murraybramwell.com

February 20, 2023

Fringe Review: The King of Taking

Five Stars

Rubber-limbed and deadpan, New Zealand mime wizard Thom Monckton makes an hilarious return as the selfish King whose only subject is himself.

Written by Murray Bramwell

He has played the Adelaide Festival as The Artist and, back in 2016, the much-lamented Croquet Club as The Pianist. Now, the inimitable Thom Monckton is The King of Taking. A preposterous figure in none-too splendid isolation, he is the Mr Bean of hopeless monarchs, and delivers a slapstick routine that …

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February 01, 2023

Comedy Theatre: Mono

Filed under: 2023,Archive,Comedy,Theatre

Three goes very amiably into one in Mono, a suite of gently comic monologues divided up and performed by some of Australia’s favourite funny people, past and present.

In what he calls a ‘Brand New Classic Comedy ‘ and ‘A three-person one-man show ‘ Mono writer and director Angus FitzSimons has a fairly clear demographic in mind and it is not the Wil Anderson/Hannah Gadsby/ Kirsty Webeck crowd. Like his other show (with a published book tie-in) the semiotically …

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April 21, 2021

Theatre review : The Gospel According to Paul

In ninety engaging minutes, writer and performer, Jonathan Biggins’ Gospel brings us, not just a fascinating study of Paul Keating but an account of a transformative time in Australian political history.

Murray Bramwell

You might say, that for satirist Jonathan Biggins, Paul Keating has been his bread and butter for a long time. As part of the Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Revue, along with Phillip Scott, Drew Forsythe and a select group of associates, Biggins has made an art form …

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March 02, 2017

The Best of the Adelaide Fringe(So Far) # 2

Filed under: 2017,Archive,Comedy,Fringe

Daily Review
More Adelaide Fringe

Murray Bramwell

Fauna
Ukiyo, Royal Croquet Club
February 26.
FOUR stars

The creatures in Fauna have come from a variety of circus habitats.
Matt Basquet has a background in martial arts and acro/movement. Imogen Huzel, also from the UK but based in Stockholm, has links with the Belgian Poive Rose company; Finnish trapeze artiste, Enni Maria Lymi works with NoFit State Circus; and the married duo – Rhiannon Cave-Walker (a member of Gravity & Other …

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April 24, 2013

A Night in Bohemia

Homage to Uncertainty
Emma Beech

The Giovanni Experiment
Hew Parham

La Boheme
April 20

The Adelaide Festival and Fringe programs have long been an embarrassment of riches. There are only so many places you can be at 8 pm on a Tuesday, or 7 pm on a Thursday and, with so many events scheduled, inevitably there are clashes and missed opportunities – especially when the enthusiastic buzz begins about particular shows and, alas, bookings and commitments have already been locked …

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March 17, 2008

Shouldn’t give up his night job

Filed under: Archive,Comedy

2008

Adelaide Fringe 2008
Comedy
Rove McManus

Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
March 15.
Melbourne Comedy Festival
Melbourne Town Hall
April 10-12. Tickets $39.90 – $ 44.50.

On stage for Rove McManus’s stand-up gig at the Thebarton Theatre is a giant picture of a goldfish in a bowl. The fish has large Disney eyes and extruding from its tail, in streaming black calligraphy comes Rove’s famous name. It is a joke very much at his own expense and it is a likeable …

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July 06, 2007

Fifty Years Young

Filed under: Archive,Comedy

Back with a Vengeance
Barry Humphries

Her Majesty
June 29.
Until July 7, 2007

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

Barry Humphries is celebrating fifty years as a music hall artiste. In 1957 Mrs Everage from Moonie Ponds first peered around the door with her beady eyes and imperious curiosity to say hello. She really was a housewife then, with dull straight hair and a drab cloth coat, but she knew aqua from duck-egg blue and of course, her prudery and pretensions …

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April 01, 2005

The Power of Two

Filed under: Archive,Comedy

2005

The Pleasure of Their Company

Shaun Micallef and Glynn Nicholas

The Arts Theatre

Murray Bramwell

There have been plenty of comedy double acts in recent times – HG and Roy, John Clarke and Bryan Dawe, Mick Molloy and Tony Martin, to name just a few. But, on first glance, Glynn Nicholas and Shaun Micallef seem an unlikely combination. For a start, Nicholas has forged a very successful career as a solo comic with a memorable range of signature characters …

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March 01, 2004

Comedy Notes

Filed under: Archive,Comedy

Adelaide Fringe March 2004

Murray Bramwell

There is nothing like a visit to a psychic to give your brain a tweak and that is exactly what Michael Santos is here to do. Or maybe he will just do your head in. With Sidekick Bernard and not-very-subtle audience plant, Raymond, Santos (aka David Sant) is the Mindbender, reaching into the audience to tell us – Raymond’s radio mike permitting – our names, addresses and our deepest thoughts. It is hilariously cheesy …

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July 01, 2003

Repressed Memory

Filed under: Archive,Comedy

2003
Back to My Roots and Other Suckers
Barry Humphries
Her Majesty’s

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

Barry Humphries is not only back to his roots but also quite a few of his old tricks. Playing to full houses for a short season at Her Majesty’s, Humphries has rounded up the usual suspects for our delectation and occasional panic. These now include somebody called Barry Humphries. Not the Barry Humphries I shouldn’t think, but a simulacrum who, last time around, appeared …

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