Comedy Festival blog: the good, the bad and the unique

Tuesday 10 April 2012, 5:26 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events and People

Mick Fanning – 2012 Bells Beach surfing champion – with two fans he's trying to get rid of

Every night an audience has an energy to itself. During a comedy festival you get to see the good, the bad and other things all together unique.

The good

In my show I talk of my love of basketball and in particular Michael Jordan, who I had the opportunity to meet last year. I grew up playing b’ball. I didn’t play football because I was afraid I’d get beaten up by the jocks. I didn’t play netball because I was afraid I’d get beaten up by the jocks.

When I mentioned Michael Jordan being my hero, a gentlemen in the third row reacted by nodding vigorously. I enquired if he also admired MJ. Responding with a Middle American drawl he proclaimed, ‘Well I grew up in the town across from Michael and went to university with him.’

This was the equivalent of a junkie finding out his best friend farms poppy seeds. Parts of me were erect I didn’t even know could react that way. How does your belly button get a stiffy? It’s not often you want a room full of people to walk out on your show half way through but in this particular case I just wanted him and I to fan boy the f#%k out of this conversation (which we did at the end of the show).

The bad

On the night of Good Friday I had an interesting reaction to say the least. Fifteen minutes into my one-hour show I looked down and in the front row a woman was asleep. I’ve been known to talk in my sleep but this is the first time I’ve talked in anyone else’s. It’s good to know my comedy is about as exciting as a footballer’s post-match interview. Miss Narcolepsy had to be nudged by her companion to even react to me. It was like she had used my comedy room as a hotel room and if I’m going to be honest, prostitutes not stand-up comedians, usually frequent an hourly hotel room. At least she was being very Easterly – she was resting on Friday and didn’t look like she was going to rise until Sunday.

The unique

Mick Fanning, the pro surfer who won The Bells Classic just a few days earlier, was at a gig I performed at. Wow. How cool is that? I spoke to him for a bit and he was nice enough to stay awake for my entire performance.

These are just some of the random audience members I’ve met at a comedy festival and I’m sure there will be many, many more.

Comedy Festival blog: Dave Thornton’s festival stories

Thursday 5 April 2012, 5:35 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events

This photo has nothing to do with my blog – I just saw it the other day and found it funny

Having participated in a few festivals around the globe, dispersing mirth and a hefty part of my bank account, I’ve gained some interesting stories and, let’s be honest, frequent flyer points. As much as I know you’d LOVE for me to gloat about my frequent flyer points total, I think a story will be better served in this blog.

I remember at the Edinburgh Fringe festival a few years ago, I met a really cool UK-based impersonator by the name of Anil Desai. Anil’s shows constitute a plethora of impersonations, among them Donald Trump, which is frighteningly lifelike (and that’s not easy because Donald himself is not at all lifelike).

We performed in the same precinct – my show started across a hallway 15 minutes before his. We met in the first few days of the month-long festival while flyering and found camaraderie in our begging. Three weeks into the festival I would hear the same story on repeat from Anil – he would have healthy pre-bookings but when he walked on stage there would be 10-or-so less than his ticket sales indicated.

Night after night this would happen, until it finally dawned on me. When the front of house staff would proclaim ‘comedy show about start, get your tickets ready’, they were referring to my show. Like a heard of sheep, people with a ticket would then get in line. No one was caring that they had tickets for the show on 15 minutes after me. These people would then sit in my show. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Anil is from subcontinent heritage, medium height with dark hair and brown skin. I’m tall, lanky, blue-eyed, white and built like a paper clip.

At first these audience members would think, ‘wow, this impersonator has really gone for it this time – he looks nothing like that guy on the poster?!?!?’ After 40 minutes-or-so I think that initial awe would have given way to the idea that ‘OK this ‘Impersonator’ (note: sarcastic air quotes would be in place here) has got the gangly Aussie moron down pat but when is he going to give us something else?’

At least that’s what I blame for not getting a lot laughs, and the heckles of ‘Do Arnie?!?!’

Comedy Festival blog: Dave Thornton talks funny podcasts

Tuesday 3 April 2012, 4:42 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events and People

On Monday night I was invited to be a guest on Greg Behrendt and Dave Anthony’s live recording of their podcast ‘Walking the Room’. Both are exceptionally funny guys from the US who have recorded more than 100 podcasts (or as they call them, ‘podcuddles’) together.

Many people ask me ‘what’s a podcast?’ (That and ‘why does a 32-year-old man use the phrase amazeballs?’)

For comedians, podcasts are just as common as self-loathing. They are invariably half an hour to an hour of audio jokes, anecdotes and tall stories you can download off the Internet and listen to on your iPod or, if you’re from 2001, your iRiver.

Usually uncensored and quite often unscripted these little iTunes iRadioShows have gained momentum with the general public and now there’s a podcast for every interest. You don’t have to put up with ad breaks, nauseating banal commercial conversations or bad product endorsements – the kind of stuff that gives you a headache only Panadol Active can fight. Fast.

During the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, many stand-up comedians are recording their podcasts live at venues and this one was no exception. More than 200 people came out to witness an hour of their beloved hosts talking, interviewing comics and generally ribbing each other with the use of some very flowery language. I highly recommend catching one of these live and in 3-D.

While you’re at it, why don’t you start downloading a podcast off the interweb? I recommend TOFOP, Wil Anderson’s podcast with Charlie Clausen, and The Little Dum Dum club with Karl Chandler and Tommy Dassallo.

What’s that? Do I have one? Well, shucks. Thanks for asking. It’s called ‘SlapBang’ and I do it with Tommy Little. It comes out every Friday and you can get it off iTunes. Do it. NOW! *starts to hyperventilate and gives off a thousand-yard stare*

Oh, and while I think of it, reviews are starting to ooze out during in the first full week of the Comedy Festival. Comedians are the only people who get a work appraisal three days into their job. I was lucky enough to gain a review from The Herald Sun, which described me as ‘tall and pointy with pencil legs’. It’s good to know that if comedy doesn’t work out I could be a model for male toilet-door signs.

Blog you next time, kids.