When leaving the theatre after viewing Dot com/love, the overwhelming feeling running through my head was gratitude for opportunities like the Fringe to showcase work. Written by Mim, Dot com/love is a drama about a woman struggling with life and looking for love in the wrong places – an intensely relatable scenario for many people, and a reminder that theatre is not just for the audience. The fact that someone with little to no experience in the theatre was able to create and stage such a personal and affecting show is an inspiring testament to Melbourne’s theatre scene.

Revolving largely around the protagonist’s experiencing with internet dating and the boiler-room team of scammers who are trying to rip her off, Dot com/love is a raw and honest portrayal of the situation many people can find themselves experiencing. Moments of light comedy help break up the heavy drama and it was good to see in-depth exploration of the scammer’s psyche as well.

There were some creative and well-executed staging decisions, particularly when introducing a selection of profiles on the dating website, though at times the excessive props on stage bordered on distracting. There was nice use of costume, often reflecting the mood of the protagonist in what she was wearing. The lighting was effective, helping to set the somewhat gloomy mood of the play, but the production could have benefited from different placing of the microphones, to better pick up the dialogue.

Dot com/love is a rare show – lacking in pretension and embracing its unembellished take on life. It would have been nice to see the pace tightened up a bit, but after seeing a lot of quick, fast, sketch comedy shows, this reviewer found the change of speed refreshing and reflective.

Dot com/love has finished its run at the Fringe Festival.

Dan Nixon is clearly a man of many talents, and the opening night of The Super Normal Life of Aiden Allcock left this reviewer eager to see what he comes up with next. Written and created by Nixon, this mini-musical about superheroes, comic books, friendship, underwear and kick-arse fight training sequences is the theatrical equivalent to cuddling up with your favourite book.

The best kind of cheesiness abounds in the cleanest fun you’re likely to find at the Fringe. Plenty of tongue-in-cheek dialogue and a few sneaky ball jokes – too subtle to attract the attention of younger audience members – ensure this production is never boring. The sheer energy poured into the performance by the actors (in particular Jon Christie as the titular Aiden) makes you want to leap up and run around in a cape and a mask with them. The characterisation is endearingly enthusiastic and earnest in equal parts, ensuring no awkward moments ever, just an abundance of warm fuzzies.

The choreography is brilliant. While showing off the talents of what are clearly very accomplished dancers, the numbers are comical and energetic, with a kind of carefree charm that negates the need for rigidity or too-tight movements. Coupled with lyrics reminiscent of Flight of the Conchords and a wonderful sense of spontaneity (“I’m gonna march, I think it’ll help get my point across”) this is a show that embraces its casualness and makes the audience feel like they’re mucking around with a group of friends.

The scene changes bordered on too long, but this opportunity was taken to use both film and photography to continue the story in the meantime, providing some of the most solid comedy of the show. If budget had allowed, the show could have benefited from giving the actors microphones, as occasionally lyrics were lost beneath the volume of the music.

This feel-good and incredibly funny show is suitable for all ages. If you squint there is morality and somewhat of a coming-of-age theme running through it that just add to its distinction. Do yourself a favour and take in the sweetest, most heart-warming show to grace the Fringe in recent years.

The Super Normal Life of Aiden Allcock runs at the Portland Hotel. Some times and dates have been changed so check the Fringe Festival website for details.

With just a touch of audience interaction to begin – nothing too intimidating – the audience is treated to a fast-paced hour of seemingly independent sketches by the Wizard Sandwiches in their self-titled show. These five gentlemen who met at Deakin University have dabbled in sketch comedy in a variety of different forms and their versatility is apparent from the moment the audience enters the theatre.

Nothing is sacred, and the show’s satirical nature includes topical skits on war, religion, serious illness and taxi drivers, but always stops short of being truly offensive. It is a fine line for comedians to tread – playing it too safe can earn you scorn from an audience, while leaping over the line of decency merely for the sake of being controversial is somewhat of an amateur move. The Wizard Sandwiches balance this line perfectly and the belly laughter from the audience was proof enough.

The show makes good use of music – clever, without being overused or relying too heavily on it for laughs. Special mention must go to Jake Ludowyke’s utterly side-splitting sound effects and the entire cast’s prowess with accents and facial expressions. There are times when the verbal comedy is outshone by the sheer hilarity of the physical. When I attended on the second night, there were a handful of lines tripped over, but recovery was so quick and effortless I found myself second-guessing if there had actually been a mistake at all. A small case of malfunctioning props was dealt with by Dylan Cole in a charmingly self-deprecating manner.

As the show goes on, certain subjects and jokes are revisited, but always with a new element which ends up increasing the humour and takes care to never tire the audience of the subject matter (Jarryd Clifford and Andrew Belsten’s ‘charades’ skit comes immediately to mind). Without giving too much away, moments to watch for include Stuart Daulman’s sadistic school principal, the Pingu tribute, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Tazos reference and a hard-boiled detective Western involving nursery rhyme characters.

I would urge anyone with a penchant for quality sketch comedy to head to the Trades Hall to check this out.

The Wizard Sandwiches runs until 7 October at the Trades Hall – Annexe. Full ticketing information is available on the Fringe Festival website.