Cabaret Therapy

Each year the Melbourne Cabaret Festival throws fresh, interesting and daring shows at the audiences of this fine city and each year we demand to be further challenged by shows which will excite and stimulate our imaginations and maybe just shock us a little.

Last night at the Butterfly Cub I watched something inspiring and beautiful performed by someone clearly in control of their milieu. Situated at the end of Carson Place, off Little Collins street in the CBD, the approach to the Butterfly Club just imbues it with the very spirit of cabaret and climbing the stairs past the various posters, through the dimly lit bar area decorated with nik-naks and kitsch ornaments and toys of yesteryear one is reassured with the ambience of a venue comfortable  in its silliness.

I had been invited along to see the first night of Dash Kruck’s new show ‘I Might Take My Shirt Off’ – as show about – well- trying to put on a cabaret show.

Dash emerges timidly from behind the curtain at the rear of the stage, approaching the microphone as though it were about to bite him and immediately apologises because he is wondering what is the best way in which one can possibly start a cabaret. This is all new to him – apparently.

This leads to his first number, which is - appropriately enough - about how to start a show, and showcases his prodigious performance skills, contrasting his strong and punchy singing voice with his initially timid on-stage persona.

The timing is crisp and his musical accompaniment from Matthew Nutley on piano, Darren Steele on double bass and Bryn Bowen on drums is perfectly judged, being bombastic and subtle by turns as the performance calls.

The show takes the form of a personal journey following a break-up and is supposedly the idea of an unseen German therapist whose voice is heard sternly directing dash on occasion to express himself. This means that the audience have their part to play in all of this therapy and members are selected to participate in helping Dash express himself more, meaning that nowhere is safe - you  have been warned!

To keep track of his achievements, Dash has a list of things which every good cabaret show needs and crosses these off along the way, until he is both drunken and shirtless and free by the climax.

The audience were very receptive to the performance, hooting and hollering along to some of the more risqué numbers and gave a deafening applause at the close of the show which was well deserved.

This is a highly entertaining evening of song and comedy which takes its audience on a personal journey through the darkness of rejection to bathe in the warm light of acceptance and healing.

‘I Might Take My Shirt Off’ is on at The Butterfly Club, Carson Place until June 28^th.

Liberation Day

One of the most idiosyncratic of the numerous bars and venues in Melbourne CBD is The Butterfly Club. Tucked away at the very end of a laneway leading from a subsidiary backstreet in Melbourne's CBD, this venue is a treasure-trove  of entertainment from cabaret and stand-up to straight theatre and music.
Finding the venue at the far-end of Carson Place, I ascended the stairs to the bar area lined with a cornucopia of various toys, trinkets and knick-knacks from bygone days lending it a cosy, intimate atmosphere thanks to the mismatched furniture and often threadbare seating.
Despite a pre-show drink spillage, I was all prepared for an enjoyable evening of entertainment. The lights dimmed and we awaited the arrival of Amelia to the stage.
After a few silent seconds, series of thuds from the rear of the room had the audience turning their head to see what the commotion might be to find Amelia being slowly wheeled down the steps toward the stage on a parcel trolley, holding aloft a bottle of champagne. Her able wheeler pulled her onstage before (noisily and calamitously) disposing of said trolley backstage.
There followed an hour of entertaining anecdotes punctuated by appropriately chosen songs with slightly altered lyrics, all predicated on the notion of 'What is liberty?'
Amelia's previous show 'Storm In A D-Cup' was an honest and funny look at herself and her life growing-up in rural Australia.
This new show explores her quest to liberate herself from her own seemingly-calamitous lifestyle and to attain some form of balance and fulfilment.
The journey this takes the audience on is full of perfectly selected and altered songs from AC/DC to Disney, and Chumbawamba to Whitney - each illustrating Ryan's points perfectly as well as showcasing her amazing voice.
She is ably accompanied throughout by the marvellous piano playing of Matthew Carey, whose tinkling between set-pieces adds beautiful atmosphere to the tales told.
Will Amelia extricate herself from her bad habits and achieve her dreams? Is she solely responsible for the Prosecco shortage? These are both questions which may never be satisfactorily answered, but this is a show which is laugh-out-loud funny and bristling with talent.
Amelia Ryan - Lady Liberty is playing at The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Melbourne CBD at 8pm until May 31st.

Surreal Comedic Hybrid

I know it has been a while since I last posted a review here -but I've been busy doing science.
I have been roused from my critical dormancy, however, by the news that an accident involving a teleporter, some ping-pong balls and several cans of energy drink has resulted in the amalgamation of two of Melbourne's freshest faces into one unified example of comedic talent.
Capperjack is the brainchild of comedians Nick Capper - he of the wild hair and wild ideas - and Jack Druce - whose youthful looks and calm demeanour belie the hilarity within.
First and foremost this is a sketch show and perfectly combines the manically bizarre ideas which were so present in Nick's show during the comedy festival with the quieter, more contemplative whimsy of Jack's show.
At the top of the show we are made privy to the moment when Jack was inspected by the Chief of Comedy during a gig and was summarily fired from his chosen profession. Jobless and penniless, Jack must seek alternative employment with the help of the world's worst recruitment consultant, one Nicholas Simon Capper.
What follows is hilarious and very, very strange.
Through the use of some very silly costumes, voice over monologues, great characterisation and denim Capperjack keeps the laughs flowing for the full 50 minutes of its runtime.
Capper and Druce clearly have a good rapport on stage and the smoothness with which the sketches run through the show is testament to their professionalism as entertainers.
So, if you fancy an evening of weird musical numbers and a supporting cast of  talking eggs, car accoutrements, strangely neanderthal shop assistants and ostriches then this is the show for you.
Hilarious and very strange, Capperjack is on at the Imperial Hotel on the corner of Spring and Bourke in the CBD at 6pm until October 2nd.

Far From Grimm Tales

...And they all lived Happily Ever After.
Ever wondered what happened next? Did Red Riding Hood get on with her life or was the gruesome death of her Grandmother a life-changing experience? Did Snow White go on to live la vida loca after marrying her Prince? And what of the seven dwarves?
In her new show After Ever After, Rama Nicholas continues the stories of the Brothers Grimm some twenty years after they supposedly finished and reveals the fates and misfortunes of various characters so familiar from childhood.
Playing all of the characters herself, Nicholas inhabits a variety of guises from a kung-fu Red Riding Hood to a penitent Big Bad Wolf to all seven dwarves, bringing each to distinct and startling life.
The story has several threads to its plot with various characters headed toward a collision which will change the land of fairy tales forever and the audience were amused, amazed and touched all in the space of an hour.
This is a very polished and professional performance from Nicholas where she smoothly transitions between characters with ease and her costume changes are barely noticeable. Her vocal work throughout never once makes it ambiguous as to which character she is at any one time and this is no mean feat.
Showcasing her considerable acting skills, Nicholas presents a hypnotic show with an impeccable central performance which held the audience's attention throughout.
Highly recommended, After Ever After is on at the Portland Hotel until April 20th.

Nick Capper

Last night I took myself to the Forum on Flinders Street to see Nick Capper's show - Standing Room Only. I was running at a dash, so arrived at the venue hot and bothered and out of breath, but looking for comedy – and comedy was certainly delivered.

Performing in an upstairs room which seems to be a sauna with pews, Capper stands before his packed audience squinting into the stage lights, performing with a style veering from Steven Wright lugubrious torpor to the frantic passion of Billy Connolly.

Seldom cracking a smile and with his halo of tight curly hair, Capper delivers his material with a dry humour which is more slowburn than raucous laughter, which is not to say that there are not moments where the audience is laughing uproariously, just that the predominant reaction is of wry smiles and knowing chuckles.

This is mostly gentle, observational humour with surreal asides and the occasional impassioned rant. Capper quickly establishes a warm rapport with his audience and has already invited us all to become a gang, roaming the streets of Melbourne, within the first five minutes of the act. It is this sort of left-field humour which makes Capper so fresh and interesting and ensures that even though some gags may not quite hit the spot there are plenty which provoke gales of laughter in the room.

His best material comes when he is riffing off observations about the world around him - such as an impromptu Elvis impersonation - rather than some of the longer story segments, and his pitches for musicals and the kids show he has written are just plain bizarre.

If you’re looking for a show which is a bit out-there in its humour and where the gags really seem to come from nowhere to knock you for six with laughter, then this is for you.

With A Little Help From Her Friends

The Melbourne comedy scene is not short of female comics, fortunately, but many of them use a style of delivery which teeters between cute and ditsy and have never really engaged me. Similarly with male comics projecting an alpha-male, macho image.
Rose Callaghan, however, has arrived on the scene and is anything but ditsy. This comic takes to the stage like a fish to water, confidence just pouring from her.
She tells tales of frank honesty concerning her housemates who judge her slightly dissolute lifestyle; the perils of dating and her sexually adventurous mates. Her delivery style is punchier and more direct than many of her contemporaries which elicits hearty laughter from the audience rather than mildly amused chuckling and she has a great command of the stage. In style she has it all under control and manages a couple of call-backs which round-out her routines in a satisfying manner.
Rose's mates for the evening are Nick Capper and Tom Ballard, both excellent comics.
Nick is a hilarious and surreal comic with a dry wit and comic timing I haven't seen since Steven Wright. His slightly uncertain, slowburn delivery is a welcome change of pace in stand-up and he keeps the audience baffled and laughing with gags about albatross, his life growing-up on a farm and his Father's idea of a valuable life experience.
Tom Ballard will be familiar to many from radio and television and is clearly comfortable on stage, even when performing in front of an audience containing a few seasoned comics, a reviewer and a festival organiser. This was professional comedy, delivered in hilarious fashion, the audience laughing non-stop throughout the set which covered such diverse topics as male topiary, the efficient consumption of chips and a novel solution to the boats situation.
Rose Callaghan And Mates is at the Duke of Wellington Hotel on Flinders Street at 6pm and is a great way to start the evening by anyone's standards.

Chairman Of The Board Games

If you enjoy nothing more than a roll of the dice or facing someone as they ask you a random question from a card then you'll love the Late Night Board Game Slumber Party.

Hosted by Melbourne-based British comedian Neil Sinclair and featuring three different guest comedians each night it is a game nerd's dream comedy show.
The format is straightforward - three comedians compete against one another over the course of several different games played within the hour to get as many points as possible in order to win a prize for their team mascot in the audience.

Points are awarded and removed by Neil Sinclair on a seemingly arbitrary basis, but supposedly for giving the best answers or being the most skilled if the round is physical such as the non-copyright infringing game where contestants must remove blocks from a stack and replace them on top without toppling the stack.

This is a great way for anyone to end an evening with lots of interactive fun, cheeky humour and underhand competitiveness.

Late Night Board Game Slumber Party is on at the Games Laboratory on Little Lonsdale Street each Friday and Saturday night during MICF at 10:45pm until April 12th.