REVIEWS:
LISA-SKYE
SONGS MY PARENTS TAUGHT ME
JOSH EARL IS A LIBRARIAN
Everything about dear Josh Earl is painfully hip, from his hair and jeans (which he eagerly mocks), the books he has stacked across the State Library stage – Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon, Ian McEwan, Tina Fey, Cormac McCarthy, Jonathan Safran Foer, Chuck Palanak and DBC Pierre – to his pre-show soul music including Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes and Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed. What I am saying, I guess, is I think we should be friends. The spine of Is A Librarian is as clear as a call number, he works his way up the Dewy Decimal system, picking and choosing the stops to suit his grab bag of material. It’s all great stuff: family, Christianity, employment, creep guys in clubs, graphs and word play all get Josh’s comedy song workout. Librarians in the audience, and there
were a few, get their own special in-jokes, such as Call Number 612.6, but the rest of us soon caught up to that one. Even though some of the material wasn’t fresh, all the laughs were. Perhaps the highlight of the set was the least comedic, a lovely little song about falling in love in his hometown of Bernie, wouldn’t have been out of place in the Lucksmith’s back catalogue. Classic, classy comedy, genteel without being gentle, Josh Earl delivers again proving to be year in year out a festival highlight. BY JACK FRANKLIN Josh Earl - Is A Librarian is playing at The State Library of Victoria until Saturday April 20.
Songs My Parents Taught Me is a wild walk through the sexdriven, Southern Comfort-drinking era of ‘70s Melbourne. LisaSkye tells of a couple – Bunny and Maddog – and juxtaposes their understanding of adolescence and sexuality with hers. She’s a talented performer who can rescue a joke with the pull of a face. Her delivery is commanding yet she maintains this cute, affable nature. It’s hard not to be charmed by her persona and her fun, glittery presentation. I really wish I could’ve written a good review for this. She seems so lovely. But this is just not my thing. Others, such as Crikey and The Herald Sun, apparently enjoyed it, so I must emphasis that just because her humour was stale to me, it did seem that others got a kick out of it. I’ve seen 115 shows so far this year at MICF, and while some say this gives me an authority of judgment, it’s actually the opposite. A show has to be really great to impress me this year, so I envy those that could enjoy this. I sound so fucking depressed – ‘omg I wish could feel something’ – but if I had only seen a few shows this festival, I could judge this on its own
individual merit. However, in comparison to other shows, this was quite average. Foreshadowed by the title, the show is largely based around familial stories and the contrast between her upbringing and her parents’. I loved the unrestrained honesty of her material, and the physical delivery of her comedy is excellent. Her spoken word poetry, set to the haunting ticking of a metronome, was often powerful and spine-tingling. Unfortunately, this didn’t make it a funny show. I laughed hardest when she tried to save a joke. For example, following an excessively crass joke, she pulled out a hilarious drawing to distract from the gag. The image was hysterical, but it’s not enough to rely on the audiovisual cues that complement the stories to get laughs when your anecdotes themselves are flat. I enjoyed the theatricality of the performance. There are pop culture references, quirky getups, and glitter. A consequence of this, though, is that the show depends on qualities such as these for a laugh, and it all just feels forced. BY NICK TARAS Lisa-Skye - Songs My Parents Taught Me is playing at The Tuxedo Cat until Sunday April 21.
SIMON PALOMARES STILL CRAZY
To be honest, Three Degrees is not the best venue for a comedy show. It’s noisy, at times hard to see, and has an odd vibe. But Simon Palomares makes it worth it. Palomares is the definition of a comedy veteran. He’s been working at or somewhere near the pinnacle of the comedy scene in Australia for 26 years. He’s a polished performer and a very funny man. His (mostly) new show, Still Crazy, has him presenting a blend of old and new material. The inclusion of some older material is welcome, as Palomares is generally at his hilarious best when speaking about his sons. His impressions of the pair of ‘emos’ are gutbustingly funny, peaking when Palomares recounts his method of literally putting the fear of god into his unfortunate child. The flow of the show isn’t quite there yet, but almost all of it is damned funny. Palomares has a broad appeal, but his presence at the Festival will be particularly welcome to parents and members of his generation who can relate to being the meat in the sandwich between aging parents and not-quite-independent offspring. He’s a genuinely talented performer and always worth watching. BY JOSH FERGEUS Simon Palomares - Still Crazy is on at Three Degrees, QV Square, until Saturday April 20.
XAVIER MICHELIDES GOOD MORNING!
No one is good in the mornings, this is why showers, coffee and Coco Pops were invented - to distract us all from the pain - but poor Xavier Michelides takes mornings harder than most. He believes that they set the tone for his whole day, or even the year, and judging by the material he lays out in Good Morning! he has had some bad years. Part stand-up, part sketch, part theatre and all funny, Good Morning! lays out the musings of a man confronting his own shortcomings in the comedic attempt to see the world in a better light, as long as it isn’t morning light. Xavier possesses that elusive quality that most local comedians you will see at MICF sadly lack, he is able to connect with the audience. This is a truly priceless blessing that no doubt he has worked very hard to achieve. This elevates his performance and material, which at times is under-written and frankly contains one too many commercial parodies, to a level that has members of the audience bellowing with laughter. His acting chops are spot on, flitting between characters and sketches with little effort and zero confusion for the audience, his vocal and facial work is terrific and he pulls one of best Kryton faces this side of Red Dwarf. A great show in a lovely little room, Xavier is the goods, get in and see him before he is ruined by some TV gig and is appearing on Before The Game. BY JACK FRANKLIN Xavier Michelides - Good Morning! playing at the the Forum Theatre, Pizza Room until Sunday April 21.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 30
, BEAT S COMEDY FESTIVAL GUIDE 2013 BROUGHT TO YOU BY GRAVITY ESPRESSO