stand-up

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rec160: Melbourne International Comedy festival – a selection

Breaking the 160-word rule for this one, because too much greatness to fit!

We got to spend three nights taking in three acts a night at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and scored a ripper selection of story tellers who can make you think and feel at the same time.

Zoë Coombs Marr with Lou Wall supporting: been following Zoë since her Dave days and just keeps getting sharper; Wall also superb

Laura Davis: her Albatross show was unaffected, personal and affecting — why haven’t I heard of her before?

Claire Hooper MCing a late-night line-up of 10 for $10 – mileage varies but a good intro to up-and-comers

Celia Pacquola: seen her on screen, first time on stage, and thoroughly enjoyable

Rose Bishop: handling some tough material with aplomb – fabulous

Ali McGregor curating a late-night line-up: one comedian down, but the three guests (inc Hannah Gadsby) and McGregor’s singing backed by a tight jazzy three-piece brought it home

Hannah Gadsby supported by Bronwyn Kuss: fab duo, Gadsby not letting her rise change much at all but the quality of her hotel rooms

Chloe Petts: from the UK, another highlight combining laughs with commentary and rolling with the audience – top shelf

Finished off in the same room as Petts with another variety act, anchored on PowerPoint presentations: fun way to finish

MICF runs till 21 April 2024.

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Tron, Depeche Mode and Fox Klein (and SF stuff at the end)

What, I hear your cyberbrains muse, do those three things have in common? No, wait, that’s not you at all, it’s the rickety desk fan making that peg-leg rattle because it’s set on 2 and the little pin that stops it from rotating isn’t working quite right. But it’s a fair question, just the same.

Thursday. Another dull day at the sausage factory. Cut, paste, upload. Repeat. And then Sean Williams, bless his love of 80s electronic music, sent me this. It is essentially a trailer for Tron, set to one of my favourite Depeche Mode songs, Suffer Well. And done very nicely, too.

And where does the comedian Fox Klein fit in? Well, nowhere, except that he, and the two Coronas I had with dinner, were the highlight of the evening at the Sit Down Comedy Club. A charismatic comedian, offering a storyline or at least a consistent theme with moments of absolute cleverness, and lots of relationship/sex talk without resorting to smut.

Which goes to show how music, fantasy and a sense of humour will overcome 🙂

Meanwhile, check out this download from ABC Radio’s Book Show, featuring Aurealis Award winners Jonathan Strahan, Alison Goodman and KA Bedford talking about the importance of the awards, speculative fiction’s ability to compete for attention in the wider market place, and other stuff.