Adelaide Fringe

[Mister Meaner]

What's happening at this year's Fringe? Anyone got any tips on "must see" shows?

[tipper]

i am going to see "the porcelain punch travelling medicine show" tomorrow night. no idea what it is like but for me it is a must see, my cousin is in it! ill let you know what it is like wheni have seen it.

other than that i assume we will see other shows, no idea what yet. we usually get to see a couple each year, mostly as a spur of the moment thing as friends are going.

[Mister Meaner]

Is that the group in yesterday's Advertiser- I thought they looked interesting. looking forward to hearing what you thought!

[Pseudo]

I will give a plug for "Things and Stuff", because I happen to know the bloke doing it.

http://www.adelaidefringe.com.au/fringe ... 72f725dba9

Will be going to see this myself at some point.

[tipper]

Is that the group in yesterday's Advertiser- I thought they looked interesting. looking forward to hearing what you thought!

yes it is. my cousin lives in melbourne and i have no idea what the show is like, but i am looking forward to it! ill try to stay sober enough to write a coherrent review!

[Columbo]

Off to see Barry Morgans World Of Organs tomorrow night, from what I have seen he looks quite funny, so looking forward to it.

[Wedgie]

Ive got tickets to see Tom Green and the Trailer Park Boys, cant wait for both shows!

[Columbo]

Took a trip down to the beautiful Sunnyside Mall last night to Barry Morgan's World Of Organs.

It's hard to give a bit of a summary of what the show is like without giving too much away, but if you have seen Barry on Spicks and Specks then you would have a good idea of what you are in for during your hour in the tent.

It's probably classed as a comedy act but he doesn't really tell jokes, although most of what he says is funny, the facial expressions get the crowd in but his skill at the keys of the Hammond Aurora are actually where his talent lies, but that alone wouldn't make for an interesting show.

Glad we went along to see it but felt it got a bit repetitive by then end. Barry was quite happy for pose for photos and to sign merchandise outside the tent after the show which certainly pleased his fans!

Bit of a tip if you are planning to head along, they fill the seats from front to back, so if you want to get a good spot get to the tent early and line up.

**On a side note they were pretty hot on bag checks at the entrance to the Garden, (including handbags) and no drinks can be taken inside, including personal drink bottles of water, don't know if that would apply to kids drink bottles but there were a couple of unhappy people at the gate when we went through emptying their bottles of water.

[Pag]

Got tickets to see Mike Wilmot in a couple of weeks. $22 on Cheap Tuesday. Canadian bloke doing Adelaide for the first time, very funny from what I've seen on DVD and youtube.

[Hoochie Mama]

Dead Cat Bounce- hilarious Tom Binns- absolutely brilliant Gravity Boots and friends- spectacularly hilarious and clever- a must see

[Dutchy]

Going to see Tom Gleeson tonight, dont mind his comedy.

[Pseudo]

Saw a couple of stand-up shows last night.

First up was "Things and Stuff" by Tristrom Cooke, a little way off the beaten path in the SA Chess Centre, a small walk from Light Square. Tristrom is a local bloke doing his first-ever Fringe show, exactly what the Fringe is supposed to be all about. The Saturday evening crowd was small, perhaps 20 punters, but all of them had more than a few laughs over the course of the hour. Aided with props taken from his Magic Box, Tristrom tells anecdotes on topics as diverse as his gluten-intolerant fear of flour, the reasons he didn't land a job as a web developer, his experience as a beekeeper, and pays a good homage to a certain well-known scene from Reservoir Dogs. Tristrom manages to elicit laughs from the audience without recourse to any of the four-letter words commonly espoused by stand-up comedians so his schtick would be suitable for older kids. Shows start at 6.30 and the Thai restaurant on the corner is apparently giving 10% discount upon presentation of a ticket after the show - so get along and catch an early show, have dinner after, then kick on at a late show. Support an up-and-coming local comedian!

Disclosure - I know Tristrom from other circles.

After the show we found our way to the East End and wandered into Gluttony. Walked around window-shopping for another show and let a spruiker talk us into "2012: End Of the Beginning" by Eric Amber. Apparently this bloke had previously performed at the Fringe as one of The Three Canadians. This was more standard stand-up; the guy was a little more involved with the audience, yelled a lot more to hammer home a point ("I'm not the one who's crazy!!"), and wasn't averse to an occasional F word. He apologised at the start of the show for having to read from his notes, since the show was only 5 nights old, but he need not have; I've seen Billy Connolly do the same, though in a more spontaneous manner. Thought Mr. Amber was a little slow and forced to start with but by half way through he'd gotten into his groove and was interfacing better with the 40-50-strong crowd. Some of his stuff was amusing - like why the French word for vagina is masculine, and how sheep cope with the Australian weather - but some of the stuff early in his routine (talking about his upbringing) left me a bit dry.

In sum, both shows were good for a chuckle. Was a pleasant enough way to while away a Saturday evening and money well spent. Certainly better value than a more well known comedian I got dragged to see some years previously (coughJudith Lucycough) who managed to fill a theatre but made me laugh only ONCE in a whole hour.

Footnote: the free Fringe bus which circles the city was an .... interesting experience, to say the least...

[Mister Meaner]

I caught Gravity Boots and Friends at the Col Light last night and it was like going back to the 70s when I was addicted to Monty Python and knew every sketch word by word. Incredibly clever absurdist sketch comedy. Such intelligent writing, so insanely bizarre, so irreverently hilarious. The audience was screaming with laughter. These guys are so talented.get along to their show. They will be huge and great to see a couple of Adelaide boys doing so well. Off to Edinborgh Festival, then what?........

[Columbo]

Saw Ross Noble Friday night at Thebby Theatre, 2 hour show of total randomness that was funny from start to finish. One of the highlights for me were the comments directed to the Weslo security guy who about 5-10 min into the show walked down to stand near the doors to the right of the stage, all night he was copping it from Noble about his yellow shirt, with comments such as Lemon Warrior and Lemon Avenger and how "tough" it made him look.

Saw Stephen K Amos a couple of weeks back, was a bit disappointed, funny in parts but overall was a bit flat.

[Wedgie]

Saw Tom Green last night, made the mistake of not getting there exactly at the time on the ticket and missed the start.
Funny as buggery but I enjoy his show a couple of years ago as a standalone tour much better, Fringe show was short with no preliminary comedien.
Goint to Trailer Park Boys with a heap of mates at Thebby Theatre tomorrow night, should be great, we have the first 7 tickets closest to stage on the balcony along the side.