By Jennifer Beasley.
Aim for a solid six and mind who takes up residence in your head, as this hilarious quartet ensures no refunds are required.
I really enjoy going to The Shirley Burke Theatre. Supported by the Kingston City Council, it’s a lovely 167 seat venue that offers big bangs for your bucks in the heart of Parkdale. Adding to this is the vibrant wine bar scene, ice-creamery, various restaurants and a budding vibe of happiness that draws me to the area again and again.
Therefore, when presented with the opportunity to go to see Comedy At The Shirley, I was keen. This venue keeps on improving its theatrical events, with, so far, comedy line-ups every second month, very conveniently held on a Friday, in March (14th at 7:30pm), May (2nd, 7:30pm) and June (6th, 7:30pm).
For this event, I attended this 90-minute show on Friday 31st at 7:30pm to a full house, headlined by Sammy J, M.C. by Dane Simpson, with up-and-coming Kiwi gem Gabby Anderson, and a British now newly minted Aussie, Robyn Reynolds.
My companion was excited to attend. ‘You’ll be reviewing a celebrity,’ he said. Impressed that he knew who Janet A McLeod, the fairy-godmother of Melbourne Comedy and this event’s producer was, I nodded sagely, my thoughts taking up all available mental real estate of how to bribe my daughter to complete her 120 driving hours, and therefore, not really listening. And why is this important? I’ll get to that.
Moving on: to Dane Simpson, the King of Wagga Wagga!
Mate, you slayed it. Having participated on Thank God You’re Here and been a part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dane has the Teddy Bear factor going on- you just want to hug him, he’s so warm and generous. And hysterically funny. Great at warming up the audience, his energy is welcoming and encompassing, and I felt like I was visiting my Uncle Noel (who lived his whole life in Wagga) and pretty soon Dane would be inviting us back to his for a BBQ. Hailing from the Gamilaraay mob, Dane had me laughing so hard I had a hard time holding back tears of joy. Whatever you take from this review, please follow him! In fact, all of the comedians are amazing, and deserve due credit for their enormous talents.
Introducing Gabby Anderson next, this schoolteacher by day and deadly humorous comedian by night gave one of the best inspirational monologues I’ve ever heard. A mash of Gandolf/Breakfast Club and a whole host of pre-2000 movie standout speeches, Gabby delivered her 2pm wake-up-student inspiration spiel with laughs amidst the admiration that she could meld this delivery so perfectly. Having won the National Raw Comedy Quest in NZ in 2018, this comedian has great physicality, amazing mobile facial features and uses her improv to great effect. Hopefully we will see more of Gabby in the future.
Another standout, Robyn Reynolds, all mother-of-pearl skin and flaming locks, gave a witty, bold and confident performance. Fresh from winning the Comedy New Work at Melbourne’s Fringe last year, Robyn doesn’t pull any punches. She spins out jokes and anecdotes in all her brazen glory. Robyn even shared a positive about her condition with Crohn’s disease, which I’d never thought possible, but that is something that comedians can give you- a different perspective. I will also add that I loved that during intermission Robyn handed out flyers for her next show, What Doesn’t Kill You (8th – 20th April 8:30pm Melbourne Town Hall). Clever girl.
Finally, Dane wraps it up with Sammy J performing after the ten-minute intermission.
I don’t know if it’s terrible that I didn’t know who Sammy J is or strangely funny, but I found his musical numbers a refreshing counterpoint and a lovely balance against the other comedians. If you are like me, and don’t know who Sammy J is (as if, right? LOL), he has just wrapped up 5 years working on the ABC radio (not, as I thought, as a rapper but a commentator but if he was a rapper what a cool name) and has won so many awards my finger got tired scrolling through Wikipedia.
Belting out his own songs such as Nepean Highway, and the physical and funny Hold My Hand (great tonal change up with fantastic physicality), Sammy J isn’t afraid to go there. There being Living in Sandilands’ Head, which I think after watching one episode of a TV singing show Sandilands hosts I’d think would be a frightful place to live. But not Sammy J. He’s living there alright. The song demonstrates by ingenious use of voice overs, and what I would imagine are real radio conversations from Sandilands, how easily you can take up a person’s ‘real estate’ in their minds by thinking about that person. Very naughty Sammy J, and shades of Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood song and many of Tim Minchin’s songs as well. Naturally, the audience loved it. Who doesn’t love a bit of scandal? What I desperately want to know is where can I buy the t-Shirt?
A small flat spot in Sammy J’s delivery with the Whatsapp song but redemption granted with his love song to Frankston, a re-imagined My Way. Very talented individual. Dude, why aren’t you doing what Tim Minchin does? Bit of a mystery and I would say the future is yours.
For more of Sammy J, he is performing in The Kangaroo Effect at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in March.
Great fun and thank you to the sound and lighting engineer and of course, Janet A McLeod once again, well produced and it was a fantastic night!