I am here at the Shoe Bar, eating ice out of a small glass. I am here for a Whitman’s Sampler of tight-fives from various Fringeworld comedians, run by the good people at The Laugh Resort. And I need-not say it, but standup comedy nights are usually a very mixed-bag, yet the fun of going is not knowing what to expect. If you’re looking through the Fringe program, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of potentially great comedy specials, well, The Laugh Resorts weekly 9 AT 9 is a great way to sample the work of over 30 comedians performing in the next month.
Tonight’s host is Xavier Michelides, as seen on Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe (ABCTV), and I’m very thankful he’s easing us into the night by serving up a little something for the boys. Being bald and having a boner. Two of the oldest, most timeless jokes in the world. Just look at the ancient cave paintings. Classic stuff.
Michelides also asks what we are drinking tonight. I am drinking orange tic-tac liqueur. The sucker next to me is just drinking beer. He doesn’t even know that the Shoe has a cool special every week on a fancy-ass drink. Beer is ten bucks, but this orange tic-tac liqueur is nine. I feel empowered. I am becoming a gentleman.
9 AT 9. Photography Ben Yaxley.
The first comedian, Emo Majok, is always a charming and friendly ball buster, making fun of white Australia’s casual ignorance and racism in creative ways. His full show, African Aussie, draws on his childhood experiences of coming to Australia from a North Kenyan refugee camp. African Aussie runs from January 31st.
Emma Krausse, wacky comedian, mother and school teacher, has a show called 40+ Fabulous, and I guess the title tells you what you need to know. This is one for the ladies to gather together and gasp, and the men to sit down and listen. The show runs for a dozen nights across several venues, so if you are over 40 and fabulous, there’s no excuse to miss it.
Someone who is less than 40, but also equally fabulous, is Mariah O’Dea who has a show about the millennial experience, parodying the current hellscape of performative wellness and social media addiction. #thenewme looks to be a big-concept show with props, audio and video. If you are sick of being told to love yourself, #thenewme looks like a relief. Running for three nights from the 19th of January.
9 AT 9. Photography Ben Yaxley.
And if you want a combination of 40+ Fabulous and #thenewme, you can see the high-energy Aliya Kanani’s show, Work in Progress, about the Canadian comic’s Eat Pray Love experience at an Ashram in India. The tagline reads “yoga by day, wine by night”, which also happens to be my personal mantra. Work in Progress runs from the 4th of February.
Rory Lowe, a charismatic lad from somewhere in the UK, maybe Ireland, is going to do a whole 45 minute show of just crowdwork, and I have 100% confidence he has the wit and charm to pull it off. He is also running the Comedy Bar Hop, a pub crawl across 4 beloved comedy venues such as The Brass Monkey, Connections, and, The Court. It sounds like a world-class hens night, or boys night, or hell, a dad’s night. I might see if my dad wants to go.
9 AT 9. Photography Ben Yaxley.
Then there is a comedic detour, from deadpan alt-comic Sonny Yang who has an upcoming show with apparently no jokes called Tales From My Immigrant Father: A Serious & Poignant Show About Culture for a Pretentious Audience. It looks to be a biting satire of the diaspora writing and confessional standup. Sonny Yang’s show runs for three nights from the 19th of January.
Andrew Wolfe and Martin Davis both give a wildly unhinged, confrontational and near incomprehensible set, but I enjoyed watching them immensely. . Wolfe has shrieks a dozen great lines you want to write down, and Davis looks and acts like an elderly Johnny Rotten. They have a multi-bill show called 2 Aussies 2 Brits, running for three nights from the 19th of January.
9 AT 9. Photography Ben Yaxley.
The final performer of this night, Tomas Ford, comes dressed as an Australian bush singer, and quickly transforms into the randiest man you have ever seen. After throwing himself about on stages for 20 years in wild abandonment, Ford came out as gay at the age of 40 and wants you to hear all about it through songs and graphic reenactment. Camp Tomas Ford runs from the 2nd of Feburary.
The Laugh Resort’s Wednesday night shows offer a lot of comedians for 2 hours. Whatever spectrum of humour you abide by, you will find someone who makes you guffaw at the Laugh Resort’s 9 AT 9. For a good night, just rock up at the Shooey, order the special, open your mouth and say Ha ha ha.