COMEDY

Presented by Lazy Susan’s & Cut Snake Comedy

Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den

Review by James Burnside

From beginning to end, The Big HOO-HAA! is a laugh riot that has the audience roaring so loudly they almost can’t catch their breaths. The show falls under the category of ‘theatre sports’ in which competing teams of actors/comedians square off against each other, performing skits whilst both adhering to the game rules and playing off audience suggestions.

While the line-up rotates every night on a roster, Saturday’s show had Izaak Lim, Nick-Pages-Oliver, Tegan Mulvany on team one and Sean Walsh, Mike Djukic, Ben Ainslie on team two.

In the wrong hands the idea of performing something that by design has no real structure and is completely random could end badly with a lot of flat lines and awkward murmurs. But luckily the performers of the Big HOO-HAA! - under acting MC and local comedian Sam Longley – are so adept and well-versed that they carry outlandish suggested themes, story threads and jokes with an almost eerie comfort.

What truly makes the Big HOO-HAA! stand out is their rapid-fire delivery of lines and jokes. The opening act has an impromptu sing-off. Under the rules, they aren’t allowed to repeat a word, make one up, or even pause. They also have to maintain a consistent rhyme. Each time someone failed they were kicked off until there was only one left standing. What was remarkable was how long it took for even one person to leave the stage; the rhymes were consistent, fast-paced and hilarious. Were it not for the fact that the starting words themselves came from suggestions from the audience one would almost have to think it were staged.

As with many Fringe World comedy acts,willing audience participation is key to the show’s success. Luckily the constantly moving, wild and frenetically paced atmosphere of The Big HOO-HAA! keeps the audience on their toes throughout.

More accurately, as an audience member it almost feels as though you’re being pulled along on a bizarre and unpredictable odyssey – you can only breathe in anticipation wondering what outlandish scenario will unfold next.

Other highlights of the evening include a musical number about a kumquat, a sad man finding comfort in the arms of a pair of sharks that had been about to eat him played to the tune of “Creep” by Radiohead, two men looking for the ‘perfect woman’ who is both robust and angular, and a ludicrously melodramatic soap opera about the world’s greatest Sudoku player. It feels like a combination of the very best of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Whose Line Is It Anyway, with a light sprinkle of Australian charm over the top.

Of course the hard part is that no two shows can ever be exactly alike. There will be no sympathetic sharks, musical kumquats or heart wrenching Sudoku tales the second time around. The Big HOO-HAA! is unpredictable and random, held together by the energy and passion of its performers. As a result, if you should choose to enter the Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den and join them on their next adventure there is, frankly, no telling what you can expect to see or what kind of outlandish performances await you inside. But you can expect to laugh pretty hard at whatever madness the hour spins out.

The Big HOO-HAA! has two more shows on February 13 and 20 at Lazy Susan’s Den at the Brisbane Hotel. Tickets available here.