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 writer, with Gibbs breathing life into them. An ocker chick with fond memories of 1970s cricket and a penchant for getting her gear off; a female prisoner with a remarkable capacity for love; and a lacivious granny with a pleasure/pain fixation. Deftly performed and definitely entertaining but bordering on dramatic monologue rather than straight-forward comedy.
Three occasional guffaws out of five.
ROSS NOBLE
At a friend's urging I went to see this apparent god of stand-up, and I have to say, pissed myself laughing (and yes, thankfully, that is a metaphor - otherwise I would have had a rather soggy evening). His masterful improvisation skills meant that the show's lack of substance was irrelevent, with his lightning-quick quips and witty responses to comments and characters in the audience generating hearty laughs. When you're laughing so much your cheeks ache, you know you're in the hands of an excellent comedian. I'm not a huge fan of stand-up, but when it's this good, I'm not complaining.
Four gut-clenching shrieks of mirth out of five.
JOSIE LONG - Trying is Good
Having had the misfortune of catching this sweet-natured comic last year when I was dog tired and in a foul mood, I came out absolutely loathing what I decribed as her "gentle, observational humour, faux-naïve persona, and quirky, lo-fi presentational gimmicks". She hasn't changed, but because I knew what I was in for, and I was in a good mood, and in excellent company, I didn't find her that annoying at all. In fact, I thought she was rather sweet. Long comes across as a female version of Andrew McClelland - an indie hipster capable of gently mocking her own interests and obsessions, with a cheerfully exagerated means of expression. Her Phar Lap joke was fantastic, while the basic premise of the show - that people are basically, deep down, quite nice - is something that clearly resonated with the audience.Three giggles out of five.
1 comment:
we saw Ross Noble a few weeks back - it was quite strange as somebody in the audience had an epileptic fit while their friend screamed at the top of her lungs. Poor Noble didn't know what to do - and after 30 min of drama he managed to raise the mood again.. To make up for the distraction he did a 4 hour set! Plenty of arses were alseep after that..
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