Hugging Comedians
  • NOW.. ONTO THE COMEDY
  • HUGS ACHIEVED
  • CONTACT
  • NOW.. ONTO THE COMEDY
  • HUGS ACHIEVED
  • CONTACT
Hugging Comedians

now.. onto the comedy

Comedy @ Spleen, 5 December

12/5/2016

 
Two word review: show stopper 
Comedy @ Spleen is an excellent comedy room, which continues to have packed line ups and draws large crowds of enthusiastic punters who are keen to have a laugh! On 5 December, the long room was packed almost to capacity 10 minutes before show time and had good energy as room runner Steele Saunders bustled around making sure the night was good to go!
 
Speaking of the packed line up, in order of performance we saw Tommy Dassalo (MC), Danny McGinlay, Chris Wainhouse, Naomi Higgins, Greg Larsen, Dave Thornton, Xavier Michelides, Jay Morrissey, Kyle Legacy, Michael Goldstein, Perri Cassie and Tommy Little.
 
Tommy Dassalo kicked off the night loudly and with enthusiasm. Despite Tommy seeming unsure about his set early on, he found his groove and used his local knowledge well to add additional punch to his stories. In his second set of the night, Tommy demonstrated how he can develop a joke to maximise it’s potential. Having seen Tommy a month or so prior at Rochey Comedy, he executed a story with greater precision at Spleen showing the benefits of his workshopping. Along these lines, Jay Morrissey also demonstrated quality development in his material, which drew solid laughs.
 
Chris Wainhouse and Mike Goldstein delivered short sets with composure and flow. Mike’s quick thinking and sharp tongue continues to entertain. Perri Cassie delivered a similarly understated set but at a time of the night where parts of his material may have been overlooked.
 
Danny McGinlay focused a large part of his set on audience interaction with a particularly chatty audience member. While Danny’s prepared material was executed well, his audience work is worth noting. Danny’s ‘relaying’ technique (repeating the audience member’s comments to the rest of the crowd) meant that all felt involved and there was a shared comedy experience. His smiley and jovial onstage persona meant that while there were some jibes, it was all in good faith. Not all of the comedians conducted their audience interaction with such a simple but skilled technique.
 
One point that needs to be made, which isn’t about onstage efforts, is about behind the scenes communication between the acts. I’ve never been ‘behind the curtain’ but surely there is some level of discussion (even between the brackets) about what is working and which audience members have been ‘targeted’ so far. Particularly on a busy night, it becomes tiresome if the same audience members are repeatedly spoken to. This is made even more evident if no jokes are found from different comedians targeting the same audience members.
 
In a mixed evening, the highlight of the night was surprise guest Dave Thornton. Dave opened with classic observational comedy, using relatable topics with well-developed scene setting introductions. Dave left a particular impression with a Louis CK’esque rant, which had a well-crafted build up, passion and loads of rage that led to waves of laughter. While his second rant did not have the same poignancy and felt a bit repetitious, this did not take away from the excellent performance we had just witnessed.
 
Remember punters when you head to Spleen to put in a couple of coins or a note when you leave! Thanks to Comedy @ Spleen and Steele for another entertaining night! 
Picture

Comedy @ European Bier Café, 25 August 

8/25/2016

 
A big welcome back to Kate McLennan! Despite some time away from the stage, Kate appeared cheery at Comedy @ European Bier Café. With drink occasionally in hand, Kate worked through those ‘new mother feels’, which I can’t relate to but were nonetheless hilarious. Some darker jokes were sinisterly clever though did not get huge laughs. As my fellow punter commented “that joke was funnier than what it got”. Hopefully Kate will be featuring at more of these mid-week comedy nights as the year goes on! 
Picture
Chris Wainhouse did a decent job Mc’ing! Chris opened up the night well with some cracking clever jokes and kept the evening flowing! This might not be the most ‘helpful’ of commentary but Chris stagnated in periods of ‘faux joking’ about other comedians’ poor sets. Chris' prepared material hit the mark so these jokes didn’t really flow with the mood of the night . Otherwise, top job! 
T to the ripod. Tri. Pod. This is going to be a little biased as I am a bit of a Tripod fan! I can’t recall if it is from their early TV performances or through their albums that they truly won me over, but as many comedy fans will know, they have been consistent performers for years... What? They’ve been doing this for 20 years? 20 years people! Performing a classic set on Thursday night, Tripod demonstrated their poignant and clever writing as well as their unmatched chemistry with one another. Tripod used their extended headliner bracket (so good!) to hit some hard truths about relationships and even tackled challenging political issues in a novel and effectual way. The guys also ‘let slip’ their exciting Christmas project in the works, to be held somewhere in St Kilda, Melbourne in December 2016. Will be very keen to get tickets as soon as they come on sale! Thanks Tripod for an awesome performance!
Hug achieved x 1 (thanks Yonny)
Picture

    editor

    Andy
    Melbourne-based comedy enthusiast.

    If you are a Melbourne-based comedian or a comedian just passing through, please get in touch! I'll buy you a coffee, we'll talk about comedy, and I'll write up our chat for others to enjoy (hug optional but recommended).


     

    Categories

    All
    2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival
    2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
    2018 Midsumma Festival
    2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
    Aaron Gocs
    Adam Knox
    Adam Richard
    Adam Rozenbach
    Aidan Jones
    Aisling McGrogan
    Alasdair Tremblay Birchall
    Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall
    Alex Jae
    Alex Ward
    Alice Fraser
    Alice Tovey
    Ali McGregor
    Alistair Baldwin
    Andrew Keen
    Andrew McClelland
    Andrew Strano
    Angela Fouhy
    Angela Green
    Angus Gordon
    Anna Thomson
    Anne Edmonds
    Annie Louey
    Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann
    Anthony McCormack
    Arj Barker
    Aunty Donna Boys
    Aurelia St Clair
    Barney Pollock
    Barnie Duncan
    Bart Freebairn
    Becky Lucas
    Bec Redsell
    Bella Green
    Ben Knight
    Ben Lomas
    Ben McCarthy
    Ben Squires
    Birds Basement Comedy
    Blake Everett
    Blake Freeman
    Brendan Wan
    Brianna Williams
    Britt Myers
    Broni Lisle
    Caili Christian
    Cait Johnson
    Caitlyn Staples
    Cameron Duggan
    Cameron James
    Cam Knight
    Captain Frodo
    Catfish Comedy
    Celia Pacquola
    Chanu Choi
    Christian Lutz
    Chris Wainhouse
    Claire Hagan
    Claire Sullivan
    Clara Cupcakes
    Clinton Haines
    Club Voltaire Comedy
    Colwyn Buckland
    Comedy Big Time At Howler
    Comedy @ European Bier Cafe
    Comedy @ Spleen
    Completely Improvised Potter
    Completely Improvised Shakespeare Soothplayers
    Completely Improvised Shakespeare - Soothplayers
    Crab Lab
    Daisy Berry
    Damian Callinan
    Damian Cosgriff
    Damien Power
    Dane Simpson
    Dani Cabs
    Danielle Walker
    Daniel Sloss
    Danny Bensley
    Danny McGinlay
    Daria Smith
    Dave Callan
    Dave Thornton
    David Massingham
    David O'Doherty
    David Quirk
    David Rose
    DeAnne Smith
    Demi Lardner
    Denis Lock
    Dilruk Jayasinha
    Dirty Secrets Comedy
    Donna Collins
    Doug Anthony Allstars
    El Jaguar
    Ella Lawry
    Elle Wootton
    Eloise Antonie
    Elyce Phillips
    Emily Joy
    Emily Tresidder
    Ethan Andrews
    Evan Hocking
    Eve Ellenbogen
    Fiannah De Rue
    Filip Lescaut
    Fiona O'Loughlin
    Frankie McNair
    Frankie & Sal
    Frank Woodley
    Freya Finch
    Gabriel Francis
    Gearard McGeown
    Gen Fricker
    George Dimarelos
    Georgie Daniels
    Geraldine Hickey
    Gillian Cosgriff
    Gillian English
    Girls Sing It Better
    Greg Larsen
    Hannah Kelly
    Harris Stuckey
    Hayley Tantau
    Here.Live.Now
    Hugging Comedians' Melbourne International Comedy Festival Awards
    Ian McCarthy
    Indiana Kiely
    Interviews
    Isabel Angus
    Isabelle Knight
    Ivan Aristeguieta
    Izzy Ali
    Jack McGorlick
    Jacob Sacher
    James Veitch
    Janelle Da Silva
    Jared Jekyll
    Jayden Masciulli
    Jay Morrissey
    Jen Carnovale
    Jess Perkins
    Joel Creasey
    Joe Schaffer
    John Dore
    Jonathan Schuster
    Joseph Green
    Josh Webb
    Juan Miles
    Karl Chandler
    Kate McLennan
    Kimberly Twiner
    Kirsty Webeck
    Laura Buskes
    Laura Dunemann
    Lawrence Leung
    Lawrence Mooney
    Leaky Bucket
    Lelda Kapsis
    Lemon Comedy
    Leon Huxtable
    Lily Fish
    Liz Skitch
    Lords Of Strut
    Luisa Omielan
    Luka Muller
    Lukas Quinn
    Luke Belle
    Luke McGregor
    Luke Ryan
    Maddy Weeks
    Madi Savage
    Mae Martin
    Mathew Hespe
    Matt Harvey
    Matthew Hespe
    Matthew Vasquez
    Matt Hofmann
    Matt Kilpa
    Matt Stewart
    Matty B
    Matt Young
    Melbourne Fringe Festival 2017
    Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2017
    Melissa Tracina
    Michael Hing
    Michael Shafar
    Mike Goldstein
    Miles Munn
    Millie Holten
    Miss Maple Rose
    Mitchell E Roberts
    Mitch Garling
    Murphy McLachlan
    Naomi Higgins
    Natalie Harris
    Nat Malcolm
    Nick Capper
    Nick Cody
    Nick Quon
    Odd Mantis
    Paige Hally
    Paul Noodle Phd. Candidate
    Paul Richards
    Perri Cassie
    Peter Jones
    Phoebe O'Brien
    PickUp
    PO PO MO CO
    Quick Bites Comedy
    Rachael Millanta
    Raewyn Pickering
    Reeni Inosha
    Rhi Down
    Rhys Nicolson
    Rob Caruana
    Rob Hunter
    Rochester Comedy
    Rohan Ganju
    Roland Hoffman
    Ross Purdy
    Rusty Berther
    Ryan Good
    Sam Garlepp
    Sam Taunton
    Santino Merino
    Sarah Jones
    Seemingly Evil Productions
    Sharon Davis
    Simon Hawkings
    Simon Taylor
    Snort
    Solange Foley-Dawson
    Sonia Di Iorio
    Steen Raskopoulous
    Steph Broadbridge
    Stephen Porter
    Stewart Walker
    Stuart Daulman
    Stuart Goldsmith
    Taco Knight
    Tash York
    Taylor Griffiths
    The Big HOO-HAA!
    The Comedy Corner
    The Comedy Store
    The Improv Conspiracy
    The Level Sevens
    The Real Improvisers Of Melbourne
    Tiana Hogben
    Tim Clark
    Tim Green
    Tim Vine
    Tom Ballard
    Tom Burton
    Tom Clarke
    Tom Gleeson
    Tommy Dassalo
    Tommy Little
    Tom Sanderson
    Tom Walker
    Tripod
    Urvi Majumdar
    Vincent Tshaka
    Xander Allan
    Xavier Michelides
    Zack Dyer
    Zoe Coombs Marr
    Zoe Gough

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly