“Overly descriptive sonnets to bitterness” is how Greg Proops describes his stand-up comedy.
“Overly descriptive sonnets to bitterness” is how Greg Proops describes his stand-up comedy. Capable of being catty and camp, flamboyant and ferocious, it’s been fourteen years since this native San Franciscan stepped on stage at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and told audiences, artfully mocking the requisite condescension of travelling Americans, that he was from “the world”.
So how has “the world” been treating him in the interim? “Not so bad,” he says from his current home of Los Angeles. “I gave birth to twins. I did a kiddie sitcom for two years. I went to Bosnia. And I started a new podcast called The Smartest Man in the World”.
That’s not even the half of it. Comedian, actor, writer, voice-over artist – his CV is longer than his absence from this festival. Proops is perhaps best known for his work as an improvisational comedian on both the UK and US versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? A regular on chat shows such as The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson and Chelsea Later, his work isn’t just limited to an adult audience. Proops is also one of the stars of Nickelodeon sitcom for kids, True Jackson VP and he’s also the voice of Bob The Builder in the television series that airs here on ABC2. “I am hot with the under fives,” he quips.
With so many strings to his bow, Proops jokes that his first love is actually ballet “but the music throws me off”. However, he’s returning to Melbourne to deliver his overly descriptive sonnets to bitterness in a six-night season at the Athenaeum Theatre. “I am thrilled to be back,” he says.
When he’s not off-stage indulging in local Italian food (“it makes me swoon”) he’ll be on-stage. “I am slightly less abrasive,” he says of how his act has evolved over the past decade or so. “I also dance just as good as I want.”
The show will be an hour of straight stand-up “with breaks for tangents and diversions laced with bracing and appropriate profanity,” he promises. He’ll be using his improvisational skills for riffing. “Meaning I will ad-lib. No formal Impro. That is for the group activities. You will hear my jokes or hit the road, Jack”, he says. Topics he’ll be tackling include Hollywood, kittens, Australia, Charlie Sheen, Obama, Ms. Gillard, The World and raspberry dawns.
For Proops, “There is no such thing as old material, only new audiences.” So while he has the luxury of drawing on an extensive back catalogue of material that will be brand new to festival audiences here, he’ll still be “writing and riffing all the while” as well as including “some classics you guys haven’t seen yet”.
Having been described by the LA Times as being “sharp dressed and even sharper witted” Proops says in this new show, “I throw down hard. I care like Bono and I will never insult your intelligence, just everything you believe and hold dear.” Welcome back from The World, Mr Proops.
Greg Proops performs at The Athenaeum Theatre from April 19 – April 24. It’s at 7pm Tuesday – Saturday and 6pm Sundays. Tickets are $39.90/$34.90 from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013, through The Athenaeum on 9650 1600 and on the door.
