Joel Salom yearns for that illusive moment when comedian and audience “hit a flow together”
Whether he is opening for Jimoen on the stand-up circuit or performing circus feats with the help of a translator in South Korea, Joel Salom yearns for that illusive moment when comedian and audience “hit a flow together”. When your show features human-digital interface body armour and a gutter-mouth robot dog, how can an audience resist?
It’s been a long journey for Salom, from his humble beginnings in a Western Australian dairy farm to his Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut this year. Having toured internationally with Circus Oz and his own independently-produced live musical comedy stand-up, Salom’s Lot is a change of tack for the comedian, creating a show with a little “less slapstick and more witticism”.
Never fear; there’s still plenty of lowbrow indulgence with Erik around, Salom’s robotic dog sidekick who unleashes an improvised string of smutty delights. “Erik can say a lot of things that I can’t. He was originally going to be a robot child but he was created around the same time as Mike Myers and mini-me came about… so he just ended up being a dog. It was all really improvised.”
Erik went on to star in a weekly ABC TV slot only six months after his creation and even chewed the fat with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (if heckling them on the sideline of a red carpet counts as conversation).
It’s not often you get the chance to see a juggler beatbox with lasers and cyborg touch-technology percussion either. Salom’s smooth-flowing juggling balls cue beats and pre-recorded sound when dropped onto his handmade armbands – brilliant props which in themselves make Salom a unique performative treat at this year’s festival.
Joel Salom performs Salom’s Lot at The Deluxe from Thursday March 31 – Sunday April 24 (not Mondays). Tickets range in price from $18 – $24 and you can get them through Ticketmaster online or 1300 660 013.
