Themed ‘Behind The Music’, this edition of Erotic Fan Fiction featured a line-up of mixed musical talent, which made it all the more surprising and delightful. The less musical of the bunch, writer Elmo Keep, Max Lavergne (triple j) and Virginia Gay (Winners and Losers), still owned the stage, despite following up on the singing, dancing, musical productions of The Lady Sings It Better (a four-lady, feminist cabaret troupe) and Thomas Rawle (Papa vs Pretty).

Briefly taking over the role of host, Fran Middleton (Shanty Club) opened the night with some snazzy flute playing, which segued into a collaborative story with a pantsless, boxer-wearing Eddie Sharp about glamping and Sharp being left in the forest with the spirit of legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong, who was accidentally let out of Fran’s flute. Cue the penis metaphors. You laugh, you learn some things (the many ways instruments and everyday items can be eroticised – jazz juice, anyone?), and you laugh some more.

Lavergne was up next, with a story about Angus & Julia Stone going on a date, which had the audience squirming and giggling at the same time, uncertain about how it was all going to play out. Complete with props, Photoshopped photos and a piano, The Lady Sings It Better gave Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ and Justin Timberlake anthems a feminist spin. There were many highlights from their set, but the moment when they dropped a line with “*NSYNC”, everyone erupted with pure joy; it was inserted so smoothly and at just the perfect moment, the crowd’s deep-seated 90s nostalgia was fulfilled.

With his laptop and two mics, Rawle imagined what sex would be like with Daft Punk, robot Cher and her assistant Macarena; this mental image made more vivid by the voice changer software and 70s porno music. Although there were some technical issues, Rawle handled the set with ease, improvising with playful observations and light banter. Following, Elmo Keep delivered an intelligent, witty and portending – considering it was originally performed in 2011, predating Spike Jonze’s Her – piece about Google being in love with (also: stalking and generally invading the privacy of) a human lady who just wants to go home with a nice guy from the bar.

Closing the night was Gay, who also hosts the event down in Melbourne, and it soon became obvious why. Her performance was a class of erotic fan fiction that expertly straddled the terrible and great: it was disgustingly good and addictively filthy. Her impressions of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé were spot-on; so too were the descriptions (K.D. Lang as a “Tony Bennett-buddha” and Madonna, a “Chewbacca-ed Yoda” with her “terrifying, pterodactyl arms”). She knew how to write a good story, and tell it with conviction and emotion – it was captivating to watch her perform. Someone, please give this lady a Logie.

For its Sydney Fringe Festival edition, Erotic Fan Fiction promised to go deep ‘Behind The Music’, and it certainly satisfied. Featuring a top-notch, all-star, jam-packed line-up of comedians, writers and performers of varying musical skill, Erotic Fan Fiction delivered on its promise, with titillating tales of robot popstar trysts and torrid love affairs that had the crowd in stitches.

The next edition of Erotic Fan Fiction is themed ‘Sci-fi’. To keep updated about Erotic Fan Fiction shenanigans, check out giantdwarf.com.au or follow them on Facebook.

As a concept, I Love Green Guide Letters podcast has a winning formula: put some smart, funny people in a room together, hand them a mic, and get them to respond to letters in The Age’s Green Guide liftout, which isn’t so much a review but more, your neighbour’s two cents about a TV show or radio program that’s got their jimmies up in a rustle. The show, like the one on Saturday at The Den in Chippendale, is at its best when it’s a little bit meta, with guests responding to petty complaints about their show, which is cruel but with hilarious results.

The best guests are the ones who aren’t afraid to mock themselves, and are ready to roll with the punches – this edition, featuring Tom Ballard (wearing his Reality Check hat), comedian Bart Freebairn (an I Love Green Guide Letters regular), and an unlikely guest in Sarah Harris (Studio 10), certainly gave the crowd their money’s worth. There was an easy rapport, and hardly a dull moment, with Freebairn providing many quips, though most were inappropriately funny (you can hear the audience laugh… there’s a one-second pause, followed by tentative, suppressed giggles). Ballard was quick to riff on the same things (e.g. “nurses on heat”, as one discontented viewer describes ABC’s Anzac Girls), while Saunders balanced the role of host well, offering his comedic take but always bringing the conversation back in. Harris, although the odd woman out, soon warmed up, and definitely held her own, with moments like being “Andew Daddo-ed” (when Saunders read out letters about Studio 10 that completely ignored the existence of Harris, which everyone concluded was worse than being insulted), and “teeth or titties” (when Harris, known for her white teeth, revealed that growing up, her mother told her she might as well look after her teeth, if she wasn’t going to grow some big tits).

Listening to I Love Green Guide Letters is like listening in on a conversation between friends – where nothing is off-limits, the humour can be crass, and there are so many in-jokes, it’s sometimes hard to get in on the joke at first. But the more you listen, there’s a rhythm that develops, the in-jokes persist, and you begin to feel like you’re a part of it.

To check out I Love Green Guide Letters live shows, listen or subscribe to the podcast, visit ilovegreenguideletters.com

After graduating from business school and unable to find a job (he’s holding out for something in “upper management”), Raymond is forced to move back in with his parents. But that, and his “European approach” to fashion, is the least of Raymond’s problems. When contractors working on his family’s home discover a little girl buried in the backyard, a series of strange and creepy events begins. Raymond, who possesses the unexplained ability to channel the paranormal, recruits Becca (Kat Dennings), a badass goth bartender and the only other person to believe him, to figure out the supernatural mystery in his backyard. Cue angry dads, floating heads and ear-splitting screams.

Suburban Gothic is generally well paced and starts off strong, although it begins to lose steam towards the end. But when the storyline lags, the film makes up for it in writer/director Richard Bates Jr.’s script, which is stocked with endless wisecracks and physical comedy, further heightened by candied colours and cartoonish special effects (hole-y hands, rolling eyeballs, peeling toenails). It has a well-rounded cast with solid performances, particularly from Ray Wise and Barbara Niven as Raymond’s parents. Some of the best moments in the film involve Raymond and his father, as they disagree over everyday things, like whether the Mexican contractors speak Mexican (they don’t, it’s Spanish, but apparently, only “People from Spain speak Spanish”). While there’s little chemistry between Gubler and Dennings, it’s easy to forgive and forget because they’re damn funny in this film.

In his sophomore effort (following from 2012’s Excision), Richard Bates Jr. serves up a slice of Middle America, filled it with plenty of chuckles, and frights that are more delightful than they are gruesome and nightmarish. With witty dialogue, screwball characters and goofy charm, Suburban Gothic has the makings of a cult classic to come.

Suburban Gothic screened at the Sydney Underground Film Festival