MICF 2021: Funny Tonne

The following is an archive of my reviews as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Funny Tonne. Sadly I missed the last week of the festival due to injury, so fell short of my personal goal of 50 shows.

Post-festival, I’ve made minor edits for clarity and context, and updated a few of the star ratings: MICF only allowed full star values, so some scores have been adjusted to accurately reflect my appraisal of the performance. While I'm not a fan of star ratings, the values shown here are what I originally intended.

I would also like to note that in the era of “doughnut days”, masking, and venue density restrictions, not once did I refer to anyone’s energy as “infectious”.

ALAISDAIR TREMBLAY-BIRCHALL AND ANDY MATTHEWS - TELEPORT - ★★★★

Looking for a science-based comedy show without all the pesky facts and learning? Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall & Andy Matthews (Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell) have the solution, following their 2019 show Magma with another exploration of fantastical engineering.

Teleport is chock full of humour, with an unparalleled density of jokes and surprising narrative twists. There's barely time to unpack the story's many bizarre mysteries between laughs. Easily the funniest prospective investor presentation/sci-fi mystery/comedy around.

ALANTA COLLEY - ON THE ORIGIN OF FAECES - ★★★☆

Never has the term "toilet humour" been quite so literal. Science comedian Alanta Colley takes her audience on a journey of the history of poo, mixing entertaining science facts with puns, personal stories and a dash of gross-out horror.
Nowhere as repellent as the topic might imply, this an hour of charming, good-natured edutainment. Forget star ratings, Colley’s Origin of Faeces is an ideal 4 on the Bristol Stool Chart; a soft, smooth show which certainly doesn’t stink.

ANDREW HANSEN - SOLO SHOW - ★★★

It's been a while since Andrew Hansen's last solo show, so perhaps the decidedly obvious title can be forgiven. Returning to the musical performance he was best known for on The Chaser's War on Everything, skits and deliberately lame prop jokes are also sprinkled throughout.

Despite the supposed indignation over being mistaken for fellow Chaser Craig Reucassel (now better known for the ABC's War on Waste), a lot of time is dedicated to the environment and concerns about the Earth's future. There's political jabs aplenty: while some targets feel a bit easy, it's also about as up-to-date as possible, with reference to events not a day prior. Established fans will be delighted by Hansen's return to the stage.

BIG BIG BIG - CATCHING JACK - ★★★★★

Jack the Ripper stories aren’t quite as done to death as Sherlock Holmes, but it’s pretty close. Handily, Big Big Big's production not only avoids Victorian detective cliche, it kicks serious comedy arse.

With each performer playing multiple roles, the rotation of cast members within scenes becomes a joke in itself. They adeptly switch from comedy to tragedy and back, the characters as endearing as they are ridiculous. Inspired costume choices lead to some truly absurd gags. Confident, surprising, and wonderfully goofy.

CATHERINE McCLINTOCK - PLEASE AND THANKYOUS - ★★★

Catherine McClintock was keen to warn everyone up front about two things: that she laughs at her own jokes, and that she's "a bit sweary". But despite her protests about not being a "nice Canadian" (and a few great off-colour jokes about genitals), McClintock's presence is a welcoming one.

McClintock dealt well with opening show nervousness, pushing through a slow start to come into her own. Some of the punchlines were lost in Canadian-Tasmanian-Melbournian translation, requiring explanation after the fact. Along with plenty of jokes about dip and diet culture, she has natural charisma and hilarious observations in spades. A charming debut.

LANO AND WOODLEY - IN LANO & WOODLEY - ★★★☆

After touring their duo comeback show Fly in 2019, ending a 12-year hiatus, Lano and Woodley were well and truly back on the Australian comedy scene together. But now that every show is a comeback show, circumstance has essentially forced the two men to repeat themselves in their latest self-titled performance.

Featuring material from both their extensive partnership and respective solo careers, the show would entertain longtime and new fans alike. The final show of the run hit a few speed bumps, but recovery was always expertly swift, the audience back on board in an instant. Lano and Woodley in Lano & Woodley are back again, again.

LAWRENCE MOONEY - BEAUTY - ★★

With pumping, distorted intro music and a looming screen of the show's promo art, you could mistake the beginning of Lawrence Mooney's Beauty with the start of an underground fashion show. Yet despite the name and opening dramatics, Mooney's latest is not particularly about beauty at all, but the things beauty can facilitate, like wealth, fame and sex.

Comedy, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I'm not the target audience, and that's fine—but I'm also unsure who the intended audience for Beauty is besides Mooney himself. The older, some visibly well-to-do crowd were perhaps hoping for a follow-up to Mooney's great success with his take on Malcolm Turnbull. While there is a side-step as part of a broader list of complaints about Sydney, it's a brief and uninspired one. A recurring bit about a supposed toxic relationship with his stage tech likewise fell flat. Perhaps Beauty is a flawless hour of entertainment to someone out there, but as it stands, it could probably do with some work.

LOU WALL - THAT ONE TIME I JOINED THE ILLUMINATI - ★★★★★

In terms of lockdown activities to keep oneself busy, board games and bread baking were popular choices. Lou Wall opted to try and join the Illuminati—hardly a straightforward endeavour at the best of times. This blow-by-blow exploration of their method, motivations and mishaps pushes the boundaries with truth that's stranger and funnier than fiction.

Wall's impressive musical ability is at the forefront, transforming everything from text messages to historical fact into catchy, frenetic rap. Fittingly for a show about global conspiracy theories, nothing is as it seems. Even with extensive photographic and video evidence, each revelation (and there are a lot) is more astounding than the last. The sheer number of ways Wall finds humour in their story is similarly breathtaking. The comedy stakes are raised impossibly high over, and over, and over again—and Lou outplays them every time. Neither a how-to guide nor a cautionary tale, this is one person's search for online human connection which needs to be seen to be believed.

MELANIE BRACEWELL - THE RUMOURS ARE TRUE - ★★★★☆

An opening montage of vintage home video shows Melanie Bracewell's exuberance, humour and drive to perform has been around for a long time. It’s this charisma which lets her get away with having a large powerpoint screen, but then also briefly reading off her phone. Discussing her dating mishaps, online harassment and (relative) fame, Bracewell never misses a chances to add another joke.

Audiences familiar with Bracewell from Have You Been Paying Attention? may be surprised by the occasional strong profanity, or slightly gory photos from a hospital waiting room after an accident while on a date. She's seemingly apologetic about how gross the show becomes, but never stops herself from going there. And why should she? It's very, very funny.

MICHAEL HING - KILL-HING IN THE NAME OF - ★★★★

Plenty of MICF acts this year have briefly acknowledged the devastation caused by COVID-19, but Michael Hing (Triple J Drive, Where Are You Really From?) is the first I’ve seen to dig deep into just how terrible 2020 was.

After a year where “go to therapy” was a popular online refrain—even as it was more or less impossible to “go” anywhere—Hing (over)shares his personal struggles attempting just that. Almost a comedy of errors, each anecdote is more gripping than the last.

Stand-up as therapy stand-in may be an imperfect solution, but it's a highly entertaining one. Even his breaks to drink water were funny. Michael Hing may not have all the answers, but he has plenty of ways to make you laugh.

NAT HARRIS AND HANNAH CAMILLERI - PET-NAT AND NAH AH CHOCOLAT - ★★★

Nat Harris and Hannah Camilleri are Pét Nat and Han ah Chocolat; they're also high school teachers on presentation night, blokey event organisers, public officials, and sexually frustrated fantasy innkeepers. This is high energy, scrappy sketch comedy, with costume changes and dodgy wigs aplenty.

The rapid-fire opening scene shows the pair's versatility, countless characters and jokes masterfully condensed in minutes. The remaining sketches are fairly loose, a couple of them losing steam before the performers find a way to wrap them up. But if your preferred style of comedy is very, very silly, you can't go past Pét Nat + Han ah Chocolat.

NATH VALVO - CHATTY CATHY - ★★★★★

Sometimes all you need is a stand-up comic who really, really knows what he's doing. Nath Valvo rapid-fires about Airbnb, jealousy, in-laws, and getting older; topics covered a thousand times before feel fresh and inventive through his compelling delivery. A running gag makes full use of the venue's sound and lighting to increasingly humourous effect. One of the most polished acts at this year's festival.

RANDY - PURPLE PRIVILEGE - ★★★

Randy is truly one of Australia's most astonishing performers: his physicality, timing, and purpleness are unmatched. With his usual obscenity dialled down (at least, at first), fans will still enjoy the unique quirks of seeing him live, though this latest performance doesn't match his best.

Jumping around pivotal times in Randy's life, Purple Privilege is one-man memoir, complete with dramatic monologues and a surprisingly cute twist. Randy's latest may be less concerned with constant laughs, but a slower, more self-reflective Randy is still very good Randy.

ROSS NOBLE - 2021 COMEBACK SPECIAL - ★★★★

I know better than to attempt any sort of summary of a Ross Noble show. If you don’t know what to expect, where have you been? Noble was “locked up for a year,” as so many fellow Victorians were, and on stage he unleashes all his pent-up energy. Frenetically de- and re-constructing both his own material and audience’s responses, Noble's Comeback Special celebrates the return of the ridiculous.

SAM GARLEPP - COME AGAIN? - ★★★

Conventional stand-up with a touch of musical parody, Sam Garlepp's slightly chaotic energy mostly worked in his favour.

With references to Carols by Candlelight, Australian Idol, and Schapelle Corby, Come Again? mines the back catalogue of Australian culture but always feels contemporary. Occasional side steps to riff good-naturedly about members of his audience broke momentum, but always brought laughs. Probably worth seeing for his ambitious version of Olivia Rodrigo's 'Drivers Licence' alone.

SCOUT BOXALL - GOOD EGG - ★★★★★

Scout Boxall brought high energy before the show even began, dancing on stage as the audience filed in—an audience promptly admonished for making them exert themselves for so long. With a disclaimer that Good Egg would have no specific theme, the combination of sketch and stand-up still felt unified. A spoiler-free content warning list at the door was welcome and helpful.

Boxall addressed topics such as gender identity, religion and politics with humour and ease. Minor technical issues were no impediment to their performance, rapidly rotating through loud characters and costumes. Sketches focusing on supposed literary figures—a fictitious relative of Tim Winton; a creepy male incel erotica writer; a Californian New Age feminist—were a highlight. An imaginative hour of brightly saturated satire.

STUART DAULMAN - THE STUART DAULMAN FAREWELL REUNION SHOW - ★★★★

Sometimes it takes a while to understand the vibe of a performance. With the help of an Enya classic, Stuart Daulman eases his audience into a surreal stand-up journey unlike anything else.

Stories about travel, the suburbs, 7-Eleven, and hiking are filtered through Daulman's off-beat rhythm, where what isn't said is often just as funny as what is. Add to that some astonishing vocal work and perfectly timed audiovisual gags, and the result is a hilarious, incomparable show.

TACO KUIPER - PERHAPS NEXT TIME - ★★★

Of all the instruments utilised in the history of musical comedy, the double bass is certainly a rarer one. Taco Kuiper plays this unwieldy instrument with endearing honesty and comic sensibility, dissecting working in a male-dominated field, Saddle Club, mental health and office culture. Kuiper's songs are musically straightforward, prioritising humour and quick asides for maximum comic potential. Perhaps Next Time is delightful lo-fi entertainment.

THE STEVENSON EXPERIENCE - STRANGER TWINS - ★★★★☆

Sibling rivalry can be complicated at the best of times—so how do you manage when your brother shares your face? Identical twins Ben and James Stevenson air their family frustrations in an hour of witty, catchy songs and fast-paced banter.

Frequently interrupting one another to criticise or retell a joke, their on-stage rapport is well-honed, even beyond what might be expected for a family act. Any issues from a year away from live performance were imperceptible, with information from the crowd woven effortlessly into their material. For better or worse, their songs will be stuck in your head for days.

TAKASHI WAKASUGI - FARM BACKPACKER (SUBCLASS 417) - ★★★★☆

The logistics of MICF 2021 being what they are, Takashi Wakasugi stands out as one of the few international acts at this year's festival. With the instructively named Farm Backpacker (Subclass 417), Wakasugi also stands out as a comic talent.

Chronicling his misadventures working on farms with other backpackers in Emerald, Wakasugi has an easy-going, conversational style, as though sharing holiday stories to friends rather than a paying audience. With non-traditional haikus, awkward sexual revelations and humorous photography (including a toilet you can almost smell), enjoying this show is anything but hard work.

TOM GLEESON - LIGHTEN UP - ★★★

Considering Tom Gleeson started touring Lighten Up a year ago, it's perhaps unsurprising that some of the show's disparate anecdotes felt a bit distant. Some stories—holidaying in Singapore, his gold Logie win—feel as though they happened a lifetime ago, a fact acknowledged but not necessarily remedied. Trying to remember back took away from each story's solid payoffs and ironic twists.
Shifting later to a more conversational Q&A revived the show's flagging energy, picking up the pace and slightly combative tone Gleeson’s known for on ABC's Hard Quiz. A slow but steady night out for established fans.

TRIPOD - ★★★★★

You know when you see a band you love and out of all their songs they play your favourite? Turns out that still rules when the band is Tripod and the song is about finding a dead body when you're on a date. Playing to a packed Brunswick Ballroom, Tripod kept the energy up with a chaotic setlist and trademark bickering. Their MICF season is sold out—make sure to keep a look out for their next move.

URVI MAJUMDAR, GRACE JARVIS, BRONWYN KUSS - FOR A GOOD TIME CALL - ★★★☆

Featuring three very different performances, no-one will come away from For A Good Time Call disappointed, though might struggle to stay on board throughout.
Melbourne local Urvi Majumdar (Gourmet Lazy, Metro Sexual) opened, casually reflecting on her multicultural high school and how discourse around racism has changed since her time there. (Full disclosure: Urvi and I went to school together, so while I found this #relatable, outside perspectives may vary.)

Grace Jarvis brought high nervous energy to the stage, but needn’t have worried. Wondering aloud if one highly personal anecdote was “not relatable?”, her set about her family and growing up in Queensland was consistently funny and engaging. 

Bronwyn Kuss’ stage presence was the most assured of the three. However this confidence unfortunately wasn’t matched by her material, with jokes extended and repeated far beyond their lifespan. A rocky final act in an otherwise fun, low key line-up.