A selection of reviews from the 13th ComFest, brought to you by Rimmer with the literary assistance of Harley *g*
Jump directly to shows beginning with: A B C D L N W
Adam Bloom
The Big Laughout @ Southgate
The Big Questions - Peter Berner & James O'Loughlin
Comedy Is Not Pretty - Judith Lucy, Lynda Gibson & Denise Scott
Disturbed - Peter Berner
Live On Earth - Craig Charles
A Night At The Opera - Ed Byrne
Wilennium - Wil Anderson
DISTURBED: PETER BERNER:
Mallet Boy...
How do you manage to get where and what you want in today's world? Carry a mallet with you, wherever you go.
Disturbed was an apt title for Peter Berner's 1999 Melbourne Comedy Festival show. It was fifty minutes of comedic ranting and raving in the style to which Berner fans have become accustomed. Disturbed was certainly no slip from Peter's usual comedic genius, earning him a Stella nomination - and several Fellas!
The worry is, it's very easy to believe that the mallet is far more than just a comedic prop... especially when considering it's regular appearances in the Peter Cook bar...
THE BIG QUESTIONS: PETER BERNER & JAMES O'LOUGHLIN:
The concept? Answer questions asked by audience members... preferably in a reasonably comedic manner.
The Big Questions turned out to be one of the "don't miss" late shows of the Comedy Festival, with many hard-core punters going to see the show several times, to see what questions - and answers - would turn up on the next occasion.
Although some questions were less than original - an indictment on the audience, rather than Berner and O'Loghlin - others were far enough into the realms of "What the?" to prompt answers that had the audience aching from laughing so hard... and to prompt such lovely mental images as Peter Berner "choc-a-block" up the pope...
ADAM BLOOM:
Adam Bloom's promos shouted that he was just like "Woody Allen - on speed". This put me off seeing him initially. Eventually, though, word of mouth and a Stella nomination convinced me that it was a show that I wouldn't want to miss.
I certainly wasn't wishing that I had stuck with my first impessions by the end of the show, although Bloom's wasn't the most original show of the Festival.
Bloom kept the audience laughing steadily throughout the show and was even brave enough to employ a little audience interaction at times.
While it wasn't my all time favourite show for ComFest 99, a lot of punters would disagree, with Bloom selling out almost every night.
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA: ED BYRNE:
Reviewed By Harley
Although the night is rather fuzzy, due to the amount of alcohol Queen Rimmer and I had drunk before the show, through an (admittedly illegal) bootleg, I can go back and revisit Ed's show - and it's bloody good.
Unlike his previous shows (like last year's "Third Degree Byrne"), "A Night At The Opera" was more than just a series of jokes and anecdotes. For the first time, it was jokes and stories pulled together by an overiding story (and with no recycling of material, either) - this being Ed forced to take his girlfriend to a performance of Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutti" on their first anniversary, which also happens to be St Patrick's Day.
Ed's bizarre slant on relationships is far more sophisticated than most comics. This, teamed with the explanation of the opera through a working class Irishman's eyes, made for a clever, but still hilarious, night of comedy. It was definitely a Festival highlight for me.
Ed should also be given extra credit - during his stay in Melbourne this year, he was struck down with one of the nastier strains of the 'Festival Flu' - the diarhetic strand!! So to drag his arse out of bed and into the Atheneum and still play a hilarious show for about an hour and a half was just incredible, and showed as true dedication to his art.
Many thought that last year Ed was at the top of his craft. But from seeing him perform this year, it is evident that Ed can only go from strength to strength. Next year, make sure that you don't miss him. It's only a matter of time before he's a superstar.
LIVE ON EARTH: CRAIG CHARLES:
Reviewed by Harley
I saw forty shows at this years Festival and I probably saw thirty-nine that were better than Craig Charles. It wasn't that he wasn't funny - the packed Atheneam Theatre was rolling in the aisles - it just wasn't original. I'd heard at least half of the jokes before - and not from Craig, either. But after having to wait almost an hour and a half before the show started, Craig was lucky the audience was so receptive, and didn't tear him to pieces.
From what I can gather, everybody saw Craig Charles, but nobody was terribly impressed. It was very funny, granted, and I was pulled up on stage to have a poem recieted to me and a kiss on the cheek - which I'm sure infuriated all the Red Dwarf fans! But I'll tell you something, girls - the alcohol on his breath was something else!
Probably the lowlight of the show was when Craig dropped his trousers to reveal his amply filled underwear. As Lister would say - "That is something NOONE should EVER have to see!"
The highlight would have to be the "Funny what comes to mind when you're bouncing a soccer ball on your head" routine. This was clever, witty and the funniest part of the show - except maybe the turd impersonation.
Craig Charles was something I'm glad I saw - but I'm glad the ticket wasn't that much more expensive.
COMEDY IS NOT PRETTY: JUDITH LUCY, LYNDA GIBSON & DENISE SCOTT:
Reviewed by Harley
Judith Lucy, Lynda Gibson and Denise Scott hit gold with their ten show series, even having to move from the Lower Town Hall to the Capitol in order to accomadate audeinces. "Comedy Is Not Pretty" was basically picking fun at the lack of femle comics and the way people not in the Comedy industry treated them. It wasn't just twenty minutes of stand up from each of the women - it was the three of them, bitching, supporting, dancing and singing. The highlight of this show -the massive bitchfight, culminating in Judith breaking a chair over Lynda's head - was definatley one of the 1999 Festival 'moments'.
"Comedy Is Not Pretty" was a daring new concept, complete with song and dance routine and the hilarious "Funny Lady" poem. It also had a bit of nudity for the bored man - in the form of Denise's breasts poppin' out of her dress every night. It was nominated for the Stella Award, which only re-instates it's original new approach to women in comedy. "Comedy Is Not Pretty" was more than just a Festival highlight, it was a Festival 'Must See' - and who could resist seeing three of Australia's top comedians on stage at the same time. Obvisually the punter's couldn't - it sold out every night.
WILENNIUM: WIL ANDERSON:
What would you do if the world was going to end in an hour's time?
This was the underlying theme of Wil Anderson's 1999 Comedy Festival show, Wilennium. While most audience members said things along the lines of "have sex", "get drunk" and "eat too much" (yep - there was the dreaded Audience Participation!) others contributed such intellectual concepts as turning the clocks back, providing Wil with some extra material for later shows...
Of course, Wilennium wasn't just a series of options for killing time during the last hour of human existance. During the course of the hour, Wil touched on subjects such as the banks (and why he hates them), old people (and why he hates them) and even such varied topics as the contamination of water supplies, time limits on shopping centre seating and the ever tasteful subject of bestiality.
Wilennium was made up of pretty much all-new material - with the only recognisable bits and pieces being ones used at the ill-fated ABC "Mouthing Off" pilot. And - thank God - there was not a 'Heather Locklear - special guest' line in sight.
All in all, Wilennium proved that all the recent hype about Wil Anderson being one of the great young stars of Australian comedy is far from unfounded.
THE BIG LAUGHOUT @ SOUTHBANK:
The Big Laugh Out @ Southgate was a weekend feature of ComFest 99.
Surprisingly few people gathered around a stage in front of the main stairwell to watch a highly varied line up of performers. Highlights of the weekends' line-ups included Tripod and Matt King, while the Talking Drums blokes were more of an eyebrow raiser than a chucklefest.
Still, nothing beats free comedy - and it was a great opportunity for the comedians to promote their shows to non-punters.