If you’ve already seen the Last Tuesday Society variety nights of mayhem performed around town (usually on Tuesdays) then you’ll know the acts are generally good quality, funny and irreverent. The evenings feature a bunch of guest travellers in the realm of good old fashioned satirical vaudeville – the best kind. Presented by The Last Tuesday Society and Melbourne Fringe as part of The Malthouse Theatre’s 2014 Helium series, The YouTube Comment Orchestra is a collection of brand new performance works created entirely from YouTube comments. The You Tube Comment Orchestra, hosted by the ever-so-smooth and professional Richard Higgins alongside teacher-by-day Bronwyn Batten, is a night packed with, if not the cream, then the Bonsoi of local talent.
This showcase night sees each act taking a stab at the inane, the banal, the offensive and the trite. And everything in between. Higgins offers a farewell to long dead memes, and takes the audience through an archaeological dig for the first ever YouTube comment, long deleted by Google+, but he found it!
Sad tribute band MaxiTaxi Ride (Zoe Dawson and Anna McCarthy) do a (slightly overlong) homage in video to ‘long lost Aussie icons’ the fictional band Maxi Taxi. They’re a pair of drag queens who parody the type of ‘day in the life of’ docos that are now so familiar, and make a late, very awkward appearance on stage. Queensland’s Grit Theatre (Tom Browne, Laura Hughes and Clare Phillips) comment in a unique way on the darker aspects of trolling, whereby they whisper collated comments in harmony, the utterances becoming louder and chant-like. Theirs is a different and intriguing approach, although they finished on a flattish anti-climactic note. Mish Gregor encourages a few hapless audience members into a bout of inappropriate touching while doing a beautifully sarcastic turn as a deity. Hers is an original and impudent wit. ‘Punk Poet Laureate’ Telia Neville contributes good words and her slightly odd singular take on things to the mix, Batten takes a hysterical look at the Nicki Minaj ‘phenomemoment’ (I’ve just coined that – let’s see if it takes off) Anaconda. She’s recorded some youthful responses to the clip and some of the funniest and most honest moments of the show involve the children sharing their reactions. The night concludes with Lara Toms and Led Laser capturing perfectly the oh-so-aloof wankery of some ‘high-end’ performance art, recreating some very mystifying performances.
The YouTube Comment Orchestra is one of the laugh-out-loudiest things I’ve seen. Your make-up, and quite possibly your undies, will be ruined. It’s refreshing comedy, each act is satisfyingly well-developed and well-performed. A laugh is good for your health and sanity, remember. If you’re in need of a tonic, do see this.
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
The YouTube Comment Orchestra
Presented by the Last Tuesday Society
The Malthouse Theatre, Tower Theatre, Southbank
Melbourne Fringe Festival
www.melbournefringe.com.au
17 – 27 September
