MAN ABOUT TOWN

Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in the following reviews are made in a private capacity, and do not represent the opinions of the Melbourne Fringe Board, of which I am Chair. And oh boy are these reviews running well behind schedule. Here are some increasingly brief comments about the three shows I saw on Sunday... FELICITY WARD READS FROM THE BOOK OF MORON There are several comedians who are utilising/exploiting the Fringe audience in order to test out new material for a fully realised show for next year's Comedy Festival; but then there are people like Felicity Ward, who is experimenting with her craft in interesting and creative ways and testing out a new approach to performance. Here, Ward reads essays from the comfort of a large armchair, evoking both David Sedaris and the sort of mythical uncle who would smoke a pipe and regale you with fanciful tales of their youthful shennanigans in days gone by. She has a pipe (and a great gag involving an open fireplace at the start of...

Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in the following reviews are made in a private capacity, and do not represent the opinions of the Melbourne Fringe Board, of which I am Chair. THE POST APOCALYPTIC USERS' GUIDE Xavier Michelides first presented this highly enjoyable evening of stand up at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival earlier this year. I liked it then, and I like it now, even though it is exactly the same show as far as I can tell. Linked together by a struggling comedian MCing a comedy club in a world where aliens have just invaded, Michelides deftly switches through a range of characters, including the 'End of the World is Nigh' man who has a direct line to God, a half-man half cockroach, and an Evil Mastermind of the sort James Bond and Superman regularly come up against. While not constantly, side-splittingly funny, The Post Apocalyptic Users' Guide is a consistently entertaining show, exceptionally well structured and strongly delivered. Definitely ...

Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in the following reviews are made in a private capacity, and do not represent the opinions of the Melbourne Fringe Board, of which I am Chair. WHILE I'M AWAY A short, simple but utterly charming production, While I'm Away sees writer/performer Telia Nevile build a solo show around the Poet Laureate character she's developed over the last 18-odd months at The Last Tuesday Society . Gently mocking the pretentions of bad performance poetry while simultaneously using poetry to explore themes of love, life and contemporary angst is no mean feat, but Nevile manages it with aplomb, while simultaneously screening a series of antique slides which counterpoint and compliment the verses and stories she presents. There's a bittersweet tenderness to this production that I found utterly disarming, as well as a sharp, dry wit and subtle, goofy, fragile charm. Highly recommended. Rating: Three and a half stars ASLEEP IN A SECRET A solo performance by ...

So, as I mentioned yesterday, the 2009 Melbourne Fringe Festival is upon us. Huzzah! Featuring over 4000 artists and more than 300 shows, it's a public expression of Melbourne's creativity; and is unique among Fringe Festivals in that over 85% of shows staged are by Melbourne artists, rather than by performers from interstate or overseas. The plan is to post reviews of Fringe shows here on a daily basis - hopefully. Knowing my schedule I might not always find the time, so I can't make any promises. Other places to look for Fringe reviews are the new blog by 'John Bailey', Capital Idea , Express Media's Buzzcuts program, and the excellent Spark Online ; while The Groggy Squirrel is running reviews from the comedy stream of the Fringe program. Before I get underway, just a quick disclaimer - the opinions expressed in the following reviews are made in a private capacity, and do not represent the opinions of the Melbourne Fringe Board, of which I'm Chair. Wit...

Had you noticed? I haven't blogged about anything for the past month, because quite frankly, I didn't have much to blog about. I mean, I could have written about the night I drunkenly decided to start inventing details, characters and a history for a Melbourne branch of the Torchwood Institute after listening to James Goss ' excellent Torchwood: Golden Age radio play; or how I faced the couple-world that is Ikea to buy new bookshelves, but such events didn't strike me as particularly blog-worthy. But now, all that's changed. No, I won't be telling you how I bravely sneaked past the Single Police who guard the borders of Ikea, where lone homos without partners, such as myself, who dare to enter are shot on sight as pair-bonded hetero and homo couples watch on cooing and arguing over matching tableware named after small Danish streams. Though I might, if you're very lucky, one day reveal the secret location of the Torchwood Institute (Melbourne branch) circa...