1 week ago
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Chloe Petts | Big Naturals
Melbourne Town Hall - Portrait Room, until April 19
Lad culture formed Chloe Petts, and it informs every aspect of her show, which takes its title from slang for large, non-surgically-enhanced breasts of the sort historically favoured by page three of the English tabloids.
She waxes lyrical (and also not) about Kasabian, a band she saw live 14 times in the 1990s but with the benefit of hindsight adjudges to be like “Oasis without the talent”. She rhapsodises about watching the football, and seeing her beloved Lions win the Euros in 2022, while bemoaning the fact the guy sitting next to her in the stadium mistook her for a creepy man who is obsessively following the team around the country. And she’s ambivalent about the wild, leery energy of the mosh pit, and the sozzled knife-edge of camaraderie-cum-violence of the pub.
Big Naturals is a show all about masculinity as seen through the unique lens of a tall lesbian often mistaken for a man, one who identifies with elements of male culture while also seeing its many flaws. Petts’ critique is spot-on, and doesn’t spare herself, but it’s gentle and generous too. And in a late twist, she finds a role model for a kind of masculinity she – and we – can comfortably embrace. Away, the lads.
★★★★
Reviewed by Karl Quinn
The Burton Brothers | Tinseltown
Trades Hall – Quilt Room, until April 19
Hollywood is the place where dreams go to die, but not in sketch comedians The Burton Brothers’ paean to the glitzy world of celebrity and film. A cast of interlinked characters – brought to life by the irrepressible Josh and Tom Burton – reoccur in a series of sketches that peel back the curtains of movie making and catapult us into the minds of stars thwarted and emerging. Each sketch draws on various archetypes of the silver screen, albeit the dial is turned up to 11 and the zaniness levels are unmatched.
There’s Julie, the ageing starlet who can’t act without harking back to her breakout role in a certain cult classic – a highlight of Tinseltown is Josh’s vivid five-minute re-enactment of said film, matched by his turn as a neon-clad busker with a mangled understanding of green characters. There’s the alcohol-ravaged, has-been performer and the bright-eyed ingenue – both expertly inhabited by Tom.
The incredibly varied sketches spotlight the Burtons’ range as actors and comedians. A particularly clever one pre-empts the follies of improvisation, while another platforms the duo’s impressive miming. If there’s one quibble, it’s that certain scenarios are over-mined for laughs, but it’s a small one in an otherwise deftly curated show.
★★★★
Reviewed by Sonia Nair
Olga Koch | Fat Tom Cruise
Melbourne Town Hall, until April 19
Is Russian-born, UK-raised comedian Olga Koch the nicest person in comedy? She shakes half the audience’s hands before starting with such an effusive “thank you so much for coming!” that it seems like she might well be. She keeps her vow to the nervous front row that she won’t pick on them, and she is polite and welcoming to latecomers, giving them a thousand-watt smile as they shuffle in.
The sunny disposition helps her audience relax with her, taking in her bubbly, funny, raunchy feminist stories and bare-bones PowerPoint presentation with good cheer. The reveal of the show – who is fat Tom Cruise? – really lands, and she’s built such a foundation of trust and goodwill that the audience are willing to stay with her when she shifts the tone completely and shows us what she’s been really building to.
It’s deft, smart and a little uncomfortable, as great comedy should be.
★★★★
Reviewed by Cassidy Knowlton
Sam Jay | We the People
Melbourne Town Hall - Cloak Room, until April 19
Sam Jay is a “triple minority”, she tells us more than once, “black, gay and a woman”. But she’s not parading her exceptionalism, merely saying “so what”. Everyone’s a bit weird, a bit different – “there should be a spectrum of the spectrum,” she suggests – but instead of making differences the focus, we should be looking for what binds us. That, she argues in this very funny tour through some of the biggest issues of our times, is the only way out of our current and very real malaise.
Her material is free-ranging, touching on her own dyslexia, alien abductions (a hilarious bit about the “fucked farmers” phenomenon of the 1990s), the pace of change demanded by trans rights activists and the inevitable resistance to it from bull-punching rodeo riders in Texas, and a visit to England in which she reels at the sight of her first white ladybits (“raw”, she judges them, “like tartare”).
It’s a remarkable set that deflates righteousness and anger on both sides of the political divide, and manages the near impossible task of making a journey to common ground via laughter seem not only desirable but actually possible.
★★★★
Robyn Reynolds & Chris Nguyen | Romantic Comedy
Trades Hall - Archive Room, until April 19
The thought of performing a stand-up set with your spouse is enough to make most people’s toes curl. But Robyn Reynolds and Chris Nguyen make it look easy – even enjoyable. What else would you expect from a couple who met while performing at a comedy open mic night?
The phrase “opposites attract” could not be more true of their performance styles. While Reynolds is a “golden retriever” who steals the show with two impressive original musical numbers, Nguyen has a “black cat” energy and takes a more conventional approach.
Sometimes the switch between the two is a little jarring (there are some sections where they perform alone, and others together) but it’s still great to watch two masters of their craft at work. Most importantly, they’re so goddamn likeable. Even the most cold-hearted comedy goer will be warmed by their declarations of love towards each other, and laugh at their ability to turn mundane domesticity into a satisfying punchline.
★★★
Reviewed by Gemma Grant
Hot Department | Amalgamation
Malthouse Theatre, until April 19
Buyer beware: prudes aren’t invited to this party. Honor Wolff and Patrick Durnan Silva are Australia’s foremost purveyors of psychosexual sketch comedy. I mean, how often do you see a duo make out while role-playing as closeted yet homophobic football players? That’s not the only time the two play tongue hockey throughout the show.
First formed five years ago after meeting at university, the duo mine their back-catalogue to present a smorgasbord of smut alongside a dabble of new skits in Amalgamation.
The sequences are hit and miss. But when they hit, they hit hard. The take down of the outright laziness of straight white male standups is sublime. As is an impression of a homicidal Barbie taking out the competition. But the sketch of a married couple attempting to rejuvenate their sex life in an inventive way (it involves mice) could be left out. The acoustics for musical numbers also need sharp adjustment for the rest of the run if they’re to land. Trigger warning: if you’re a Liberal voter, or if your name is Sarah, you will leave offended.
★★★
Reviewed by Tyson Wray
The Age is a Melbourne International Comedy Festival partner.
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