smart when I see her on TV, read her writing in The Age or hear her on the radio. I decided this was the year and bought a ticket without so much as reading the name of her MICF show, let alone what it's about. Now, that was a bit of an error because her show involves playing characters which isn't really my kind of thing. I also missed the first 10 minutes of the show (was 5 minutes late and had to wait a further 5 (totally fair) before being let in) so I missed what seemed to be the critical set up.
So all in all, I'm sad to say I didn't love this. It's not without laughs and clever moments, but just didn't love it and nor did I laugh all that much. Others in the crowd did, in the interest of balanced reporting!
I've never been late to a MICF show and won't be again, I promise! I also promise, for what it's worth, to see her do comedy again some time when she's doing straight up stand up.
So all in all, I'm sad to say I didn't love this. It's not without laughs and clever moments, but just didn't love it and nor did I laugh all that much. Others in the crowd did, in the interest of balanced reporting!
I've never been late to a MICF show and won't be again, I promise! I also promise, for what it's worth, to see her do comedy again some time when she's doing straight up stand up.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
THE DAY OF THE BROKEN - film
Simon Dutton, writer and director of this thriller, has said of it "''We wanted to make something that was an assault on the senses" and I can assure you, he's done that in spades.
An independent Australian production, this was done on a shoe-string and whilst you can tell in the practical sense, it doesn't take anything away from the story.
It's about a woman whose two children were kidnapped and assaulted before one was murdered. She summons the help of her dead husband's brother to punish the remaining perpetrator who has evaded it through traditional means like police.
Set in St Kilda, Melbourne, the film then weaves through the story of a bunch of people as he tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together to track down the perpetrator and punish him. Most of these characters will be unfamiliar acting faces to you but there's some superb performances. Lead actor Greg Fleet will be recognized by many for his stand-up comedy work but his acting credentials are well & truly proven in this. The film is produced by someone who may be familiar to many of you, broadcaster and journalist, Angela Pippos, who is also Dutton's wife.
It's fairly violent though it's sometimes implied rather than actually demonstrated and I fear some of the complexity of the plot was lost on me as I was confused at a few points. There was also two or three moments where the script felt a bit forced, moments where I thought to myself 'people don't actually talk like that', but overall I think this is really well done and I'd happily watch it again.
The sad thing for independent Australian films like this is that it's so damn hard to get your film in cinemas for people to actually see it. This one is on at just one cinema, for now at least, in Melbourne - the Classic Cinema in Elsternwick. If you're in that neck of the woods, I'd recommend dropping in to catch it.
More on the film in this story in the Sydney Morning Herald and trailer here via The Age.
An independent Australian production, this was done on a shoe-string and whilst you can tell in the practical sense, it doesn't take anything away from the story.
It's about a woman whose two children were kidnapped and assaulted before one was murdered. She summons the help of her dead husband's brother to punish the remaining perpetrator who has evaded it through traditional means like police.
Set in St Kilda, Melbourne, the film then weaves through the story of a bunch of people as he tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together to track down the perpetrator and punish him. Most of these characters will be unfamiliar acting faces to you but there's some superb performances. Lead actor Greg Fleet will be recognized by many for his stand-up comedy work but his acting credentials are well & truly proven in this. The film is produced by someone who may be familiar to many of you, broadcaster and journalist, Angela Pippos, who is also Dutton's wife.
It's fairly violent though it's sometimes implied rather than actually demonstrated and I fear some of the complexity of the plot was lost on me as I was confused at a few points. There was also two or three moments where the script felt a bit forced, moments where I thought to myself 'people don't actually talk like that', but overall I think this is really well done and I'd happily watch it again.
The sad thing for independent Australian films like this is that it's so damn hard to get your film in cinemas for people to actually see it. This one is on at just one cinema, for now at least, in Melbourne - the Classic Cinema in Elsternwick. If you're in that neck of the woods, I'd recommend dropping in to catch it.
More on the film in this story in the Sydney Morning Herald and trailer here via The Age.
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