"The Festival will showcase the best and most innovative comedians and performers." Rosa Sottile on the 2023 Brisbane Improv Festival
This week we have some killer shows in a huge diversity of formats from horror to musical to drama to classic improvised comedy - it’s something for everyone!
Murder Village | David Massingham & Brisbane Comedy Festival
Murder Village is great night out for lovers of absurd comedy, Agatha Cristie style murder mysteries and all those inbetween. With a rotating cast of some of the best improvisers in the country, it’s also the perfect introduction to improv and a show you’ll want to see again and again. And not just because it will never be the same show twice.
Queen and Friend | Grimes Productions & Anywhere Festival
With a complete lack of props, set or special effects, they crafted vivid worlds with just their voices and bodies, illustrating the different characters through changes in posture, voice and positioning. A real highlight, I have to say, was watching Imogen portray both the human-eating horse and human being eaten by the horse, both the consumer and the consumed, simultaneously. Bloody funny.
Poncho: Keep It Up! | Dani Cabs
There’s an undercurrent of struggle in Poncho, of wrestling with shame, of being emotionally cauterised by a culture that punishes any deviation to the rigid, limiting forms of male connection and expression that patriarchy demands. But Cabs has an innate talent for balancing tension and levity, which he deployed masterfully during the piñata sequence towards the end. He brought many in the audience to tears (myself included), and then, moments later, had us laughing again.
Cool Story Bro | Big Fork Theatre
One of the coolest parts of Cool Story Bro is that every show night is its own opening and closing night. What happened on Friday night will never happen again, and the only people in the world who got to experience it are those who were in the room. So for all those reading this, I’m sorry, but you will never, ever, get to experience the pure extasy of watching a group of people spontaneously assume the role of sperms and egg in the fight for fertilisation.
Murder at the Bowlo | Impro Mafia
During the group scenes for the whole audience, the performers really leaned into the silliness of the theme and into interacting with the audience, which kept us giggling along. At times, Murder at the Bowlo almost felt like a pantomime in the best possible ways, with the audience booing, cheering and responding to every character as secrets and accusations flew around the room.
The Wynter of Our Disco Tent | Funny Mummies
The duo used real-life teenage diary entries to inspire a score of original 80’s pop tunes as lyrically witty as they were melodic. The musical numbers, and the show as a whole, teetered experterly on this line of self-aware cringe. Which, for an audience whose entry was more teens-at-an-80s-concert than stand-up goers, seemed like the perfect fit.
Maddie is the new Karen | Madeleine Border & Madeline Römcke
The pace of the show is dynamic. The exercise bike, the treadmill all relevant props in the wake of a life in the day of a typical white woman in her 20’s, privileged and living in the inner-city landscape. The muffin is eaten and referred to as part of what it means to bake consciously. I was hoping they might sit on it, but that’s another show.
Girls to The Front | Good Chat Comedy
Warmed and guided by the hilarious Ting Lim, the night was a riotous display of some great Brisbane comics. More than just the sum of its laughs, Girls to The Front felt like a celebration of talent, of life, of stories, of the things that define us and those that bring us together. I was reminded of the sheer connective power of comedy, the way it builds tension only so that the audience may collectively feel its release.
Shad and Pete Save the World | Shad Wicka and Peter James
If you’re a prude or enjoy more clean humour then this isn’t the show to attend, however if you’re into crude and outlandish comedy that can travel into all kinds of weird and wonderful directions then I would recommend it.
Good Chat Comedy’s Pop-Up Showcase | Good Chat Comedy
Comedy is subjective and the jokes can be hit and miss, but the comedians on display are experienced and have been touring the stand-up circuit for years so they come with the knowledge of how to work a room and get the most out of their punchlines.
One Night Only | Queen and Friend
It was mighty impressive how they seamlessly wove these stories without any preparation or insight and how the performers never seemed to lose momentum in their hour long run time. It’s one thing to do improv for ten minutes but to do it for sixty minutes non-stop is not an easy feat for the faint of heart. But faint of heart, these comedians were not.
Closing night concert feat. Aspy Jones | Undercover Artist Festival
Aspy Jones features two other equally talented siblings in the line up plus what can be guessed as two besties who write killer songs, obviously all musically click and have the chops to do this for the rest of their lives, hopefully making mega bucks along the way.
I Liked it.... But | Joel Bray
The work did feel a little self-congratulatory on Bray’s part from time to time, but this was very well balanced against the ‘tongue firmly in cheek’ tone of the night. As someone with contemporary dance training I found the jokes made at the form’s expense accurate and hilarious.
Same Penis Forever | Rebel Lyons
Same Penis Forever treads this fine line between a shout and a whisper, between displays of the intimate and of the public. It was the epitome of a Hen’s Night at its core, where the bride reigns supreme and those who’ve come to celebrate are privy to the drunken divulgence of secrets and hesitations.
Same Penis Forever | Rebel Lyons
Humanising the different agents of social conditioning demonstrated that people make traditions, and traditions aren’t these immovable structures that must be obeyed at all costs. Traditions make culture, so if the diamond engagement ring was something some marketing mogul came up with to sell more diamonds, then why the hell do we take this ‘tradition’ so seriously.
Theatresports Grand Championships | ImproMafia
I counted fourteen different scenes across the show, which I thought was an impressive number for an hour-long show, and served as a tantalising sampler of the wide, wild world of impro possibilities. Over those scenes, the performers each showcased their strong individual talents for improvisation, imagination, and characterisation – and their sheer joy at being on stage was palpable. There was a great sense of chemistry between all of the performers, which allowed them to skillfully, smoothly riff off each other through even the most surprising changes in a scene.
Titanic: The Movie, The Play | Act/React
A light-hearted riff on a pop-culture film particularly beloved by GenXers, this is a tonic for the tumultuous times we live in. In a time of near endless impositions and challenges to our mental health, it was just So Nice to watch something silly and welcoming and cheerful and performed with joy and gusto.
Lucy & Me | Nicolas Angelosanto
Lucy & Me charmed me with the tale of man, Sphenn, and his bike, Lucy, trying to get home to Germany. We followed the two on wacky adventures as they tried to make money for a plane ticket. Sphenn was part trickster and part fool, an effeminate, romantic, simple-minded, European caricature. Nicolas brought enthusiasm, extremity and maintained his character well. I enjoyed his commitment to silliness, wiggling his whole body or licking the corners of a stamp feverishly until he got a laugh.
Plastica Fantastica | Jennifer Laycock
Plastica Fantastica was clever, poignant and a real knee-slapper. A woman obsessed with plastic, who is also allergic to plastic. How can she live without the one thing she loves the most? Brilliant.