All up I saw 21 shows, in previous years I’ve seen maybe 2-4 shows over the course of the festival, a quite large increase.
Some weekly shows I saw each week; “The Little Dum Dum Club” (3 shows), “I Love Green Guide Letters” (4 shows) and Splendid Chaps not technically a weekly podcast though it still had 2 shows in the comedy festival. Each of these shows had different guests each time.
The few shows that I saw that weren’t solo or shows of the podcast ilk like the above were FanFiction Comedy, Set List and A Modern Deception all of which featured multiple performers.
The solo comedians I saw were; Joel Creasey, Josh Thomas, Tommy Dassalo, Tom Ballard, Jeff Green, Wil Anderson and Hannah Gadsby.
The increase in shows that I saw I put squarely down to the podcasts that I’ve listened to prior to attending the comedy festival. Not just the ones that I actually saw during the comedy festival but others also.
Listening to them and the people that they have featured on them, what they’ve discussed and how they’ve talked about their craft has made me really appreciate live comedy.
Each time I have seen a live comedy show I have appreciated much more the writing, the crafting and development that has gone into creating a comedy show and the skill that it has taken to bring what I’m seeing to where it is.
In the case of the live podcasts like “The Little Dum Dum Club” and “I Love Green Guide Letters” it really has made me appreciate the skill and capabilities of the comedians hosting these shows; Karl Chandler and Tommy Dassalo of “The Little Dum Dum Club” and Steele Saunders of “I Love Green Guide Letters”.
Reflecting on the all the shows I’ve seen, I think Joel Creasey’s show “The Drama Captain” was the show that left me with a continued impression that remained as a bar of comparison throughout the festival. He was a comedian whom I had seen the previous year and it was evident from his show that there had been development of his performance style. While I didn’t ‘get’ every reference, and not all of it resonated with me completely it still made me laugh and I still completely appreciated his show. His story had coherence, was funny, had characters that I wanted to know more of and it all flowed together seamlessly.
I am regretting having not seen Wil Anderson’s shows in the years between when I first saw him back in (¿I’m still not sure when it was, sometime in the early 2000 I think?) when he was wearing a kilt on stage in I seem to recall the Lower Town Hall (at the Melbourne Town Hall). His show was a solid hour or so of comedy with no points of audience quiet where no jokes failed to resonate with the audience.
The comedian I will be trying to see more of is Tommy Dassalo, who I was already a fan of from “The Little Dum Dum Club”, seeing his show ’Spread’ allowed me to see him in his element as a comedian and performer. His easy switching between comedic performance and standup was done with ease and once he was in performance ‘mode’ there was a clear command of the room.
I want to see more of Dassalo’s comedy to see how this develops.
Of the three live podcasts that I saw I think equally “The Little Dum Dum Club” and “I Love Green Guide Letters” are my favourites overall of the festival.
They were fabulously good value at $16 for “The Little Dum Dum Club” and $18 for “I Love Green Guide Letters” and for that you get to see 3 comedians plus the hosts.
Part of it was also being in an audience who were fans of the shows, where you would get in-jokes of the podcasts like the ‘porn wall’, the ‘podcast hoody’, ‘shaker fries’ and the one rule of “I Love Green Guide Letters”.
Seeing these various acts of the comedy festival also helped me understand further what I’m looking for in comedy, from what I enjoyed the most.
A narrative is important to me, I’m a narrative sort of person and enjoy things structured that way.
This is why, while I like Karl Chandler on “The Little Dum Dum Club” I didn’t go and see his show, I did want to support him, but I didn’t think I would enjoy an hour of him just telling jokes. It wouldn’t have resonated with me as much as some other comics would have.
Musical comedy is something that I never considered, as while I like a funny song it’s another thing that doesn’t resonate with me.
If there isn’t a narrative a theme is almost as good. Tom Ballard and Wil Anderson’s shows were both of a theme rather than a distinct narrative and they both mostly stuck to their themes with various successes. With Wil Anderson’s show while it was a theme, his jokes were longer form and therefore each joke and theme were like little spheres of narrative.
Finally, venue does make a difference. A lot of the shows I saw were in the Melbourne Town Hall. All of these were moderately sized venues with the Lower Town Hall and the Supper Room being the largest. Others I saw were in the Victoria Hotel (FanFiction Comedy) and the Swiss Club (Tom Ballard and Jeff Green) where the venues were of moderate sizes.
All the venues had an intimacy that meant you felt you were seeing a live, living person than being removed.
I can’t really say about the Princess Theatre, as I was seated in the second row from the front. From where I was seated it was fine and as I walked in I could see the stage from some distance away. Plus it’s a theatre, it’s designed so you can see the stage area. But it did seem like, that being on the stage it hampered Wil Anderson’s ability to chat with the audience a little bit. Just the height distance between the stage and the front row hampered this slightly.
The Scots’ Church Hall didn’t have any of what the Princess Theatre had, it wasn’t warm, inclusive, well lit or had any suggestion that it was suited to performing. It was, as I mentioned in the post below unsettling.
It was also just not well set up for a performance, odd lighting choices and stage set up means while I enjoyed the performance the venue hampered this somewhat.
The Forum Theatre Ladies Lounge where I saw Tommy Dassalo’s “Spread” was the other small venue of note. As Tommy Dassalo said it’s a space that is created during the festival, and it was an odd space with the door right next to the stage. Yet having only been inside it once I could probably describe all the features of the space because Dassalo pointed them out, making the audience take note and laugh at the oddness of the space and embrace it.
The subject that I’ll end on are podcasts there are a large number of great Australian podcasts available for free download and they are all funny and insightful of comedy and the comedy scene. Some of them are a little weird in places but all of them are great entertainment. I think if you’re looking to get a taste of a comedian listen to their podcast where they’re relaxed and casual. Then see them live, it’s there that the structured, tight show that’s been worked on will be presented to you. You’ll see elements of what’s been in their podcast, it might be theme or style but you’ll notice something from their personality and creative intelligence that’s made its way from podcast into live show.
Here’s some of the podcasts that I subscribe and listen to regularly;
Some weekly shows I saw each week; “The Little Dum Dum Club” (3 shows), “I Love Green Guide Letters” (4 shows) and Splendid Chaps not technically a weekly podcast though it still had 2 shows in the comedy festival. Each of these shows had different guests each time.
The few shows that I saw that weren’t solo or shows of the podcast ilk like the above were FanFiction Comedy, Set List and A Modern Deception all of which featured multiple performers.
The solo comedians I saw were; Joel Creasey, Josh Thomas, Tommy Dassalo, Tom Ballard, Jeff Green, Wil Anderson and Hannah Gadsby.
The increase in shows that I saw I put squarely down to the podcasts that I’ve listened to prior to attending the comedy festival. Not just the ones that I actually saw during the comedy festival but others also.
Listening to them and the people that they have featured on them, what they’ve discussed and how they’ve talked about their craft has made me really appreciate live comedy.
Each time I have seen a live comedy show I have appreciated much more the writing, the crafting and development that has gone into creating a comedy show and the skill that it has taken to bring what I’m seeing to where it is.
In the case of the live podcasts like “The Little Dum Dum Club” and “I Love Green Guide Letters” it really has made me appreciate the skill and capabilities of the comedians hosting these shows; Karl Chandler and Tommy Dassalo of “The Little Dum Dum Club” and Steele Saunders of “I Love Green Guide Letters”.
Reflecting on the all the shows I’ve seen, I think Joel Creasey’s show “The Drama Captain” was the show that left me with a continued impression that remained as a bar of comparison throughout the festival. He was a comedian whom I had seen the previous year and it was evident from his show that there had been development of his performance style. While I didn’t ‘get’ every reference, and not all of it resonated with me completely it still made me laugh and I still completely appreciated his show. His story had coherence, was funny, had characters that I wanted to know more of and it all flowed together seamlessly.
I am regretting having not seen Wil Anderson’s shows in the years between when I first saw him back in (¿I’m still not sure when it was, sometime in the early 2000 I think?) when he was wearing a kilt on stage in I seem to recall the Lower Town Hall (at the Melbourne Town Hall). His show was a solid hour or so of comedy with no points of audience quiet where no jokes failed to resonate with the audience.
The comedian I will be trying to see more of is Tommy Dassalo, who I was already a fan of from “The Little Dum Dum Club”, seeing his show ’Spread’ allowed me to see him in his element as a comedian and performer. His easy switching between comedic performance and standup was done with ease and once he was in performance ‘mode’ there was a clear command of the room.
I want to see more of Dassalo’s comedy to see how this develops.
Of the three live podcasts that I saw I think equally “The Little Dum Dum Club” and “I Love Green Guide Letters” are my favourites overall of the festival.
They were fabulously good value at $16 for “The Little Dum Dum Club” and $18 for “I Love Green Guide Letters” and for that you get to see 3 comedians plus the hosts.
Part of it was also being in an audience who were fans of the shows, where you would get in-jokes of the podcasts like the ‘porn wall’, the ‘podcast hoody’, ‘shaker fries’ and the one rule of “I Love Green Guide Letters”.
Seeing these various acts of the comedy festival also helped me understand further what I’m looking for in comedy, from what I enjoyed the most.
A narrative is important to me, I’m a narrative sort of person and enjoy things structured that way.
This is why, while I like Karl Chandler on “The Little Dum Dum Club” I didn’t go and see his show, I did want to support him, but I didn’t think I would enjoy an hour of him just telling jokes. It wouldn’t have resonated with me as much as some other comics would have.
Musical comedy is something that I never considered, as while I like a funny song it’s another thing that doesn’t resonate with me.
If there isn’t a narrative a theme is almost as good. Tom Ballard and Wil Anderson’s shows were both of a theme rather than a distinct narrative and they both mostly stuck to their themes with various successes. With Wil Anderson’s show while it was a theme, his jokes were longer form and therefore each joke and theme were like little spheres of narrative.
Finally, venue does make a difference. A lot of the shows I saw were in the Melbourne Town Hall. All of these were moderately sized venues with the Lower Town Hall and the Supper Room being the largest. Others I saw were in the Victoria Hotel (FanFiction Comedy) and the Swiss Club (Tom Ballard and Jeff Green) where the venues were of moderate sizes.
All the venues had an intimacy that meant you felt you were seeing a live, living person than being removed.
I can’t really say about the Princess Theatre, as I was seated in the second row from the front. From where I was seated it was fine and as I walked in I could see the stage from some distance away. Plus it’s a theatre, it’s designed so you can see the stage area. But it did seem like, that being on the stage it hampered Wil Anderson’s ability to chat with the audience a little bit. Just the height distance between the stage and the front row hampered this slightly.
The Scots’ Church Hall didn’t have any of what the Princess Theatre had, it wasn’t warm, inclusive, well lit or had any suggestion that it was suited to performing. It was, as I mentioned in the post below unsettling.
It was also just not well set up for a performance, odd lighting choices and stage set up means while I enjoyed the performance the venue hampered this somewhat.
The Forum Theatre Ladies Lounge where I saw Tommy Dassalo’s “Spread” was the other small venue of note. As Tommy Dassalo said it’s a space that is created during the festival, and it was an odd space with the door right next to the stage. Yet having only been inside it once I could probably describe all the features of the space because Dassalo pointed them out, making the audience take note and laugh at the oddness of the space and embrace it.
The subject that I’ll end on are podcasts there are a large number of great Australian podcasts available for free download and they are all funny and insightful of comedy and the comedy scene. Some of them are a little weird in places but all of them are great entertainment. I think if you’re looking to get a taste of a comedian listen to their podcast where they’re relaxed and casual. Then see them live, it’s there that the structured, tight show that’s been worked on will be presented to you. You’ll see elements of what’s been in their podcast, it might be theme or style but you’ll notice something from their personality and creative intelligence that’s made its way from podcast into live show.
Here’s some of the podcasts that I subscribe and listen to regularly;
- I Love Green Guide Letters - Steele Saunders
- The Little Dum Dum Club - Tommy Dassalo and Karl Chandler
- TOFOP - Wil Anderson and Charlie Clausen (now FOFOP with “Guest Charlies”)
- Something For the Drive Home - Bart Freebairn and Nick Cody
- Can You Take This Photo Please? - Justin Hamilton
- The Shelf - Adam Richards and Justin Hamilton
- Slapbang Radio - Tommy Little and Dave Thornton