Adelaide Fringe Articles 2004
*Adam Hills' Cut Loose #1 - 2/04
*Tripod's Lady Robots - 2/04
*Daniel Kitson - 2/04
*Ed Byrne #1- 2/04
*Mark Trevorrow - 2/04
*Rod Quantock - 2/04
*GUD are good. It's that simple - 2/04
*Ross Noble - Unreal Time - 2/04
*Man Bites God - 2/04
*Adam Hills - Cut Loose #2 - 2/04
*Ed Byrne #2 - 2/04
*Lee Mack #1 - 2/04
*Lee Mack #2 - 2/04
*Tripod in Lady Robots 2 - 2/04
*Ed Byrne #3 - 2/04
*You can't keep a good man Downe (Mark Trevorrow) - 23/2/04
*Evolving a serious outlook on being funny - 26/2/04Adam Hills' Cut Loose
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2004 review - Rip it up Magazine - by Catherine BlanchQuestion: How many comedians does it take to make a cinema full of people laugh like hysterical fools?Answer: One! And he goes by the name Adam Hills. Go see for yourself why this amaxing entertainer performs in front of sell out Fringe crowds every night, by just being himsel. Caaar'm....!
Tripod's Lady Robots
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2004 review - Rip it up Magazine - by Tom HayterUnion Hall, FringeHub, Sun Feb 22
Tripod [as heard on The Breakfast Show, 6-9am weekday mornings on Triple J and seen on Skithouse, 8pm on Wednesday nights on Network Ten] have discovered a planet colonised by nerds who created a female species as realistically as they could. Thin and Tall - 7 feet tall, to be precise. The only problem is that they gave is that they gave these Lady Robot weapons and a taste for nerdflesh, Now it's up to Tripod to save the world....
Daniel Kitson
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2004 review - Rip it up Magazine - by Catherine BlanchUK comedian Daniel Kitson has not only performed in front of sell-out audiences in the 2002 and 2003 Melbourne Comedy Festivals as well as being the 2002 winner of the prestigious Perrier Award for comedy, but he is now here for the Fringe.
Daniel also has the reputation of being a sharp-tongued potty mouth in the most brazen sense of the word and had I thought a little more carefully before e-mailing him some questions, it would have saved me the slight sarcasm I copped in his answers - but as a true Aussie, I can easily cope with that! Sarcasm is almost second nature to some of us. My first mistake was asking him when his first Adelaide Fringe was.
"What a lovelly opening question. Functionally, brief with possibilities of extended anecdotes. Of course a brief glance at the right information would have made it utterly clear that is my first time ever to lovely Adelaide," Daniel retorted. "So my first Adelaide Fringe will be in the future rather than, as the query implies, the past. Still, lets hope this gets a little better. Ahem,"
Oops! I coould only hope for better when asking how much material about his friends he put into his act - and do they mind?
"Some and no. It's all relatively personal introspective stuff," he replied. "Increasingly I'm aware of the consequences of this on those I care about. It's pretty selfish and irresponsible really. You can feel yourself thinking in terms of material at the most personal painful moments. It's pathetic really: a defence mechanism and a geniune character flaw."
What is your show about?
"It's about stuff and things, I have a feeling it will be largely about how people generally, myself included, are a disappointment. And how brief glimmers of humanity amidst a sea of despicable ugly dross are not enough to prevent a touch of depression.
"I have a story I knew I will definitely be doing at the end of the show." Daniel added. But there are other bits that will be replaced before I get there because they are essentially lightweight nonsense."
What is it about making people laugh that you like the most?
"I don't know. I like it when people cry as well though. Any manner of emotional connection is nice."
If you were a flavour of ice cream, what would you be and why?
"I don't know the name of it, but it would be the one that is a bit pompous, a touch self-important and often over rated. Basically the one that strains for clever, obtuse answers to give the impresssion it doesn't play the media game and is a dangerous, dairy based maverick. In a waffle cone, not a cup."
Ed Byrne
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2004 review - Rip it up Magazine - by Robert DunstanIrish comic Ed Byrne has returned to Adelaide to perform at the Fringe. We e-mailed him a few questions and this is how he responded.
Tell us about your Adelaide Fringe show.
"Basically it's the best hour of stuff I've come up with since I played at Fringe eight years ago. It's Ed Byrne's Greatest Hits I suppose."
What inspired it?
"You know when you're lying in bed thinking of that smart arse retort you should have come up with to that guy who was rude to you if only you'd thought of it at the time? Well I take those sorts of thoughts and I turn them into jokes. It's me being a smart arse."
Fill us in on your past 12 months, or so.
"Hmm, Hazy. In April and May of 2003 I did a little tour of Australia and NZ that included Melbourne and Auckland Comedy Festivals, followed by a holiday to Bora Bora. June was the Kilkenny Comedy festival. In Ireland, July was the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. August was the Edinburgh Fringe festival during which I broke up with my girlfriend. September, October I toured with the play I had been doing at the Edinburgh Fringe and also appeared reguarly on the Irish version of The Panel. In November and December I gigged about and filmed a pilot for a travel show. January I spent in Manchester starring in a low budget movie. In between all of these things I sell mobile phones to make ends meet!"
How did you initially become involved in comedy?
"Just lucky, I guess."
What was your first gig like and where was it?
"It was fine. It was in a pub in Glasgow. I had arranged the whole thing, booked the comics and made the posters etc, and then hosted it, so I was pretty nervous - not just that I might die or a comet might hit the pub. It was very nerve wrecking but in the end it went fine. I remember going for a drink afterwards with my mates and saying, "I'm a comedian now"> I realise now that was a slightly premature judgement but it felt good to say at the time. That was 10 years ago."
Do you have a favourite comic and why?
"Yes I do. During the Fringe in 1996 I had sex with two women at once. I've never done it since and Adelaide will always have a special place in my heart for that reason. FACT."
How about your preceptions of the comedy scene at present - what are you observations about 2003? Would you say it was a good year for comedy in general?
"One thing I have noticed is that in Britain they're putting less and less stad-up on telly, which is a shame I think. I'm lucky I made my name a few years back when television stand-up shows were plentiful. I pity the poor bastards trying to get off the circuit now."
Do you consider that current world events have been a boon for comedy in general?
"Not particularly. It just means more people are trying and failing to be next Bill Hicks. Political comedy is seeing a surge in popularity, which is good but bad political comedy is awful. I don't think I can listen to any more trite comments about weapons of mass destructions or how hard it is to find Bin Laden. As far as I'm concerned, you still can't beat a good dick joke.
Do you hang out with other comedians at festivals?
"Yes. Comedians are, despite what some say, very funny offstage once you get to know them. If you don't know them, they're not going to dance around for you, but most of my mates are comics and we do crack each other up. One of my favourite things about being a comic is hanging around other comics and laughing at their madcap antics!"
If you could take just one luxury item to a desert island what would it be and why?
"I was going to say my iPod but once the battery ran out I'd feel pretty stupid, wouldn't I? Does Christina Aguilera count as a luxury item?"
What does the future hold for you? Anything exciting in the pipeline such as television, radio, films or corporate tours of SE Asia, etc?
"Still waiting to hear if I'm making this television travel show. Going to Cannes and Edinburgh film festivals with a film called Zemanovaload. The second season of my show, Ed Byrne's Just For Laughs, is about to air in Ireland. Who knows what else. I might learn to drive this year."
If too much comedy is shown on television, do you think it will cause too much comedy on the streets?
"Maybe that's why they cut back so drastically in Britain. Too many kids were getting cut up by each others reckless use of humour. You may be onto something. If you see me on television and I don't seem particularly funny. It's because I'm thinking of the kids. That's my excuse."
Anything else to declare?
"I'm really sorry that losing my passport caused me to arrive in Adelaide a day late. I'm also really embarrassed that I found it again two hours after my plane left the ground.
Mark Trevorrow
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2004 review - Rip it up Magazine - by Catherine BlanchMark Trevorrow, the man behind the larger-than-life caberat singer Bob Downe, is laying aside his sequined suits to show people the real him. This interpretor of songs, who actually started out as a cadet journalist for the Melbourne Sun, has made his way back to our fine city to perform in the Fringe. We gathered outside The Regal for a chat in the shade on the very day that his dubut album, It's about Time, was released. I began by asking Mark the most obvious question of why he's decided to perform as himself.
"It's because people asked me to. Isn't that nice?" he happily began. "It started with the producers of Good News Week cajoling me into going on ABC TV as myself, but I was really nervous and didn't want to do it at all. Yet the reaction was fantastic, especially when I sang with Paul [McDermott] and Marcia [Hines] and the other people.
"The punters at the Black Cat gigs in Melbourne would also ask when I was going to sing seriously," Mark added, "and it was around then when ABC Music contacted me about making the album."
How does Bob feel about being put on the backburner?
"He's absolutely furious," Mark replied. "He's on enforced rest in the country [laughs]. But it's so great to go on stage and sing nicely, wear a nice suit and no make up!
"I'm not killing Bob off," he then assured me, "I'm just giving him a rest so I can go back to the comedy with some inspiration, you can't just keep doing the same thing forever. Bob is so over the top, but as Mark, I'm keeping it un-phoney, simple and heartfelt - like Chet Baker or Nora Jones."
Mark has performed in The Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne and Sydney as well as a season in the Sydney Opera House, and although Bob Done has played every Adelaide Fringe since 1986, this will be Mark's first time as himself. He'll be joined on stage by pianist John Thorn, musical director and arranger of Mark's album, as well as two local Adelaide musicians.
"The best thing is I don't get nervous when going on the stage," Mark acknowledged. "Comedy is really frightening yet I know I can do that. But can I move people? That's the challenge.
"I could do this show in front of 10 people or even in an empty room," he continued, "because making music is deeply satisfying whether there's five or 5,000 people watching. It's giving me a real feeling of profound rediscovery. After performing comedy for 25 years, it's nice to find stillness and quietness on stage."
Rod Quantock
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2004 review - Rip it up Magazine - by Rob LyonBe prepared to witness one of the masters of the Fringe when Rod Quantock takes to the stage with Changing Regimes. Is there a regime you want to change? Perhaps you just want to overthrow your evil boss or your tyrannical parents. Whoever. Whatever. No regime's too big or too small and Rod Quantock will show you how.
Can you tell me a bit about your Fringe show?
"Hold on, don't get too excited cause one and a half weeks is a long time in politics and you never know what could happen," Rod begun.
So what do you think the new kid on the block Mark Latham?
"Oh yes, the guy born in a manger, the electable one at the moment. Mark's very good at raising an issue and then moving on to the next issue before too much is said about it. He's definitely the butterfly of Australian politics....but he's written five books so that has to mean something doesn't it?"
If you could give a blank expresssion over the phone now was definitely the time. I asked Rod for a tip on overthrowing the boss.
"It's the hardest thing to do but it can be done," Rod mused. "Very few bosses actually have weapons of mass destruction. Well that is if they really do exist. A good angle to get them on is the way they treat staff failing that start lookinf for other ways like cutting the brake cable on their car. Another option is to buy the company but it takes commitment from within and employees expect it to be handed to them on a golden plater."
So what it you're a public servant?
"Sorry to hear that. You jewel in the crown but now you're servant to the masses. You have to be selfless, that's what we're expecting.
"Being in politics can really pay off for you - a leaked document to the press with budget information, revealing documents left on the table in the staff room, a word here and there, let people know that your boss is in favour of releasing refugees in to the community and then he/she will be type cast as a Labor supporter."
Do you follow state politics?
"Not really, but at least Kennett was loud and you could find him on a dark night. Bracks, well, he looks good in bathers and has quite a nice body. He actually got voted in the top 50 most good looking people so the ladies must like him even though he's good at keeping a low profile."
"Power is definitely an aphrodisiac," Rod then scoffed.
What caues do you support at the moment?
"Well I'm supporting possums that are stuck up trees starving to death, Fair Trade Agreement, sale of public parklands and refugees," Rod mentioned.
Is the refugee situation getting clearer or muddier as the days go on?
"The whole situation is being discreetly defused by Amanda Vanstone. The last I heard there was still 13 kids in detention. It is an election year and Howard is keen to damp down and little fires that spring up. But he can't put them all out like Medicare," Rod said.
Is Howard a shoe-in at the next federal election?
"No way, but he would be a little frightened I'd say. Some sources say he's trembling in his boots but he is too smart a man for that and they'll have a plan to work on his weaknesses."
After an illustrious career spanning three decades us it still hard to be funny all the time?
"Well, I don't have to be. I'm only funny on stage because it really is too exhausting," Rod concluded.
Gud are good. It's that simple.
DB Magazine - Article by Darien O'Reilly - 2/04 A mix of songs, entertaining on-stage banter and towering stage presence, Gud had the potential to be self-indulgent twaddle but the sheer energy of the performances and the wit involved easily overcame my initial reservations. By the end of the show - an incredibly tight medley of popular songs outlining the entire Iraq crisis - the entire audience (bar the girls swilling the Bailey's Minis) was hankering for some more.Paul McDermott (ex DAAS and Good News Week) was the tight suited front man about town, Cameron Bruce, keyboards (Dave McCormack & The Polaroids) played between laps of the audience and spewing trenchant criticisms and one-liners while Mick Moriarty (The Gadflys) was relegated to the role of stoner guitar God. They were tight, they fed off each other brilliantly and they had fun that, seemingly effortlessly, had the audience in the palm of their collective hand. Harmonies were strong and the sound was generally good, except for Moriarty who was a tad muffled at times.
The show followed the format of a cabaret; big introductions and a fair bit of on-stage preening with seemingly classic tunes belted out with enthusiasm, audience participation and irreverence. They are clearly unafraid of improvisation and seemed often to makes things up to suit the night and the audience - Bruce proved to be quite a master of the enjoyable rude ditty. The non-stop movement reinforced the cabaret nature of the show with dancing (sleazy gyrating then) from McDermott and Bruce adding another level to an already fun filled show.
Song titles included Free The Sheep, "even Nelson Mandela got his own cell" and Stand By Saddam giving an indication that no subject was too precious to satirise or parody. If there was a disappointment it was that they failed to introduce the songs even after often lengthy but amusing background to the tune. The songs themselves are jam-packed with comic goodness and pointed social comment.
They claimed that we were about to witness Solid Gud, and for once the advertising proved spot-on. I enjoyed it immensely.
Ross Noble - Unreal Time
DB Magazine - Article by Andrew P Street - 2/04 Scott Theatre, FringeHUB Until Sun 14 MarchI know comedy's terribly hard and everything - and god knows I couldn't do it - but you see someone like Ross Noble and realise that most comics just aren't even trying. No, really: comedians, take note. Shut up and leave this performance lark to the people who are genuinely talented. Or nuts. Or, in Noble's case, both.
For example: most comedians would have a couple of well-prepared quips to zing a late arrival running down the aisle, but few would go on to base their entire routine around it. More to the point, most wouldn't perform an entirely extemporised routine around it that was any good, let alone pants-wettingly hilarious. What started simply as a guy scuttling to his seat ended an hour later as a jazz-singing, high-bounding signwriter with a penchant for horses, as watched by a woman dressed entirely in meat. And the weird thing is that it all made perfect, logical sense. Sure, there were a couple of prepared routines in his set that were amusingly well-constructed, but the joy of Noble's performance is watching him zing off on improvised tangents as he goes along. Whether speculating on the weaponry potential of a pig with a spike on its head, or what poses best befit a sailor in a new port, or endlessly harranguing poor Justin The Bounding Signwriter, there was just enough time to catch one's breath between laughs before losing it on the next one.
If you can get a ticket, get one. Get two. Get several and get along as many times as you can - you'll not see the same show twice.
Man Bites God
DB Magazine - Article by Steve Jones - 2/04 The Regal Tent, Sat 14 FebHaving to start at 6pm and with an outside temperature still hovering around the 40 degree mark is always going to work against any act. So on one of Adelaide's hottest days on record Melbourne's three musical comedy act Man Bites God did well to get the audience they did, and despite the stifling on stage conditions, did brilliantly to keep up their level of enthusiasm throughout the show.
Without a doubt their level of musicianship was of an amazing standard all the way through, but being in such a large, hot and comparatively empty venue, unfortunately in their faster and more ballsier numbers words either seemed to become lost in the echoing mix, or simply dissipated into the hot thin air. Which of course is not a good thing if you're a band whose main selling point is the wit and comical content of your lyrics.
For that, what we got was still a pretty darn good rock outfit (at one stage Mark Woodward even broke a bass string, how rock and roll is that 'eh?). However, not all was lost for there was lots of silly slower tunes (especially the cutesy Recorder Boy and Erf, and their single, Spelling Bee Girl) and plenty of brainless between song banter during the rest their set for those in attendance to get a few good laughs in. With all three: Woodward (bass and, believe it or not, the recorder and toy piano accordion), James Hazelden (guitar) and drummer Chris Tomkins also sporting some mighty fine singing voices, which when combined helped to produce some very impressive (quite tricky even) harmonising, which definitely served to add even further depth to this band.
This was a very hard gig to review subjectively, but they're certainly an act to look out for and a worthy consideration further along the Fringe calendar. If you want a sample for yourself, go to their website, www.manbitesgod.com and follow the links to a generous number of downloads.
Adam Hills - Cut Loose
DB Magazine - Article by Darien O'Reilly - 2/04 Nova Cinema 1 Until Sun 29 FebIt is de rigeur in comedy to embarrass latecomers. Latecomer was cued, Hills introduced himself to a few people and everything went topsy-turvy. The porn manufacturing latecomer was recognised as the Grade 6 teacher of a fellow audience member and Hills was faced with a comedian's nightmare: there were 140 comedians and one audience member alone on stage. Hills seamlessly and flawlessly integrated the interruptions and his new friends into his show and they became part of his routine.
Hills has the rare ability to make the audience feel that they are more than paying customers, best illustrated by him running out to buy the Canadian couple a Farmers Union Iced Coffee ('more addictive than heroin') so that they could try it. He is genuine and genuinely funny with a fantastic stage presence. His incorporation of audience members into the show also enables Hills to show off his improvisation talents culminating in the lovely duet with Peter Monaghan Song For Sunny & Eddy- The Visiting Canadian Couple.
Hills does have some comedic standards such as anti-Americanism but delivers it in such a way that it is novel. His call for any Americans to invade the stage and liberate his jokes, or even if they suspected him of harbouring jokes, is just one example. However, Hills goes down atypical comedic lines that enable him to reflect upon stereotypes, countryside, nationalities and the link between them. This provides him the opportunity to show off a social conscience too often underexplored and mined. Who would have thought that the Bali Bombing would be a wellspring of sensitive yet wildly funny humour.
It is good to see Adelaide comedians holding their own among the plethora of national and international acts. Hills does more than hold his own, he delivers a show jam packed with thought provoking historical tidbits, hilarious one-liners and the occasional rant against advertising. In a Fringe seemingly full of good comedy, this is one of the best.
Ed Byrne
DB Magazine - Article by Steve Jones - 2/04 Ed Byrne has just arrived in Adelaide: 24 hours late due to misplacing his passport and being stuck home in London, resulting in the cancellation of his opening night's Fringe performance."Well I didn't lose it," he starts off. "I thought I'd lost it, but for all intents and purposes it was lost so I missed my flight and it's been a costly mistake." Since he's an observational comedian, I offer some consolation in that this would have to pay off for Byrne in the long run with material. "Most of the stuff I do is lamenting the stupidity of the everyday person. That's one thing that I always enjoy doing, pointing out the idiotic things we do, you know?
"But it's funny because then you find yourself doing the things that other comedians do stuff about. Like when you lose something, you go and check where it's supposed to be and it's not there so you go away. Then, even though you know it's not there, you still go back and check there again. Like have you ever lost your cell phone in your house so then you phone it from a landline? Then you find it and see that you've got one missed call and when you check it you realise that it's your own number so you go, 'Fuck me, I'm an idiot!' Next time I'm going to withhold my number just to play a trick on myself."
Or you can phone from a telephone box, I add without really thinking because then he wouldn't hear the ringing - "Yeah, but I'm that stupid I could well have lost it in the telephone box," he laughs.
And where did the passport eventually turn up? "In a jacket pocket that I had already packed," he replies, sounding very annoyed at himself. "I hadn't even left my house and the cab was sitting outside honking the horn, so I had to slip him a fiver and let him go. There's no doubt some people who bought tickets to the show last Friday night are probably pissed off that I didn't show up, but I want to stress that I'm sorry and that it cost me a lot of money."
Not to mention the ridicule he copped from people back home."That was the other embarrassing thing," he titters, "at the time I felt like a fucking idiot. Like I'd go to the kitchen and ask if anybody wanted anything, and they'd go, 'Nah that's alright Ed, you probably couldn't find it anyway'."
Lee Mack
DB Magazine - Article by Alex Wheaton - 2/04 It took me three tries to get it, because Lee Mack was calling in from the town of Chawley - north of Manchester - late at night after a gig."It's full of really, really Northern people and they have coal fires," he tells me. I'm from 'round 'ere," he says broadening the vowels alarmingly. I'd never heard of Chawley, unsurprisingly.
"It's the north west of England - it couldn't be any colder and wetter. My whole life is one big exercise in trying to get out of 'ere," he says cheerfully.
"Is it the middle of summer?" he asks, sounding a trifle incredulous when I tell him the current temperature is around 40 degrees, even though he's been to Australia a few times before (visiting mainly Sydney and Melbourne) and must be aware of the concept of seasons. "We are - officially" - he says "in the 'Fuck me it's still freezing' time of the year'."
Mack's first visit to the Antipodes was as a backpacker, and the experience had far reaching consequences. "I remember standing in a pub in Sydney seeing Ben Elton on stage and I thought 'I'm going to do that'. So I went back to England and did it."
We differ a little on the point of role models, clearly. "He's not the favourite anymore, he seems to get criticised a bit now but I still defend him, despite the musicals and everything," he says with studied loyalty to the aforementioned Elton. I'd laugh if someone cited Elton John as a role model for their musical career, I point out: "Yeah, yeah, good point," he concedes.
In any case, he now gets to tour around the globe on this comedy caper for about six months in every year. "So I've got a tragic home life at the moment. But I'll be coming out with my fiance Tara" and he stops to add a postscript. "We've just found out we're having our first baby," he lets me into the secret as a bawdy cheer erupts from the room he's in. "I'm getting heckled here 'cause I've just announced it in the Australian press and I've only just told my mates."
Another reason to leave England at the moment might be the state of government, I suggest, cannily introducing the vexing topic of politics.
"I'm afraid my knowledge of Tony Blair is about as good as my knowledge of rocket science," he laughs, "but I believe he's not doing very well. "Although I think he's doing a good job - at least I have no reason to hate him."
Lee Mack 2
DB Magazine - Article by Cassie Hilditch - 2/04 Nova Cinema 1 Until Sun 14 MarchHello, who's this? Lee Mack. Right you are then, a Northern lad who's well fit to take on Adelaide's Fringe. With a line that snaked out of Nova and around to the Belgian Beer Cafˇ, I was expecting a good night and was not to be disappointed. Being preview night, Mack took the opportunity to test out his jokes and found that those lost in translation from English to Australian were, in the end, some of the biggest draw cards thanks to some quick wit.
Mack engages with the audience brilliantly and his improv and adaptation of jokes to suit audience members clearly stood out as 'pure genius' (his words, not mine) compared to his prepared material which was definitely above par but didn't feel as special. You're pretty much guaranteed to get your own personalised slice of comedy on each night - just don't get upset if he chastises you about lamingtons. Another tip is to not eat Maltesers loudly - you've been warned.
Everyone from cockneys to cat lovers can relate to Mack while everyone from Hugh Grant to Freddy Mercury is ribbed to perfection. No nationality was safe from Mack's roving observations and many of his accents were performed quite well; spare the Singaporean official who must have spent some time in France. Although it took him some time to finish some jokes, he, like all good comedians, was able to link material together throughout the show and always incorporated new grabs to give the audience a proper workout. Without giving too much away, the footage at the start of the show was a refreshing opening to straight stand up. But don't just take my word for it, as one member of the audience boldly stated, 'I think you're quite funny.' Quite indeed.
Tripod In Lady Robots
DB Magazine - Article by Cassie Hilditch - 2/04 The three 'ordinary men' that make up Tripod have certainly made a name for themselves through their radio and TV appearances in recent years, but I remember them as they were back in '98/'99 and they don't seem to be quite so special now. They're funny and make me laugh but they make every other Tom, Dick and Yonny laugh too and the jokes, it seems, are all a bit too easy now. But then again, they're paid to entertain and that's what they do.Following a 'fictional' story about a planet entirely inhabited by female cyborgs; Scod, Yon (Simon) and Gatesy sound the nerd siren loud and proud (not that Gatesy himself is a nerd) in Lady Robots. There's plenty packed into the 60minute show from interpretive dance to miming and shadow puppets to over acting. The acting was school theatre quality and they made light of their melodrama with no attempt to stay in character (even Scod didn't expect to be heckled in the first 10seconds). The props were simple, the lighting (usually) on cue and everything was used with imagination. The songs themselves were, on the whole, catchy, clever ensembles and the harmonies impeccable.
Where's Wally, the Fonze and Gollum (you pick who's who) have many years experience together and it shows, but why haven't they used the musical talents of Gatesy on guitar and Yon on trumpet before? The Guitar Kings were awesome and appealed to the gringo in all of us. There's nothing like a bit of Mexican rhythm in the middle of a show about space (but how do you play guitar with fat gloves?). For the purposes of this review, Tripod were funny, but I think they have it in them to be better.
Ed Byrne
DB Magazine - Article by Steve Jones - 2/04 Arts Theatre, until Sun 14 MarchThe funniest thing about Ed Byrne is that he makes no apologies to those his wrath-filled observational comedy is aimed at.
Relentlessly attacking anyone who has upset him or just simply picking on those who are different to him, Byrne masterfully delivers his brand of vitriolic hilarity in such a manner that's so cheerfully over the top, you're going to have to leave your conscience at the door before entering if you want to laugh without guilt.
Followed around the stage by the constant waft of cigarette smoke, his main topic of abhorrence is a recent ex-girlfriend. From here he'll lament the buying of furniture with her which includes bathroom scales (where he debates scales Vs a mirror), before moving onto the difficulty of new relationships from hereon and the incompetency of tradespeople, airport staff and dental hygienists, and not forgetting his fear of "sleepwanking" on public transport, all with perfect segue and exact timing. Ed Byrne may be one of the newest faces on the world's Fringe circuit, but that doesn't mean he's not among the best comedians you're likely to see.
You can't keep a good man Downe
Article by Louise Nunn - Adelaide Advertiser - 23/2/04 The comedian behind the persona of Australian entertainer Bob Downe has emerged from under his wig for the Adelaide Fringe. Mark Trevorrow has ditched the garish costume, big teeth and bad hair to perform songs from his first album recorded as, well, Mark Trevorrow."I've just turned 45 and I think there's something a bit undignified about hurling yourself around the stage at this age," he said yesterday.
Trevorrow will present five shows with the John Thorn jazz trio at the Regal in Rundle Park at 8pm from today.
The season will feature songs from his new CD, It's About Time, which arrived in stores yesterday.
Trevorrow said the compilation of jazz, pop and show tunes gave him a chance to explore "emotions I can't go to in a comedy show."
"People have been asking me to sing as myself for years," he said. "They say you've got such a great voice so I thought, damn it, I will."
Coming out from under Bob's shadow has been a gradual thing, Trevorrow said.
He has been making television appearances as Mark Trevorrow and this year will host the new ABC documentary-chat show The Way We Were, about Australia then and now.
He will celebrate Bob's 21st anniversary next year but does not expect to share a wardrobe with the popular gay icon forever. "The nivce thing about singing as Mark Trevorrow is that I can go out in a nice suit without make-up," he said.
"BUt I'm notreplacing Bob just yet, he's just having a quiet rest in the country.
"He couldn't do anything at the moment even if he wanted to - I've got his wig."
Evolving a serious outlook on being funny
Article by Louise Nunn - Adelaide Advertiser - 26/2/04While some may see it as a boost to their career, winning one of Britain's most prestigious comedy awards is of little use to Daniel Kitson, 26."It's helpful if you want to go into TV or if you want to become ridiculously famous," the British stand-up and winner of the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Perrier Award says.
"Television holds no charm for me at all.
"I don't like the idea of handling over the vast majority of the creative control to people I don't know or like, or trust.
"TV's not a form that stand-up can ever work in and I would never do any sort of stand-up on TV.
"I don't want to be famous, I can't think of anything more unpleasant.
"I should imagine the more famous you get, the more interviews you have to do.
Speaking by telephone from his home in London in the lead-uo to his first Adelaide Fringe appearance, Kitson says his material is introspective and inspired by the fact that "most people are quite a disappointment".
Where does that come from? "That comes from most people being a bit of a disappointment," Kitson says.
When it comes to critics, the feeling is obviously all one way.
"His imagination doesn't just run riot, it burns down the city," The Times has written.
In The Financial Times, he is "sublime and cerebral", while The Guardian says Kitson is "about as good as it gets".
Kitson says he wanted to do stand-up from the age of 13.
He played his first gig in a student drama festival three years later.
He won several awards, including the 2002 Perrier and the 2002 Times Out award for best stand-up.
His overseas tours have included Europe, South Africa, Singapore and two sold-out seasons at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
Kitson says his shows are "pretty much an on-going evolution of material". "I get bored with it very quickly so I like to move on," he says.
If stand-up is more than a way to become rich and famous, Kitson also views it as more than entertainment. "When you're talking about the stuff that's really good, then it's art," he says.
"The people who do it are artists."