Tag Archives: Conor O’Neil

Comedy for Kids @ The Speigeltent

So this is the Spiegeltent’s day job, being mobbed with hundreds of kids for the April break school holidays.

The house is full and our M.C.s for the afternoon are the Wizard Sandwiches, who clown and warm the gathered mob of children and adults alike. The great thing is that you don’t have to over think kids comedy. The joy is in the joy of the wee ones.

First up is Jason Chong who delights us with  songs of slobbery labradors and Optimus Prime the overlord of the good guys  from Transformers if you didn’t already know), as well as a slew of stuff pinned both for smallies and biggies.

Mr Snot Bottom rails in second to the delight of all with rafts of fart and poop jokes.

Grandma takes it up the rear with her  pulling folks out of the audience to help her and forever getting everything a little wrong as she can’t quite hear.

Kids comedy? All ages comedy more like. Just joyful! “Get your farty pants along!” was my five year old son’s recommendation.

review byConor O’Neill

Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 or at the door

DATES & TIMES: 14 Shows 05 Apr – 20 Apr

VENUE: The Famous   at Federation Square

PRICES: $15

 

David Quirk “ Career, Suicide”

David Quirk’s show  ‘Career, Suicide’ should be noted, in the first instance, for the comma that separates the two words therein. It eluded everyone and is the hinge point of a dual themed show. David recounts his time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and there is the unsaid that it nearly killed him financially. It was noted in the English newspaper The Guardian that the average comedian loses $14,000 by putting a show up at the Valhalla of comedy.

From Melbourne, his day-job is in a skateboard shop across the road from the venue where he plays. This is where his heartbeats: in the theatre cauldron of the drive for laughs and connection. He elevates the absurd beyond cringe to own it in divine camp. He explores his own ethics and his belief in the sanctity of life without ever coming across as sanctimonious. David’s show is a taut honed little beast with razored material which then lets go into looser territory before picking up its heels and dragging itself to an alluded end.

review by Conor O’Neill

Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 or at the door

DATES & TIMES 23 Shows 27 Mar – 20 Apr

VENUE: Melb Town Hall – Cloak Room

Melb Town Hall – Lunch Room

PRICES: $20 – $28.90

 

HEATH FRANKLIN “MAY I BORROW A CRISIS”.

Having spent the last nine years playing Chopper in his other stand up comedy show, Heath Franklin breaks free of Chopper and gets to do observational comedy that he otherwise couldn’t use Chopper as a mouth piece for. In fact Heath Franklin’s “Chopper: Big F**Ken Late Show”  is running   at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Heath arrives on stage with the Chopper Aviator sunglasses, handlebar moustache and texta tattoos and after some initial banter sheds the Chopper character.  Part of the story is Heats relationship to the character of Chopper and one feels that there may be a bit of psychic divorce in the offing.

Heath is a brilliantly together, savvy, energetic comic who has that sublime ear for the audience. He gets to talk about his own relationships, being a Dad, his two boys and life in  multicultural western Sydney

The conceit behind the show comes from his comedian mates who hit crises in their lives and turn that around and use it to make a show. Heath grudgingly admires the turn of shite in life to gold comedy and uses audience experiences to improvise vignettes of comedy out of the tragedy of peoples lives to hilarious effect.

Review by Conor O’Neill

Ticketmaster 1300 660 013. At the door

DATES & TIMES21 Shows 27 Mar – 20 Apr

VENUE: Trades Hall – The Front Room

PRICES: $18 – $27.90

JIMMY MCGHIE – “ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”,

Jimmy McGhie is a plummy south eastern Englander who rambles through his set on  a highlight Saturday as if it were an two for one Monday, with a hangover as big as Greenland. I felt I needed to be really drunk to enjoy this… possibly in a state near blackout where the world swoons hilariously in front of you before you parma the pavement. There was as much cohesion and energy  to this as a half arsed wet fart. There was absolutely no reason why his show was called Artificial Intelligence. He made illusion that he no real through line in his show. Jimmy whines on about his mid 30s  and the real entertainment of the night is the lady in the audience who is up front honest and hilarious when he engages here about her relationship.The feeling one got is that Jimmy is on holiday in Australia and decided to do a ‘bit’ of comedy. How he blagged into a comedy festival beggars belief and further still one wonders how he got such a good room. Amateur hour in Skegness misses him (not).

review by Conor O’Neill

Ticketmaster 1300 660 013.  At the door

DATES & TIMES: 22 Shows 27 Mar – 20 Apr

VENUE: Melb Town Hall – Council Chambers

PRICES: $22 – $30

Shappi Korsandi at Melbourne Town Hall

Shappi’s show was like sitting down to a glass of wine with THAT friend who keeps you in fits of laughter the whole evening, with tales of single-parenthood, best-friends, her son’s childhood romance, being pregnant and horny, boob-flashing relatives, internet dating, being a victim of racism, and learning to stand up for herself. Shappi has a really warm and easy way of leading us through the stupidity of life, and poking fun at social mores and conservatism with a sharp and insightful wit.

review by Conor O’Neil

DATES & TIMES: 16 Shows 27 Mar – 13 Apr 

VENUE: Melb Town Hall – Lower Town Hall / Melb Town Hall – Mini Main

PRICES: $26 – $35