Presented by The Spooky Men of the West

Teatro 1

Review by Annie Teh

What do you get when you mix Georgian music with power tools and facial hair? Why, Spooky Men of the West, of course. Making their first appearance at the Fringe World Festival Perth, their first Fringe on home territory, the WA-bred group and are ready to sing to you about the world of men. The men’s chorale (but not a men’s group, as they heartily sang) was conceived by director and “spookmeister” Stephen Taberner of Spooky Men’s Chorale fame, and are an obvious choice for anyone who appreciates acapella groups and musical comedy.

While their name is indeed ‘Spooky Men of the West’, don’t be fooled — the 15 men that took the stage appeared less spooky and more like a rendition of The Village People, except dressed completely in black with a great deal more beard action.

The group has an established repertoire under their wing, and were ready to show it off. Original songs like “Magnificent” and “Don’t Stand Between a Man and His Tool” expressed the plights of modern man, while the heartfelt rendition of Kasey Chambers “Pretty Enough”, accompanied by some real man-feelings, brought chuckles to connoisseurs of musical comedy. “Ba’hari Ghibb”, the highlight of the show, is probably the most cultured interpretation of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” you will ever see.

Despite their long-running track record, the show’s performance suffered at times thanks to some weaknesses in musical technicalities. While they had a solid and strong bass, their timing for more complex pieces was less than watertight and the tenors wavered in pitch towards the end of the show. The monotony of their musical arrangements – thanks to the Georgian arrangements – is easily saved by a comedic punchline or story, but suffered with their sincere performance of “The Sweetest Kick”, which became dreary and tedious.

Nonetheless, the Spooky Men of the West have proved once again why they are beloved by their fans in Western Australia. Delivering unique and gut-splitting lyrics with a straight face and brilliant acting, the group are a great example of home-grown talent with an indisputable track record of making you laugh. Man-laugh while riding a horse and chasing a mastodon, that is – if we’re going to go all Spooky Men on you.

The Spooky Men of the West: Secrets of Mansinging runs until 21 February at Teatro 1, Pleasure Gardens, Northbridge. Tickets available here. 

Presented by Matt Penny

Teatro 2

Review by Annie Teh

In the intimate setting of Teatro 2 at the Pleasure Gardens, ‘mentalist’ Matt Penny wouldn’t have stood out in his Bermuda shorts with a cup of beer balancing on his cluttered table. Though he didn’t look like much, he will make you question the skeptic within.

After touring Frank, The Mind Reading Hotdog in Auckland and Adelaide, Penny changes things up a bit by losing the hotdog costume and slowing things down — perhaps too much. The beginning of the show was slow-paced, and a mixture of card tricks and painfully bad jokes left much to be desired, with some audience members walking out early in the show. But as the tricks became more complex, the real ‘mind-reading’ bit of the show became much more interesting.

Its saving grace was the small crowd, most of whom had a chance to be a part of each act – from picking cards and writing notes to actually standing on stage as an assistant. I myself was pulled onto the stage to volunteer my iPhone, on which he visited the city of New York on Google Maps 30 seconds before I was even prompted to think of it. It was my next dream holiday destination – but how would he have known that?

The almost amateurish presentation of Penny’s ‘gift’ added a strangely sincere quality. Through struggling to ‘remember how this trick goes’ and misplaced awkward moments of silence, Penny appeared like any other man off the street, nervous to be in front of an audience at times when his ‘mind tricks’ took a little while to work. It made the story behind his act believable — maybe he really is some guy who suddenly realized that he had a gift of clairvoyance. The question then is why he would try to cloud them behind an awkward stage presence and convoluted tricks.

Although the act was poorly timed and orchestrated, the quality of the ‘mind-reading’ tricks were enough to make you question. Matt Penny is a great primer for anyone who has ever doubted a magic trick seen on TV and wants to take a closer look. He won’t make a believer out of you, but you will be amazed all the same.

Experiments in Mind Reading 2.0 from 12-14 February at Teatro 2, Pleasure Gardens, Northbridge. Tickets available here. 

Presented by Retro Rocket Events

Casa Mondo

Review by Annie Teh

The Pleasure Gardens get a little more pleasurable with the classy act of Naked Girls Reading. With a title like ‘Naked Girls Reading’, the show requires very little explanation — naked girls sit on a couch to read various excerpts from a curated list of books for a live audience.

The concept of having girls reading stark naked may seem weird, and to be fair it is. The pull factor is there, with the cramp space in Casa Mondo fully packed with both men and women eager for a good show. The stars of this show are Melbourne-based burlesque stars Petra Dish and Carletta the Great, and Perth-based musician Tara John. The theme of the night was ‘Fairy Tales’, which provided an odd contrast to the very adult bareness of the ladies sat before the audience. With books propped on their carefully-angled knees and glitter covering their uncovered bodies, they read a selection of children’s stories, including the classic Little Red Riding Hood, The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base, and Squeakers by Stephen Cosgrove.

Tara John and Petra Dish proved to be strong readers, bringing their personality into their narration, which covered for Carletta the Great’s unfortunate slurring and fumbling of her passages. MC Feisty (Nikki Mauri), dressed (yes, dressed) as a very sexy librarian, helped set the tone in the classiest way possible, ensuring the audience stayed well-behaved yet entertained through the show.

Stories have a great power in captivating audiences, and by reading them naked, fairytales and children’s books took on a new life. On one hand, they assumed a lewder tone, with audience members giggling when a storybook character swung a fishing rod. On the other hand, it gave the stories more depth; bringing up pertinent themes of stranger danger, gender roles, and empowerment.

In a way both elements are equally important — you can’t have the reading without the naked or the naked without the reading. Yet, it is easy to forget that the women are fully unclothed, and get immersed in the words coming out of their mouths instead, even if the protagonist in the book was a fluffy little squirrel.

Naked Girls Reading is essentially a cabaret for bookworms — a literary feast for the ears and mind, and a wonderful feast for the eyes. Watching naked women sit on a couch for an hour is an easy choice, but you’ll be surprised how much you’d enjoy the reading part too.

Naked Girls Reading runs till 17^th Feb at 9.45pm, at Casa Mondo, The Pleasure Gardens, Northbridge. Each night comes with its own unique theme. Tickets available here. 

Presented by A-List Entertainment

Comedy Shack

Review by Annie Teh

With pale skin, white high-collared shirts, long black skirts and matching hairdos, the multi-award winning Kransky Sisters are the unlikely stars of a musical comedy act. Yet their show Piece of Cake is a brilliant addition to Fringe; filled with dark, macabre covers of popular rock and pop hits, and made all the more entertaining by their onstage chemistry.

To understand the appeal of the show, you first have to get to know the Kransky Sisters. Growing up in Esk Queensland, sisters Mourne (Annie Lee), Eve (Christine Johnston) and Dawn Kransky (Carolyn Johns) live a uniquely old-school lifestyle, as they deal with a runaway mother and lost loves. Mourne, the oldest, is the leader of the group. She is closely accompanied by Eve, whose knack for bringing up awkward and uncomfortable histories reveals a different side of the sisters that their ankle-length skirts would otherwise suggest. Dawn, the half-sister who never talks, ends up having the most personality, and in being abused by her sisters ends up becoming the most endearing character of the lot.

Classic hits like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” along with pop favourites like Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” are transformed by their stories, personas, and unique assortment of instruments. They will also completely transform any preconceptions you may have about the uses of a toilet brush. They are decent musicians, but fans of the long-running act will be disappointed to find there is no new material to enjoy.

Equal parts bizarre, awkward and endearing, you will leave knowing more about the sisters than you ever hoped to. Their interactions with the audience are side-splittingly funny, and their stories are dark and witty. The show is so fun, in fact, that you will easily forget the loud thumping sounds that will come through the ceiling during the show thanks to the gym above (“That’s the walruses being exercised,” said Maude).

The Kransky Sisters not the usual loud and brass comedy act, but their less-is-more approach is a testament to their understanding of what truly tickles the funny bone. The odd unexpected adult joke will also leave kiddies confused and grandmas laughing harder than appropriate.

The Kransky Sisters perform at 6.30pm from February 10-14, at the Comedy Shack, Northbridge. Tickets available here. 

Bey Dance

2 February 2016

Review by Annie Teh

We all have an inner Beyonce. Or so Bey Dance says. The Melbourne-based dance school was built upon the belief that everyone can dance and rule the world the way superstar Beyonce does, and after its success in the last Fringe World Perth, they have returned to pull all sorts of bootylicious ladies in for the ultimate Beyonce flashmob, out on the Fringe World Orchard.

Led by dance instructor Keely, the crowd cautiously ambled their way onto the dance floor in the Lunar Sensation garden tent, a grand venue with suspiciously damp carpeting. Keely’s infectious love of Beyonce and wild leopard print bottoms set the mood instantly. She towered on stage to teach simple choreography that consisted of lots of on-the-spot running, punches into the air, a hint of twerking, and lots of power poses. The key to dancing like Beyonce turned out to be “the stank face” — a look of attitude that transforms simple dance moves to a real declaration of girl power.

Appropriate, considering the chosen song of the day was “Survivor”. Keely announced that we should aim to have fun, and really take in the meaningful lyrics. The crowd giggled.

The class was filled with a variety of different people of all sizes, ages, and dance ability. If your dance ability only extends as far as doing the robot drunk on Christmas Eve, don’t worry. The sessions focus much more about gaining confidence and having fun than about actual dance technicalities. There was an occasional shuffling of rows to make sure that everyone had their moment in the literal spotlight, and half an hour into the class the shyness and caution at the beginning had long dissipated. The moves were easy enough to be done by an amateur, but energetic enough to provide a real workout. When actual acting and singing was introduced as a finale, everyone joined in without question, albeit stumbling over lyrics you were assumed to already know.

Despite only half the crowd having showed interest in joining the flashmob (you are given a choice), almost everyone joined in on the fun at the end. Surrounded by the 7pm crowd lounging at the Orchard, surrounded by trees, fairy-lights, and bars, these women (and one man) bravely set themselves down on the ground and pretended to awaken from a lost deserted island, before jumping, punching, and twerking to a declaration of their independence and power.

Let’s face it, we’ll never be Beyonce. But everyone came pretty close that day.

Bey Dance Flawless: Beyonce Flashmob runs every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at The Lunar Sensation until February 10. Tickets available here. 

Varietyville

January 30 2016

Review by Annie Teh

Absurd was what they promised, and absurd was what they delivered. Though not full of the weird parlour-tricks and contortionist frenzies that you’d expect from a show of that name, Acts of Absurdity delivers a slice of funny that will leave you reeling in its peculiarity. Calling themselves “Australia’s funniest circus and comedy variety show”, the performance was, in essence, a mishmash of talented entertainers, each with their unique brand of humour.

The show brings together seasoned performers – contortionist Ruby Rubberlegs (Rani Huszar), impressionist Anil Desai in Impressions of a Hindude, and funnyman Dandyman (Daniel Oldaker). Despite being individually talented, the show was awkwardly assembled and at times poorly timed. Veteran partners-in-crime Dandyman and Ruby played off each other’s colourful routines, though Ruby’s trademark contortions were oddly missing from the repertoire. At times, it was hard to figure out if mishaps (a dropped plate here and an apple slice there) were intentional or genuinely mistakes, which would have been a blessing if the repeated failed tricks had not dragged segments out beyond their ideal comedic timing.

Impressionist Anil Desai also seemed oddly placed as the final act of a show featuring candy-coloured costumes and cheap circus props, despite his killer Robert De Niro imitation.

As a whole, the act seemed like an afterthought of fellow performers looking to get together and have a good time, which isn’t necessarily bad. The trio excelled in engaging the audience, even pulling participants from the crowd to become part of the show. (Pro tip: don’t arrive late!). At times, audience participation even gave the show more character, as during Dandyman’s hanger-spinning contest, and Anil Desai’s brilliant response to a controversial request for a Saddam Hussein impression. It fits comfortably in its role as a late night performance, with Dandyman’s clown-like repertoire and Ruby Rubberlegs dancing to Harry Belafonte’s “Cocoanut Woman” in — you guessed it — a coconut bra.

Acts of Absurdity is like watching your friends fail miserably at bar games, but loving it nonetheless because you can’t help but be charmed by their great personalities. Best served with an ice cold beer, and a willingness to be entertained. Its jokes are at times childish, but hilarious if you don’t plan to take yourself seriously.

Acts of Absurdity runs from February 4-6 at the Black Flamingo in The Pleasure Garden, Northbridge. Tickets available at the Fringe World Box Offices and website.