Pig Island (yes, that’s the name of the theatre company) has produced a curious work in which a sketch comedy format is applied to a series of theatrical vignettes.

I got a strong sense that this show was devised through a series of improvised theatre ‘games’ such is the eclectic, eccentric, zany feel of many of the scenarios – a loner doctor with his cold, Russian, mail order wife, the babysitter dealing with the ‘real’ imaginary friend of a boy with autism,  and the man who didn’t really mean to kill his brothers while living in an island paradise. It does sound macabre, seeing this list in print, however most of these scenes are played to extremes, for laughs, in an absurdist style. In fact, most of the laughs are achieved by pushing storylines will beyond the line of common sense.

If you enjoy theatre with a touch of the absurd, an overdose of creativity, and a whimsical feel, then The Glass Boat is for you. This show really is like a ride in a glass-bottomed boat, from which we can stare down at ourselves and observe and enjoy our quirks.

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Asher Treleaven named his show “cellar door” because it is one of the most beautiful phrases in English, according to JRR Tolkien. I know the show’s title is an ironic device, but I can’t help but think, what a waste!

The premise of this show is that there is comedy to be had by regurgitating excerpts from trashy literature – Mills and Boon, autobiographies and inept self-help guides. And that premise is sound except for the way it is played in this show.

Unfortunately, Treleaven still has a lot of work to do to develop this show. The presentation is monotonous, unimaginative and just too obvious. As an audience, we are expecting Treleaven, as the comedian, to take this base material and be creative with it, show us something new and unexpected, not just read a few passages verbatim with little other than vacant asides to the audience, begging for some polite laughter.

The foundation is here for an entertaining show but it is nobbled by this under-development and an array of simply silly, if not, embarrassing physical gags, some recycled directly from other performers like the mind powers gag of acting as if you have mind control powers to open automatic doors – I have lost count of how many times I have seen this material circulate on the internet over the last few years. There is also too much time wasted with a routine based on the audience being asked to select entrance music from the Top Gun soundtrack.
I know this review is sound terribly negative, and I note tonight’s performance was the first of this show, but I believe this show has great potential and I am looking forward to seeing how it develops over time. All it needs, perhaps, is a director to give Treleaven some perspective and critical feedback. Perhaps, if we use cellar door imagery, it will mature with age and some character will develop. On the character note, there was a confusing persona adopted by Treleaven – part uber-camp, part Judith Lucy, part eccentric, part boy-next-door. I look forward to him finding his own style too.
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Daniel Kitson delivers thinking-person’s comedy. His rich use of language, his elaborate layering of his narrative, and the deep, internal territory he traverses, will leave a pub crowd a little lost and confused.

But if you are willing and able to engage your grey matter and scrutinise some uncomfortable truths that all of us share, then this show will be worth every penny.

There are other comedians being promoted as acute observers of humanity, but nobody can hold a candle to Kitson. He ruthlessly examines our timidity in the face of opportunities to show compassion, and our cowardice in speaking our minds as we flit between fear of death and fear of looking silly.

If this is sounding all a bit too heavy, then I am giving you a slightly wrong and slightly right impression of the show. On one hand, Kitson the comic is in full flight, spurting comedic gems like a king tossing sovereigns to the crowds, but on the other hand, we also watch Kitson the mad, humanist, preacher, trying to measure and lighten his important message to us to become more engaged in the world around us and to have courage to show compassion.

This beautifully crafted show does drag towards the end, like a majestic cruiser gently scraping against the shoreline after a rugged journey. It might benefit from some trimming, as 90 minutes is quite a challenge for any comic to hold the floor, especially one who is punctuating his banter with beatitudes.

Find a friend who enjoys conversation, see the show, and then search for a quiet bar or cafe to mull over this intriguing material.
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It’s New Year’s Eve, 1963, in the Moonlight Lounge in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. We are there, in the audience, enjoying song and dance, while enduring some very dated comedy.

There is no doubt that every cast member, from musicians to singers, to dancers, is very talented. There was not a weak link in the production. However, two elements worked against this production. Firstly, the comedy routine was very lame (yes, I know it meant to have that 60s authenticity, but surely we would have forgiven some more contemporary shtick). If updating the routine would have eroded the integrity of the material, maybe it could have been dropped altogether. Just a thought. Secondly, the space is ill-suited to the show. The large hall in North Adelaide dwarfs the players. This is exacerbated when the audience is small. With a cast that numbers around 14, that is not hard to do midweek at the Fringe.

Having said all that, this is a classy show that definitely delivers that Vegas feel-good vibe. Don’t be surprised if you catch yourself tapping your feet or singing along! Good fun.
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This is a luscious show from a purely theatrical point-of-view. It is a very layered script, the three actors share numerous roles, as well as each actor playing the lead character at different stages of her life – child, mother, “crone”.

The character in question is the author of Mary Poppins, PL Travers. Travers grew up in Australia and along her journey we meet her father, who worked for a bank, and an aunty who carried an umbrella and carpet bag – characters we are familiar with from the Mary Poppins story.

However, Travers’ character goes to great pains to avoid defining the moment or person who inspired the Poppins character. In fact, we learn that she would rather have had the story attributed to Anonymous because she felt she was more like a medium for the character, rather than its creator.

It is a fascinating story with excellent, albeit animated acting. It will be a joy for anybody who enjoys imaginative and poetic theatre. It might be a bit more challenging for folk normally attracted to the Fringe’s stand-up and burlesque fare.

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Here it is – my first five-star show of Adelaide Fringe 2008. Prepare for a late night and book in for the last remaining shows to catch this Fringe’s big surprise event, ’20 Something’.

Apart from superb voices and steadfast piano, there is magic in the air when this trio performs – Tamara Shinners, Rachel McCall and Jamie Cock (piano).

Standards get a reworking as Shinners and McCall take us through those wonderful years when we are/were 20 something. Siren-like Shinners and soulful McCall banter about uni leading nowhere, making new friends, dealing with Centrelink, finding love and travelling.

It is such a rare thing to find a Fringe cabaret act in which all cast members are equally proficient with the technical AND theatrical demands of a show. This trio certainly is, and they cast their spell within minutes of taking to the stage.

The revamped Promethean is the perfect setting for this show – it is cosy and intimate, with patrons scattered on a variety of seating, dangerously accessible to the performers. This last reference is to the audience participation components of the show. Yours truly was roped in as the guest percussionist to assist the girls with Cher’s classic, ‘Bang Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down’. I played drum, cow bell, pistol and whoopee cushion – don’t ask! Strangely enough, even after deducting half a star for this dip in musicianship, the trio still manages a perfect score because they had over-delivered all night.

I didn’t want them to leave, we didn’t want them to leave – I look forward to enjoying their work again next Fringe, perhaps in the Entertainment Centre?!

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“Mrs Winifred Tickletext, widow and past president of the Pembleworth Ladies Society, is travelling Europe in the footsteps of Apostle Paul. Very British, very prudish and totally starved of sex, she causes chaos wherever she goes.” Thus reads the blurb for the show.
There is no doubt this one-woman show is a great acting challenge and Jessica Gerger does a magnificent job playing half a dozen different characters, while whizzing about a versatile set.

The show is classic “farce” in which our larger-than-life heroine, Mrs Tickletext, lurches from one “Carry On” style scenario to another.
Fringe Guide

Akmal is a naturally funny man and he uses his size and personality to great effect. This show seems largely improvised, using a foundation of some standard routines that have the feeling of being used many times before.

If you love Akmal, and it is hard not to like him, you will smile, laugh and enjoy this show. If you are looking for adventurous comedy heading into new territory, you will be disappointed. I thought his bravery in asking for questions from the audience was virtuous, at first, but then became tired as it continued for what seemed like the second half of the show. Unfortunately, most of the questions yielded a paucity of comic material. I even chipped in with one, asking Akmal who was the worst person at improvising on Thank God You’re Here, but he dodged the question.

I would like to see Akmal write more material for the show, rather than rely so heavily on the crowd or his “now that I am famous” routines because I know he has the talent there waiting to be mined.

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This show perplexed me greatly and left me asking why it was written. It wasn’t because the writing was poor, nor was it because the acting was poor, it was because the story lacked drama.
Chiefly, it is the story of The Goodies, just after Bill Oddie left the trio to embark on a solo career as a musician/writer/performer. This is perplexing because in the great story of The Goodies, Bill’s departure would be the climax. The bit you are left with, the denouement, would then cover Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden working out what to do next, attempting to go on as a duo and then, ultimately, parting company. This is precisely what we explore during this 30 minute play.

In many ways, if we were to treat the story of The Titanic in this way, we would start just as survivors are plucked from the water into the safety of rescue vessels and then finish when they reach shore.

I hope this is a work in progress and we will see the full story sometime soon.

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It’s not every day I review a comedian with cerebral palsy, and I am so glad I have now had that opportunity.

Laurence Clark has the most wicked sense of humour, possibly rating higher than 12% evil. His show is a very cleverly constructed deconstruction of stereotypes assigned to people with disabilities, especially villains of the silver screen (did you realise that every James Bond movie, for example, has a villain with some form of disability?).

But don’t think that this is a morality lecture for one moment. This is well executed “sit down” comedy as Laurence highlights the automatic assumptions most able-bodied people adopt when confronted with somebody with a disability. With great hilarity and a hint of evil, he shares footage of himself playing the role of charity collector in his wheelchair on various London sidewalks. Just how ridiculous do Laurence’s “causes” need to be before people analyse why they are giving this “cripple” a donation? You will find out.

In fact, I am now so sensitive about being dubbed a patronising twit, that I have resisted the temptation of awarding five stars, just in case Laurence thought the extra star was awarded through pity!

Be warned, Laurence’s speech can be a little slurred at times, so you will need to concentrate more than usual. However, the sheer nuggets of comedic gold are worth the effort. Bravo!

Laurence Clark is appearing as part of High Beam Global, curated by Arts Access SA – for full details of the comedy, cabaret and theatre events, view the High Beam Global program online.

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