Wednesday, February 29, 2012

BURLESQUE BEAUTIES - MOSTLY GLITTER & GIRLS


BURLESQUE BEAUTIES

Mostly Glitter & Girls

Rhino Room

7pm & 9:30pm Sundays & Mondays only til Mar 12th

Sell out seasons in 2010 and 2011 have already proven that Adelaide's Burlesque Beauties have carved a place in Adelaide's heart. Their new show Mostly Glitter & Girls continues this success with a show that is classy, sexy and extremely funny. Outside the venue Svetlanka Seczskittenya is teetering around on impossibly high (and terrifyingly studded) heels, cracking a bullwhip to let the audience know it is time for the show to start. Upstairs the Burlesque Beauty girls are already in the room as the audience enters, each is a vision in lingerie, masks and fans. When the girls take the stage for their first number (Katy Perrys Peacock), they are soon joined by bearded Irish funny man Dave Comedy whose facial expressions while attempting to join in the dancing are worth the price of admission by themselves. Callan, the reason the show isn't called 100% Girls & Glitter, acts as host and MC and introduces the talented BB ladies as they take the stage.

Gorgeous blonde pin-up girl Miss Lolly Dolly get's things off to a traditional burlesque start with a sensational and classic fan dance. Reigning Miss Burlesque Lyra Le Belle & Bollywood temptress Radha Leigh are the powerhouse duo behind this tassle twirling troupe of talented performers. They work really well together and alone. There are afro'ed disco dancing, Leigh's Bollywood number is amazing and Le Belle's playful Lion Sleeps Tonight routine is the true essence of burlesque. There is sometimes confusion about exactly what the difference between burlesque and stripping is. They both have girls and music and there is often disrobing, but the simple answer is burlesque is more about the suggestion than the pants off full frontal nudity of the stripper. There is humour, playfulness in burlesque and it's more about being sensual than sexual. Don't misunderstand me, the girls are all breath taking and they each bend and move in ways that have pulses racing, but it's never smutty or crass.

Guest performer Luna Eclipse from fellow Adelaide burlesque troupe Peaches and Gin rocks the roof off the Rhino with a perfect Genie routine, full of great comic timing, knowing over exaggerated winks and tassels that seem individually powered no matter where they are stuck. The finale has to be seen because it will simultaneously blow your mind and split your sides. Adelaide should be really proud to have such a world class troupe of talented ladies based here.

They have shows at 7pm and 9:30pm every Sunday and Monday til the end of the Fringe at the Rhino Room.

Ian Bell

HANNAH GADSBY - HANNAH WANTS A WIFE

HANNAH GADSBY

Hannah Wants a Wife

Rhino Room

8pm til March 4

Each time I see Hannah Gadsby she is better than the last. She is deadpan and whip smart, thoroughly engaging and extremely funny. Recently her fan base has expanded considerably from being Adam Hills offsider on In Gordon Street Tonight.

Hannah has a Fine Arts degree which she hasn't been using much lately, unless you count that Artscape shows she made about the National Gallery of Victoria for ABC-TV. But let's say, for the sake of this review that she hasn't been, her new show Hannah Wants A Wife gives her a great opportunity to do so. The tiny stage of The Rhino Room is dominated by a large print of a painting by Jan van Eyck from 1434 called the Arnolfini Portrait. For hundreds of years this portrait has been seen as an actual marriage contract, with every tiny detail a symbolizing and detailed story about the people in the painting, their standing and lives. Throughout the show Hannah uses the painting and all that is known about it, to illustrate that everything is not as it would appear and not just in the artwork. She deftly uses the painting as a reference point for talking about gay marriage, time travel and how awkward it can be when heterosexual blokes come into contact with somebody like Hannah who...well...bats for the other team. Great writing, engaging and laugh out loud funny story teller. Hannah Wants a Wife is excellent. Hurry last days!

Ian Bell.

BARRY MORGANS WORLD OF ORGANS


BARRY MORGAN

BARRY MORGANS WORLD OF ORGANS

Umbrella Revolution

7pm til March 18

When I first glimpsed BARRY MORGAN two years ago I knew we were going to get along famously. The man with toothiest smile since the Osmonds, the cheesiest safari suit since my Grandad and the quickest keyboard fingers since Barry Hall (obscure 1970's Hammond player reference). Since he turned up on Spicks and Specks a couple of times, his audience has grown by leaps and bounds and we now find Barry's demonstration of the Hammond Aura Classic organ in the huge Umbrella Revolution pavilion in the Garden of Unearthly Delights. There are a lot of interested shoppers here today, to learn the finer points of this beautiful, state of the art instrument and for a few lucky punters a personal lesson from Barry himself in his famous "one finger method".

Morgan is a fantastic comic creation of course, the fantastic 1972 hair cut and moustache, the biggest smile in showbiz and he bangs out every conceivable double entre about 'organs' you could imagine. It should also be said that Barry is actually an incredible musician. That he is being an incredible musician on one of the most kitsch of all instruments isn't a deal breaker, it does in fact it makes it that much more fantastic. There is however a thin line between a parody of a guy playing cheesy hammond organ and a guy just playing cheesy Hammond organ. Morgan stays just inside that line and when he drops Turning Japanese in his Barry Around The World section, it is comedy genius. When it comes time to see who will take advantage of his sales pitch, there is a truly uncomfortable section while Barry waits for the phone to ring. It's a great bit of theatre. But Barry can't stay sad for long. I wonder if the future will see him playing much more contemporary tunes on his cherished Aura Classic. I could see Barry killing Single Ladies or Party Rock Anthem this time next year. At the end of the show Barry heads outside to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for photos with his fans. I love this guy!

Ian Bell

DAVE CALLAN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LAUGHTER


DAVE CALLAN
The Psychology of Laughter
Rhino Room
9:45pm til March 3

Mr Dave Callan is the quintessential Adelaide Fringe performer. He comes to Adelaide each year does his own always excellent show, then turns up everywhere there is to turn up. Rhino Late Show, Chopper Late Night, Comedy Gala, Imaan's Bigger Than Jesus, Comic Strip plus this year he is a part of the Burlesque Beauties show Mostly Glitter & Girls show (I suspect he is the reason it's not just called Totally Glitter & Girls). He's like an omni-present comedy Jesus, but with better jokes. Which is all the better for us. He is one of the most likeable stand-up's on the planet. He doesn't do nasty material and doesn't treat his audience like idiots. Last year he did a show in Edinburgh and while he was there he stumbled across a book from 1913 called The Psychology of Laughter. That book and the 'wisdom' contained therein were so disturbing they have become the backbone of Callan's new show. Some of 'psychology' involved makes sense and is insightful, but great chunks of it's pages are crammed with the kind of blatantly racist and sexist jokes that Dave is the polar opposite of. In his skillful hands he uses the sheer inappropriateness of this work to turn the ridicule on the book itself. Some of the contents so offensive he actually spat tea all over a particularly off colour page. There is a great section where he compares how things were 100 years ago to how they are now. It's extremely funny and has the audience in stitches. Partly the show is a semi-deconstruction of what makes people laugh, mostly it is a show to make people laugh a great deal. The run has sold extremely well and finishes this weekend get there if you can.

Ian Bell

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

TOM LOUD HOT DUB TIME MACHINE










HOT DUB TIME MACHINE

Idolize Spiegeltent

Garden of Unearthly Delights

11:30pm Saturdays Only during Fringe

So it's Saturday night in the Garden, February 2012 and people are looking for the best party on the planet. It's right here in the Idolize.

Sydney DJ Tom Loud has built himself a Time Machine. A Hot Dub Time Machine. It's an intricate device powered by dancing and through Hot Dub power we travel back in time to 1954 and he creates a year by year dance party like you have never seen before. Through skilful DJ-ing of both audio and video projections, the joint is jumping from the get go. Starting in the rock'n'roll era, through the British Invasion, Motown, funk, psych rock, disco, grunge, hip hop, rave and right up to dub step. Tom is a DJ after my own heart with the breadth of musical knowledge and the sense to know people like to dance to more than one style of music. And with HDTM it means he can literally cherry pick the best music of the last 60 years and make EVERYBODY dance. Elvis, Beatles, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Doors, Pink Floyd, New Order, MC Hammer, Hilltop Hoods, all the way up to Skrillex. Guaranteed your favourite things to dance to will be in the mix somewhere. He throws in some TV themes and other pop culture references along the way, and one of my favourite bits was Sammy J and Dave Callan losing their minds when he dropped the Theme from Ship to Shore into the mix.

At the start of each decade we are briefed by Tom's video assistant. She informs us that we need to keep the energy levels up or we could get trapped in 1989 "..and nobody wants that". We can get extra power along the way by dancing exceptionally well or doing specific moves for each decade.

The audience was sadly not as mixed and varied as the set list. Mostly young hipster clubber types with too much attitude you might find at Parklife or Future Music Festivals. Which is a shame. Just because you dress in groovy clothes and have one of those 'club' hair-do's doesn't make you any less of a douche bag. Still it's a big pavilion and it's easy to re-position yourself round the edges with plenty of places to bust a move. Close to us there is a group of four quite elderly people who aren't doing much dancing themselves, but who are clearly enjoying watching the young people enjoy themselves.

The time appropriate video images are a great addition and do make it more of a show, than just watching a DJ. That said though Loud is an Energizer Bunny on the decks pumping the crowd, taking hi-fives from people and dancing up a storm. It is an epic journey back to 2012 and takes almost two and a half hours to complete. By the end everybody is covered in sweat, exhausted and they leave with big dumb grins on their faces. Yours truly included.

A fantastic party that you should not miss during this Fringe.

STEPHEN CUMMINGS



Stephen Cummings

Idolize Speigeltent

25 Feb 2012

Everyone occasionally has a bad day at the office. You missed your alarm or the bus, there's no milk for your coffee, the meeting you rushed in for is cancelled.

Stephen Cummings is having a bad day at the office. Except it's night time and the office is the Idolize. He thanks us for coming to his "..annual trip to Adelaide.. and maybe my last." The audience are veterans of his 30+ year career and have come with a hunger for older songs from his time as front man for the terrifically good The Sports and an interest in the new. Tonight it's just Stephen and his guitar and things get off to a good start with Fell From a Great Height, originally a duet with Toni Childs released in 1994. He is sounding great and the song is excellent. Skeleton Key, from 2001, is followed by a quite long, rambling, complicated and not fantastically funny joke about dead church bell ringers and Nick Cave. It is the first sign that things may be going astray tonight. Throughout the set he berates himself for forgetting chord changes and lyrics, and apologises to the audience repeatedly. "I'm having a shit night, I'm sorry.". A number of times he reaches a point of a song where he swears and rather than picking up at the trouble spot, he starts the whole song over. It's a shame because the entire audience is on his side and his choice of solo material is a treat for long time fans with songs The Lost Girl and Blue Hour getting a much appreciated airing.

Inevitably somebody yells out Boys What Did The Detectives Say, The Sports breakthrough single from 1978. Cummings bangs through a terrific version of it with great confidence. She Set Fire To The House from the Lovetown album also has some problems. A couple of times he uses a machine that makes a rhythmic thud track to play along with, but he seems unhappy with it and has trouble making it do what he wants it to do. At one point he says "I'm going to sit up here til I get one of these songs fucking right!".

He debuts two songs off the forthcoming new album Reverse Psychology and both of them (Stupidity and All Day) demonstrate he still has the goods as a singer/songwriter. By now it's 11 o'clock and I am hyper aware that these Fringe venues in the Garden have pretty tight turn around times and shows that are queued up back to back. But he starts playing Strangers on a Train, another great Sports classic, so I'm not complaining. This too is a victim of the thud box, and half way through he aborts it and starts over with just the guitar. I'm becoming aware that the Idolize staff are now trying to get his attention, sending people down front to try and catch him between songs. There's a flashlight from the back of the room and at one point they turn the house lights up. However Stephen is concentrating and misses all of these hints that it might be time to wrap things up. The audience is mostly unaware of this because he is playing Sports classics like Suspicious Minds, and an aborted How Come. When that one crashes into a heap someone down front says "Okay Stephen one more Who Listens to the Radio", and he happily complies.

It was a far from perfect gig, but everybody is entitled to a bad day at the office. I hope we see you again next year Mr Cummings.


Ian Bell

Sunday, February 26, 2012

TOM BALLARD DOING STUFF


TOM BALLARD

Doing Stuff

Rhino Room

Season Ended

Triple J favourite Tom Ballard tells us his show is about politics but we shouldn't worry because ".the usual dick and gay jokes you have come to expect from a Tom Ballard show will still be here." And they are, but Doing Stuff turns out to be more textured than you might think. It is a show as much about sexual and personal politics as it is about the other kind. I saw this show the day Rudd resigned and this was manna from heaven for a political comedian. Over an hour he covers the Labour leadership spill, gay marriage and some very disturbing tales of the grossest gay sex acts, both in general and his own specifically. Are they gross - OH Yeah they are, but the point is not that they not gross acts because they are between same sex participants. They are just flat out hilariously disgusting no matter who was involved. I'll spare you the details, trust me it's better that way. Ballard is fantastically likeable on stage, his material is really strong, cleverly written and delivered with boyish charm from a terrific performer.


Ian Bell

SAM SIMMONS ABOUT THE WEATHER

SAM SIMMONS

About The Weather

The Deluxe

Garden of Unearthly Delights

8:30pm til March 18

There is a pay-off to a running reference to an Ikea coffee table in this show which is far and away one of the funniest things I have ever seen somebody do on a stage. In some ways it is the perfect Sam Simmons joke. It's ridiculous, it's big, it's over the top, it's silly, some people won't get it and it's hilariously funny. Obviously I'm not going to tell you what it is. Simmons audience these days is not always going to 'get' what it is he does. A lot of the people in tonight only know him from Triple J and many are not prepared for this level of existential humour. It's not regular stand-up, which is precisely why I love it so much.

About The Weather sees Sam as a lonely man living with his cat Mr Meowgi and a garden gnome he doesn't get on with. A man who is out of sync with his bullshitting workmates who falls in love with a girl he see on his bus to work every day. His frustration out of not being able to make anything of his life (even an IKEA coffee table) leaves him frustrated and angry and very very funny. His story is told, and often controlled by, The Narrator. It's a device Simmons has used before to great effect but tonight I am reminded of the classic Warner Brothers cartoon Duck Amuck where Daffy is at the mercy of the unseen cartoon artist. There is great use of cheesy music (Regulate by Warren G anyone?), a great knowledge of 90's TV commercials, some very funny audience participation plus you get to throw shoes at him at one point.

One of my favourite shows of 2012 - no question.


Ian Bell

Saturday, February 25, 2012

MICKEY D - HOW YA BEEN?


MICKEY D - So How Ya Been?

The Hunting Lodge

Garden of Unearthly Delights

10pm til March 18

Local boy Mickey D made a name for himself through high octane 'wasted' performances and being an party enthusiast. He lives in England these days, he's a new dad, he's shed some poundage and is looking like a new man. In short he has really got his shit together. The effect on his comedy is that he is on-point, sharper, quicker and funnier than ever and this current show is possibly the best thing he's ever done. The audience who loved his earlier personae are mostly regular Aussie's (translation : bogans), some of whom insist on drunkenly yelling thing out like "Good on ya Mickey!". However Mickey is an absolute master of crowd interaction. He rolls with the punches and chats with the punters, skillfully jagging off in all directions, before getting back to the script. He impresses some British chaps in the front row with a series of bang on impressions of various English accents. But while much of this show still harks back to familiar themes of bogans, bikies, alcohol and drugs (his recreation of gurning ecstasy users is one of the funniest things you'll see all Fringe), subtly there is another Mickey D in the house tonight. He talks about living in England, being married and having a baby. He's still not beyond a piss-funny urinal gag, but our boy is growing up and we all reap the benefits.

Ian Bell

Sunday, February 19, 2012

FELICITY WARD THE HEDGEHOG DILEMMA


FELICITY WARD

THE HEDGEHOG DILEMMA

Le Cascadeur

Garden of Unearthly Delights

8:30pm til Mar 18th.

It says in the Fringe guide about this show, "For a hedgehog to stay warm, it must endure pain through physical contact. For a hedgehog to stay unharmed it must endure loneliness.".

What it should say in the Fringe guide is "Felicity Ward has written a beautiful, finely crafted and piss funny Fringe show about putting yourself out there after a break up".

For the last three Fringe's Ward has been putting on great shows, with each growing and becoming more rewarding than the last. With Hedgehog Dilemma she has again bested herself. Felicity enters the stage wearing what should have been her wedding dress and over the next hour tells about her own Hedgehog Dilemma. What do you do when you break up with a long time partner. Before you can ask how yourself how you can ever love again, you have to ask yourself how you will ever get out of bed again? So how do you get back in the saddle. It's different for everybody and it can be a painful journey. Felicity Ward shows us that it can also be an hilarious one. She deftly combines excellent writing, stage craft and performance skills with a story that is seriously funny and very moving simultaneously. Don't think I'm saying it's a heavy message show because it is a very funny show, but it does have more emotional punch than your average stand-up gig. Felicity has exceptional rapport with her audience and even though it's opening weekend I am comfortable in saying this will be one of the best shows you could see in Fringe 2012.

Ian Bell

SOAP THE SHOW



SOAP

THE SHOW

The Vagabond

Garden of Unearthly Delights

Times change 5pm - 11:45 (check guide) til Mar 18th

It's fringe time so there better be a show with dance, music, buff bendy people, rope work, acrobats, water and a bathtub in it or I'm writing a letter of complaint. Oh wait! Soap - The Show to the rescue.

That was only meant to be half a joke by the way. La Clique certainly established the framework of a show that combines all of the above elements into a sure fire Fringe mega-hit the last few years. With sold-out runs and extra shows being added at all hours to meet the demand. Soap is very likely to replicate La Cliques success if the opening weekend shows are anything to go by.

The stage has seven bathtubs on risers. An opera singer emerges from the top bath and start to sing, then Crazy by Gnarls Barkley kicks in and the opera singer merges with it seamlessly. Each bath has an impossibly buff member of the cast hidden in it and there is some impressive bath dancing right from the start. For the next seventy minutes each set piece is more impressive than it's predecessor. The entire cast is very sexy. Super shirtless buff men, scantily clad and gorgeous women all bending and contorting into impossible shapes and balancing in impossible angles. They dance against, in, on top of and above their various bath tubs with grace, beauty, skill, strength and humour. There is trapeze work, juggling, ballet style movement and vaudevillian comedy With the recurring gag of singing Bobby Darins Splish Splash in different operatic styles wearing a tiny bit thin after a while, there were other treats including a great take on Screamin' Jay Hawkins hit I Put A Spell on You.

The finale is spectacular (and as wet as you might expect) and my suggestion is if you are planning to attend, you better book early.

Ian Bell

THE MAGNETS - Gobsmacked!


THE MAGNETS

GOBSMACKED

The Vagabond

Garden of Unearthly Delights

7pm til Feb 29th (3pm matinees 25th & 26th).

Adelaide was already becoming smitten with six piece a cappella sensations The Magnets at last years Cabaret Festival. Now it seems the affair is in full bloom. Some of the audience already has it's favourites before they hit the stage and everybody else is on board an hour later. Unlike many a cappella outfits who use backing tapes, drum tracks and other 'enhancements' The Magnets perform every note, bass and drum sound live on stage with their mouths. There are many moments when this doesn't seem remotely possible. Because not only is the music that they make is multi-layered and perfectly mixed but they are all dancing, striking poses, flirting with the audience all at the same time. They certainly do songs you know and love, but they rearrange, re-imagine them and mash them up (bossa nova Bon Jovi anyone?), and deliver each song with a sense of fun and slick professionalism. In a punchy 60 minute set they cover songs by Elvis Presley, The Killers, Blondie, Blur and Lenny Kravitz. At various times a song would finish and people would be propelled to their feet, a spontaneous way of expressing 'just sitting clapping isn't enough'. Highlights are many, but a great version of Florence & The Machine's Dogs Days Are Over and a staggering take on Adele's Rolling In The Deep are personal favourites. The Adele song also contains Andy Frosts beat box or 'drum' solo which is well worth the price of entry all on it's own, absolutely incredible. How to finish? They give the audience the choice of TWO 26 song medleys, one of bands and one of movies. Guess I'll just have to go back to hear the movie one. What a shame I'm so upset! The response from the audience is rapturous and as they are only playing til Feb 29, I suggest you get in to see the Magnets while you still can.

Ian Bell

Friday, February 17, 2012

SAMMY J & RANDY - The Inheritance


SAMMY J & RANDY

The Inheritance

Umbrella Revolution

Garden of Unearthly Delights

Feb 17 - Mar 18

One of the true joys of a new Fringe festival is knowing Sammy J and his felt faced pal Randy will return for a new adventure. The last couple of years in particular they have become un-missable. Their rapid-fire banter is incredibly well crafted and hilarious, their staging inventive and full of surprises.

Randy has inherited a fortune, a mansion and a bad attitude towards people below his new found station, including his long time flatmate Sammy J. But there are some ghosts in the closet (or fireplace whatever) and there are twists and turns aplenty. The audience seems to have some new recruits possibly as SJ&R have been on the TV a lot more this year and I did wonder how some of the newbies were handling some of the saucier language. Part of the joy of watching these two work together is that they are is such perfect sync as performers that when there is a huge crash of bottles outside, or one of them has trouble with a prop they swing off script together and swing right back. Did I mention the songs are excellent?

The P.A. in the Umbrella seems somewhat muffled on opening night, meaning some of the machine gun quick lyrics are lost in the mix, but hopefully this was a teething problem that will be fixed for the rest of the run.

Looking forward to both solo shows by Sammy J and Randy.

Ian Bell.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Happiest Place on Earth


ADELAIDE FRINGE : THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

There are some people who spend their whole life dreaming of going to Disneyland. The magical world of dreams where the impossible becomes real. A place that is full of colourful characters, music, laughter and amazing experiences. They call it the Happiest Place on Earth.

Well I say bollocks to that.

I know where the REAL Happiest Place on Earth is. It's not in California, Japan or China. It is right here in sleepy little Adelaide town. When the circus that is the Adelaide Fringe Festival rolls into town each year the streets come alive. Everywhere you go there are strange and unusual people, there's an energy, an electricity. There is things to do and see. LOTS of things to do and see. Even if you don't count all the other festivals, concerts and events happening in South Australia in the same period, there are 900 shows in the Fringe alone. Some of my happiest times have been rushing around seeing three or four shows in a night, hanging out in the Garden and catching up with people who almost don't exist outside of festival time.

Admittedly it doesn't last very long. Just a measly few weeks in February and March. By the middle of March it all comes to an end and we go back into hibernation for eleven months, only occasionally popping our heads out of the burrow to complain about nothing happens here, or that our favourite band is skipping Adelaide despite the fact last time they toured nobody bought any tickets here.

But that said, for four weeks when Adelaide is as exciting as New York or London. We are completely spoiled for choice when it come to entertainment. Where to start? What to shell out on tickets to? What to avoid? What new experience to embrace? How to fit it all in?

Well I can't tell you that. I'm not your mum. The pathway to a perfect Fringe is like any of life's great journeys. You plot your course, you do your preparation and choose your travelling companions for maximum fun-a-bility. But if you are smart, you allow for detours, surprises and unexpected pleasures. You allow yourself to go with the flow and roll with the punches.

It still amazes me when I meet people who don't even go to The Fringe. "It's not really my kind of thing" they say, to which my reaction is often a quiet 'Maybe you are therefore not my kind of person'. If you can't find anything you love in 900 shows you are not really trying. However if you are new to Fringeyness there are a few things you can try that might help you out.

1) Get out of the house. Hang out in the Garden or Gluttony, there are often rush tickets (i.e. cheap) for shows especially in the early part of a run. Also all the acts are out spruiking their shows and you might just find something that sounds like a good prospect.

2) Try something. There are a number of late night comedy showcase gigs were there is a host and a bunch of different Fringe acts doing short spots. I have caught my first glimpse of many awesome acts at this type of show. You generally don't know what you are going get but it's a great way to get a lucky dip of entertainment. See Rhino Room Late Show, The Phatcave, Hans After Dark, All Star Late Night amongst others.

3) Mix it up. Go see some comedy, music, burlesque, maybe a theatre show there is masses to do and see.

4) Talk to people. One of the best ways of finding a great show to see is talking to other people out seeing Fringe events. Word of mouth is often more reliable than traditional reviews, although this blog will obviously be indispensable for you over the next few weeks.

5) Want to see comedy but not sure where to start - head for the Adelaide's heart & soul of comedy - The Rhino Room in Frome Road. There is eight different shows a night local, national and International acts PLUS The Late Show (where anybody can and do turn up).

I have taken the liberty of making a short list of shows I think are going to be exceptional this year so maybe take a skim through that to start with.

In short; the next month could very easily be the best fun you have for 2012. It's up to you to get off your bottom and put yourself in front of comedians, musician, burlesque ladies, acrobats, puppets, magicians and more. Get out there and have an awesome Fringe, I certainly will be.

xxx Ian

Ian's far from complete Fringe 2012 Shortlist

COMEDY

Dave Callan - Psychology of Laughter Rhino Feb 21 - Mar 3

Sam Simmons - About The Weather Deluxe Feb 17 - Mar 18

Hannah Gadsby - Hannah Wants A Wife Rhino Feb 21 - Mar 4

Gordon Southern - A Brief History of History Rhino Feb 21- Mar 17

Felicity Ward - The Hedgehog Dilemma LA Cascadeur Feb 17 - Mar 18

Axis of Awesome - World Tour 2006 The Vagabond Mar 5 - Mar 18

Wil Anderson - Wilarious The Vagabond Mar 5 - Mar 18

Lindsay Webb - Humanity Rhino Room Mar 6 - Mar 18

Die Roten Punkte Idolize Feb 27 - Mar 2

Paul Foot - Still Life Umbrella Revolution Mar 1 - Mar 18

Barry Morgans World of Organs Umbrella Revolution Feb 17 - Mar 18

Sammy J & Randy - The Inheritance Umbrella Revolution Feb 17 - Mar 18

Sammy J - The Sammy J Songbook Umbrella Revolution Feb 28 (1 SHOW ONLY)

Randy - Randy is SoberUmbrella Revolution Mar 4 (1 SHOW ONLY)

David O'Docherty - Is Looking Up Nova Mar 13 - Mar 18

Mike Wilmot The Hunting Lodge Feb 28 - Mar 18

3 Canadians The Palace - Feb 24 - Mar 18

Tom Gleeson - Good One The Hunting Lodge Feb 24 - Mar 18

Tom Binns - Ian D Monfort - Spirit Medium The Cupola Feb 24 - Mar 18

Tom Binns - Ivan Brackenbury's Disease Hour The Comedy Mint (Glenelg) Feb 25, Mar 3 and 10 (3 SHOWS ONLY)

Jason Chong - Jason Chong's Mum The Campanile - Mar 6 - Mar 18

Jason Chong - Jason Chong's Reel Life Lo-Fi (Gluttony) - Feb 25, 26 - Mar 3-5, 10&11 and 17,19 (Tix $12/$10).

Dave Thornton - The Some of All The Parts Rhino Room Feb 21 - Mar 3

Greg Fleet - Bring It Rhino Mar 6 - Mar 17

Tom Ballard - Doing Stuff Feb 24 & 25

Bob Franklin - Sir Robert Rhino Room Mar 6 - Mar 17

Sound & Fury - Doc Faustus Excess Theatre (Gluttony) Feb 23 - Mar 17

Angus Hodge - Is Thematically Challenged Funny Pork (Gluttony) Feb 25 - Mar 17

James McCann - Awaiting My MoustacheFunny Pork (Gluttony) Mar 4 - Mar 10

MUSIC

The Magnets - Gobsmacked Feb 24 - Feb 29

Adam Cohen Idolize Spiegeltent Mar Mar 8

Bonnie Prince Billy Idolize Spiegeltent Mar 7

Tex Perkins & The Band of Gold Idolize Spiegeltent Feb 22/23 (2 SHOWS ONLY)

Stephen Cummings Idolize Spiegeltent Feb 25


PS If you have a Fringe show and want it reviewed contact me at djianmaiden.com.au.