By Nick Pilgrim
For three jam-packed weeks each Autumn, the state’s capital city becomes home to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Hundreds of acts both local and around the world converge on the town, overtaking every performance space imaginable.
For those not already in the know, Bard’s Apothecary is a hole in the wall bar located towards the top end of Bourke Street. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of reviewing a one man show there (appropriately enough) called Shakespeare’s Fools.
Ross Daniels and Geoff Paine are two veteran artists each with a long and impressive history of performing credits. With industry stints far and wide, this rich teaming is enabled by their shared background in theatre sports and improvisation.
Thanks to the venue’s intimate size, that is a good thing which the pair use to strong advantage. Meaning, from the handful of acts I have reviewed already this year, each show has incorporated moments of crowd work and solid participation into their sets. Given how viewers could be within touching distance of Daniels and Paine, adding that variable is a sweet bonus extra.
(That being said, there were a couple of unscripted interactions with one eager punter late in their set which threatened to derail the entire experience. For several puzzling moments, the look of feigned horror on the pair’s faces was priceless, not before proceedings eventually got back on track.)
Ageing: Results May Vary is structured like a simple sketch revue. For fifty minutes, Daniels and Paine bounce off each other with natural verve, relaxed energy and easy charm. Like any local comedy duo from Kennedy and Newton to Lano and Woodley, their chemistry together is a sheer delight.
From dad dancing to tongue-in-cheek home shopping, no stone is left unturned exploring what it means to be a low-tech senior in a high-tech Generation Z populated world. Clearly knowing their brand as well as their prime demographic, opening night was a tick-box lived experience where spectators knew the lingo and were with Daniels and Paine every step of the way.
Some of the show’s highlights included:
- Asking an audience member to be part of a dementia test. Scarier than it sounds, it is being given three words (which were supplied by volunteers) that had to be remembered and recited by the show’s close.
- Adding signature moves to The Nutbush, a Tina Turner party classic which included ‘Opening A Jar’ and ‘Where Are My Glasses?’
- Two special appearances from a pint-sized Grim Reaper which Daniels and Paine each interpreted in turn.
- Riffing with their Sound Technician about the significant differences between Baby Boomers and Millennials.
- Reimagining several Oasis hits which I can never think of in quite the same way ever again.
The list goes on.
Perhaps my favourite elephant in the room was Paine’s link with a long-running television series, and how his character made notorious nighttime history with another one of its key players. (Hopefully, my oblique tease will be enough to pique interest for fans of Neighbours to discover that interesting fact for themselves in person.)
With gentle ribbing from Daniels about his short but sweet sting on the show, Paine took it all in good fun.
For anyone who remembers the delights of totem tennis every summer, getting lost even with a Melway street directory in hand, or crunching down on their first Chiko Roll, Ageing: Results May Vary is the show for you.
Playing until Saturday April 4, how nice to see a show made by/for more senior viewers.
