MAN ABOUT TOWN

We all have them. For some people it might be reading trashy true-crime books; for others, Tim Tams, or the music of Britney 'trainwreck' Spears. For me, it's the reality TV program Big Brother . Cease your moaning; I know it's vacuous crap - that's the whole point! I also know that it's got progressively more dull and tedious year by year - which is why I'm going to be watching the launch show tonight, given that the producers seem to have finally cottoned on to the fact that their formula had become more than just a tad formulaic. Cue: shouting at the television, despairing at just how moronic some people are, and excitedly texting friends to share what knobs some of this year's crop of housemates are sure to be. I'm also hoping they bring back the voyeuristic pleasure which was Big Brother Uncut , but that's a whole other post unto itself...

You'll have noticed I've been lying low, blogwise, for the last week or so. Partially it's recovery from the Comedy Festival, which means A) I've not been going out much or getting up to anything really blogworthy in the last seven or so days, and B) what has been going on, such as my flatmate buying his first apartment, I've either been too tired to blog about or it just hasn't been that exciting, eg fuelling my nostalgic spirit by catching up on old episodes of Doctor Who from the Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee eras. Talk about painting the town red! On top of all that, my preoccupation with comedy and the general chaos of my life meant that last week the phone was cut off at home, as I hadn't had time to pay the bill, and consequently I also lost my internet connection. Ack! It's like losing part of your brain! I hadn't realised just how often and how useful the net was until my access to it was suddenly terminated. Hopefully when I get home fro...

Need more proof? Head over to photographer Brian Finke's site , where these amazingly homoerotic photographs are from. (This post inspired/lovingly ripped off from JockoHomo .)

So, I saw 45 shows at the festival this year, laughed a lot, drank too much, caught up with friends, developed a new comedy crush, and generally had a fantastic time - albeit one it will probably take me a few days to recover from! Last night witnessed the awards presentation at the festival club at the HiFi Bar. The winners are: The Barry Award for Outstanding Show: a tie, for the first time ever in the festival's 22 year history, between Nina Conti and Kristen Schaal (who is a horse, apparently). The Age Critics Award: Sammy J The Golden Gibbo Award for Artistic Excellence: The Suitcase Royale The Melbourne Airport Best Newcomer Award: Fear of a Brown Planet That's all, folks!

THE LIFT Scott Brennan and Edwina Lunn have crafted an exuberent 12 minutes of fun in the lift at Town Hall - a specially designed show for an intimate audience, featuring a cavalcade of guest performers, including Harley Breen and Daniel Kitson, the night I saw it. Deranged, deftly presented and great fun. Four chortles out of five.

Tonight marks the presentation of the Comedy Festival awards, which means that very soon, I can slide into a comatose state, emerging only to hit anyone near me who attempts to launch into a stand-up routine. I've now seen 44 shows over the four weeks of the festival, and quite frankly, am a bit bloody knackered - as I discovered last night. I went to lie down for an hour before heading out again, and woke up shortly before midnight. Doh! So, instead of launching myself at the door at that late hour, I curled up with a comic book, and trundled back to bed a couple of hours later. I've definitely slowed down in terms of the number of shows I've seen this week, too - on Thursday night (accompanied by the lovely Ms Razer) I only saw one show instead of three or four. The night prior I saw only two shows. Slack! ANDREA GIBBS is Starkers! Subtle, character-based comedy performed in a tiny room at the Forum by this Perth-based comedian. Each character was written by a different w...

A facelifted throng of diamond-draped luvvies in the foyer, more penguin suits than at the opening night of MIFF , and the sound of air kisses echoing in the air around me. Derryn Hinch! Rhonda Burchmore! The horror, the horror! I'd thought a night at the theatre would be a good antidote to my duties at the Comedy Festival, but it was all I could do not to laugh as Mike and I fought through the throng and climbed the stairs in the gorgeously garish Princess Theatre to find our seats in the dress circle. Despite being reared on a musical diet as a child (everything from Pirates of Penzance to Oklahoma ) I'd not seen a production of Guys and Dolls before, so was definitely interested in checking it out - and the idea of a musical whose characters were New York gamblers and showgirls and petty crims was equally appealing. What a shame, then, that it was so truly bloody awful. The show itself has dated badly, with great slabs of dialogue interspersed by only a handful of forgettabl...

So, we're into the home stretch of the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and I've got to the staggering from show to show, laughing hysterically and fleeing screaming from anyone outside the Town Hall who offers me a flyer for a show, and - generally speaking naturally - am bordering on the point of nervous exhaustion. But fuck it's been fun! So anyway, let's talk about shows number 38 - 41, which I saw on Sunday and tonight, shall we? I took Saturday night off - a mistake as it turned out, to attend the opening night of Guys and Dolls (more of in another post) and Monday as well, it being my day of rest where the ComFest is concerned. Which basically means I've been seeing comedy six days a week, every week, since the festival opened 21 days ago. Excuse me, I feel faint... or is that my liver packing in? DAVE BUSHELL - The Struvvel Bushell Or, how Dave exorcises his childhood fears via a sharp, clever and damn entertaining comedy show. I first became a...

Well fuck me, Charlton Heston has died. Finally - a chance to prise his gun from his cold, dead hands!

And - surprise! - still more comedy festival reviews... MAEVE HIGGINS & CLAUDIA O'DOHERTY - Ha Ha Yum! In which Irish comedian Maeve Higgins tells jokes about such diverse topics as catty put-downs disguised as compliments and the Titanic, while her friend Claudia (a Sydneysider, and also one third of Pig Island ) makes chocolate crackles on stage, which are handed out to the audience at the end of the show. O'Doherty's dry wit is an appropriate foil to Higgins' light yet lyrical delivery, yet overall I was rather underwhelmed by this slight confectionary-like show, which seemed to lack pace and direction. Two and a half chuckles out of five BEST OF THE EDINBURGH FEST A portmanteau show presented by four comics: Eddie Ifft, Tom Stade, Mickey D and Daliso Chaponda. The weakest link in the show was compere Micky D, an Adelaide boy who's been living overseas for several years and who's just moved to Collingwood; his crude, cheeky material seemed to lack polish...

No idea, as I'm not psychic, and the awards aren't announced until next Saturday night. But the nominees are: Nina Conti Kristen Schaal Josie Long Sammy J Justin Hamilton Fiona O'Loughlin

FEAR OF A BROWN PLANET Having previously seen this show in last year's Fringe, I was curious to see it for a second time, particularly as the weakest of the three young Muslim comics in the show wasn't part of its new incarnation. As I suspected, Nazeem Hussein is still fairly funny, though never completely hilarious, and the wonderfully edgy Aamer Rahman is still the standout of the show. Solid laughs exploring racism and Islamaphobia from a firsthand perspective. Bloody funny, but not a work of genius. Three and a half chortles out of five. ANYONE FOR TENNIS? Take Your Time When this show started I thought, 'god it's going to be awful', but within five minutes these two likeable young comedians, Jase and Doody, had me happily ensconced in their haphazard, amateurish yet charming world. A ludicrous story about killing Time is the McGuffin which underpins their act, which essentially consists of a series of comedic songs linked by a few gags. The show could be tig...

I've been asked to be a judge in the Journalism category of this year's Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, entries for which are now open. How nice - and how slightly daunting, given that one of the other two judges (the third having not yet been appointed) is former Age editor Michael Gawenda ... Eeek!

More reviews from the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival . When will it all end? Oh yeah, next weekend, that's right.... JOHN MOLONEY in Only Moloney An evening of solid, well-crafted but somehow old-fashioned jokes that had me smiling occasionally, but almost never laughing. Some of his material, such as jokes about the Royal Family, had the audience in fits, but given the originality and calibre of some of the shows I've seen at the festival this year and previously, I'm afraid that this very trad take on comedy just didn't do it for me. Perhaps 10 years ago, in a smoky pub, some of Moloney's humour might have cut it, but not today. And John, if your reading this? Drop the jokes about transgenderism - there's a line between cheekily crass and just plain offensive, and you crossed it at that point of your show... Two and a half wry smiles out of five. CHARLIE PICKERING in Thirteen Ducks I've been pretty hard on local lad Pickering in the past, s...