Friday, April 26, 2013

30 before 30: #20 - attend a live performance

My 30 before 30 goal of attending a live performance was smashed out of the ball park earlier in the month. And it's probably not hard to work out why. The Melbourne International Comedy festival (the third largest laughfest in the world) lights up the faces of Melburnians each April and there truly is an array of talent to choose from.

In a previous life (when I worked in the thick of the CBD), I would try to attend at least two shows per week. Now that a commute is required, I'm more strategic about my show choices. This year, I managed to get to three performances:
  • Hannah Gadsby
  • Tom Gleeson
  • Mark Butler
Hannah's was an outstanding show. Indeed, a better stand-up gig I have never seen. She connected with her audience on an emotional level. Her show was poignant, funny and offered great flow and narrative, which is often not achieved at stand-up gigs. I believe my comment to our friends as we left her show was something along the lines of: "I think we've just witnessed comedy nirvana". Her 5-star reviews were certainly deserved.


Tom's show was predictably good. The guy is in his element on stage with a microphone in hand. He handles hecklers with aplomb and a very sharp tongue. His suggestion of inserting a "porn nugget" in lieu of the copyright warning at the start of DVDs still makes me giggle. A solid show indeed.


Our final show of the festival was also excellent. Lesser known performer, Mark, is a thinking man's comedian. His show was witty, well-scripted and engaging. It was full of puns, wordplays and general etymological gold.


So, in the words of Borat, this year's MICF was, in my opinion: 


No comments:

Post a Comment