Ross Noble is so $&%^ing funny

So now I have seen the shows I wanted to see from this years Melbourne Comedy Festival, and perhaps the final performance was the one that was needed to wind it all up. While Arj had me in stitches with his routine and Wil Anderson also, it is kind of hard to describe what Ross Noble is like. My first thoughts were that I loved the show, even though there are hardly any particular gags I remember. See, its not that he doesn’t have the usual sort of setups with his comedy, but the standard punchlines are just not there. His show is like a stream of consciousness; he often claims he plans about a handful of topics to cover in his shows, and relies on audience input for the rest. When I heard this I was a tad concerned, but those concerns were for nought, as he managed to keep me engaged for what become an epic performance.

He is a master of surrealistic satire, razor sharp and quick-witted and as pop culturally obscure as you could imagine. His show is impossible to nail down into any sort of structure, except the intermission, which is a welcome relief to stretch your legs after the first hour or so. I was amazed how Arj and Wil managed to sustain a pretty constant level of entertainment through their hour-long shows, overcoming the hurdle that seemed to hit about thirty minutes into each show. The thing about Ross was the show went for nigh on three hours. Started at about 8.50 and we left the Town Hall at midnight. Fair dinkum.

That may seem like an extreme time, almost too long, but with the intermission plus an audience member having an eplileptic fit, he would have been on stage for at least two and a half hours. He handled the medical emergency really well, despite the fact that the partner of the dude having the fit, was hysterical and took ages to calm down. Her blood curdling screams were a bit over the top, and once the guy was helped out to an ambulance, the show was back one. It must be said, Ross hit us with a pearler, as the guy was being carried out on the shoulders of two medics. He said to the guy he would get a huge laugh if he shouts out “Adrian!!!”. Thats gold.

This big kerfuffle happened not long into the second half of the show, and I reckon he handled it with a good deal of patience and kindness. Thats not to say he didn’t use it as comedy ammo to snap us all out of the buzz-kill mode we were in. He has a knack for comedically smacking you in the face to keep you following him on his chaotic journey of consciousness. Thats the best way to describe his style, basically letting whatever he thinks about come out. But the clincher is he makes it funny. Anyone could stand up on stage and waffle on and on about all kinds of random shite, but he does it, fast, and incredibly funny.

Almost felt like I was kind of half stoned at some point, because I was laughing so hard and so often, that I got a bit dazed. It was a sensational show. A great and unique experience because those circumstances will never be replicated exactly. Sure, he may have a few stories up his sleeve, but the bulk of the show was based on his interaction with the audience. I will most certainly be attending his show next year, and most likely a couple of times too, because by the looks of it, its always gonna be something different.

Wish the Melbourne Comedy Festival went for a bit longer, as I was really enjoying the whole Tuesday night comedy shenanigans. Was an awesome few shows and an awesome time had by me and some good friends. If Ross is still playing, I urge anyone reading this tripe to attend. He would want you to, even though he probably doesn’t need you to, but it would be good if you did, so do it

// New Satch record is ace!

As some in Melbourne know, the Comedy Festival is now in full flight, with heaps of shows on every night of the week. I was recently lucky enough to see Arj Barker (proof here) which was a really awesome show. So last night I went and saw a couple more shows. The first show I saw was a man named Dave Callan, an Irish/Aussie bloke who prefaced his show with “its cheap because I am charging you for the funny stuff, not the serious stuff”. I thought he was just trying to be funny, but he was actually telling the truth. You see his show was primarily just him sitting at a laptop, flicking through various funny photos and adding some social commentary. Oh and also plenty of global warming, end of the world if we don’t stop being greedy, everyone is bad, etc. sort of stuff.

Dave Callan

For the most part, the pictures were humourous, although I had seen 95% of them before. He did make me laugh enough to look past the strong feelings of watching a comedian’s take on An Inconvenient Truth. I enjoy a good documentary, but when I start to get preached to, I find it hard to follow. The thing is, he is a funny guy, but his Power Point presentation just lacked a bit of the flair of pure stand-up…I mean he was sitting down the whole show. Also, the venue, Le Cascadeur at Federation Square, was one of those all-too-trendy (goddamn you Spiegel tent, you and your awesomeness making wooden tents ‘cool’ again) wooden circus tents that have popped up on the Yarra side of the square. From the outside they look kinda quirky and interesting, but on the inside they are saunas with lights and a podium. And the most uncomfortable seats ever. I sound like I am getting a bit whingey, but the show was enjoyable, and $13 was the appropriate price, as Callan said.

Wil Anderson

This political and preachy environmental stuff had me in a nervous mood (and the seats made my back ache) as we made our way to the comedy theatre for the next act in our double-bill – Wil Anderson. I was hesitant to go see Wil, as sometimes his own level of pretentious, holier-than-thou, left-leading ABC humour often frustrated me on The Glass House. Small doses of this stuff is ok and I always thought he was a better comedian than that. And last night, he proved, without a shadow of a doubt, he is a much better comedian than that – he was excellent. I was pleasantly surprised and my low-ish expectations being shattered so convincingly was really refreshing.

I thought Arj Barker had set the bar too high for anyone to compete, but Wil was a surprising equal. I never realised how much he swore, and with the topic of relationship break-ups key to his show, the swearing came thick and fast. He had me in stitches throughout the show, and he only offered up little tiny bits of political humour. Score one for reason! He did seem a bit angry though, and even a little bit raw from the relationship breakdown he had last December. You see he started the show with that, and said how hard it was writing the show due to that happening right as he began to prepare. So it was the running theme of the show. It meant he could pay out on the typical Aussie bloke who hides his emotions, the laughable notion of intelligent design (his lengthy critique of the human body’s ‘design’ was pure gold) and even talk a while about poos and wees.

So I have now seen one of America’s finest and one of the best Aussie comics going around. Next week is Ross Noble, who from all accounts is the best. Awesome!

// I wish I was going to more shows now…