Beat's Fringe Festival Guide 2011 by Furst Media

BEAT MAGAZINE’S

MELBOURNe FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

THE

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

19 glorious days pick your shows early and book before they sell out You’ve got 19 days to participate, watch, hear, smell and/or touch the work that 4,000 artists have been brewing for the last 12 months. Buy tickets and browse the program at melbournefringe.com.au or call 03 9660 9666.

THE FRINGE CLUB 14 NIGHTS OF FREE ENTERTAINMENT

join us at the centre of the fringe at the north melbourne town hall.

OPENING NIGHT PARTY Friday 23 Sept 9.00pm A tasting plate of what’s on offer this year. Dancing and good times guaranteed.

CAB SAV Wednesday 28 Sept 9.45pm Rearing its sleazy head once more — a showcase of the best new performance makers from Sydney and beyond.

FUGLY! Saturday 24 Sept 9.00pm The Sisters Grimm present a one-night art-drag Armageddon — dress up, throw up, throw down — whatever...

JEWELS and BULLETS Thursday 29 Sept 9.00pm 3RRR and Music Victoria bring you forgotten Australian musical gems played by some of today’s best bands.

WOMEN of LETTERS Sunday 2 Oct 7.30pm

LAST TUESDAY Tuesday 4 Oct 8.30pm

5 artists performing live missives, a rowdy panel discussion and celebrity DJ. Stamps provided.

The motley Last Tuesday crew recreate the moments that broke their theatrical hymens.

EVERYBODY’S TALKIN’ Sunday 25 Sept 8.00pm

The POLYPHONIC COMIC FROLIC Tuesday27 Sept 8.30pm

Ideas, laughs and insights from Crikey luminaries Sophie Black and First Dog on the Moon, with special guests.

Action-packed musical comedy — tap your feet and roll on the ﬂoor.

VARIETY FRINGE TRIM Friday 30 Sept 9.00pm

ROCK und ROLLCIRCUS Saturday 1 Oct 9.00pm

The Thousands Melbourne presents a party for your part. DJs, bands, dance troupes and free fringe cuts.

A night of extreme voltage circus with Otto and Astrid Rot.

POLITICAL ASYLUM Wednesday 5 Oct 9.00pm

JEWELS and BULLETS Thursday 6 Oct 9.00pm

This caucus of Australia’s best political comedians bring you a fresh batch of satirical swipes.

3RRR and Music Victoria bring you forgotten Australian musical gems played by some of today’s best bands.

Introducing... The Warren

SHUT UP and DANCE...3 Friday 7 Oct 9.00pm Unruly hosts The Town Bikes will help you learn a slew of sensational dance moves to lubricate any dance ﬂoor.

FRINGE AWARDS and CLOSING PARTY Saturday 8 Oct 10.30pm Join us as we celebrate the Festival that has been, and announce the coveted Melbourne Fringe Awards.

A refuge from the swarm, something out of the norm, somewhere warm. Come down the rabbit hole and into The Warren, a quieter place for you and your mates to debate, discuss and dispute your favourite Melbourne Fringe shows of 2011. And as a special treat, there’s a curiosity or two hidden inside. Open from 7.00pm till late The Warren is the perfect compliment to the Fringe Club.

Spread safe sex not STIs

melbournefringe.com.au/glorybox

BEAT MAGAZINE’S

MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011 CONTENTS PAGE 6

Felicity Ward’s (week long, ill-timed) Christmas Special! Atlas Syzygy Ensemble: Higher Ground Simon Palomares: Assimilate This!

PAGE 8

Lawrence Mooney: An Indecisive Bag of Donuts The Jitterbug Club: Exotica An Awful Lot Of Vaudeville Heath Franklin vs. Chopper

Fancy seeing you here. It’s been 29 years since the Melbourne Fringe Festival was first incepted. 29 years. First and foremost it’s a celebration, a celebration of the creativity, passion, talent and artistic ethos found within the astounding individuals of the 3000 and abroad. Since 1982 more than 50,000 emerging, established and, quite simply, remarkable artists have been showcased. Celebrated within our community. The Fringe Festival creates an indefinable aura throughout our already culturally rich city. Melbourne comes alive. Invigoration is an understatement. From comedy to cabaret, from theatre to dance, from musical performance to the quite simply impalpable expressions of human inspiration and imagination, The Fringe Festival is one of Melbourne’s most innovative, integral and cherished celebrations. The thriving nature of the Fringe Festival is second only to the love and adoration us Melburnians hold for those involved. Those who share their talents, those who enthuse our passion and arouse our minds. In 2010, the Fringe Festival presented the creative aptitude and flair of no less than 3,989 of our most inspired minds to an audience of 459,003. No mean feat. And in 2011, once again our beloved Fringe Festival rolls into town bigger, better and ready to celebrate and to captivate. So, here we are. From Wednesday September 21 until Sunday October 9, it’s time. Inside our handy little guide you’ll find a glorious selection of some of the finest programs found within the 2011 instalment. From all ends of the spectrum. It’s now your time. The night is young. Look inside, investigate, involve yourself – the Fringe Festival is for you. See you at the show. I’ll be in row D, next to the aisle. Tyson Wray Arts Editor, Beat Magazine

CREDITS

Published by Furst Media 3 Newton Street, Richmond VIC 3121 Ph) (03) 9428 3600 e) info@beat.com.au

Managing Editor: Ronnit Sternfein Editor: Tyson Wray Sub-Editor: Nick Taras Advertising Co-ordinator: Ronnit Sternfein Contributors: Birdie, Clark Gable, David Hunter, Elena Iliadis, Joanne Brookﬁeld, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Nick Taras, Jessica Lawson Art Direction, Cover & Production: Patrick O’Neill Cover Image: The Jitterbug Club: Exotica

For more information regarding upcoming advertising and editorial coverage, email ronnit@beat.com. au or call 8414 9700. © 2011 Furst Media Pty Ltd No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder.

Death To Carnivale! Shimmy Shake Up Late with Frankie Wants Out Expose Yummy Isaac’s Apple Wyrd With Grace There’s No Place Like Home Close To You

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X Ryan Coﬀey: Live and Stupider Impro Comedy Jam F**k Oﬀ Love! Duality The Penny-Toy Man

Aaron Southgate: Live From Ben Elton’s Grave Barry Morgan’s World Of Organs Sexual Deviancy and the History of Country Music Mercedes Benz…Awkwardly Obsession Realeyes Volume 3 It’s Good To Shut Up Sometimes Mindreader The Pig Show

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Hola!

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Gemma Turvey & The New Palm Court Orchestra The Carnival The Wau Wau Sisters’ Last Supper

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Anything Goes Cabaret Joel Creasey’s Late Show Red Bennies Royal Rumble

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A Stitch In Time Marek Platek: Adventures In The Blue Lyrca Suit Nervous Doll Dancing The Better Than You Revue Bullet: A Superhero Comedy The South Side Show Quadraphonic Kaleidoscope My Incredible Shrinking Life The Contortion and Hand-Balancing Spectacular! The Curse of the Kahuna Daddies

Simon Taylor: 10 Things I Know About You Bobby Macumber, This Is Your Life The Nontrepreneur Pirate Rhapsody, Mermaid Requiem Shane Dundas: Believe Dave Callan: Radio Gaga

GIVEAWAYS So, see anything that takes your fancy? A little bit skint? Don’t stress, we’ve got’cha covered! Over the course of the Fringe Festival we’ll be giving away tickets to a whole heap of shows. Starting today and extending over the entirety of the festival, jump onto beat.com.au, click on Free Shit and enter away!

BEAT'S COVERAGE OF THE 2011 MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL CONTINUES... Are you involved with the Fringe Festival this year? Would you like everyone to know about it? OF COURSE YOU WOULD! To help the cause Beat is oﬀering heavily discounted advertising packages throughout the Fringe Festival dates (September 21 - October 9), which include free editorials, promo image scans & giveaways all to run in print and online.

For more information please contact Ronnit on email ronnit@beat.com.au or tel 03 8414 9700.

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

FELICITY WARD’S (WEEK LONG, ILL-TIMED) CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! BY JOANNE BROOKFIELD Much has been made of climate change affecting the seasons: the warmer winters, earlier springs, the affected crop harvests and changed bird migration. In the world of comedy, there’s another seasonal shift taking place: Christmas, thanks to Felicity Ward, will now be taking part in October. For the Melbourne Fringe Festival, the award-winning stand up comedian is presenting Felicity Ward’s (week long, illtimed) Christmas Special! Like many, Christmas has always held a special place in her heart. “I’ve always been a really big child about it, even as a small child,” she says on the phone. Ward is in her office wear, she explains, “which is a matching Adidas tracksuit”. Having spent most of the year on tour, she’s enjoying being back at home in Melbourne. “I have just turned into a bit of a nerd-body, I love being at home, cooking. Sometimes I feel like I’m just a morbidly obese person trapped inside a skinny person’s body because my favourite thing is just to be in bed and surrounded by everything I need in reaching distance…And toilet just gets put off. I’m like ‘nah, I’ll do it tomorrow…’”

When not in bed, Ward has been busy on stage. Her last show in Melbourne was Honestly, as part of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. This year has also included her performing as part of the Adelaide Fringe, the Sydney Comedy Festival and the New Zealand International Comedy Festival’s touring Comedy Convoy. She also spent a month touring in Western Australia on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Roadshow, as well as a run of gigs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Brisbane and Adelaide. “It’s just been an amazing year of opportunities,” she says. “It’s sort of been jam packed so when I get home I really don’t do a lot, I mean I work, but I spend a lot of time in my tracksuit, I’m not going to lie to you.” The idea for her Christmas Specials came to her when she was in New Zealand. “I was trying to think of things that I love and I love Christmas. I thought how awesome would it be if you just had like a week of Christmas specials? Because the Christmas specials are often the best part of any TV series because they get the good guests and they have presents.” And so, like a baby in a manger, her new show idea had been

born. Expect all the Christmas trimmings: Christmas carols – but bad ones, like We Wish You A Ripper Christmas; Christmas dinner - audience members will help her re-enact a script from her own family Christmas and Christmas games – like ‘When Does A Fart Stop Being Funny?’ which incorporates the song Silent Night. Not a stand up show, Ward says these will be variety shows, featuring diﬀerent performers every night and plenty of audience interaction. “It’s going to be a really cool, eclectic mix, there’s going to be a comedian on every night, at least one, and sometimes two comedians or sometimes a musician or a dancer. It will be a mixed bag so every night you will get something that is new and exciting and so no show will be the same,” she says. Already conﬁrmed are Heath Franklin’s Chopper and musical guest Tim Rogers. She’s also asking audience members to join her in the spirit of the season by coming to the show dressed festively and to bring gifts they’ve received previously. Not good ones, of course. “It would be great if they brought shitty presents that we can re-gift” . FELICITY WARD’S (WEEK LONG, ILL-TIMED) CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! Venue: Fringe Hub - Rehearsal Room - Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall Dates: October 1 – October 8 (except Monday) Times: 10.15pm (Sunday 9.15pm) Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $20, Tuesday $20, Group $20, 2 for 1 Opening Night

ATLAS

BY DAVID HUNTER Kieran Swann may have moved to Melbourne nearly two years ago, but the East Brunswick resident shows little remorse at having fallen head first into Melbourne’s North-South divide. “Without meaning to, I guess I did. I just settled into my East Brunswick house share and never really left that side of town very much.” As a resident of the Inner Northern district, Swann concedes that he had not even stepped foot into the nearby district of Stonnington – located on the city’s Inner East. But before we explore further Swann’s recent geographical discoveries, we should first put it all into context. Alongside Benjamin Ducroz and Kit Webster, Swann’s installation forms the Melbourne Fringe initiative – Atlas. “Melbourne Fringe approached three artists, of which I was one, to develop some free public works for the festival. Activities that the public of Melbourne can get involved with easily, that are visible and accessible and most importantly free. They act as something they can engage in easily but simultaneously draws attention to the rest of the festival, but also doesn’t detract from the different artists who are put-

ting work on at the festival.” Aware of his own ignorance of different Melbourne locale, Swann seized the opportunity to uncover elements of Melbourne that had until now simply passed him by. “As part of that, we spent a few days – the whole group of us – exploring Melbourne and talking about the city. Talking about the different things the fringe provides for the city, and what the city would benefit from it. On one of those days we explored the Stonnington area down in the Inner East. It called out to me because I had never been there before. I had no familiarity with the area at all.” “It was just going there, I had the experience of being able to see a part of the city I lived in with completely fresh eyes. Just being completely unaware and seeing everything for the first.” With his mind already awash with ideas to explore, his trip to Stonnington provoked an unexpected revelation. “It struck me during that trip that that was the kind of experience I wanted to give people who have lived in that area for a long time or know it well. I want to give them the chance to see it again through fresh eyes.”

“The work is going to be pretty intimate. It is going to be a series of one-on-one encounters between me and the public, who can either book in an appointment via an email address. I will come and meet them whenever they like, wherever they like. Or I will be spending my time down there speaking to people on the street and trying to get them interested or engaged in the work.” While the terrain Swann will traverse with the public will not be as foreign to them as it was to him, he is hoping that his innocence to his surroundings will help map out the area in a new light. Rather than focusing on the geographical accuracy of location, Swann wants people to open their

minds to the creation of an emotional map. People may have lived in an area for so long that they have closed their eyes to change, simply not noticing what is present due to a mental map of what they expect. “I am interested in getting at what that is – what forms a city? What makes a community what it is?”

from her before, this will be the Melbourne premiere of the work.” Abbott’s No Ordinary Traveller segues perfectly into the ensemble’s intentions, with the piece inspired by “diary entries from the 1850s of four women as they travel from England to Australia. It gives us a glimpse into what the women were thinking when they were travelling and ship life.” Through looking at the experiences of some of Australia’s original migrants, the question of identity is once again brought to the fore. To complete the proceedings, Engle can barely contain her excitement about Australia’s second ever performance of a stunning composition by Anglo-Australian Roger Smalley. “We will also have the Melbourne premiere of a Roger Smalley work for clarinet, viola and piano…He took this work oﬀ his catalogue list.

A pianist in the ensemble requested to play, so he made some changes to it and the pianist performed it with another group in Adelaide. That was the ﬁrst Australian performance of it.” While Engle realises that Higher Ground will immediately appeal to the fans of Chamber music, she hopes that the fringe will entice a broader audience hoping to “try something diﬀerent.”

told when they got here, the we wouldn’t have the food we eat or some of the attitudes about the rest of the world because it would be as boring as it was in the 1940s.” With his school almost entirely formulated of migrants – Greek and Italian on the whole – Palomares’ upbringing was not strictly aligned with the Australian ideals and he witnessed ﬁrst hand Australia taking advantage of the cross-cultural gains. “The confusing thing is that we expect people to be like us, but at the same time we want to get the beneﬁts of other cultures. It is sort of live like us but leave your music and your food because we will enjoy that. “How do we ask somebody else to be us when we are still trying to work out who we are?” is the big question

of the night, but rest assured those of you who may be contemplating the heavy nature of the evening’s content and questioning the comic content. Palomares may be a man with a message, but he is not about to bash you over the head with it. As he closes, he assures that comedy is the name of his game and through laughter one learns much more than through lectures.

ATLAS Venue: Melbourne City and the City of Stonnington Dates: September 21 – October 9 Times: See melbournefringe.com.au Tickets: Free

SYZYGY ENSEMBLE: HIGHER GROUND BY DAVID HUNTER “This is our third concert this season at the Recital Centre and our over-arching theme has been about ‘travel’.” Laila Engle, flautist for Melbourne-based contemporary Chamber ensemble Syzygy, is a firm believer in the diversity of the arts. Their Melbourne Fringe show, Higher Ground, is an extension and continuation of the ensembles outings in 2011. With the performance their third of their season, as a group they have in a way focused on the question of identity, but through the modicum of travel. It is often said that a year out or even a long break can change not only perspective, but help an individual grow, so in a country formed primarily of migrants, the question seemed one worth exploring. “This year the ensemble, travelled to Amsterdam to perform in an international contemporary music competition. Looking at other cultures and how travel influences you and helps you grow in terms of your outlook on your own life in Australia.” “Everyone has a say in the programming, we usually pick things that are only from this century. We really like to support Australian composition – that is one of the big things for us. We just

trawl through catalogues and get inspirations by going to concerts both here and overseas for diﬀerent repertoire rarely performed here which we think is great.” This, Higher Ground aligns perfectly with the ensemble’s creative intentions; it features two works by Australians and two by internationals. Though Engle and her colleagues state that their intention is to highlight Australian ability, they are equally aware that without showcasing comparisons, there is no marker level set for the audience to judge against. “Also putting the Australian compositions next to works by very famous composers, like works by Luciano Berio. His O King was written in ‘68 and is in the heart of the modern Chamber music tradition, it is considered a master work. Similarly with John Harbison, who is an established composer from America. We put those Australian pieces next to really high quality international works and they can stand up next to them. It shows that we do have great music here.” With one half of the program already covered, we switch our focus to their home grown selections. “We have got two Australian works in there. The Katy Abbott piece, we have worked with her a couple of times before and commissioned a piece

SYZYGY ENSEMBLE: HIGHER GROUND Venue: The Melbourne Recital Centre, Salon 1 Date: September 22 Time: 6pm Tickets: Full $35, Conc. $25

SIMON PALOMARES: ASSIMILATE THIS!

BY DAVID HUNTER

“The show is called Assimilate This! which is looking at the fact we still have all these people coming over here. The whole idea was to pose the question, ‘We are asking them to assimilate to what?’ We are still trying to deﬁne exactly who we are.” Born in Dusseldorf, Germany to Spanish parents and raised in the Lygon St area of Melbourne, it could be said that the socalled Spanish-Australian comedian Simon Palomares is something of a cultural mish-mash. However, having lived in Melbourne for 40 years, Palomares is by all accounts an accepted adopted Australian. Yet it is by looking into his own backstory and comparing it with the political furore over immigrants currently that has steered Palomares away from his usual family-related fodder. His kids may have now grown up and ﬂed the nest, meaning the trials and tribulations of close contact parenthood have in essence drawn to a close, but the issue of acceptance and assimilation are so close to his core that as a person with a pedestal he feels compelled to make people think. “If you look at the past,

we have demanded people to assimilate with us, but we have taken everything that they brought over to our country. Thirty years down the tracks since big waves of migrants, we are sitting around drinking cappuccinos and eating sushi rolls.” “Australians live in fear of being invaded. If you look at politicians, Gillard and Abbott, they are both doing the same job as they keep feeding the fear of being invaded by asylum seekers.” Clearly passionate about this subject area, Palomares is intrinsically connected with it. While in the past Australia has opened its doors to outsiders and proved both welcoming and hospitable, the recent headlines have made Palomares shudder to his core. “As a migrant who has been here for 40 years, when you look at how the landscape has changed and how we have made an impact in the way we live, eat and spend our time in Australia, it is actually quite insulting when the fear of God is put into us about these people coming over here. If you think about it, it has not been that bad with those that are already here.” “If everybody had assimilated, which is what they were

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

SIMON PALOMARES: ASSIMILATE THIS! Venue: Softbelly, 367 Little Bourke St Dates: September 27 - October 1 Time: 8.15pm Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $20

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

LAWRENCE MOONEY: AN INDECISIVE BAG OF DONUTS BY JESSICA LAWSON Seventeen years oscillating around Melbourne’s comedy scene has carved Lawrence Mooney a formidable reputation as one of Australia’s funniest guys and best cop impersonators. Born and bred in the blustery winds of Melbourne’s outer suburbs, the boy wonder has never left. He admits that this city has done a lot for him, primarily giving him a living. Mooney is set to make local punters laugh once more with a reprise of his solo comedy show – An Indecisive Bag Of Donuts – a show about the procrastinatory nature of most artists. “I spent so much time trying to write a show and I just didn’t really feel like it, and that’s what it became about – a myriad of distractions. Part of that was going to shopping malls and buying bags of hot steaming cinnamon donuts. I call it exciting the muse, others call it blowing oﬀ down the street.” Mooney’s show, which he premiered at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, winning crikey.com’s Best Of The Fest title, is one of his proudest achievements

to date. After 27 years in the acting game and 17 in comedy – that’s saying something for the seasoned performer. One of Australia’s most recognisable faces, Mooney laughs as he jests that he’s sick of being recognised down the street as “that guy from Winners And Losers”. The other place he’s more commonly recognised is from his work doing overtly serious cop cameos on shows like City Homicide. Ironically enough, the comic lists his first “real” job as working as a customs officer for nearly seven years. After comedy it would seem that Mooney’s next passion is the footy. Passion to the extent of creating a free web based series, The Match Committee, surrounding the football season and encompassing a completely fabricated AFL team by the name of “The Roosters”. The show is released each Monday after the team finishes their imaginary game. Lawrence uses his quick wit and comedy prowess to review characters and scenarios in great detail that don’t even exist. The show is a must see for any football fan. “So many people were really confused about it when it came out, they were wondering what it was for! I told them that it

wasn’t for anything. It was for fun. A lot of people think that if you don’t have a corporate step-by-step overlay for the future, you’re fucked.” While he is very happy with the way the series has panned out he also notes that “it’s a shame the Roosters have had to struggle all year.” What’s next for Mooney? “My huge dream right now is to have my own television show! I know that sounds really trite.” When I dig for details he keeps the vital points of diﬀerence to himself, describing the project as a half hour tonight show with a very interesting twist. “It gives me the chance to do my stuﬀ which I think is pretty

unique.” When I ask about the muse for his show the subject of donuts comes back up again. His favourite? “Cinnamon. It has to have a hole in it, this is essential - I will forgive the jam donut because I know it has good intentions.”

cally as possible for a more contemporary audience. “We get a lot of sexy middle-aged couples who come to swing dance together!” Deville claims. “It’s amazing to look out and see them having the time of their lives. The show appeals to lots of diﬀerent types of people and ages, though. That was very apparent to me right from the start, especially when we performed in Sydney with our last show. We did three consecutive nights at one point and I realised I was seeing a lot of familiar faces in the crowd!

Melbourne is going to be a little bit out of our comfort zone but it will give us an even better perspective of what kind of audience is really drawn to these kinds of shows.”

it has been steadily growing in popularity since he first performed seven years ago. “There’s a massive history of boylesque in America that traces its history right back to the 70s,” Winmill says. “It followed on from the burlesque originals in the 1950s, and it’s been enjoying a resurgence for about the last ten years.” When asked to describe his act Mark says his style is “a blend of circus, burlesque and kooky theatrics.” And you’d have to be kooky to be the co-creator, performer and collaborator in BRIEFS, Mark’s all-male, all-vaudeville, circusburlesque production. His performance history includes being featured in high profile affairs including BBC Television, various produc-

tions and cabarets including Comic Strip, Late Nite Lounge, Feasting Flesh, Dance Trax at the Sydney Opera House, Gangsters’ Ball, Australian Burlesque Festival and La Clique. So whether your thing is boylesque, burlesque, or just a bit of everything – check out An Awful Lot Of Vaudeville at Red Bennies.

situations without ever losing the heart of his creation. While Julia Gillard and Matt Preston may be deemed obvious selections, British adventurer Bear Grylls seems a little more unusual. So what was it about Grylls that made Franklin gravitate towards him? “I more or less see him as a twelve year old boy who never grew up really. He is always busy messing around the creek, all those things you did as a kid but just with a hardcore edge.” Launching the show in Sydney ahead of his Melbourne Fringe appearance, he admits to being slightly nervous about the audience reaction. Of his nerves, he says,

“hopefully if people liked Chopper then by default they will like me, which will lead to them liking the new stuﬀ. So, more stuﬀ from the guy that brought you Chopper I guess.”

LAWRENCE MOONEY: AN INDECISIVE BAG OF DONUTS Venue: Fringe Hub - The Ballroom, Lithuanian Club Dates: September 23 – October 8 (except Mondays) Times: 8pm (Sundays 7pm) Tickets: Full $26, Conc. $22, Tuesday $22

THE JITTERBUG CLUB: EXOTICA

BY BIRDIE

You can smell it, taste it, and visualise it right now: linen suits, exotic tunes, cocktails, sun-soaked beauty – all the fruits of temptation that are Exotica! Sure, The Jitterbug Club’s new show is a little bit kitsch and a whole lot tongue-in-cheek, but it’s all about fantasy and therefore, “who cares!” as dancer and soloist Bonnie Deville laughs. “It’s meant for people to let loose and get freewheeling!” she enthuses. “It’s hard to put it in words, but we’re trying to encourage people to indulge in the exhibitionism and the voyeurism of the show. What makes this show so romantic is the idea of escapism, the feeling of ‘one night only’, the ﬂash in the pan! The Jitterbug Club’s Exotica is self-indulgent and it wants the audience to be inspired, to get playful, to enjoy this hedonistic fantasy place which transcends time and culture. We’re basically asking the audience to run away with us for a few hours!” Following on from a sold out debut show that saw The Jitterbug Club delve into 1930s Harlem last year, Deville claims the successful season left its creators – Mojo Juju and Taryn van Kan of the Hoodoo Emporium – feeling a little empty that the spectacle had to come to an end. Pretty quickly a new, fresh and even

brighter idea came to mind inspired by the uncharted waters of exotic islands lying somewhere between the South Paciﬁc and the Orient – yet only ever existing in the realm of cocktail lounges and pure fantasy. “That show sold out and it took us to the Adelaide Fringe as well,” says Deville. “When it was over we were all really happy with how the show was received but at the same time Mojo was pretty bummed about the fact that it came to an end. She started thinking, ‘Well what could we do next to take people into another world which would be as colourful and escapist as the Jazz Age’? And that brings us to the current Jitterbug Club show, Exotica. Exotica is an actual genre of music taken from the late 1950s to the early 1960s and it’s named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title. He was a lounge musician and the whole exotica culture comes from the Orient and the South Seas and for me personally, it brings about all these images in my mind of lounge music and tiki culture and cocktails and safaris and being chased through the jungle!” The entire purpose of the Hoodoo Emporium and The Jitterbug Club in general has been to pay something of a homage to the most colourful of eras and cultures, while at the same time recreating them as authenti-

THE JITTERBUG CLUB: EXOTICA Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1 373 Chapel St. South Yarra Date: September 23 Time: 10.30pm Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $20

AN AWFUL LOT OF VAUDEVILLE

BY ELENA ILIADIS

Few people can say they have ever truly experienced an authentic vaudeville show. But you can step back in time with Red Bennies and the Melbourne Fringe Festival’s An Awful Lot Of Vaudeville show. Illusionists, magicians, burlesque beauties, high ﬂying circus, sideshow freaks…You name it – they’ve got it! This is an authentic experience of Old World Variety Vaudeville. Firstly, for those of you scratching your heads and asking yourselves what in the world I’m talking about - let me give you the lowdown on vaudeville. Vaudeville was a form of theatrical entertainment popular in the United States and Canada from early 1880 until early 1930. It’s a series of separate acts grouped together into one show. In one night you can see musicians, dancers, comedians, magicians and more. Kicking oﬀ at Red Bennies in South Yarra, An Awful Lot Of Vaudeville is the creation of the Hoodoo Emporium. Founders of The Jitterbug Club, they are dedicated to evolving music, burlesque, cabaret and vaudeville. The show features magician Anthony Demasi, circus artist Daniel Gorski, burlesque performer Lola The Vamp, and country-blues musician Archer.

“The performers are pushing the boundaries and the vanguard of vaudeville entertainment,” she says. An Awful Lot Of Vaudeville is a chance for many performers to show oﬀ their skills in a show that is unlike any other. Boylesque performer, Mark Winmill is going to be performing at all six vaudeville shows. Described as having “more sparkle than Kylie” and “costumes that could shame Lady Gaga”, Mark is making himself known all over the world. An Australian circus, burlesque and visual theatre performer, Mark has a talent for aerials, drag, hula-hoops and physical theatre. And it seems Mark has circus in his blood, as he follows in the footsteps of his father. “Strangely enough, my father was a slapstick acrobatic clown on the club circuit of the ‘60s,” he says. Mark Winmill is the 2011 reigning King of Boylesque, crowned in Las Vegas, which sees the cream of the burlesque crop battling it out in a weekend celebrating the tradition and art of tease that is burlesque. Although burlesque for women has become a major success in recent years, thanks to events such as Miss Burlesque Australia, boylesque is still developing. Being one of the ﬁrst performers of the art in Brisbane, Winmill says

AN AWFUL LOT OF VAUDEVILLE Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1 373 Chapel St. South Yarra Dates: September 27 - October 2 Times: September 27-29 - 8pm, September 30 - 7.30pm, October 1 - 8.30pm, October 2 - 9pm Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $20.

HEATH FRANKLIN VS. CHOPPER

BY DAVID HUNTER

Having made his feature film debut last year in Predicament alongside Flight Of The Conchords’ Jermaine Clements and musician Tim Finn, Heath “Chopper” Franklin is clearly trying to take a side-step from the character who has made him so famous. With his new fringe show, Heath Franklin vs. Chopper, this side-step is seemingly more pronounced. So is he trying to move away from his alter ego, or rather ask the audience to embrace a more rounded repertoire? “I suppose move away is a bit of a strong word,” he starts, before a long thinking pause. “Certainly expand on Chopper. When I started out doing comedy, Chopper was just one of my characters. After having him dominate for the last few years, I thought it was time to get all the other ideas I have had off the bench and give them a run.” Before we move on to his newer characters, we take a brief step back to Chopper to try and understand what it was about Chopper that people identified with. “I am not entirely sure. I think part of it might just be the strange fascination Australia has with loveable criminals. I think having a big iconic look like moustache and

glasses helps too. It gives the character a distinctive quality. I think there is a certain irony about the way he goes about things which people appreciate.” While Chopper will still play a central role in Franklin’s latest show, Heath Franklin vs. Chopper, Franklin also takes a look at today’s Australia and picks out other public figures to undergo the Heath Franklin treatment. “Well there are a few new characters that I have been working on…Bear Grylls, Julia Gillard, Matt Preston from Masterchef and a few other bits and pieces here and there”. “I guess it helps if you start off with quite a big character. Obviously Chopper is quite a big character and Matt Preston is a pretty interesting guy and Bear Grylls as well you know. They have all got very strong and definite character traits of their own which makes it fun.” “First of all you have got to try and find their sound and mannerisms. Then it is a case of figuring out where is best to apply that. Where is the best place to show off all the idiosyncrasies?” With a wad of new characters to try and get in the minds of, Franklin’s success comes from perfecting a caricature and applying that character to an array of

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

HEATH FRANKLIN VS. CHOPPER Venue: Fringe Hub - Main Theatre, Lithuanian Club Dates: September 23 – October 8 (except Monday and September 29) Times: 9pm (Sunday 8pm) Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $22, Preview $20, Tuesday $22, Group $22, Special 2 for 1 prices on Sept 23/24

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X We’ve all been taught that X marks the spot. But now we know X also marks the spot in your Fringe Festival guide for all your puppetry needs! X is a delightful performance showcasing the best of Melbourne’s two most exciting independent puppet and visual theatre companies. Terrible Comfort and Barking Spider Visual Theatre are joining forces to present a family friendly romp across the high seas. Cute, epic and hilarious, X is a wild and furry adventure like you’ve never seen before. The most famous pirate in the world, Captain Honoria Whitelace, has long since abandoned the swashbuckling life and now spends her days chasing the bottom of rum bottles. But all the rum in the world can’t help the poor captain escape her troubled pirate past, as her lifelong enemy Captain Steakheart (not to be confused with Captain Beefheart, RIP) has returned to search out the hidden treasure they lost long ago. Told from the point of view of two young urchins from the port city who, unbeknownst to everyone, hold the lost map [SPOILER ALERT], X is a rollicking adventure with plenty of family friendly hilarity on the high seas.

F**K OFF LOVE!

X brings together the joyfully quirky puppet designs of Terrible Comfort’s Sayraphim Lothian and the spectacular puppetry skills of Barking Spider’s Penelope Bartlau. And there’s no reason to leave the kiddies at home, X is not X-rated in the slightest. In fact, the performance is most definitely a family friendly affair, using hand and rod (Muppets style) puppets, shadow puppetry and visual theatre/ object manipulation to achieve the filmic, the epic and the impossible. Yarrr! X Venue: Fringe Hub - Son of Loft, Lithuanian Club Dates: September 23 – October 9 (except September 24 and Mondays) Times: 6.30pm (Sundays 5.30pm) Tickets: Full $20, Conc. $18, Tuesdays: $15, Group $15

RYAN COFFEY: LIVE AND STUPIDER Much like the multitude of gentle acoustic guitar layers sounds he does so create, ramshackle loop-pedal madman Ryan Coffey has been steadily building and expanding upon his profile ever since exploding onto the scene at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival – in which he received a nomination for the Golden Gibbo. Since his RAW Comedy National Final performance in 2008 he has been honing his chops when frequenting the cool and conducive surrounds of Pure Pop Records in St Kilda, emerging with a refined and truly unique approach to the musical comedy. With the wailing voice of a bonafide rock god (not to mention the acoustic guitar chops to match), as well a knack for churning out a perpetual stream of gut-wrenching observational honesty with the aplomb of a seasoned standup campaigner, Ryan is looking likely to establish himself as a cult hit of this year’s Fringe Festival. Not a skerrick of time is left to waste, striking a delightfully pleasant mix of incisive observational comedy along with a hearty serving of simply great stand-alone songs. Not letting the comedic aspect of the songs stand in the way of the craft of his songs, Ryan will ensure that you ain’t going to be ridding

whose music and lyrics have featured in television, ﬁlm, published novels (yeah, obviously the music hasn’t been published in novels. Just the lyrics, smart alec) and theatre, Miss Cookie has developed live stage ammunition that stretches the boundaries of contemporary live performance to encompass both the indie world and the lush, melodramatic arena of cabaret. F**K OFF LOVE! Venue: Trades Hall New Ballroom, Cnr Lygon and Victoria St, Carlton Dates: September 25, October 2 Time: 9.20pm Tickets: Full $22, Conc. $19

DUALITY

your mind of his melodies anytime soon. Coffey has long been established as a secret which only St Kilda was privy to, is now bursting forth as an overdue Fringe debutante. One man. One loop pedal. No pre-recorded bullshit – just sheer, unadulterated, off-the-cuff wild animal craziness. Ryan is bringing the noise in his breakout show. The best of Melbourne’s underground has hit the surface. Could it be that Ryan Coffey is Melbourne’s new rock comedy champion? RYAN COFFEY: LIVE AND STUPIDER Venue: Fringe Hub - The Loft, Lithuanian Club Dates: September 23 – October 7 (except Mondays) Time: 8.00pm (Sundays 7.00pm) Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $14, Tuesday $14, Groups $14

IMPRO COMEDY JAM It’s the 21st century and guess what people? We still are yet to reach a consensus on how to properly abbreviate the word ‘improvisation’. Impro? Improv? Impro? Improv? It’s enough to drive us pedantic comedy fans mad. Anyways, The Baby Seals are a Melbourne improv comedy troupe presenting their all new Fringe show, Impro Comedy Jam. Wait, of course it’s all new. It’s improvised every freakin’ night! We all know too well that improvisational comedy has the potential to go disastrously wrong, but this gang of inspired comedic actors manage to keep their shit together for a full hilarious hour of skit-based comedy. Here’s the catch: the entire performance is based merely on just a few bites of information from the audience. The power is in your hands! Featuring established Melbourne comedians, whose combined credits span the globe – causing a sensation at Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Perth Comedy Festival, as well as the renowned Edinburgh Festival. As well as this swag of festival accolades, the troupe have been showing their mugs all over our telly screens, with credits such as ABC’s The Glass House (whatever happened to that show? Didn’t John Howard pull the plug on it because Wil Anderson kept being too mean to him? I dunno), Theatre Games Live and Sesame Street.

It must be love, love, love – fuck off! That’s the message sent by artists Cookie Baker and Jacob Diefenbach as they accompany their audience through a blazing stomp down that well-trodden path of fools the world over. F**k Off Love! tells the story of a girl with a stone-cold coffee-black heart, who may just well be finding herself falling in love after all. Along for the ride is a fella with a solid rose-tinted romantic core who tumbled heart-first out of it. The all-encompassing narrative is tinged with a truckload of wry and cheeky piano-sprinkled observations on this crazy little thing called love – covering enough ground to keep both the cry-babies’ eyes damp and the cynics in the audience with an almost unhealthy sense of smug satisfaction. Hell, why not bring a date? Well, maybe not your first one – lest you wish to make a mistake along the lines of Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle (well to be fair, F**k Off Love! is a whole lot more palatable than a dirty porno theatre). With one hand in the indie-folk pie and the other adorned by a sardonically faux-prissy-white-glove, Cookie Baker is a pint-sized force to be reckoned with – now firmly entrenched in the wild and wonderful world of pop cabaret. A South Australian-born, Melbourne-based award-winning songwriter and performer

After a spending the past five years working across the diverse fields of dance, film, theatre, fashion, opera and live music around the globe (in cities such as London, New York, as well as spending time back in Australia), Melenie Crowe will make her triumphant return to Melbourne Fringe Festival to showcase a stunning double bill of contemporary dance. Her unique repertoire has seen her collaborating with directors, designers, photographers and musicians in a career that spans over 15 years. Melenie was the toast of the 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival, picking up the coveted Dance Award in the process. Duality showcases the two disparate aspects of her repertoire – exacerbating the inner turmoil and anguish of mental illness, as well as initiating an exploration of movement, shape and form. Drawing broad inspiration from the vaunted, gritty works of film director (and budding electro producer) David Lynch, Melenie sets out to generate an innovative style of dance, emanating an impactful strain of striking imagery. Aiming to take on a different approach when taking on each work in order to heighten the sense of challenge and daring, she ranges from an approach of pure movement, to an exploration of more narrative-based works. With an adherence to a pure form of choreography, her broad

aim is to create new and innovative works focusing on the fusion of classic theatrical styles to evoke a diﬀerent dance expression. Gretchen’s Mind is an incredibly haunting new contemporary dance work, exploring the private landscape of the mind and the inner turmoil and anguish experienced by an individual suffering from mental illness. Rounding out the double bill is Evolution/Devolution, a dark tale of movement told through shape and form, including the exploration of construction (evolution) and deconstruction (devolution) of the body. DUALITY Venue: Dancehouse - Sylvia Staehli Theatre, 150 Princes St, North Carlton Dates: October 5 – 9 Times: 7.30pm (Saturday 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday 5pm) Tickets: Full $23, Conc. $18, Group $15

THE PENNY-TOY MAN

You heard right motherfuckers, Sesame Street. Each show will be a unique and individual snowflake, as the colourful cast ferociously feed off suggestions spouted forth by the audience, as well as involving the crowd during the development of each night’s narrative. The staging of the show will be rough and raw, replete with costumes and sets that are ripped and appropriated from what is available at the venue. Not afraid to sacrifice their dignity for the sake of pursuing a laugh – all pulled off with an uncanny knack for self-awareness. Get ready to jam, sucker! IMPRO COMEDY JAM Venue: The Dan O’Connell Hotel, 223-227 Canning St, Carlton Dates: September 22, 29 and October 6 Time: 8pm Tickets: Full $10

This latest blood-soaked oﬀering from Melbourne’s Laudanum Project is a grotesque and fetid tale of human wretchedness set in 1884 in London’s East End. Melodrama, comedy and horror collide head-on as pitch black storytelling and a darkly beautiful musical score combine to assault the senses. Join Alphonse Cheese-Probert and Heapus Maximus (could those names be any more British?) at The Lithuanian Club, North Melbourne and witness the unspeakable malevolence that is The Penny-Toy Man. With their motto, ‘To Educate and Inform’ held aloft like a shimmering banner of undying courage and hope, Alphonse Cheese-Probert and Heapus Maximus of the ever shadowy Laudanum Project will be unleashing their latest and most sanguinary delight, The Penny-Toy Man, at the 2011 Melbourne Fringe Festival. The Laudanum Project’s critically acclaimed one act play takes the audience on a chilling and unsettling journey into London’s wretched East End. The year is 1884 and my trunk is raw, and in my rear view mirror the snipes of Spitalﬁelds are disappearing one by one. Soon, the blood is running in rivers as the gates of Hell slowly begin to creak open. As Alphonse Cheese-Probert gleefully recounts the horrendous tale of The Penny-Toy Man, his grim poetry and

twisted songs are underscored by the ﬁendishly talented Heapus Maximus. Additionally, weaving in and out of this carefully stitched together tapestry of word and music is a tremendous soundscape comprised of subliminal rumbles, whining drones, droning whines, Satanic choirs and children speaking in reverse. Combining a seamless blend of pitch black humour, Victorian melodrama, powerfully intricate storytelling and a score and sound design that could induce a fever dream, The Penny-Toy Man is a theatrical oddity unlike anything else you’ve witnessed. I’m scared. THE PENNY -TOY MAN Venue: Fringe Hub - The Loft, Lithuanian Club Dates: October 1 – October 8 (except Monday) Times: 9.15pm (Sunday 8.15pm) Tickets: Full $20, Conc. $16, Tuesdays $13, Group $16

5 years of Late Night Triple J strangeness almost explained. “Dave’s show is thhe stuff of legend… onee of thee funnniest things you’ll see at thiis years Fringe.” Rabbit Hole “Lots of ‘you couldn’t make thaat up’ moments, as Calllan pllayss clips from m his shoow that has to be heard to be believed. Get inn quick whiile you can.” Rhum Magazinne

10.30pm Ballroom @ Lithuanian Club 23rd September – 8th October (9.30pm Sundays, no Mondays) 10

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

GEMMA TURVEY & THE NEW PALM COURT ORCHESTRA BY DAVID HUNTER Auction Rooms Cafe in North Melbourne is abuzz. It’s lunchtime on a Thursday and everyone is crowding in for a quick catch up with their friends over coffee and a nibble to eat. It is Auction Rooms that pianist Gemma Turvey has selected as our meeting place, most probably as a result of her “epic day” having resulted in her tutoring just around the corner. Once coffees are ordered, I hit the record button and we talk everything from composition to upcoming releases, with our main focus being her impending appearance at the Melbourne Fringe. Though you may be aware of Turvey and her fusion of jazz and classical influences with lyrical Celtic underpinning from her performances with the Gemma Turvey Trio, her Fringe performance with the newly formed The New Palm Court Orchestra is only an extension of her compositional style as opposed to a new direction. “It is just a chamber group, it is expanding the format of the piano trio that I normally work with. It is basically that with some strings and some woodwind. It

is to really lift it. It is what I am hearing more when I compose now. I got quite frustrated over the last couple of years until I actually realised that I was hearing strings. I would do these trio gigs and feel frustrated because it didn’t sound how I wanted it to sound. It was because I was hearing other instruments!” “We are going to be road testing the new material. You know how comedians say that they never know if a joke is funny until they actually tell it to an audience; it is kind of like that with my compositions. I kind of have an inkling of whether they will work, but you never actually know until you have played them.” Having cut down her performances post-arrival in Melbourne (she would do four or ﬁve a week while studying in Brisbane, but prefers to focus on a show every eight or so weeks, with the logical explanation “it helps you pull an audience as they have not heard you in a while”), the change in scheduling also buys Turvey time to build her repertoire and concentrate on compositions. “90% of it are new compositions that I have done. Everything I write has something behind it – whether it is

something that has happened or a person that I have met or an emotional experience – it is sort of a comment on that. There is always a story in them as I don’t feel they are as strong if there isn’t.” With the intention of heading into the studio by the end of the year in the hope of ﬁnally following up her acclaimed 2008 release, Into The Life Of Things, Turvey is excited by the prospect of feedback. Having performed with many bands who have recorded an album then taken it on the road, she learnt the hard way that trialling material in public ensures that “recordings are almost always better.”

Set in the amazing acoustics of the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Salon, this upcoming Fringe Festival appearance promises to be a highlight of the festival, and she’s only playing one night so get in quick.

ment with some of the biggest names in UK theatre over the last six months – with two of the leading forces, Charles Savage and Eloise Oliver, backing Charody all the way. Along with Bristol-based arts company Kompany Malakhi and the composer’s own Charody Production UK, The Carnival is quickly shaping up to be a big production indeed. “We open this new production on October 23 in Brighton, then it tours for two weeks across the UK. Then this monster heads on a 12-month international tour, so there’s no rest for the wicked! The story eﬀectively centres around a young woman called Mischa who’s completely fed up with her life in the real world and, in an attempt to hang herself, actually falls through a ripple in time and ends up in a very bizarre circus carnival where she meets one of the lead minstrels of The Carnival who becomes her sidekick, played by Sonja Schebeck.” Of her partner-in-crime and “best friend” Schebeck, Charody says the violinist is the driving force behind the production and the true star of The Carnival, not to mention one of the strongest and most gifted violinists to come out of Australia, according to the composer. “I often say to people Sonja is ‘The Carnival,” Charody states. “I’d say in 2011, she is one of the leading players on the world stage. Her mind-blowing virtuosity is combined with some in-

credible disciplines of circus and no matter what’s happening on the stage, you actually cannot take your eyes oﬀ her! Sonja is probably the person whom I work the closest with professionally, she’s also one of my best friends and we have the same vision to bring circus-opera to life – I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without her.” The vision which Charody and Schebeck share, according to the composer, is to change the public perspective on classical music as a stagnant form of music mainly aimed at the elderly. It’s time for an overhaul, Charody announces. “To be honest, the trends in classical music really show that the audience for this genre is very much ageing and it’s primar-

ily due to the fact that the presentation of this genre is in its current form stale as all hell! If something isn’t done then the imperative genre of classical music is on its way out. I think, above all, to engage a wide audience in classical music is something that is socially of vital importance.”

dience, have ensured its popularity. “This show was the ﬁrst show where we made this much direct contact with the audience and broke down the fourth wall and really brought them into our world. I think that’s why it’s become such a popular show and so fun for us to do”. “I’ve never had a bad time doing this show. It doesn’t matter how tired we are or if it’s the 28th night in a row of a fringe festival. There’s something about this show for us that once it gets started, it has this engine that is really joyful and ridiculous and it can kind of go any way. It’s always chaotic and there’s always something unexpected that happens in the

show. I think our fun gets pretty contagious and once we feel the audience is along for the ride – I actually have moments in the show where I’m like, ‘I can’t wait for the next part! The audience doesn’t know what’s coming!’ – I get all excited”.

GEMMA TURVEY & THE NEW PALM COURT ORCHESTRA Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre - Salon 2 Dates: October 7 Time: 7.30pm Tickets: Full $40, Conc. $30

THE CARNIVAL

BY BIRDIE

It’s been a “bloody whirlwind!” since composer Chloe Charody gave birth to the circus-opera The Carnival – a UK smash hit which the 2007 Young Australian Composer Of The Year now refers to as a “monster” that keeps getting bigger and growing stronger. Bringing it back to Melbourne audiences since its debut in May this year, Charody claims the production has been in high demand locally as well as overseas. “The reaction in the UK has been absolutely overwhelming,” she enthuses. “Audiences and critics over there have really taken to this new genre of ‘circus opera’ that [violinist/ performer] Sonja Schebeck and I have been developing. As soon as it was played on The West End, it was quickly snapped up by several of the top theatre producers over here in the UK. Opening night on The West End was an absolute sweat, though! ‘The Carnival’ started out as a fringe-style production, and when those play on The West End, they often go to the grave because the notoriously harsh London media want to eat you alive! However, luckily, the press were very taken aback with this new style of theatre and, combined with the musical score and the extraordinary performers, it’s led to a very positive outcome.” Since its West End debut, The Carnival has been in develop-

THE CARNIVAL Venue: Red Bennies Lv 1, 373 Chapel St South Yarra Dates: September 21 – 25 Times: September 21, 22 – 8pm, September 23 – 7.30pm, September 24 – 8pm, September 25 – 9pm Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $20

THE WAU WAU SISTERS’ LAST SUPPER BY NICK TARAS I’ve interviewed some sharp minds before, but after conversing with Adrienne Truscott from The Wau Wau Sisters, I can justly say that her outlook and ideas on society, religion and performing were some of the most captivating I have heard. Adrienne, along with her half-sister Tanya Gagne, comprise New York’s burlesque duo The Wau Wau Sisters, and they’re bringing their show, The Wau Wau Sister’s Last Supper, to the Melbourne Fringe Festival. The Wau Wau Sister’s Last Supper is a wild and humorous reinvention of The Last Supper, complete with 12 disciples, cocktails, endless fun and fearless abandon. “In a nutshell the show’s about our super silly bacchanalian reinvention of The Last Supper which is the notion that if you were really going to have a last supper, what would you like it to feel like? And hopefully it would be a little less staid than the one depicted so frequently. So we try to get as many people out of the audience up to the table…and there’s wine and nudity and enough food for everybody and diﬀerent kinds of people at the table – saints and sinners.” Immediately I wondered if there was a risk of oﬀending

Christians, and whether Adrienne cared. “I don’t care if I offend Christians – they offend me every fucking day. If you live in America and you have to listen to how many times some fuckwit says God is the reason for this and that and how high they can climb, and politics, and the fact that there’s so many different religions in America, and they should all be respected. I’m not saying I don’t have respect for people’s faith but I don’t have respect for people shoving their faith down my throat in which case I can tell them to shove it elsewhere. But I don’t find the Christian religion to be terribly true to its roots. I don’t worry about offending them, they offend me by being homophobic, anti-abortion, anti-choice, anti-humanity”. This was only a slice of the ten minute discussion where we fed off each other as we explored the topic of religion, only stopping after I realised that the conversation had evolved into something completely unusable for this article. The girls have been performing The Wau Wau Sister’s Last Supper overseas ever since it featured at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2009, and the spontaneity involved in the show, along with the performance’s involvement of the au-

marek platek AND HIS

$'9(1785(6 in the

blue lycra

* BY SEVEN DRUNK MATES

SUIT

WATCH MAREK DEFY ESTABLISHED LAWS OF PHYSICS & PROPRIETY IN A BLUE LYCRA BODYSUIT. DISCOVER THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ACID ABUSE AND PRACTICAL JOKERY IN A COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. * VOTED MOST LIKELY TO BE KICKED OUT OF MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL 2011

Donkey Wheel House, 673 Bourke Street Opening 23rd Sept, 24th/25th/29th/30th Sept, 1st/2nd/6th/7th/8th/9th Oct. Time: 7.30pm Tix $15 ($12 Concession) melbournefringe.com.au, 03 9660 9666. HECKLERS WELCOME. CHILDREN NOT.

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

THE WAU WAU SISTERS’ LAST SUPPER Venue: GH Hotel, 1 Brighton Rd St Kilda Dates: September 28-October 9 (except Monday) Time: 8pm Tickets: Full $30, Conc. $25, Tuesday $25

SHANE DUNDAS A-LIST ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS

BELIEVE IN A WORLD PREMIERE OF

As part of the Umbilical Brothers, Shane fell down a lot. Now with this solo show, he will need to stand up. Can he make you believe?

REHEARSAL ROOM MELBOURNE

FRINGE

FESTIVAL

1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 OCTOBER TICKETS : PH 9660 9666 or melbournefringe.com.au

MY INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LIFE By Derek Rowe

Dates: 27 Sept – 1 Oct 8pm, Sunday 2 Oct 5.30 pm Tickets: $20, Concession $15

DEATH TO CARNIVALE!

by Dusk Till Dawn Productions Dates: 22nd – 25th Sept, Thur – Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm Tickets: $20, Concession $18

THE CURSE OF THE KAHUNA DADDIES Dates: 27th Sept – 9th Oct, Mon – Sat 9.30pm, Sun 7pm Tickets: $15

A STITCH IN TIME Dates: 22nd-24th September 7.30pm & 25th September 4.30pm Ticket Prices: $18 Full, $15 Concession

SEXUAL DEVIANCY & THE HISTORY OF COUNTRY MUSIC by Travis Merle

Dates: 4th - 9th Oct, 7pm Tickets: $15, Concession & Tuesday $10

THE PIG SHOW

ISAAC’S APPLE

Dates: Thurs Sept. 22nd, Fri. 23rd, Sat. 24th at 6PM , Sun Sept. 25th at 3PM Tickets: $22, Concession $20, Groups $15

Dates: 22nd, 23rd and 25th Sept at 8pm, 24th Sept at 9pm. 5, 6, 7 & 8th Oct at 6:30pm Tickets: $18, Concession $15, Group of 4 $15

by Octavio Campos

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME Dates: 4th - 6th October, 5pm Free event

MINDREADER Dates: 4th – 8th Oct, 7:30pm Tickets: $18, Concession $16, Tuesday $14

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

IT’S GOOD TO SHUT UP SOMETIMES

BARRY MORGAN FROM THE WORLD OF ORGANS

Dates: Sept. 27th-30th 6pm; Oct. 01st 6pm; Oct 02nd 2.30pm Tickets: $18, Concession &

Dates: 4th - 9th October, Tues - Sat 8pm, Sun 5.30pm Tickets: $28, Concession $24

MERCEDES BENZ… AWKWARDLY

WYRD WITH GRACE

by Miklos

Dates: 22nd Sept – 8th Oct, Tues – Sat 9pm, Sun 5.30pm Tickets: $18, Concession, Tuesday & Group of 4 $15

Dates: 22nd - 24th Sept, 6.30pm Tickets: $10

ANYTHING GOES CABARET

BY CLARK GABLE

Looking at images of the Sydney instalment of Anything Goes Cabaret, it’s easy to see that stepping off the modern sidewalk and slipping into a dirty martini is merely a corset away. Anything Goes Cabaret reminisces back to an age where dapper men wore tops ‘n tails and ladies could Charleston like Chaplin champions. Drawing inspiration from decadent Berlin dance halls and hazy smoke parlours, Anything Goes Cabaret promises depravity in spades. And with a gender-bending icon like Marlene Dietrich influencing the character of the show’s MC, you can bet your bottom dollar this production is going to be a little…twisted. After featuring in the 2011 Mardi Gras Festival, and off the back of the Sydney Fringe Festival, Sydney-based director Venus Vamp and her motley crew are packing up their top hats and hitting the road for a whirlwind tour of Melbourne for Fringe. With a year of sold-out shows under her belt, Venus Vamp is noticeably excited when she answers the phone. “It’s burlesque, boylesque, dance, drag and cabaret!” she lists breathlessly. “It’s a darker and more decadent style of showcase, drawing strongly from the culture of the

Weimar nightlife. We’re creating the underground cabaret of 1930s Berlin.” “Anything Goes is definitely on a different bent”, Venus emphasizes. “It’s a little bizarre; a dark exploration of the psychological, political and sexual.” “As an ex-goth…” She trails off, then giggles. “Emphasis on ‘ex’! I’ve always been interested in the darker things in life.” The show has become renowned for featuring acts a little off-centre, and while Venus reassures that while all the acts push the envelope, it’s all in the name of entertainment. “There’s something for everyone!” Venus exclaims, “I always try and book an equal number of male and female performers, so it’s a night of equal balance. Anything Goes has something for all of our audience, no matter what bent you have.” With the pressure of Fringe in full swing, and show dates fast looming, I ask the self-proclaimed femme fatale of theatrical burlesque how often she’s working on putting together the finishing touches to the show before it jetsets to the shores of Melbourne. Without even a pause for thought, she gushes: “24/7! I work on it everyday. I haven’t had a break

for two months! Even if I’m not actively working, the show is always in my thoughts. What can I improve? What can I add? What can I try next?” “It’s my creative baby. I always have a million ideas running through my head.” Trained as a visual artist, Vamp is quick to point out the slick production values and choreographed sequences. “I always look at shows a little differently. How does this work from a visual point of view? I focus on the narrative, all of these burlesque acts are really mini-theatre pieces.” With a hoard of Melbourne performers including Madame ‘Mama’ Natalia (a firm favourite on the Melbourne underground), Kerry X, Lolita La Tex and Jessabella joining Venus in her south side line-up, Vamp is waiting with baited breath to see their new acts in the flesh. And as Venus describes her favourite moment in Anything Goes history, involving two stage kittens, a drag queen and a pink dildo (“All above board!” Vamp assures with a laugh), you can be sure that this dark angel has plenty more tricks up her metaphorical sleeve. ANYTHING GOES CABARET Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1 373 Chapel St. South Yarra Dates: October 5-8 Times: October 5 - 9pm; October 6,7 - 7.30pm; October 8 - 8.30pm Tickets: Full $20, Conc. $15, Group $15

JOEL CREASEY’S LATE SHOW

BY DAVID HUNTER

I am feeling fairly feeble as my interview begins with Perth-born but Melbourne-based comic Joel Creasey – what with the tram on a go slow and my man-ﬂu far from clearing – I breathe a huge sigh of relief as I notice on Creasey’s Twitter feed a simple statement, “I’m on tour and sharing an apartment with Fiona O’Loughlin. I have a massive hangover. She’s my nurse today. Hmm this is weird.” With Creasey also feeling far from perfect, I at least take consolation from the fact that he will no doubt overlook or not even notice my croaky tones. So it is a great surprise when a bright and breezy Creasey (please ignore the awkward accidental rhyming) answers the phone. Far from sounding out of it, Creasey is remarkably chipper. When probed about his earlier tweet, he concedes, “I am a little bit hungover, it is not going great. I have a bit of a sore head, but you know, it is my own fault. It was a big night on a Wednesday night. We were celebrating my best friend’s show opening, so we were out celebrating.” While he may well have been out celebrating his good chum’s show opening, Creasey is a true pro when it comes to performance. With his current run in Sydney

going better than he anticipated, he admits he is more than a little excited about his upcoming Melbourne Fringe experience. “I can’t wait for the Fringe Festival because I have never done it. Also I am now a Melbournian so I just can’t wait to do it!” “I moved to Melbourne in about August of last year, but I didn’t really commit to it and ended up back in Perth. But this year I have really committed to it. It feels like home. It feels proper now.” While it may have taken Creasey a while to ﬁnd his feet in his new setting, his constant touring and commitment to his career made the move necessary. Though he far from disses his home city, he realises that in terms of career development, the heart of Australian arts is in “The Place To Be”. He states abjectly, “There is a lot more comedy work in Melbourne, surprisingly a lot less paid work. There is a lot more room for comedians and a lot more opportunity. Don’t get me wrong, Perth is great, but the opportunities in Melbourne are so much broader.” With Creasey only returning to Melbourne in the nick of time for his Fringe debut, he concedes that he simply did not have time to write a new show speciﬁcally for the event, but instead has devised a Fringe treat that al-

lows him to share the spotlight. He explains, “It is a late night show. Every night I will sing, perform material and be on stage and playing games, just having fun. I will have a lineup of three comedians, three top comedians each night who are going to get up and do some of their own material. Then at the end of the night, I have a singer who will get up and close the show. It is the best of the fringe basically.” “I am guaranteeing the success of the show by oﬀ-loading the work.” With Creasey promising a late night of naugh-

tiness, his move away from hogging the limelight, indirectly increases his appeal, or so he laughs, “If my comedy doesn’t appeal to some people, then one of the acts on the lineup is deﬁnitely going to make them laugh.”

to fill his role of referee, he really is the crowd’s favourite.” But can he really keep these marauders in check? Mitchel laughs, “That’s what we have Mikelangelo for. His booming voice and firm presence will keep the wrestlers at bay.” Mitchell relaxes and smiles when asked for his favourite moments from their April arena spectacular. “Kelly Ann Doll, and her cockroach act. She had this real strut. She may be pint-sized, but she can really lay down the law. Becky Lou and Betty Blood had a brilliant cat fight, it almost looked too real! The Chicken Enforcers (yes, giant chickens) were great at heckling

performers ringside. The audience really divides for their favourite ﬁghters!” Who will win? Who will be demasked? Who will be sent home crying into their wrestling mask? Versus? Battle? Select your player! And let’s get ready to ruuumble!

JOEL CREASEY’S LATE SHOW Venue: Softbelly, 367 Little Bourke St. Dates: September 30, October 1, 7, 8 Time: 11pm Tickets: $25

RED BENNIES ROYAL RUMBLE BY CLARK GABLE Take a slew of burlesque girls and a handful of carnies, lock them together in a caged wrestling ring, and let them fight it out in a death match to end all rivalries. Paying homage to the luchas libres (free-style masked wrestling) of Mexico, and with a nod to the infamous Melbourne event La Lucha Glamourosa, Red Bennies is putting together its very own edition of wrestling madness. On the last night of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, the doors of the South Side Hub will open to showfolk and the public for a final hurrah before Fringe finishes for 2011. Expect an over-sized wrestling ring, the surf-rock sounds of Mikelangelo And The Tin Star and a prized fight night to remember for months to come. “It’s a wrap party for performers and producers of the Fringe Festival,” says Chris Mitchell, creative director of Red Bennies and part-time masked crusader. “It’s a chance for everyone who has worked so hard on Fringe to party, have a drink and watch famed Fringe performers battle it out.” He grins, “It might even be an opportunity for some to level the Fringe playing field. Settle the score after the

Fringe awards!” The formula is simple, yet unique. Burly-Q queens versus the grindhouse girls, hula hoopists against the highflying trapeze. Potential contestants will be handpicked from the Fringe program and will be invited to ‘fight’ against another Fringe Artist. The Bennies collective will be looking for vivacious, fierce and out-there acts to compete for a cash prize, which will be awarded to the best fight of the night as voted by the audience. “We had an overwhelming amount of applications for Fringe shows this year. This is an opportunity for us to invite performers from across the board to take part in our program,” Mitchell explains. “At the last La Lucha Glamourosa, we had a packed dancefloor jumping around on the wrestling ring. It really had the atmosphere of a fight night rather than your traditional Bennies show. It’s going to be a huge party.” With the last La Lucha seeing record numbers at Bennies, it seems masked Mexican dudes are hot property. The combination of wrestling, burlesque lasses, carnival boys, go-go girls and swingin’ sounds is a winning ticket. “Daniel Oldaker will be returning from his national tour

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

RED BENNIES ROYAL RUMBLE Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1 373 Chapel St. South Yarra Date: October 9 Time: 8.30pm Tickets: Full $20, Conc. $15

RYAN

COFFEY

LIVE &

STUPIDER SYDNEY FRINGE FESTIVAL SIDETRACK THEATRE ADDISON ROAD, MARRICKVILLE 7.45PM, SEPTEMBER 14 - 17 MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL THE LOFT: LITHUANIAN CLUB ERROL STREET, NORTH MELBOURNE 8PM, SEPTEMBER 23 - OCTOBER 7 (EXCEPT MONDAYS) ALL TICKETS UNDER $20

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

SIMON TAYLOR: 10 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT YOU You’d be hard pressed to name a person who loves psychology more than man about town (and celebrated penman of beat.com.au’s contentious Moral Melbourne column) Simon Taylor. He has harnessed his unbounding enthusiasm for the human mind and crafted an all-encompassing comedy show about morality, happiness, language and above all, love. 10 Things I Know About You is a witty exploration of the secrets the subconscious keeps from us. That cheeky thing. The show appropriates its title from a certain Heath Ledger (RIP) ﬁlm, but as the overly observant amongst us can probably tell, Simon has gone and dropped the hate. Love is one of the most beautiful experiences one can have. Simon discovers that people can be attracted to others because of their personality or simply because they share similar letters in their names. Romantic revelations put a unique spin on the common view of attraction and falling in love. People can be moral enough to empathise with a starving child on TV, all the while eating a slice of chocolate cake. Simon entertains the undying hope that we are fundamentally moral as he peels back the intentions behind acts of charity and altruism in general. Everyone wants to be happy, yeah? Well Western life is full of ma-

terial things and countless opportunity, but what really makes us smile is hidden away in the back of our mind. 10 Things I Know About You reveals the simple universal truths about being happy in this crazy, mixed-up modern world of ours in which we live in. It’s enough to make you want to give in and cry. SIMON TAYLOR: 10 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT YOU Venue: Trades Hall New Ballroom, Cnr Lygon and Victoria St, Carlton Dates: September 21 – October 8 (except Mondays) Times: 9pm (Sundays 8pm) Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $20, Tuesday $20

THE NONTREPRENEUR The Nontrepeneur chronicles the life of rising comedic talent James Muldoon as he is thrown into the chaotic world of the unskilled job market. As James turns 18, his parents divorce and he suddenly finds that his sheltered suburban upbringing has left him ill-equipped to deal with the precariously daunting world of casual labour. The audience is taken on a journey through song, story and delightful dance, as one man shows how he managed to blunder his way through 38 jobs in five years. Do the math, people – that’s a lot of jobs in a very little amount of time! This effervescent performance twists through a labyrinth of bizarre characters, chance encounters and creepy moments shared between employer and employee. The multidisciplinary and patchwork nature of the show mirrors the transient and disorienting experience of casual work: the late night bars, early morning deliveries and round the clock call centres, all coming together to bring to life a world where time is always out of joint. Become acquainted with a cast of characters that have populated James’s dogged, hard-slog rise to the ranks of underemployed philosophy student, from the cocaine dealing criminal lawyer Mr Sexton, to Sergio, the Italian baby from hell. More like It-hell-ian baby, am I right? A captivating romp through the seedy underbelly of Melbourne’s cash-in-hand jobs and fly-by-night operators, The

I don’t know about you, but right now I have Os Mutantes’ classic track Bat Macumba looping in my head incessantly. I guess I only have the slightly homonymous Bobby Macumber to blame. She’s presenting her noholds-barred, autobiographical show much in the grand style of none other than the honourable Mike Munro. Entitled Bobby Macumber, This Is Your Life, the show provides an insight into all of Bobby’s 29 weird and wonderful years of lesbian existence, engaging in a cathartic recount of her life journey so far – telling tales of a strict Paciﬁc upbringing, the journey of self-discovery via embracing her sexuality, then the painfully arduous task of divulging said sexuality to traditional, conservative parents – through to all-too universal issues that come alongside being in a relationship, as well as tales involving the woes of modern internet dating. These stories will be shared in roughly chronological order, served with a trademark warm, self-deprecating style. Bobby Macumber started her comedy career around 12 months ago, and has since gone on to salvage the opportunity to share some of her far-out life stories with adoring crowds around Melbourne’s thriving comedy scene. Gaining a reputation as a sureﬁre crowd-pleaser, Bobby’s impersonation of her dear mum has had ‘em rolling

in the aisles all over town. Though the wild maternal shtick proves to be a guaranteed hoot, you can rest assured that there will be a veritable cavalcade of wild and colourful cast of characters in Bobby’s life that are just waiting to be unleashed upon unsuspecting audiences throughout this year’s Fringe Festival. BOBBY MACUMBER, THIS IS YOUR LIFE Venue: The Glasshouse Hotel, 51 Gipps St, Collingwood Dates: September 23, 24, 29, 30, October 7, 8. Times: September 23, 30, October 1 8pm; September 24, October 7, 8 7pm Tickets: Full $12, Conc. $10, Group $8

PIRATE RHAPSODY, MERMAID REQUIEM

Nontrepeneur will teach you everything you need to know about losing your job and lowering your self-esteem. A must for all employed festival-goers. And all you unemployed ones too, I suppose. James Muldoon is a classically trained philosopher (sorcerer for all of you Americans) and political activist. This show marks James’s long-sought-after debut at the Melbourne Fringe Festival. THE NONTREPRENEUR Venue: Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets, 80 Smith St, Collingwood Dates: September 22, 24, 29, October 1, 6, 8 Times: 8pm (Saturdays 5pm) Tickets: Full $15, Conc. $12, Group $10

SHANE DUNDAS: BELIEVE Though you may not necessarily recognise his name, you’re certain to remember his face. Or at the very least, his lips. To be more speciﬁc, the sound produced by them. No doubt you’ve seen and heard Shane in his capacity as one half of one of the nation’s most-loved comedic duos, The Umbilical Brothers (for visual reference, he’s the slightly less hairy half). Though having spent many years ruling the comedy stages the world over, there’s one thing Shane has never done – his very own solo show. Before, he fell down a lot for your amusement; now he will need to stand-up (ba-doom TSK!). It’s a scary proposition, after all this time alongside his brother. Can he do it, without the security of a double act? Is it even possible? What form will it take? Who am I? Where did I come from? What is that smell? All these questions and more will be answered when Shane charts uncharted territory right before our very eyes. In order to dream the undreamable dream, he’s going to have to believe in himself. Or in something. Or at least get the audience to believe he does. Or maybe get them to believe in something else. Otherwise, they’ll be-leavin’ the theatre, you feel me? Shane is going to look at what rings your bells as well as his. Ring-a-ding-ding! How far will he need to go, to get

BOBBY MACUMBER, THIS IS YOUR LIFE

“Fuck Disney. This is the real story. The real romance.” So says 2009 Melbourne Fringe Best Newcomer Tommy Bradson, who returns to the festival in a massive way with his musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless tale The Little Mermaid. Here Tommy collaborates with cabaret and jazz legend John Thorn. Pirate Rhapsody, Mermaid Requiem bears all the trademarks of Bradson’s signature filth and frenzy, as he plays both siren and sailor with great flair and pathos. Forget all you know about The Little Mermaid. Pirate Rhapsody, Mermaid Requiem tells the story of an Irish pirate and a dragged-out mermaid. These two characters are given a veritable booty of bawdy songs, wrapped in hilarious dialogue. Throw in a bucketload of laugh-out-loud (or as the kids call it these days L.O.L.) moments and you’ve got an idea of what this show is all about. Tommy oozes charisma as he takes his audience on a wild underwater journey, but don’t expect any Under The Sea or Part Of Your World frivolity. Fuck that. The songs here are littered with profanity and have content ranging from having sex with a fat girl, being fingered and plucked, and being a baby born with a giant doodle. This show is fresh and brash, and although the characters’ seemingly ad-libbed monologues tend to wander into ab-

surd territory at times, they keep the audience engaged and surprises coming around every corner. Damn straight there will be audience participation – lots of it, too. There’ll be accusations, but no friendly crustaceans under the seeeeeeeeeeaa! PIRATE RHAPSODY, MERMAID REQUIEM Venue: Fringe Hub - Meeting Room - Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall Dates: September 23 - October 8 (except Mondays) Times: 9.15pm (Sundays 8.15pm) Tickets: Full $22, Conc. $18, Tuesday $15, Group $15

DAVE CALLAN: RADIO GAGA

you to go with him? Top night or trainwreck, you’ll want to be there when it happens. Just a deranged power-mad televangelist, Shane Dundas will make you believe. SHANE DUNDAS: BELIEVE Venue: Fringe Hub - Rehearsal Room - Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall Dates: October 1, 2, 4 - 8 Times: 7.45pm (Sunday 6.45pm) Tickets Full: $20, Conc. $16, Tuesday $15, Group $15

If you ﬂicked over your wireless to the national youth broadcaster on a late night between 2005 and 2010, chances are you probably heard the thick gravelly baritone of one Dave Callan. Or, chances are you could have easily have been listening to one of the many late-night loons who, for one reason or another, felt compelled to call up and have a friendly chat with the always delightful Mr Callan. For the good part of half a decade, Dave spent the course of countless nights hosting the infamous Graveyard Shift on triple j. It became apparent early on to both Dave and listeners alike that there was a special sense of magic being generated – which led Dave to recording the weird and wonderful calls that made the show a cult success and essential late night listening. Radio Gaga puts together an hour of the best, the weirdest and the funniest wackos to call up the station over the years. It’s like nothing you have ever heard, the rules of terrestrial radio were subverted, rarely was anyone declined an opportunity to go on air. The indiscriminate open door policy resulted in some mind bending and show stopping moments, all handled in Dave Callan’s unique non-judgemental and dry manner. Dave has augmented the amazing audio clips with a multitude of multimedia, even going as far to source photos of the callers and in some cases. If you recall listening to Dave’s callers back in the day and thought,

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

“What the fuck did they just say?” don’t worry, Dave has gone and whipped you up some subtitles, along with other surprises. Radio Gaga is set to be a truly unique live experience, compiling ﬁve years of this hilarious madness into one jam-packed hour. Also, if you know of anyone who thinks this show is named after a certain contemporary pop starlet rather than the Queen classic, please, punch them in the throat. DAVE CALLAN: RADIO GAGA Venue: Fringe Hub - Meeting Room - Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall Dates: September 23 – October 8 (except Mondays) Times: 10.30pm (Sundays 9.30pm) Tickets: Full $19, Conc. $16, Tuesday $12, Group $14

Melbourne Fringe Festival Hub 2011

The Loft at The Lithuanian Club 45-50 errol st north melbourne

9:15 8:15 9:15 9:15 9:15 9:15 9:15

saturday 1st october sunday 2nd october tuesday 4th october wednesday 5th october thursday 6th october friday 7th october saturday 8th october

thelaudanumproject.com

Terrible Comfort and Barking Spider Visual Theatre Company present

Pirates! Puppets! Adventure!

At The Son of Loft Lithuanian Club North Melbourne From 23, 25 Sept - 8 Oct (except mondays) 6.30 PM / (5.30 Sun) Tickets (03) 9660 9666 www.melbournefringe.com.au $20/$18 ($15 Tuesdays)

BEAT MAGAZINEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

DEATH TO CARNIVALE! Death To Carnivale! is what PT Barnum would have concocted if he had a brother named Leatherface, shaved with a chainsaw, and ate carnies for breakfast. Sounds like my Friday night! Who’s with me! An original horror-gore musical theatre piece by Dusk Till Dawn Productions’ Emily Stekly and Daniel Muscat, the piece debuted and sold out crowds in July to much acclaim. It’s a chilling tale riddled with sex, blood and freakish romance set to a goth-rock score... forget confession, come one, come all: purge your sins! The inspiration behind the gore-horror, wild-western metalmusical was its own unique combination: an afternoon spent daydreaming to The Veils’ Jesus For The Jugular; vocalist Ron-

nie James Dio doing his thing on stage; and a short story about a death-defying clown from Bulgaria named Bongo. Death To Carnivale! debuted independently in July of this year at the Tim Burton-esque ballroom at Revolt in Kensington, the venue to which it will return for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. The show started out as a passionate venture into bringing gore as well as heavy metal to the live stage by writing a colourful script and composition, with a large and eclectic cast, crew and band drawn from all over the city of Melbourne. Exploring the fringes of death in the carnie-trodden dustbowl, the wicked tale follows the great misdeeds of Barnaby, the incredibly cruel carnival showman, and his restless freaks.

SHIMMY SHAKE UP LATE WITH FRANKIE WANTS OUT The Melbourne Fringe Festival 2011 is presenting Melbourne’s sauciest and sassiest burlesque performers. Set yourself up for a night of floor stomping, tassel twirling and dance-floor action when Melbourne swing legends Frankie Wants Out team up with the coproducers of the Australian Burlesque Festival - Dolores Daiquiri & Sapphira. Get your dancing shoes ready as the nine piece swing band make you move with their fast jazz, jump blues, Latin, rock and Motown tunes. Starting off as a neo swing band and influenced by the music of the 20s and 30s New York dance halls Frankie Wants Out are sure to make you jump and jive the whole night long. Head down to Red Bennies for a late night show of naughty proportions and raunchy antics. And if you really want to show how hot you are - wear red! If you think there’s nothing in it for you, you’re wrong. The hottest red outfit not only wins a prize and a delicious red drink but also an ‘on stage’ smooch from one of the artists. Get ready to rummage through those closets boys!

SHIMMY SHAKE UP LATE WITH FRANKIE WANTS OUT Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra Date: October 7 Time: 10.30pm Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $20

YUMMY

Dates: October 2, 3 Times: October 2 - 7pm, October 3 - 7.30pm Tickets: Full $20, Groups $22, Table $25

WYRD WITH GRACE “Wyrd up, it’s the code word / No matter where you say it, You’ll know that you’ll be heard.” Cameo, Wyrd Up!, 1986. Spun from a single thread, a web is woven. Long and wide, it interweaves within and without itself – forever twirling, twirling toward freedom. Old English Wyrd is formed from the verb “weorþan”, which roughly translates to something along the lines of “to come to pass, to become”. Say what? Sisters are 3, Fate is 1. 7 ate 9. We share a past that is not static and dead, but alive and forever moving, weaving together into our present lives with a knowing force of grace, grace of force, strength and wisdom. The Wyrd illuminate the way. Around the well the sisters would ‘rist’ the runes – weaving fate, preserving life with its water. Yummy! This performance is a collaboration of dance and music, working with choreographed and improvised scores and structures. Wyrd With Grace explores pathways to grace, wisdom and strength and how they weave our fate. Everybody’s heard, about the Wyrd. And you should too.

DEATH TO CARNIVALE! Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: September 22-25 Time: 8pm, (Sunday 7pm) Tickets: Full $20, Conc. $ 18

EXPOSE Brought to you by the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2011, Expose is a bi-monthly event designed to give you a taste of Melbourne’s best up and coming circus, vaudeville and burlesque performers. Expose has provided many emerging artists with the opportunity to be discovered, with talent scouts and agents regularly attending the event at live entertainment venue, Red Bennies. But it’s not easy to get that 15 minutes of fame on the big stage. Each artist is chosen from a large number of applicants, and with such stellar performances, there’s some tough competition. Featuring performances from the National Institute of Circus Arts’ most talented including Whitney Muscat, Liz Kaiko, Simon Wright and Gerramy Marsden. Don’t miss a preview of tomorrow’s best at Red Bennies’ Expose this Fringe Festival 2011. EXPOSE Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra

Dates: September 24, October 1 Time: 6.30pm Tickets: Full $20, Conc. $15

ISAAC’S APPLE

Following two sell out seasons at the Butterﬂy Club, headlining the Melbourne Cabaret Festival and a hit season at the Seymour Centre in Sydney in 2010 Yummy is back! The Melbourne Fringe Festival 2011 is bringing back comedy duo Sally Bourne (The Boy From Oz, Shane Warne The Musical) and Susan-Ann Walker (Xanadu, Menopause the Musical), who have again joined forces to present Yummy, a riotous mix of two of the biggest voices in cabaret. For two sultry, sexy and hilarious nights, Yummy takes over Red Bennies. When you mix two hot mummas, both sporting ridiculously high heels, a smattering of jewels and some very special undies, anything is bound to happen. With mind-blowing vocals, laugh out loud comedy and original catchy songs, Yummy is sophisticated, sexy and not to be missed! YUMMY Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra

Not only must he deal with a run down carnival and tapped out hillbilly ghost towns, Barnaby also has a hungry dust devil on his trail. Hark back to the day when Barnaby greedily made a deal with the creature, and now he’ll do anything to weasel his way out of his debt, akin to the enthralling tales of Ghost Rider. “How deliciously twisted the mind becomes, when on fallen knees, unto fear it succumbs!” The Dust Devil exclaims in a horrifyingly piercing tone. Often quite humorous, but deliciously twisted and dark, Death To Carnivale! is an anti-romance of bloody proportions set to a haunting musical score and brought to life with brilliant, powerful performances. Stir in a little over two years worth of blood, sweat and tears and we Melburnians are in for a decadent piece of fresh, original theatre. Step right up, folks, step right up. Features: blood, gore, violence and a clown. Deﬁnitely not for the faint-hearted.

A machine can drive momentum, acceleration and force – but the human body has strength, agility and ﬂair. A fusion of dancers and circus artists will descend upon Revolt to invite your imagination to question the order of motion. Presented by Dancus Collective, Isaac’s Apple is a new show devised by a talented, creative and eclectic group of artists. Dancus Collective is comprised of Tayo Wilson, Simone Ivkovic, Matthew Anderson, Amy Nightingale-Olsen and Chris Peard, who bring together contemporary circus and dance. Performed in the unique converted warehouse of Revolt Art Space in Kensington, Dancus Collective transform the loading dock into a crazy and dynamic stage space. This charged show of physical theatre includes tumbling, aerials, contemporary dance and many other physical feats. Isaac’s Apple is also accompanied in part by an original soundscape and live percussion, adding further intrigue to this wild production.

ISAAC’S APPLE Venue: Revolt Melbourne,12 Elizabeth St. Kensington Dates: September 22-25, October 5-8 Times: September 22, 23, 25 – 8pm, September 24 – 9pm, October 5-8 – 6.30pm Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $15, Group $15

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

WYRD WITH GRACE Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: September 22 – September 24 Time: 6.30pm Tickets: Full $15, Conc. $10

What have NFA (1200 Techniques), MC Julez, Simon Eszeky, Pete Satchell, Thomas Butt (of Australian jazz rap band True Live, doing very well in France), writers Michael Winkler, Rebecca Lister and the McSweeney brothers, Andrew and Simon done together this year? They’ve all mentored some bright young talents at Living Music in North Melbourne. Making music there provides alternative pathways for those who’ve fallen foul of the law, struggled with the school system or come from homes that aren’t so crash hot. That sort of sounds like almost every famous musician to me. And speaking of homes, this year’s show is called There’s No Place Like Home. Chris, Xlence, Brybes, Alannah and more present some of the freshest, cruising R&B, funked-up electronica, psychedelic, tell-all pop, and soulful hip hop. Tales of what home means, where home is, the many forms home can take and how one develops a sense of home, place and belonging. To quote The Castle, “It’s not just a house…it’s a home!” and that rings true to a lot of us.

THERE’S NO PLACE NO PLACE LIKE HOME Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: October 4-6 Time: 5pm Tickets: Free

CLOSE TO YOU Karen Carpenter’s mother scrubbed keyholes. Meg’s mother vacuumed a bird cage non-stop with Karen Carpenter singing in the background. Karen died in a closet. Meg has a skeleton in her closet. Close To You, written and performed by Meg Pee, is the comedic exploration of how Karen Carpenter subliminally affected her life from childhood to now. Close To You is an autobiographical character-based story, set in Meg’s sterile suburban childhood house through to her adult share house. The show primarily explores how the domestic realm deﬁnes us. The concept of ‘home’ holds an ideal of people feeling safe and being their true selves. This can become a paradox in a share house - which so often becomes a public space for expression, assertion, unspoken rage and passive aggressive object placement - Meg used to have to shower alongside two naked barbies in a birdcage. Meg is able to successfully link all characters in her show back to Karen Carpenter’s music in some way. The worlds created on stage are familiar, surreal and dark; where boundaries become skewed and anything is possible. On top of all the subtext, Meg isn’t shy to indulge in the odd gag, pun, extreme word play, singing and ridiculous movement. Meg seeks the stage to play and involve as many people as she can in her madness.

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

CLOSE TO YOU Venue: Cape Live, Upstairs 298 Brunswick St, Fitzroy Dates: September 29 - October 2, October 6 – 8 Time: 8.30pm Tickets: Full $15, Conc. $12, Preview $10, Group $10

Impro Comedy Jam

Thursdays 8pm @ The Dan O’Connell

Baby Seals Impro Comedy Group

22nd & 29th Sep 6th Oct

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

AARON SOUTHGATE: LIVE FROM BEN ELTON’S GRAVE Figuratively speaking, Aaron Southgate wears a lot of hats. He could also literally wear a lot of hats, but I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask him. Underneath his (figurative) musician hat, Aaron has been complimented by 1980s luminaries Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys) and Adam Ant (of Adam & The Ants, obviously). Under his performer hat, Aaron has played alongside members of Melbourne’s much-adored The Graveyard Train, as well as a part of Cash Savage’s Last Drinks. In the magical world of film, he has created one of the few full length Super8mm feature films in existence. Super! Now, Aaron has put on a wacky surprise hat, and pulled of an explosive 765-degree turn and set his sights on the world of stand-up comedy. Fuelled by the frustratingly slow process of film and television production, Aaron is now willing to unleash his bulging surplus of stories and jokes, dirt-cheap and direct to the public. Aaron’s debut stand-up show, Live From Ben Elton’s Grave, cuts right to the heart of the most pressing issues facing the world at the moment – film and television. Whether it’s the complete annihilation of Lucas’s Star Wars hexology – yes, not

even the original trilogy is sacred – or highlighting the supernatural elements of Miami Vice (those pastel suits are pretty spooky) – all this and more will be exposed live on stage for the very ﬁrst time. Hold on for a pop-culture loaded rollercoaster ride, fully primed and ready to rock and/or roll. AARON SOUTHGATE: LIVE FROM BEN ELTON’S GRAVE Venue: Word Bar, 14 Goldie Place, Melbourne Dates: September 27 - 29 Time: 8pm Tickets: Full $15

SEXUAL DEVIANCY AND THE HISTORY OF COUNTRY MUSIC Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: October 4 –9 Time: 7pm Tickets: Full $15, Conc. $10, Tuesday $10

young girl defeated, a husband and a plastic surgery addict. Thrown into purgatory, these seven characters are put on trial, urged to redeem themselves of their sins, step into a circus of sin where you will be the judge of who enters heaven and who melts in the ﬁery pits of hell. OBSESSION Venue: The Euro Masonic Hall, Cnr Corio and Hampshire Rd, Sunshine Dates: September 30 – October 2, October 7 – 9 Time: 7pm (Sundays 6pm) Tickets: Full $25, Group $23

missioning should also be encouraged in the popular realm, giving in to her aristocratic tendencies. If you like the music/instrument/outfit/painting/drawing/photo you experience on the day – then meet the maker, order one for yourself, custom made, to suit your own fussy taste and then show it off to all your little buddies. Nice! VOLUME 3 Venue: The Toff in Town Level 2, Curtin House, 252 Swanston St Date: October 4 Time: 8.15pm Tickets: Full $15, Group $10

MINDREADER Mentalist Robert Haley is bringing his show Mindreader to the Fringe to amaze audiences with mysterious mindreading methods. Of course, Robert Haley doesn’t actually claim to be psychic, but he does employ sophisticated observation and suggestion techniques to allow him to delve into your mind. In the early 1900s, the term ‘Mentalist’ was very familiar, especially amongst those in the high society. It was considered great theatre to see a mentalist perform. Those performances used to be labelled as ‘psychic’, but Robert believes this is unnecessary nowadays as the modern audience will be more impressed with the level of skill that is involved. Haley credits shows like Lie To Me and The Mentalist in refreshing this type of theatre, and can also point to Derren Brown as having given the ﬁeld further exposure. I’m also pretty good, too. Think of a fruit starting with C...carrot! Now think of the sexiest man in the whole world starting with B….Bert Newton! Am I right?! If you want to see an actual legit mind-reader, then make sure you get along to this.

Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth Street Kensington Dates: October 4-9 Times: 8pm (Sunday 5.30pm) Tickets: $28, Conc. $24

Mercedes Benz is an expensive car that my dad drives because he sold-out, man. Mercedes Benz, however, is also an exotic dancer. On a somewhat banal night at work, she takes a moment to reﬂect on her time as one of Melbourne’s most ‘dangerous’ and fascinating late night attractions. Mercedes Benz…Awkwardly is an honest yet humorous look at the behind the scenes world of an exotic performer. Glitter, champagne and stiletto heels are par for the course, creating an unattainable image – a fantasy persona. The performance is far more glamorous than the reality – the tan is fake and so is the playful, seductive dialogue. If you’ve ever been to a strip-club, you know what I mean. I thought she loved me but it turns out all she wanted was my money, and that she was a he…but that’s not quite what Mercedes Benz…Awkwardly is about. Thinking about superannuation and avoiding getting your G-string caught on your shoes is all hidden by the

mask of a showgirl. Using interpretive dance and song, Mercedes bends the truth, awkwardly, but lets you in on all her little secrets. That’s if, of course, you let her. MERCEDES BENZ… AWKWARDLY Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: September 22 - October 8 (except Mondays) Time: 9pm (Sundays 5.30pm) Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $15, Tuesday $15, Group $15

Do you realeyes? Sorry, just getting prematurely excited for a certain Oklahoman rock group’s visit later in the year. But until then, we can immerse ourselves in learning how to occupy a small space and avoid anything that looks like trouble. Yet what is it to elbow out of the known confines? To move through the streets with your eyes wide open (just like that Gotye song. Man, is there anything he can’t do?) to move towards another. realeyes is a gutsy and delicate portrayal of lives lived through the experience of ‘disability’. Using sound, voice and gesture, these powerful performers seduce us into the potent beat of the city landscape, confronting the at times overbearing sense of isolation it brings and finding footholds in a series of encounters of varying levels of intimacy. Radiant, raw and elegant, realeyes transcends the normality of the everyday and offers up the wondrous possibility of tangible connections in the modern world.

REALEYES Venue: Chapel Oﬀ Chapel, 12 Little Chapel St, Prahran Dates: September 28 – October 1 Time: 8pm (Saturday 2pm and 8pm) Tickets: Full $25, Conc. $15, Group $15

IT’S GOOD TO SHUT UP SOMETIMES

VOLUME 3 Volume 3 at The Toff In Town sees Melbourne violinist Sarah Curro performing all-Australian works for acoustic, semi-acoustic and electric violin. Not limited to exploring the limits of all things violin, Sarah will also provide a visual feast replete with digital images, filmclips and costumes made exclusively for the show. All the rules are broken in the Volume experience. Throughout Sarah’s life, she has met enough artists, composers, costume designers, photographers, instrument makers, and generally creative people to know that there is so much unique talent being overlooked in the world right now. With Volume, Sarah aims to find this talent, distil it, and serve it to you in one convenient solo-violin-powered neat little package. The Volume series is about encouraging emerging talented artists of many disciplines by commissioning them to create a work of art for this show. Believing that the commissioning of great works of art should not be left only to wealthy benefactors, government bodies or large institutions, Sarah feels that com-

Always with one ﬁnger on the pulse (and the other on his organ) Barry knows what audiences have patiently been waiting for – to rediscover the joy of organs. “Let’s discover together the joy of organs,” urges Barry. His debut album is due to be released early next year.

REALEYES

OBSESSION Obsession is a unique cabaret written by Pauline Agius (Melbourne Fringe Festival Outside Eye recipient) and Sean Moran, directed by Pauline Agius and performed by Moving Theatre. Obsession is like no other cabaret, Moving Theatre have put their own little twist into the norm of a traditional cabaret in order to create a one of a kind theatrical experience. Incorporating live music, theatre, dance, visual and multimedia art, acrobatics and physical theatre, Obsession is performed by a cast of 20 young emerging artists from the west. Obsession is the biggest show created by Moving Theatre in their four years of existence. Performed in Melbourne’s west, in Sunshine at the Euro Masonic Hall, Moving Theatre’s Obsession will be the ﬁrst Melbourne Fringe Festival show performed in this venue. The creation of Obsession has been inspired by the seven deadly sins and the ideas of our actions in day to day life and the idea that all of our actions have a consequence, and it is up to us to decide whether our actions take up on the right path or lead us into a spiral of devastation. An obsessed lover, a gold digger, a pig, competitive twins, a

He puts the Boss in Bossanova, and the ‘organ’ in Morgan; he’s the patron saint of the safari suit: he’s Barry Morgan! And he’s fast becoming the celebrity organ salesman (perpetuated by musician/performer Stephen Teakle) who is wooing audiences with the golden syrup sounds of his vintage 1980s Hammond Aurora Classic. Plucked from the darkness to perform on Spicks And Specks, Barry Morgan became an instant audience favourite, where he was invited back to perform on A Very Specky Christmas, and had the incredible honour of closing with a stellar cast from Dan Sultan to Hamish and Andy. After sell out national appearances across the country in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide, Barry Morgan will demonstrate his famous ‘one ﬁnger method’ on the greatest organ release ever from the Hammond Organ company, the 1981 Aurora Classic. Barry’s hilarious performances create a charming visual and aural experience that cannot be resisted, kinda like Pepe Le Pew but a lot less creepier.

MERCEDES BENZ...AWKWARDLY

SEXUAL DEVIANCY AND THE HISTORY OF COUNTRY MUSIC The Kin F’Kin Hillbillies, made up of one Travis T. Merle and his idiot savant brother George W. Merle, are making their grand-tootin’ return down under after storming The 2011 Adelaide Fringe with an updated version of their Edinburgh Fringe hit show. The new material exposes the sordid truth behind the tinsel and glitter of Nashville and the heroic myths of the Wild West. Travis T. Merle has gained fame with his one-man Edinburgh show, Sexual Deviancy And The History Of Country Music. Not one to bask in the glow and praise for too long, Travis has returned with a band and a new show. Those familiar with his work are aware of Travis’s pretty far-out song themes, being not one to shy away from bestiality in the Wild West, gay orgies in S&M clubs with Eminem (involving a date-rape drug and resulting in the latter’s homophobia); and of course The Ballad Of Randy And Annie, a song about sex and disability, prostitution, spiritual healing, violent death and eternal life.

BARRY MORGAN’S WORLD OF ORGANS

If you think you know what mime is about, you don’t. Or do you? Who knows. Just remember to go see Miklos’ show. It is surprising how much one can tell without words. I often like to communicate with my friends via head-butt. It’s weird, I know. Miklos’ show, on the other hand, employs colourful stories, genuine emotions, funny and quite likeable characters all through mime. It is a clever, real theatrical event where mime is not the goal; it is the instrument that the talented plays on beautifully. I wouldn’t say, Miklos is a mime in the sense of a funny fellow doing funny moves on stage. He is an actor who doesn’t need words to tell you his story, show his character or to awake your emotions, give you something to think about. Miklos began his professional mime and acting career 25 years ago, when his mime teacher oﬀered him a position in his company. Miklos would eventually present his solo shows in Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, the US and in Australia. Currently, he lives in Melbourne teaching acting students whilst also directing and performing his hypnotic silent act-

ing shows. It’s Good To Shut Up Sometimes is the essence of theatrical arts. Go check it out and see what it’s really like to get the silent treatment. IT’S GOOD TO SHUT UP SOMETIMES Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: September 27-30, October 1, 2 Times: 6pm (Sunday 2.30pm) Tickets: $18, Conc. $15

THE PIG SHOW

MINDREADER Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: October 4-8 Time: 7.30pm Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $16, Tuesday $14

Oink oink motherfuckers, it’s The Pig Show! An interactive performance that explores a new genre: “cocklitics”. Performance provocateur Octavio Campos direct from Miami Florida takes a walk on the wild side at Revolt and introduces Australia to Fidel Castro by celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the invasion at the Bay of Pigs through an absurd sexual excursion in the salty trough of a gay pig. This show contains naked doodles, wing wangs, bums and tummies so it is deﬁnitely not for the faint of heart. Octavio is a performance artist and dancer from the mighty US of A, and is set to make his Australian debut with The Pig Show. The performance is a subversive cabaret extravaganza with song, dance and storytelling. The Pig Show is a celebration of freedom, through the eyes of a gay pig stuck in a twisted story of the 50th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion. This interactive socio-political work looks at religion, GLBTQ issues with a good deal of Cuban culture - all blended together with

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

humour and interactive social experiments. The audience will be asked to participate as well as oﬀered Cuban coﬀee and plantain chips, staples of Cuban life. THE PIG SHOW Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: September 22 –25 Times: 6pm (Sunday 3pm) Tickets: Full $22, Conc. $20, Group $15

A STITCH IN TIME

MAREK PLATEK: ADVENTURES IN THE BLUE LYCRA SUIT

When Time attempts to assist Adam, a physics student brutally battling to write an essay, she accidentally tears the fabric of reality. (But let’s be honest here…we’ve all been there…) Thus, Adam has now been charged with repairing it before the nine components leak out and wreak havoc like those bad pirates from The Pirates Of The Caribbean. A chronic procrastinator, Adam’s friends are now in danger from the out-of-control tear and Adam has to fix it to save their lives. A Stitch In Time is a strikingly funny and surreal representation of the consequences of procrastination. Adam should’ve listened when his mother told him that a stitch in time saves nine… This intriguing production comes from the very talented Flaming Parasol team, including director Chloe Bunting and writer Daljeet Singh (a physics, creative writing and archaeology student). There is also a two-for-one offer for tickets on opening night so grab a friend who loves sci-fi/thriller/philosophy/whatever-genre-this-is and get along to it!

A STITCH IN TIME Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: September 22 – 25 Times: 7.30pm (Sunday 4.30pm) Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $15

NERVOUS DOLL DANCING I once read somewhere that the cello is the instrument humans empathise with the most, as the instrument’s pitch is the most comparable to the range of the human voice. Nervous Doll Dancing is a solo project, a fragile yet powerful soundscape created from a cello performance. The music generated guides the listener on an emotional journey through time, presented as an evocative visual installation. A dreamlike narrative driven by music and emotion moves from soothing to spine chilling, as chiming clocks and enchanting images bring objects to life, weaving the past into the present. Prepare to be transported as Nervous Doll Dancing melds the old with the new, creating a magical and haunting sense of timelessness. Classical aesthetics and technology come together to take visual projection to a new level, bringing you an exciting new experience of music and visual theatre. And what better environment to soak in such beauty than the intricate surrounds of Northcote Uniting Church? (If

you get lucky, one of those burger or taco trucks will be also set up at the top of Ruckers Hill too. Yum!) NERVOUS DOLL DANCING Venue: Northcote Uniting Church Hall, 251 High St, Northcote Dates: October 1, 2 Time: 8pm (Sunday 4pm) Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $15

heaps funnier. And it won’t turn shit towards the end. Actually, it’s not really like Heroes at all. Forget I said it. Remember Lost? That show was heaps better. But that’s beside the point, really. BULLET: A SUPERHERO COMEDY Venue: Fringe Hub Rehearsal Room, Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall Dates: September 23 – 30 (except Monday) Times: 7.45pm (Sunday 6.45pm) Tickets: Full $16, Conc. $12, Tuesday $12, Group $12

Brought to you by the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2011 and coming all the way from the sleepy town of Brisbane, The Better Than You Revue is Australia’s newest and most dynamic burlesque troupe. Made up of Queensland’s best burlesque and cabaret performers and sick of being taken so seriously, burlesque bombshells Miss Alyssa Kitt, The Diamond Dahlia, Davina Mercy, La Viola Vixen, Mercy St Just and Miss Charne Louise have created a cabaret show that’s a bit diﬀerent to your more conventional burlesque performances. Mixing song, dance and dark humour in an electric show at Red Bennies, blended in with plenty of parody, The Better Than You Revue take a dig at the ‘boring’ world of modern burlesque. Paying homage to the traditional cabaret style of Berlin’s 1930’s Kit Kat Club, these girls prove that if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? THE BETTER THAN YOU REVUE Venues: Red Bennies, Level 1, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra & The Order of Melbourne, Levels 2 & 3, 401 Swanston St

Dates: September 25, 26 (Red Bennies), 27 (The Order of Melbourne) Times: 8pm (Sunday 7pm) Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $14, Groups $12

Since launching in early 2010, Red Bennies’ South Side Show has quickly made a name for itself as Melbourne’s undisputed weekly home of Vaudeville, Circus and Cabaret. On any given night there will be someone on stage, on the dance ﬂoor or (you have to see it to believe it) hanging from the ceiling. Every Saturday night, Red Bennies comes to life with the creme de la creme of local and international guest performers, circus kids, carney folk and vaudevillians. If you’re after a big night out, then this is the show for you. Bought to you by the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2011, The South Side Show parties till the wee hours of the morning to the sounds of soul, funk, jazz, hippo and cabaret show tunes served to you by resident DJs Mike Gurrieri, Knave Knixx and Edd Fisher. THE SOUTH SIDE SHOW Venue: Red Bennies, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra Dates: September 24, October 1, 8

Time: 10pm Tickets: Full $20, Presale $15

MY INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LIFE

unpredictable 70 minute pinball bounce through a world of eccentric characters and ridiculous scenarios. Listen closely, you can just make out “Quadraphonic Kaleidoscope” being shouted from passing gondolas in the night is here to woo you, screeching like a banshee through a megaphone. QUADROPHONIC KALEIDOSCOPE Venue: Club Voltaire, 14 Raglan St, North Melbourne Dates: September 29, 30, October 4 – 8 Time: 7.30pm Tickets: Full $18, Conc. $14, Tuesdays $12, Groups $12.

THE CONTORTION AND HAND-BALANCING SPECTACULAR! There’s always a ﬁrst time for everything. And never before has there been a circus show in Australia consisting of only contortion and hand-balancing acts. Until now. The Melbourne Fringe Festival 2011’s Contortion and HandBalancing Spectacular brings together the country’s best talent to perform to Melbourne audiences at Red Bennies this October. Over two unique shows, audiences will be treated to a variety of short performances including ground based and aerial contortion acts as well as handbalancing. The Spectacular will feature local artist and contortionist Jacinta Rohan, overseas performer Mim Conyers, 66 year old contortionist Christine Danton (who said age is a barrier?) and Cirque Mother Africa performer Teame Gebregziabher. THE CONTORTION AND HAND-BALANCING SPECTACULAR! Venue: Red Bennies, Level 1, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra

MAREK PLATEK: ADVENTURES IN THE BLUE LYCRA SUIT Venue: Donkey Wheel House, 673 Bourke St Dates: September 23 – 25, 29, 30 and October 1, 2, 6-9 Time: 7.30pm Tickets: Full $15; Conc., preview, group $12

THE SOUTH SIDE SHOW

QUADRAPHONIC KALEIDOSCOPE This Is Siberian Husky welcome you to a perfectly abnormal night of sketch and invigorated absurdity, otherwise known as Quadraphonic Kaleidoscope – the show which debuted to a rapturous response at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. A hilarious, oﬀ-kilter ride through the playground of the comically insane, prepare for the odd, restless and quite unhinged. A collage of sketch, monologue and short twisted narratives with quadraphonic sounds that are only audible by sight, the show presents a patchwork quilt of daytime nightmares and late night dreams wrapped in plastic and labelled as sketch comedy. This Is Siberian Husky is formed by Melbourne comic duo Simon Godfrey and Dan Allemann, taking to the stage by force to parade their oddly scented brand of comedy in this sketch extravaganza guaranteed to make you question the validity of any humorous form not created on the wings of synthesisers. Quadraphonic Kaleidoscope calls to the neglected poor, lonely and bizarre sods who seek their jollies from the more unruly and peculiar end of the comedic spectrum, welcoming all with open arms and wild, ﬂailing legs. Get ready for an

mond, and why his trivia nights leave the punters feeling a little bit violated and a hell of a lot baﬄed.

THE BETTER THAN YOU REVUE

BULLET: A SUPERHERO COMEDY When Bullet, superhero and protector of Settlement City, loses the power to shoot telekinetic bursts of energy, the city is immediately seized by his archnemesis – the vengeful and villainous Dostoyana Ursine. In order to reclaim the town he swore to defend, Bullet must discover how to get his powers back and learn the true meaning of the word ‘hero’. This is something rarely seen today: a radio play, read live on stage by a cast of actors. Robots, bears, psychotic psychiatrists, superheroes and supervillains all battle, bicker and break it down, and break down in tears – all for your amusement! You read goddamn right, robots AND bears – together at last! What an age to be alive. In the space of an hour, you’ll witness all six episodes of a hero facing crushing defeat on every front, and learning how to get back up again. A hilarious journey that will have you tuning your dials for more. Remember that show Heroes? It’s a bit like that. Except

Tired of unleashing his unique brand of hilarity upon the unsuspecting public (and by order of the Court), Marek Platek invites you to come sample his funny wares at Donkey Wheel House. Come ogle Marek and be awed by his chiselled good looks and his overwhelmingly endearing sense of humility. Take our advice and lock up your sister, your recreational drug stash, your recreational jegging stash, and your priceless collection of Space Jam Tazos. Seriously. Marek promises to defy established laws of physics and propriety in a blue lycra bodysuit. Head along to learn why a 28 year-old that works for his father moonlights as his alter ego, Domestos. Audiences will be enlightened unto the fundamentals of acid abuse and practical and impractical jokes alike (complete with PowerPoint presentation – replete with mindblowing PowerPoint special eﬀects and clipart) in a collaborative learning environment. Find out why Marek has earned an infamous reputation in Rich-

Dates: October 5, 8 Time: October 5 - 7.30pm, October 8 - 7pm Tickets: Full $20

Break-ups are the worst. They almost make relationships not worth it. If only we could just forget about our former lovers like they do in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Well Guy has broken up with Mandy. Most of their friends have taken her side, leaving him alone for the ﬁrst time in his now tiny, shrunken adult life. It kind of sounds like the plot from an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm… Well Derek Rowe stars in this hilarious one-man rock musical that proves working out the right thing to be sorry for…can be the hardest part of stuﬃng up! My Incredible Shrinking Life – a very applicable title considering the subject matter that most of us can relate to – appears to be the kind of show with a lot to teach in a very fun, edgy sort of way. So guys, if you’ve been in Guy’s position before, then don’t miss this.

MY INCREDIBLE SHRINKING LIFE Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Dates: September 27–October 2 Times: 8pm (Sunday 5.30pm) Tickets: $20, Conc. $15

THE CURSE OF THE KAHUNA DADDIES If you appreciate acting as wooden as your tiki and love to hear salty tales while nibbling on some nuts and downing a Mai Tai, then The Curse Of The Kahuna Daddies is your ticket. Even if this isn’t your ticket, it’s your ticket. It’s that good! Marvel at how these Island Artistes generate passion and wicked rhythms from the Kahunamatic Home Organ and a couple of rusty trumpets. Beloved Kings of the Tiki Island scene, The Kahuna Daddies were banished by the Big Kahuna himself. Hear their story of woe! The Kahuna Daddies tell their salty tale with 15 all-original tunes. Dance the evening away with Go Kahuna Go, Do The Kahuna and The Kahuna Stomp. Check them out as they switch from Bossanova to Swing with just a ﬂick of a button. So, if you hanker for the island life, and bamboo is in your blood, do yourself a favour and get some tropical strength entertainment.

BEAT MAGAZINE’S FRINGE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2011

THE CURSE OF THE KAHUNA DADDIES Venue: Revolt Melbourne, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington Date: September 27- October 9 Time: 9.30pm (Sundays 7pm) Tickets: $15