The HiFi Bar Thursday, 27th January 2005 with Ross Noble, Adam Richard, Dave O'Neil, Joanne Brookfield, Matthew Hardy, Rachel Berger, Fiona O'Laughlin, The 4 Noels, Madeline West, Jimeoin and Damian Callinan As I haven't seen any comedy shows since last year's comedy festival I was really looking forward to this show as it had some people in it I really wanted to see. I used to go see comedy every week a few years ago before I got into the local music scene and it was good to see some of the people still doing the rounds. MC Ross Noble could have done the whole show by himself I reckon, he was jumping around on stage and talking with the front row of the audience (thankfully not me.) I liked how someone took a photo every time he started scratching his balls and he turned it into part of the act. Even though it looked smart, I reckon he made up that material when he talked with the electrician in the front row just with the names he was given. Also I don't recommend trying to pick up in the audience when you are watching him as he will make you miss your chance by talking directly at you. The show ended up running a bit behind schedule because he kept going on, but people didn't seem to mind. The funniest part is when the two women sitting next to me had extra attention paid to them as one of them tried to sneak back after the break and Ross thought she had dreadlocks. Adam Richard was up first and seemed to get a hostile reaction for some of his material. I try to make an effort to see him doing his shows and he covered much of the same material. It was still good to see him again. I used to see Dave O'Neil quite a bit around town doing shows. Now that he is hosting breakfast radio I haven't seen him for years. He didn't even remember talking to me at the Goodies Convention in 2000 last time I saw him when we filmed a vox pop on Brunswick St for a Channel Nine show he was working on. Highlights of Dave's set included his thoughts on the Scoresby Tollway, or he called it "The Bogan Highway" and his wish to build a tunnel from Dandenong to Sunshine (you get paid to go through it.) I don't remember seeing Joanne Brookfield before but she went OK considering the line-up. Some of the relationship material went over my head but was very popular with the women in the audience. Matthew Hardy is one of the younger set of comedians I don't get to see much. Even though I had seen him tell his travel story on the Comedy Channel, it was still good to see it live. Rachel Berger did pretty much the same stuff she always does, but she was very popular with the audience as she is so confident. I remember seeing her on TV all the way back from the 1980's so she is very well established in what she talks about. Fiona O'Lauglin has only been on the comedy circuit for a few years, but it seems like she is an old hand the way she tells her stories. Even though some of them are a bit nasty, she was very popular as she made the worst situations seem funny. Special mention must go to the story behind Heinz TV advertisement she starred in with her family. I had heard of the 4 Noels before but not actually seen them. There are actually only three of them and they did a comedy mime piece sending up 2001 A Space Odyssey. Madeline West was the comedian that the two English backpackers sitting next to me had come to see. Some of her act was funny but I think she is still trying to work out what stuff to use as some of her material died horribly and other parts of it were a bit off. Hopefully she keeps at it for a few more years as she comes from a different background than most comedians (pashing Toady on Neighbours as she put it) and it would be a shame to see her throw in the towel. Jimeoin was the most popular performer of the night if the audience reaction was anything to go buy. He could have just done an Irish Jig for 10 mintues and he still would have been funny. I liked his stuff on forgetting to put the kettle on and the Australian phrases he likes. I had to leave just as the last act, Damian Callinan, was starting so I don't know how he went. Even though I had bought a raffle ticket I ended up giving it to the bar staff (I hope they won something.) Overall it was a great night and "a good call" as Jimeoin would say, I hope they raised a lot of money for the appeal and I am really looking forward to this year's comedy festival.
Created on ... December 30, 2006