News, analysis and comment - performing arts |
Jim Jeffries – Hellbound: Melbourne International Comedy Festival
A steaming, brooding, snarling Jim Jeffries entered the stage with beers in hand and scowling into the audience.
Before his words were spoken my first thoughts to myself were “Jimmy looks like he has been hitting life pretty hard” Then he spoke... and my thoughts appeared to be confirmed.
Entering into Jim's world is a dark, truthful, mean and nasty experience. In fact Jim Jefferies shows should come with a health warning. There is nothing soft and gooey about Jim's performance. He hits hard and then digs the knife in a little deeper while you quite happily let him rip your world apart.
His subject matter touches on all that is politically incorrect, anal sex, pedophilia, drugs, porn you name it and Jim will have it all covered.
The most ludicrous and delicious thing about Jim Jefferies is he is a funny, funny man. His wit encircles you like a flame twirler in a gypsy nightmare. There are moments where you can hear the audiences shock and horror, and then a millisecond of silence, then roof lifting laughter, then a noticeable feeling comes over the audience, which I can only describe as a guilty pleasure to laugh in the face of political incorrectness.
I found Jims performance liberating, I felt I could let loose and escape our world of fake niceness. Jim gave me permission to laugh at the awkward and crazy experiences of his life. He led me down a dark passage, rubbed my face in the dirt, pushed me around a few times and somehow I feel better for the experience.
Jim Jeffries – Hellbound: Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Date: 2 - 26 April
Times: Tue-Sat 9.30pm, Sun 8.30pm
Duration: 50 minutes
Venue: Victoria Hotel - Banquet Room
215 Lt Collins St, Melbourne
Prices: Full $35
Concession $30 (N/A Sat)
Group (6 or more) $32 (N/A Sat)
Preview $25
Laugh Pack $30
Tightarse Tuesday $25
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013
& at the door
Stephanie BySouth & Catherine Dorrestyn
Stephanie is Head of Product Development at ArtsHub, an avid Crayon Manager, design lover and is yet to travel to Antarctica.
Catherine has a long and dark past hiding in the bowels of far too many theatres, but that’s stage management! She can often be seen with a glass of wine in her hand at opening nights and art galleries. She also likes to put colour onto canvas, sing and is a avid story teller. If it were not for art and creativity she may just shrivel up and turn to dust.
Tomas Boot 7 Feb 2012
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: This 40th anniversary screening of the iconic surf flick, accompanied by live music, proved that it's still as relevant today as it was back then.
Siobhan Argent 6 Feb 2012
STUDIO 246, BRUNSWICK: While showcasing the promising and consistent offerings at Studio 246, Here, In the Sugarcane could perhaps do with a tweak.
Patricia Maunder 6 Feb 2012
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: This local version of the BBC's Doctor Who Proms is a treat for Doctor Who fans, but not as much for classical music fans.
Rebecca Butterworth 6 Feb 2012
COMEDY THEATRE, MELBOURNE: It was always going to be difficult to live up to the beloved TV shows, but Yes, Prime Minister the stage show is still entertaining.
Angela Perry 6 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: A tantalising mix of circus, music, dance, cabaret and burlesque combine in the Burlesque Garden.
Nerida Dickinson 6 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: John Conway demonstrates the power of madcap positivity to generate further antics in his high energy Fringe World comedy mishmash.
Matt D’Silva 4 Feb 2012
BONDI PAVILION: A quirky, slapstick comedy in the manner of Month Python, The Jinglists will make you laugh.
Chloe Papas 4 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Ali Kennedy-Scott's play chronicling the stories of everyday heroes who fought Victoria's ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires takes audiences on unrestrained emotional ride.
Astrid Francis 3 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: LA-based writer Brian Finkelstein weaves together tales of the US Writers' Strike of 2007 and Haymarket Massacre of 1886 into an ultimately gratifying whole.
Astrid Francis 3 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: If you want to have a dream interpreted in an unusual context, this is the show for you; if you are looking for something more theatrical, not so much.
Jennie Sharpe 4 Feb 2012
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: The Metropolitan Opera's The Magic Flute, reproduced by Opera Australia, does everything possible to bring it into the 21st century.
Angela Perry 1 Feb 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Cirque Appetit is a collective from Perth’s circus and theatre schools, who used comedy, performance art, circus, dance and physical theatre to delight the audience.
Mariyon Slany 31 Jan 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Good old-fashioned entertainment, Barry Morgan’s World of Organs is an innuendo-filled 1970s spoof on sales pitches, organs, bad polyester suits and organs.
Jessica Keath 31 Jan 2012
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: Meow Meow's sold-out festival closing night performance was a rare pleasure and a delight.
Patricia Maunder 30 Jan 2012
VICTORIAN OPERA: Outgoing musical director Richard Gill put on an unexpected yet entirely logical addition to his outstanding legacy with this all-too-short season of Cinderella.
Victor Kline 30 Jan 2012
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: A presentation of the classic West Side Story with music performed live by the Sydney Symphony, this was a fun multi-media night fit to win over the cynics.
Astrid Francis 30 Jan 2012
FRINGE WORLD: Winner of last year's Best of Amsterdam Fringe, Bye Bye World is a beautifully crafted tale of the desire to reject one’s accumulated existence.
Marcus Costello 28 Jan 2012
COMPANY BELVOIR/CARRIAGEWORKS: A radical modernising of Seneca’s play, this production of Thyestes is harrowing but quite brilliant.
Suzanne Yanko 28 Jan 2012
MELBOURNE ZOO: The second in the Zoo’s 2012 Twilight Series had something for everyone, and left the mixed audience applauding and wishing there was more.
Gareth Beal 28 Jan 2012
DARLINGHURST THEATRE: A musical rom-com with an excellent cast, Ordinary Days boasts a strong narrative structure, but also leans towards sentimentality.