The Coopers Malthouse Comedy Bar is open nightly during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, loaded with daily specials for artists and punters alike. Stop by for a range of premium wines, beer by the bottle or schooner, refreshing ciders, light snacks and more. Capping it off, they’re offering $5 beer wines at Happy Hour, running from Tuesday through to Friday from 5pm to 6.30pm. That ought to get the laughter flowing.
With so much to see at the legendary Malthouse, here’s our picks from some of the fine entertainment that’s on offer.
After dazzling audiences around the globe, VELVET arrives at the festival continuing to defy expectations with an electrifying trip to a world of glamour and abandon. A raucous and seductive fusion of disco, dance, burlesque and circus, it shocks, surprises and scintillates at every turn. It’s a party, it’s dangerous, it’s a showcase fuelled by an exhilarating disco soundtrack that never lets up from the opening moments.
Director Craig Ilott has created a pitch-perfect world, pitting dazzling acrobatics against disco divas, channeling the original Studio 54 nightclub. Singer/songwriter Brendan Maclean leads the cast alongside an international ensemble of circus, cabaret and music talent, including Hula Boy extraordinaire Craig Reid, muscle man Stephen Williams, acrobatic wunderkind Mirko Köckenberger, aerialist Emma Goh, sassy sirens Chaska Halliday & Rechelle Mansour, mix master Joe Accaria and the legendary diva Marcia Hines. Playing Wednesday March 23, until Sunday April 17, excluding Mondays.
In 2011, Brian Lobel played a brutal game of friendship maintenance. Over four days of performance in public cafés, Brian talked about his 1,342 Facebook friends for one minute each, after which time a jury of strangers decided whether he should ‘keep’ or ‘delete’ them. The deleting was real, the pace maniacal and the decisions final. Drawing from 50 hours of performance and 800 emails from angry, amused and intrigued friends, Purge explores our relationship with social media. On Wednesday March 30, until Sunday April 3.
Experiments, mind games and impossible coincidences. Join Lawrence in his fascinating yet ethically-dubious laboratory of unexplainable things. An evening of comedic curiosities, mind-bending occurrences and side-splitting laughs.
Lawrence is an award-winning standup and filmmaker from TV shows Maximum Choppage (ABC2), Unbelievable (ABC1), Choose Your Own Adventure (ABC1), and the feature film Sucker. He also played an awkward doctor on Offspring. Playing on select dates from Thursday March 24, until Sunday April 17.
A lo-fi, DIY, off-beat, sci-fi storytelling experience; a surreal, soulful comedy about a decomposing world and a cosmic visitor. When the world ends in flood and fire, one man, asleep on his air-mattress, floats out of his bedroom window, through burning debris and out to sea to be the sole survivor and last hope for humanity. Sublime storytelling and joyful physical theatre. Showing from Wednesday March 23, until Sunday April 17, excluding Mondays.
Damo set himself one goal to achieve before he turned 50: learn to Swing Dance. Result: he owns professional dance shoes but still can’t swing dance. As far as unfulfilled life goals go, it’s no modern day tragedy, but when you selectively narrow your life goals down to one thing and you don’t do it, it’s time for revision. What else has Damo left off his list of goals? Can he meet his revised target of learning to swing dance by 51? Are his dance shoes tax deductible? ‘Lindy hop’ on down to watch the three time Barry nominee ‘shag’ his way through his midlife ‘boogie woogie’ crisis. Showing from Thursday March 24, until Saturday April 16, excluding Mondays.
Because fuck Cancer. A theatrical romp through one comedian’s Breast Cancer adventure. After successfully not-dying in real life last year, award winning comic performer Lana Schwarcz refuses to die on-stage in her new show, Lovely Lady Lump, at MICF. In an unmissable show that is vibrant, touching, real, raw and hilarious, Lana skilfully makes mutated cells the butt of the joke. Cos Cancer seriously deserves to be laughed out of town. Lana will be taking the stage on select dates from Wednesday April 6, until Sunday April 17.
Pakistani comedian and writer Sami Shah left Pakistan for a better life. Instead, he ended up in rural Western Australia. But he survived, and now, finally, he’s made it to Melbourne. The award-winning show – best-selling autobiography – as seen on ABC’s Australian Story, and read in The New York Times, is finally here. Shows starting on Tuesday April 5, and running until Sunday April 17, excluding Mondays.
Fresh from a sold out Edinburgh Fringe, our master storyteller brings you the story of Vincent: of two men who met falling forty stories, sharing tales of lost love and dropped pies, courage, failure, victory and geese. Too many geese.
Wil Greenway is the creator of For the Ground that Grew Me (sold out Edinburgh Fringe 2015), A Night to Dismember (nominated Auckland Fringe Best Comedy and Best Comedy Performer) and co-creator of The Lounge Room Confabulators (winner of Adelaide Fringe Award and the Underbelly Edinburgh Award).
Vincent Goes Splat is a heavyhearted comedy. A tale of grisly death and unlikely escape, of bullies and bitter dreams; a story for bad break ups and worse funerals, for the car that killed your cat, and the cuppa that saved your life. Sure it’s bleak, but for all the falling there’s also flight. It’ll do you good, this bounding comedy for that bitter heart. Vincent will be ‘splatting’ his way through the festival from Wednesday March 23, until Sunday April 17, excluding Mondays.
Flick the TV on at 6am and there they are, ready for you inside the warm cocoon of Hollywood gossip, YouTube stars and videos of kittens. There’s no room for current affairs in this bubble of studio-generated sunshine. But don’t be concerned, there’s plenty of guru to go around. Zoe McDonald’s cocktail of characters are as feel-good as your morning a cup of tea, laced with whisky. Good Morning Mofo is the breakfast show that can only be experienced after dark. Kicking off on Wednesday March 23, Good Morning Mofo will run until Sunday April 17, excluding Mondays.
Your number one GPRL (Gimmicky-Pantsless-Rape-Lady) wrestles with standing up while telling jokes, ‘second shows’ and stealing material. All the while paying homage to her favourite (dead) comedian. The Australian Times gives it 4.5 stars and say it’s “A feminist masterpiece disguised behind dick-jokes and partial nudity. It’s brilliant!” Chortle gives it 2 stars and says a definitive “Whatever.” How do you respond to reviews? Who cares? She’s naked and wants to wrestle. Truscott will be winning over audiences from Friday April 1, until Sunday April 17, excluding Mondays.
Kenya’s king of comedy Eric Omondi, known for his hilarious stand up act and witty deliverance, will be bringing his live show for the first time in Australia to the prestigious Melbourne Comedy Festival. A night of fun and laughter. Taking place on Sunday March 27.
Ten years, two Moosehead Awards, 30 award nominations and seven wins later (including 2011 Golden Gibbo and Best Cabaret NZ Fringe 2015), the rock ponce returns for a once only retrospective, reworking great and rare song-zombies (Penis Envy anyone?).
Could You Repeat That? is a jamboree of Quinnsong, many of which will at last be played with a living band of talented, affordable musicians.
Ten years. And she doesn’t look a day older than a Boxing Day ham wrapped in disco dots with enough hair product to punch a couple more holes in the ozone (yes, she‘s old enough to remember before ozone depletion was even a thing. Also faxes. She remembers before faxes). Quinn will be hitting the stage on Thursday March 24.
QUARTER TIME WITH THE GUARDIAN LIVE
The Coopers Malthouse and The Guardian Australia join forces this Comedy Festival to present a pertinent, provocative, panel; engaging in witty, intelligent debate (mostly), laughs and the occasional insight. Join us for a discussion of the state of play and all things topical, as a panel of Guardian journos, comedians, media commentators and other special guests dissect what has been in the news.
Hosted by Guardian Australia’s assistant news editor, Bridie Jabour, and featuring comedian Lawrence Leung (Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure, ABC TV), journalist Erik Jensen (The Saturday Paper) and Guardian deputy political editor Katherine Murphy. Come along, voice your opinion and have a drink with us at the bar.
The news cycle seems to move at an annoyingly fast pace and sometimes it’s wise to take to the bench, discuss the current state of play(s) and think about what the future stories might be.
Quarter Time at the Comedy Festival is the first of a series of events to take place at the Malthouse across 2016 – you guessed it – every quarter. You can catch it on Tuesday April 5.
