Amanda Gray

This week’s support features were Amanda Gray and Dave Bloustien. Amanda is fairly new to stand-up, hitting the ground running in comedy contests over the past year and beginning to build up a strong local following (she’s a finalist in this week’s Quest for the Best Grand Finals staged by Comedy on the Rox). Her dead-pan style and blunt use of four letter words was a startling combination in the marbled pillar zone, but once the room absorbed it they followed her cheerfully enough as she took them on a journey of f*cking disdain.

Dave Bloustien

By the time writer/improvisor/comic-of-all-trades Dave Bloustien took the mic they were starting to loosen up with the occasional guffaw, happy to follow him along weird thought alleys and give him the expected groan in an friendly fashion when he unleashed a truly drastic pun. Dave’s confidence in the writing behind his punchlines means that a listening crowd is his sort of people because he can listen to individual reactions and bounce off them to keep the set fresh. Those keen to see a different side to Dave’s skills can catch him as part of the Man/Raven team in the Theatresports(R) Cranston Cup Grand Final on Dec 6th.

Kitty Flanagan’s years in Britain have, amazingly, only made her routine more rapid-fire than ever. Her tiny frame with its mop of curls and huge smile fills the stage and commands attention. By the time she’d set up three punchlines the chuckles were louder and the guffaws more frequent, as her quiet style kept the crowd listening. Her weaving of improvised banter with set chunks was seamless, and I have little more to add because I stopped taking notes to concentrate on laughing. Kitty’s upcoming gigs can be found at her website.

Kitty Flanagan

Next week the Marble Bar features Dave Jory headlining supported by James Lieutenant and Bryan Chandler. [more info]

Arriving late for The Comedy Store show because my companion Ms Mellie is small and her beer was large, thus taking longer for her to finish it at the pub than she expected, we missed most of the first support act Ben Ellwood, coming in for only the last few minutes, but those who’d been on time were chortling mightily. The second support act, Nick Sun, did his usual free-flight routine with some new material that failed to fully grab the crowd this time out, although there were some appreciative hoots.

MickeyD, as MC, was a larrikin maestro, fast-foot-working around the stage while delivering great big dollops of cheeky to approving roars. Ms Mellie, who hadn’t been to see a comedy show for nearly twenty years, approved of him highly, but she wasn’t so enamoured by efforts from others to be “edgy” with bad taste humour in the name of free speech - if it’s not also entertaining she fails to see the point. However, Ms Mellie luuurrrved the featured support act, Dave Jory. His wry observational style punctuated by the lunges for emphasis won her over, and totally cracked up the room. If his cats and my cat ever get a chance to plot together, the human race is doomed.

Jamie Kilstein

Headliner Jamie Kilstein was promoted as part of the New York underground scene, which is apparently comedy code for “no, you haven’t seen him on Letterman or Leno” and “yes, he’s all over YouTube” (which is handy for checking him out before going to a show). His material was rather like a distillation of the sharpest left-leaning American political blogs - talking points with a twist - so it was very much my cup of tea. Kilstein has a relaxed, deceptively rambling style as he skewers the Religious Right and Stateside conservatives, and if you know everybody he’s talking about his points are sharp indeed. Ms Mellie, who is rather less interested in the minutiae of the US culture wars, was lost for reference points for huge chunks of Kilstein’s routine, got bored with the religious critique and wanted more Australian-tailored content. Most of the crowd, who obviously were expecting just what they got, were lapping it up. So he’s not for everybody, but if you like him on YouTube he’s definitely worth seeing in person.

Kilstein finishes tonight at the Comedy Store in Moore Park, Sydney and heads back to NYC - his gigs can be followed on his myspace page. Next week the Comedy Store begins its Christmas Special Show (”a gala lineup every night!”) until Dec 20. [more info]

• Reviews, week 3-9 November 2008
• Review: Fiona O’Loughlin @ Marble Bar
• Comedy @ BB’s: Mickey D., Dave Williams, Nick Sun & more
• Sydney & Melbourne: some new rooms!
• Comedy Store reopening in November

Please feel free to plug other shows in the comments below, including a link to any promotional images online for such shows.

Slideshow created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

(C) 2008 Viv Smythe & Gagging For It - All Rights Reserved. No content is to be reproduced without written permission from Viv Smythe.

Similar Posts:

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* George Smilovici started a monthly room at the Mosman RS Club last month called The Comedy Womb - it’s on again this Saturday 22nd featuring George and his guest Garry Who. [more info]

* Nick Sun is buzzing with ideas and taking them for a run - a not-just-for-comedians “open no rules peformance anarchy night” called PHUKLUB will run on several nights in December at the Roxbury Hotel in Glebe - Mondays 1st and 8th December, and then a Christmas Spectacular on 21 December. Nick’s also planning an experimental stand-up night on Wednesdays in December with full details yet to be announced.

* John Cleese is doing an Australian tour of his business leadership seminar in mid-December (unaffordable unless your corporation coughs up), so will possibly also pop up on a few telly shows etc. Keep your eyes peeled in Perth, Melbourne, Canberra & Sydney. [more info]Similar Posts:

• Touring shows for June ‘08
• This week in Sydney
• Comedy @ BB’s: Mickey D., Dave Williams, Nick Sun & more
• Wild West Comedy Fest is heading Perth’s way
• Reviews: Kitty Flanagan, Jamie Kilstein

• Comedy on the Edge, upstairs at the Hotel William, is a big (big) comfortable space, filled with rows of sofas and a small stage. The audience for the book launch of Are Youse The Comoydians? were mellow and appreciative, anticipating a more laid-back night than your usual stand-up show, and so it proved. Fast-talking Jonas Holt and veteran Peter Meisel were delightful supports in the first half of the show, and then (proving room manager Mark Williamson’s maxim of “you just never know who may be dropping by the EDGE”) in the second half came the welcome surprise of “toughest woman in comedy” Julia Wilson doing a spot before Greeny came on to discuss his book with fellow cyclist-comedian Dominick O’Kieran (who also MC’ed the evening).
  
  Peter Green

  The Last Legs tour was obviously different: two comedians cycled across Australia and wherever they stopped for the night they put on a comedy show. Their own mishaps and the varied reactions and characters they met along the way make for a string of highly entertaining anecdotes. Chase down Peter Green and buy his book to see for yourself!

  This week on Comedy on the Edge: “The Bad Boys of Comedy are back!! Featuring the Man, the myth the Legend Jeremy ‘Keasty’ Keast, Justin ‘D’ Lodge, all the way from Melbourne the Nelson Twins and your main attraction Barry ‘Hardcore’ Hamilton.”

• A Mic In Hand: this room has built a strong reputation in the nearly six years it’s been open, offering crowd favourites as headliners and featured acts while providing a rising comics showcase as well. They always pull a good crowd, not least because top comedians often drop in unannounced to do a spot.

  On Thursday, veteran Rob McHugh was MC, mixing well-refined material with the topical to good effect. The rising comics showcase offered the varied styles of Thomas Russell, Duncan McConachie, Hugh Cameron, Mikey Mileos and John Cruickshank to a generally strong crowd reception. Some material was slightly uneven but all had great moments. Dave Jory (triple j) dropped by to do a surprise spot, most uncharacteristically not wearing a suit, telling us he was too depressed to bother due to his Movember hairiness and the domestic tyranny of his cat, amongst other things.

  
  Jackie Loeb at A Mic in Hand in 2007 (Liz Christie)

  The featured acts were both musical comedians, but their styles are quite different. Supporting act Shane Matheson flashes an engaging cheesy grin to present as an amiably energetic lunatic with a keyboard and a ukelele, offering songs that are sometimes only one phrase long, and covering a plethora of topics. Transitions are abrupt and the laughs roll on top of one another. He was very well received. Headliner Jackie Loeb’s set, befitting her 14 years or so in comedy, was more structured and polished (especially in her use of audience banter), her absurdities and physical comedy sparkling amongst the trademark song parodies, most especially delighting the crowd by doing their requested Bassey song to end the show. [previous review]

  This week at Mic in Hand: Peter Eigner headlining with David Smiedt as MC, plus rising comics open mic.

• Theatresports Cranston Cup Semi Final #2 was a rip-snorting show last night, ring-mastered by the outstanding Ewan Campbell and Jane Simmons (pictures coming!).
  
  Host Ewan Campbell & Timekeeper Jane Simmons
  (Source: sgr.com.au)

  It started off as a fairly typical show, with the requisite chuckles and occasional guffaw, but by the end of the night the players were on fire, taking enormous risks with the challenges they set themselves and each other with absolutely hilarious results, enhanced by musical accompanist Jason Rushton. Winners on the night were student team Arabian Disko Knights from Blue Mountains Grammar School, a triumph richly deserved and truly memorable: for certainly the first time that either I or Impro Australia’s Geoff Bartlett can recall, the Schools contest winners have made it all the way through the heats to secure a place in the Grand Final: congratulations!

Arabian Disko Knights in action on Sunday (Source: sgr.com.au)

Teams now through to the Grand Final (at Enmore Theatre):
Man/Raven. Dave Bloustein, Marko Mustac and Steve Walsh.
North Sho’ Pimps. J Rex (Jon Williams), Lynch Pin (Steve Lynch) and Tao of Yao (Jeremy Yao).
Super Love Ultimate Team (defending Cranston Cup Champions). Lee Naimo, Jordan Raskopoulos, Steen Raskopoulos and Simon Greiner
Arabian Disko Knights (2008 Schools Contest Champions): Jimmy Tredinnick, Nadia Odlum, Ben Hunter, Lauren Moscovis

Teams in next week’s Repechage Playoff (at Belvoir Street):
Osama Bin Laden Blues Exposion. Rebecca DeUnamuno, Cameron Knight and Dave Williams
Obese People Can Be Healthy:Study. Grant Davies, Scott Hall-Watson, Matt Foster
Pyjama Party. Lisa Ricketts, Amanda Buckley and Susie Youssef
Unicorns Are Racists, Too. Alice Fraser, Tess McLellan, Mitchell Alistair and Carlo Ritchie

The Grand Final is on Saturday Dec 6th at the Enmore Theatre.

• The Quest for the Best heats up: it’s nearly Grand Final time!
• The Cranston Cup lights up Sydney’s inner west for the next 6 weeks
• Book Launch: Are Youse The Comoydians?
• “A brilliant mind in panic…”
• Reviews, week 3-9 November 2008

Highway to Hell - Performed by Manchoir from Manchoir on Vimeo.

Performances in November: (see the Manchoir Facebook group for updates for December)

• 20th November 2008: Bar Me, Kings Cross 9pm (on stage, gig starts 8pm)
  Supporting WORLD CHAMPION and THE MORNING PAPERS
• 26th November 2008: Quest for the Best Grand Final, St Scholastica, Glebe
  onstage about 10pm - 10:10pm, during the counting of the votes
  (note venue - more seats this year!)

Other News

• Toorak’s Laughing Lion comedy room has moved to Friday nights, so no comedy at the Toorak Lion this Tuesday, but a bumper line-up on Friday 21st to make up for it: headlining Bev Killick supported by Xavier Michelides, Cathal O’Loughlin, Tom Middlebrook & Guests (find updates on the Laughing Lion Facebook group)
• Comedy at BB’s (Bar Bondi) is now a weekly room, this week featuring Lehmo supported by MC Jim Rochford, Danny McGinlay and The Nelson Twins. If you guessed that you can find updates on Facebook, you’d be right.
• Registrations are still open for performers for the 2009 St Kilda Laughs festival (Jan 30-Feb 7), also for the Comedy Convention taking place that first weekend, offering performance tips from top comedians plus a special workshop from Brad Oakes and more to be announced. Read more details at The Groggy Squirrel.

• Might need a laugh after the Melbourne Cup?
• The Quest for the Best heats up: it’s nearly Grand Final time!
• Comedy Contest Roundup
• Comedy Tours: May
• Tickets to book now for July

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To have your show’s poster added to the poster parade, please contact Viv for instructions.Similar Posts:

• Weekly poster parade #3
• Introducing Weekly Poster Parade

All shows for Adam Hills and Dave Hughes went on sale for Brisbane Comedy Festival this Monday 10 November, 2008:

Adam Hills - Inflatable
Date : 13 - 15 March 2009
Time: 7:30pm

Dave Hughes is Handy
Date : 6-7 March 2009
Time : 7pm and 9pm

Venue: Powerhouse Theatre
Bookings: 07 3358 8600 or brisbanepowerhouse.org

Brisbane Comedy Festival is presented by Brisbane Powerhouse and brisbanetimes.com.au. I’d suggest booking fast - these shows will be very popular. Similar Posts:

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Acts reviewed: Axis of Awesome, Sugar Sammy, Harley Breen, Jacques Barrett, Diverse Theatresports(R) Players
Venues: Marble Bar, Comedy Store, Belvoir Street Theatre

Tuesday 4th November: Axis of Awesome @ Marble Bar

It was a lively crowd after the Melbourne Cup, in the mood to heckle and tease. They were appreciative nonetheless, and particularly enjoyed the high volume, high energy set from musical comedy trio Axis of Awesome. Some of their material would have been appreciated more by a less boozy crowd, but they still got most of the jokes. I arrived late for this show, so failed to see the supporting acts, sadly.

The banter between the personas the Axis members display is fun - Lee Naimo interjects deadpan sardonic quips, Jordan Raskopolous flips between lead singer swagger and Harry Potter fanboy, while Benny Davis plays the long-suffering straight man who occasionally turns the tables. I was expecting some such schtick, but I wasn’t expecting quite the tight musical technique that was part of the package, particularly the complex harmony work. Their finale, a medley of pop songs in a quirky context that turns familiar lyric snippets into comic punchlines, was a huge crowd-pleasing tour de force, and is clever on so many levels that I for one am keen to hear it again soon so I can appreciate the layers I must have missed the first time around.

Next Show @ Marble Bar: Tues 18th November, Kitty Flanagan headlining, supported by Dave Bloustien, Amanda Gray and Dave Smiedt as MC. [details]

Wednesday 5th November: Sugar Sammy @ Comedy Store

A capacity crowd of loyalists, alerted through email lists and online social networks, descended upon the Comedy Store for a soft launch of the re-opened comedy stalwart. It was obvious that the audience was thrilled to be back in a favourite room and looking forward to some good rude fun. The comedians felt the vibe and paid it back with interest.

Jacques Barrett as MC couldn’t put a step wrong, even when he played the arsehole card in the second half of the show so that he had to win the audience back. Harley Breen’s highly physical storytelling style of stand-up was an effective contrast, particularly with his stock of impressions and abrupt jumps into surreal absurdity before coming back to another story full of comic dilemmas. His set flew by far too fast.

Then it was time for Sugar Sammy, a very confident and smooth comic. Sufficient reference was made to his Canadian nationality and Indian immigrant ethnicity to set the scene for the crowd, but his strength really lies in his more global observational insights, and in particular how he presents gratuitously offensive quips to the crowd, shocking them and then hauling them back onside by holding the nature of the offense up to comic examination. To be honest, it’s not my favourite stand-up style, but I still laughed (a lot). I admire the mastery of those who can pull it off, and it certainly went down well with the crowd.

This week Tuesday to Saturday: headliner Oz legend Peter Berner, supported by New Yorker Jamie Kilstein and MC’ed by Dave Williams [details]

Sunday 9th November: Theatresports(R)Cranston Cup Semi-Final @ Belvoir
It’s the annual comedy tradition, now in its 20th year, where teams of improvisors compete to win glory and custody of possibly the biggest and certainly the ugliest trophy in Australia. Theatresports(R) is the origin of the improvised games seen regularly on the small screen in Thank God You’re Here, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Comedy Slapdown.

Seeing it live brings a whole new level of engagement as the audience is caught up entirely in whether the improvisors can create a scene that satisfies the three judges on the night - respectively Narrative, Entertainment and Technique. The Technique judge is the toughest, now known as The Hanging Judge and shielding hir identity in a cowled hood and mask, the better to cope with the compere egging the crowd on to boo hir mercilessly for hir ruthlessness.

David Callan and Monique Dykstra cracked the whip on the improvisors, keeping them on track and within time, while Benny Davis provided the improvised musical soundtrack that set the moods. The four teams provided an assortment of veteran players and promising relative newcomers, and in the first half of the show, with the shorter games, scoring was very tight. After the interval, some longer and more complicated games are played, and this is where the veteran players shone. In the end, the “North Sho’ Pimps” team comprising Jon Williams, Steve Lynch and Jeremy Yao won the day (their “Puppets” scene set in the circus was a highlight) followed closely by the “Super Love Ultimate Team” comprising Lee Naimo, Jordon Raskopolous, Steen Raskopolous and Simon Greiner, who unsurprisingly excelled in all musical challenges.

Next Theatresports(R) Show @ Belvoir: Sunday 16th November, see schedule of players at Impro Australia.

• Reviews: Kitty Flanagan, Jamie Kilstein
• Comedy Store reopening in November
• Reviews: November, 2nd week
• Review: Red Card Comedy 26/10/08
• “A brilliant mind in panic…”

“…is a wonderful thing to see.” ~ Carl Reiner

There’s impro shows all over the calendar in Sydney at the moment (and in many other cities too), so if you enjoyed Comedy Slapdown this week on the Comedy Channel, why not come and see some live impro, and feel the fear right there in front of you?

For the next few Sundays at Belvoir Street Theatre until the Grand Final on December 6th at the Enmore Theatre, teams of improvisors try to knock each other out of the running for the Theatresports(R) Cranston Cup.

Witness the thrills and spills as teams of comic actors create instant scenes based on surprise offers and audience suggestions. Putting their wit and courage to the test, the country’s top improvisers battle it out to get their hands on the biggest, ugliest trophy in Australia.

The Grand Final at Enmore Theatre always sells out, so get booking now, and you could always avoid disappointment and catch one of the Belvoir semi-finals first! I went tonight and had a great time, as did the rest of the audience.

If Sunday night isn’t your thing (or if you just want a bargain), the Roxbury Hotel in Glebe is serving up impro each week as well. On the first and third Tuesdays of each month, Full Body Contact No Love Tennis pits doubles teams against each other in a more long-form style of impro challenge to win something much less ugly (and less big (and less valuable)) than the Cranston Cup. (tickets $10 at door or through moshtix)

Full Body Contact No Love Tennis: pairs of improvisors compete for the tennis u/19 trophy while we dole out audience prizes. you may just win a gem…there’s still a dining table yet to be given away!

The Explosive Minds Team

On alternate weeks, A Regular One Night Stand sets the scene for the ultimate battle of the sexes on Thursday nights (13 Nov, 27 Nov, 11 Dec - tickets $12/10 through moshtix)

A Regular One Night Stand is a hilarious improvised comedy show which pits boys against girls, and sees the audience vote throughout the evening for who they think is the ‘funniest’ sex. The cast improvise scenes, make up songs and jokes and play solo and team challenges.

There’s also the classic weekly Theatresports(R) show, Scared Scriptless, Thursday nights at the Harold Park hotel in Glebe. This is Sydney’s longest-running impro show, and tickets are only $10.

Elsewhere

Melbourne
Impro Melbourne presents Theatresports(R) on Sundays until November 30.

Hobart
Impro Vice has moved from Sunday nights to Thursday nights at The Loft, although the calendar is a little confused in some weeks, so check their website.

Perth
The Big HOO HAA! on Saturday nights at Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den, the Brisbane Hotel.

Brisbane
As always, Brisbane’s got plenty going on. Open Mic Improv, the Kookaburra Challenge and Gorilla Theatre all over the next month. Check out the website.

If you’ve ever thought that you might like to try your hand at impro yourself, there are courses you can do.

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• Impro shake-ups in Melbourne & Sydney: venue woes
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