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scotianostra · 1 year

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Happy 58th Birthday to the multi-talented Scottish actor Alan Cumming born on January 27, 1965 in Aberfeldy.

Alan Cumming has an amazing volume of work under his belt, last year alone he was involved in 8 different projects and TV and Cinema, add to that he appears on stage, writes, produces, directs things, as you'd imagine there is a lot to go through in his bio.........

Born to Mary (Darling), an insurance company secretary, and Alex Cumming. a forester for Atholl Estate, Alanspent his infant years in Dunkeld before the family moved to Fassfern near Fort William, before moving to the east coast of Scotland in 1969, where Alan's father took up the position of Head Forester of Panmure Estate; it was there that Alan grew up. He went to Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School, where he began appearing in plays, and soon after that began working with with the Carnoustie Theatre Club and Carnoustie Musical Society, and never looked back.

In 1981, he left high school with some great exam results in several subjects, but because he was too young to enter any university or drama school he worked for just over a year as a sub-editor at D.C. Thomson Publishers in Dundee. There he worked on the launch of a new magazine, “Tops”, and was also the “Young Alan” who answered readers’ letters.

In September 1982 he began a three-year course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He graduated in 1985 with a B.A. (Dramatic Studies) and awards for verse speaking and direction. He also had formed a cabaret double act with fellow student Forbes Masson called Victor and Barry, which went on to become hugely successful with tours (including two Perrier Pick of the Fringe seasons in London and a month-long engagement at the Sydney Opera House as part of an Australian tour), records and many TV appearances throughout the British Isles. Before graduating Alan made his professional theatre and film debuts in Macbeth at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and in Gillies MacKinnon’s Passing Glory.

After graduating, Alan worked extensively in Scottish theatre and television, including a stint on the soap opera High Road before moving to London when Conquest of the South Pole, a play by German playwright Manfred Karge, transferred from the Traverse Theatre in, Edinburgh to the the Royal Court in London, earning him his first Olivier award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer of 1988.

Alan performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then the Royal National Theatre, where he starred in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which he also adapted with director Tim Supple. The production was nominated for Best revival at the 1991 Olivier awards and Alan won for Comedy Performance of the Year. His film career began with Ian Sellar’s Prague , in which he starred with Sandrine Bonnaire and Bruno Ganz. The film premiered at the 1992 Cannes film festival and went on to win him Best Actor award at the Atlantic Film Festival and a Scottish BAFTA Best Actor nomination. In the same year he made two films for the BBC.

In the 1992 Olivier awards got his second nomination for Comedy Performance of the Year for La Bete. The next year he played Hamlet for the English Touring Theatre to great critical acclaim going on to play the Emcee in Sam Mendes’ revival of Cabaret. He received a 1994 Olivier award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for “Cabaret”, and for Hamlet he received the 1994 TMA Best Actor award and a Shakespeare Globe award nomination.

In 1994, he made his first Hollywood film, Circle of Friends then two films released in quick succession Emma and GoldenEye as a talented hacker, Boris Grishenko, these films brought him to be noticed by further American producers, and he appeared in several Hollywood films, such as Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Buddy.

Returning home briefly in 1997 to work with Stanley Kubrick and the Spice Girls before reprising his role in Cabaret on Broadway. The show and his portrayal were a sensation, and he received the many plaudits and awards for his performance including a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical

Since then he has alternated between theatre and films, and also between smaller independent films and more mainstream fare.His films include Julie Taymor’s Titus, the Spy Kids trilogy, X-Men 2, Son of the Mask and the Showtime movie musical Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, and Battle of the Sexes.

Cumming’s TV work includes Taggart, of course! The short lived Scottish sitcom The High Life, Travelling Man, Third Rock from the Sun, Sex and the City, Foyles War and Dr Who. He is probably best known for starring in the US legal and political drama The Good Wife

Alan lives in Manhattan with his husband, illustrator Grant Shaffer, he has been nominated and won too many awards to mention here, and has champion causes for the LGBT community worldwide. He published a novel,, Tommy’s Tale in 2002, centring on the life of a bisexual guy living in London, and his biography Not My Father’s Son, Cumming describes the emotional and physical violence his father inflicted on him in his childhood, he became estranged from his father in his early 20′s and it wasn’t until filming Who Do You Think You Are in 2010 he spoke to him, his father telling him he suspected he wasn’t his biological father, Alan, along with his brother later had DNA tests which proved they were indeed his biological children.

Alan today went up in my estimations when he announce he was sending back the OBE he was awarded in 2009 due to "the toxicity of empire".

He explained it in full on his Instagram account, posting;

Today is my 58th birthday and I want to tell you about something I recently did for myself. I returned my OBE. Fourteen years ago, I was incredibly grateful to receive it in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, for it was awarded not just for my job as an actor but ‘for activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA’. Back then the Defence of Marriage Act ensured that same sex couples couldn’t get married or enjoy the same basic legal rights as straight people, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ensured that openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people were barred from serving in the military. (Incidentally both these policies were instituted by the Clinton administration). This is the statement I made at the time: ‘I am really shocked and delighted to receive this honour. I am especially happy to be honoured for my activism as much as for my work. The fight for equality for the LGBT community in the US is something I am very passionate about, and I see this honour as encouragement to go on fighting for what I believe is right and for what I take for granted as a UK citizen. Thank you to the Queen and those who make up her Birthday honours list for bringing attention to the inaction of the US government on this issue. It makes me very proud to be British, and galvanised as an American’. The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes. Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire). So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!

If you want to see Alan let loose in oor ain land check out Channel 4’s Miriam & Alan: Lost In Scotland where we see the esteemed actor venturing around his native Scotland in a mobile home, with a new friend in tow – fellow thespian, the 80-year-old super Miriam Margolyes. The second series saw then explore the US.

I have to say I hope I look in as good shape as Alan when I reach my 58th birthday........but with just over 4 months left it's not going to happen is it!

#scottish #scotland #writer #actor #theate #cinema #television #lgbtqia #happy birhtday

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qnewslgbtiqa · 19 days

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Cruising for Beginners with AJ Lamarque

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/cruising-for-beginners-with-aj-lamarque/

Cruising for Beginners with AJ Lamarque

Sydney comedian and Kweens of Comedy creator AJ Lamarque follows his SBS television debut with a new standup show about gay culture and gay cruises at the 2024 Sydney Comedy Festival.

AJ Lamarque has had a triumphant start to 2024. In February he performed at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival’s Laugh Out Proud comedy showcase to an audience of more than 1,600 people at the Enmore Theatre.

In the same month he also showed that gays can be a feast for the brain as well as the eyes in his first television appearance on SBS TV’s Celebrity Letters and Numbers alongside fellow comics Harley Breen, Lizzy Hoo and Jude Perl.

Following his 2023 viral Tik Tok series where he describes Sydney Gays by Suburb, AJ Lamarque has earned a strong fan base in the Sydney LGBTQIA+ community and is now ready to bring a new, hilarious show to the Sydney Comedy Festival that explores gay culture in a funny, naughty and thoughtful way.

@ajlamarque

Sydney Gays by Suburb: Parramatta Gays #sydneygays #joke #comedy #gay #parramatta #fyp #gaytiktok

♬ original sound – AJ Lamarque

AJ is ready to set sail with this brand new solo show A Beginner’s Guide to Gay Cruising about his experiences aboard the world’s biggest gay cruise.

When asked what audiences can expect from the show, AJ says, “A Beginner’s Guide to Gay Cruising will contain everything people want to know about these infamous cruises, from the parties to the sex and more.”

“But equally, it will be an exploration of what happens when you give the gay community the space and freedom to be themselves, to be the majority.

“Have you dallied with the idea of going on a gay cruise? Want to learn more about gay culture? Or perhaps you just want to hear about all the sordid details that happen on board?

“Whatever your motivations, I’ve got you covered. So grab your life vests, your floaties, and your jockstraps because it’s time to go cruising.”

Having already earned a slew of awards and accolades, AJ’s comedy style has been described as the love child of Rhys Nicholson, Katherine Ryan, and Michael Mcintyre as he balances sharp wit with a charismatic charm to create a warm, honest and unique comedy experience.

Lamarque has performed across Australia and some of his most notable career highlights include hosting the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s 2023 Comedy Zone Program, being an Official Ambassador for the Sydney Fringe Festival in 2022 and being chosen as a Future Leader by Creative Australia in 2023.

He produces Oxford Street’s biggest and longest running comedy show, Kweens of Comedy, for which he’s also been recognised as a finalist in the 2019 Young Achiever category at the ACON Honour Awards and as a 2020 “30 under 30” recipient for Out for Australia.

See AJ Lamarque in A Beginner’s Guide to Gay Cruising at The Comedy Store in the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park with shows nightly at 8.15pm from Thursday May 9 to Saturday May 11. -For more information go to www.comedystore.com.au

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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comedyinsydney · 1 year

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 1 year

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I decided in the last few days to watch a whole bunch of the stand-up specials I downloaded a while ago. Already wrote a couple of posts about ones that really got to me when I saw them, but here are some of the others.

Michael Legge - Jerk (2018)

I didn’t even have that one downloaded before, I only had The Idiot, but I thought that one was so very good that I immediately got this too. Also very good. Very similar to the other one, a lot of angry shouting. A fair bit of politically-flavoured angry shouting, sometimes just general angry shouting. A bit at the end that I think I’d appreciate more if I were more familiar with David Bowie’s work, but I really liked it anyway.

Actually, I liked that in both his shows that I watched. That they both ended with a properly big finale, I enjoyed that in a comedy show. And I know it can be a bit formulaic, to spend the last few minutes doing something big and dramatic that ties in lots of stuff from earlier in the show. But some things become part of an often-used formula for a reason. I’m thinking of when I got to see Dara O’Briain live last summer, his Voice of Reason show, and throughout, he kept talking about how callbacks are really cheap tricks that trick and audience into thinking they’ve seen something better than they really have. And of course, at the end he pulled everything together and ended on about eight callbacks in a row, leaving me feeling like I’d seen something even better than I actually had (though what I actually had seen was pretty damn good with or without the ending). I like that particular cheap trick and they work on me every time.

Anyway, both the Michael Legge shows I watched did that, and it was a lot of fun to watch. I guess he has to go really big at the end, if he wants the finale to be even more memorably dramatic than the rest of the show, given that the energy level is high the entire time. It’s fucking sharp, a lot of the good political points and genuinely visceral anger being almost thrown away into the sea of ranting about everything else, which I like. There were even throughlines and themes, but he didn’t hit you over the head with them, or at least not with them specifically, because he was too busy hitting you over the head with everything else at once. He didn’t need to make an extra big deal out of any one thing, except the endings, full of callbacks and even further heightened drama, and it felt to me like he took all the best parts of the “comedy show formula” and then just did the rest his own way.

…This is probably writing way too much about a guy I knew almost nothing about a few days ago and still know almost nothing about. But it’s what I got from the two shows and I really liked them.

Danny Bhoy - Live at the Sydney Opera House (2007), Live at the Athenaeum (2009), Subject to Change (2010)

I watched these mainly because I’ve decided I want to know about everything that happened at Edinburgh Fringe Festivals in the 00s, and it’s my understanding that Danny Bhoy is quite a bit of what happened at Edinburgh Fringe Festivals in the 00s. I sometimes spend nights just clicking through YouTube clips of stand-up, and if I’m in the realms of 00s British comedy, Danny Bhoy clips always come up as recommendations. So I’d watched a bunch of those clips before, found him mildly amusing, wanted to see if there’s more too him in an hour-long set.

The answer is… not really. Not based on the three I saw, which is probably more than enough. I mean, some of it was funny. And I definitely liked him. He’s very affable even before you factor in that I will automatically like anyone more if they’ve got a Scottish accent. He seemed to be having a good time, as did the audience. It looked like fun.

It reminded me a little of when I listened to that Radio 4 stand-up showcase from 2007-2009, and one season of it was hosted by Michael McIntyre, and that made me say… Oh, I thought all those other comedians were exaggerating when they describe McIntyre’s comedy, but it turns out they were mostly spot on. It was a bit weird to hear McIntyre’s actual routines for the first time, because it was weird to hear something done unironically when I normally only hear this sort of thing if it’s being mocked by another comedian as the quintessential bland conventional comedy.

I don’t think Danny Bhoy sounded similar to Michael McIntyre, but it gave me the same feeling of thinking it’s weird to hear this done in a straightforward way, when normally I only hear comedy like this if it’s being deconstructed. I think Danny Bhoy is what you get if you look up “mainstream observational comedy” in a textbook. And like I said, some of it was funny. I’m genuinely glad everyone was having a good time. I probably didn’t need three entire hours of it, which I sat through just because I’d already downloaded three and the completist in me wouldn’t let me stop until I’d finished them.

Phil Nichol - Nearly Gay (2005), The Naked Racist (2006), Your Wrong (2021)

I downloaded these for about the same reason as Danny Bhoy – when I spend a night clicking through YouTube stand-up clips, and I start from comedians who did Edinburgh shows in the 00s so YouTube starts giving me more comedians who did Edinburgh shows in the 00s – Phil Nichol comes up plenty. Often doing his song about the Only Gay Inuit Person (I refer to it here with the same convention that I use if I ever have to talk about the first song on our sports’ team’s competition road trip playlist, which is Kanye West’s Black People in Paris), so I mainly knew him for that. I downloaded his shows a couple of months ago because I wanted to see more of this other corner of 00s Edinburgh comedy, especially since his 2006 show The Naked Racist won the Perrier Award, and I like the idea of seeing as many Perrier-winning (or whatever other name it’s had in a given year) shows I can, just for the sake of understanding comedy history. The reason I chose now to watch them, however, is I cut out that clip of him calling a radio show and it reminded me that I’ve been meaning to do that.

Well. It turns out this guy’s got bigger problems that having an outdated racial term in one of his songs, and sometimes calling into a radio show after, I’m fairly sure, doing some drugs. By the end of those three shows, those other couple of things were looking quite tame, really.

I did finish the Naked Racist one by saying… I cannot stand people who go on about comedy “couldn’t be made today”, but they did give this a Perrier in 2006, while in 2022, I’m pretty sure Jerry Sadowitz technically got cancelled for less. Though it helps that Phil Nichol wasn’t shouting racial slurs while he did it… though actually, now that I think about it, he did in fact do that a couple of times too. But never in a derogatory way. My personal view of that is I don’t think those words should be used by anyone who isn’t in the groups they describe, but if someone outside that group does use them, context should be considered when judging it. And Phil Nichol’s context was very unambiguous about being furious at actual racism, as opposed to those many comedians who use words like that while knowing full well that any audience member who holds bigoted views could take that as validation, even if the comedian later on claims they were meant ironically (which it’s my understanding is the case with Sadowitz, I don’t mean to suggest those two shows are literally equivalent and obviously I haven’t even seen the show from last year, just read about it, so I can’t really comment, saying “Jerry Sadowitz got cancelled for less” was just my way of saying “Phil Nichol got his dick out, and had it out for longer than I bet Sadowitz did”). No actual racist could go to that show and take Phil Nichol’s comments, even with the most bad-faith interpretation, as agreeing with them.

Watching these shows was rather interesting because stylistically, it feels like a sort of weird fusion of the 00s British comedy done at Edinburgh, and the sort of thing I see in Canada. This guy would not be out place headlining my local comedy club on a Thursday-Saturday night (if it were a week when they were bringing in one of the really successful comedians and charging extra for tickets, that is) in a way that a lot of British comedians would seem out of place. I’m about 85% sure there are reasons for that based on his comedy style, and it’s not just the accent, but I also can’t think of specifics at the moment. So it’s possible that I just feel that way because I’m not used to watching recorded comedy in my own accent. Normally the comedy I’ve seen in that accent is live and in a darkened basement.

Anyway. It turns out I was wrong, in that other post I made, to say Only Gay Inuit Person is from 2005. It’s actually from the 90s, and 2005 is just when he did an Edinburgh show about how that song isn’t homophobic. Which, to be fair to him, it isn’t (jury’s out on anything else). While in 2006 he did a show that was somehow a protest against the Iraq war, and has beaten Desiree Burch’s Unfuckable, Mark Thomas’ Sex Filth and Religion, and all of Frankie Boyle’s DVDs as the least family friendly stand-up comedy show I’ve ever seen.

I’m pretty sure I really liked all three shows. It’s hard to tell, because at no point did he slow down nearly enough for me to work out what was happening. I almost definitely very much enjoyed them, but I think I recommend them to no one. They should never be seen by anyone.

John-Luke Roberts - A World Just Like Our Own, But… (2022)

The Phil Nichol stuff made me decide that might be a sufficiently concentrated shot of mid-00s comedy to be more than enough of that for one day, or possibly for several years. So I thought I’d try to counter my penchant for escapism into what was going on in Scotland in 2006, by watching something from this decade. I opened the John-Luke Roberts show, as he’s notorious for being a reliable vehicle that brings a person back to reality.

Obviously he isn’t that. But I did really, really like this. I’d only seen one of his shows before, which was his All I Wanna Do Is… (and then like 18 more words in the title) show in 2018. I went into that show with some hesitation, because I keep reading about how John-Luke Roberts does this brilliant inventive stuff that nobody else is doing, and I was curious to see it, but also aware that if it’s something not many people do, that might be because it’s something not many people “get”, and that might not bode well for my ability to enjoy it. I’m not one of those people who read Shakespeare comedies in high school English class and actually found them funny. And I didn’t mean to compare John-Luke Roberts to Shakespeare, it was just the first thing to come to mind when I thought of entertainment that you can only enjoy if you have knowledge of the form.

I watched the All I Wanna Do show anyway, and I liked it better than I expected to. It made me say, “Oh, I’d been wondering what ‘absurdist theatre’ actually looks like, and now I know. It’s that. Cool.” And that was exactly the point of it – he said repeatedly throughout the show that it was meant to be a showcase for what absurdist theatre is. So part of my reaction was just appreciating that, and be interested to find out what this thing is. Another part of my reaction was enjoying it, probably less so than someone who’s actually into that sort of thing and really properly understands it. But I could enjoy it as an outsider.

That’s how I felt about his All I Wanna Do show from 2018. Yesterday I watched his 2022 Edinburgh show, A World Just Like Our Own, and that one I properly loved. Not just enjoyed as an outsider, I got fully into it. He had me hooked from the very beginning – from literally the first sentence, as few comedy shows can do – and never lost my interest for a moment. I can’t think of a single bit that felt slow or unnecessary. It tied together like a beautiful puzzle, a somewhat tragically beautiful puzzle but also one that was weird and funny and vibrant, and that’s pretty much my favourite thing that a comedy show can do. Who knew absurdist comedy could come together in a way that makes so much sense?

I liked it so much. It had humour and mystery woven in every single line, ones that seemed disparate but then connections got made a little at a time, and he delivered it so sincerely. Based on my attempts at understanding what sorts of comedy shows win awards, I feel like this one should have won some awards last year. When he finished that run, someone should have given John-Luke Roberts a medal, or at least a hug.

Alasdair Beckett-King - The Alasdair Beckett-King Mysteries (2018)

I decided, after the John-Luke Roberts show, that I hadn’t had enough of men with properly long hair (none of this half-assed shaggy or even shoulder-length stuff), being surreal at me from within the last few years. I know ABK from his YouTube videos, which I’d say I find about 40% all right, 40% very funny, and 20% fucking hilarious. His live show did not disappoint.

I think my favourite thing about ABK is his really purposeful delivery, no matter what he’s talking about. With everything he says, it feels like he’s metaphorically looking you in the eye and swearing it makes sense. He’ll go from one thing to the next with so much intention, like whatever weird shit he’s discussing is the most natural thing in the world. And then every once in a while he’ll stop and look around, like he’s just remembered where he is. He said at the beginning that he was going to carve out a little space in this one room for this one hour where reality doesn’t exist and they can make whatever they like in there, and that is how it felt.

I’d read before that he uses a lot of “tech” in his live shows, and I wasn’t sure how much I’d like that, but I thought it was great in this one. Just a few slides, and a cheap smoke machine, nothing overwhelming at all. And it was all set up to be intentionally kind of shitty, low-quality pictures and the smoke machine not functioning properly, which I liked. It didn’t feel like a high-tech show; it somehow felt like a lower-tech show than shows that have none of that stuff at all. It contained several images that he’d printed onto cardboard.

Jessica Fostekew - Hench (2019)

After all these I remembered that women exist, and decided to open this one. I’d seen this show mentioned a lot, by people who discuss the big high-quality smart and hard-hitting shows that win awards and things like that.

I have to admit, I wish I’d heard less about it before I watched it. Because I think I was expecting something a bit different from it – I’m not quite sure what – and that meant I’d didn’t really quite get on board until part of the way through. I ended up re-watching the first half after I’d finished the whole thing, and I liked the first half better on the second watching than I did on the first. I think expectations skewed it – not that it wasn’t good enough to live up to expectations, just that I thought it was going to be about something else.

Anyway. Judging it by what it was and not by what I thought it would be, it was very good. It’s in the classic style in some ways - humour mixed into stories that come together to be about difficult experiences (you know, like the “dead dad” show people make fun of, but in this case it’s “casually sexist mom, also casually sexist society”), some serious bits and some purely funny bits but most a mixture of both, ending on a callback that gets acted out physically for that big finale that I like. A whole classic formula I like, in fact.

I liked Jessica Fostekew’s perspective on a number of things, including things where I often feel a disconnect from a comedian’s perspective. By “disconnect”, I mean comedians who will do a show with all these feminist points but still make a joke on the premise that women who don’t shave their legs are gross or something. This show is very much the opposite of that, so the feminist points felt more consistent. And of course I connected to it as a woman who’s spent much of my life arguing with my mother about whether it’s a bad thing if my body becomes too “masculine” (not even in a gender identity way – that’s a whole other thing – I’m just a cis woman who likes to play sports, and knows from experience that all those transphobes only defend women’s sports in the one specific way that lets them hurt a vulnerable group, they support it a lot less when they realize it involves women having muscles and things like that). Again, I really liked the ending on this one. I liked the way it drew everything together, even the parts of the show that seemed to be about very different topics. I liked everything she built into the show to bring it to that point. I like how I got more out of it on a second watch, because I could see everything she was building. It was great.

Rachel Parris - Best Laid Plans (2018)

I enjoyed Jessica Fostekew’s show because it was great, but also because it spoke to some of my experience that I don’t see represented all that often. This show was... not like that one. It’s about how Rachel Parris always imagined herself getting married to a man and having biological children with him, but it hadn’t happened yet and she was very sad about that. As someone who never dreamed about any of those things, I viewed this show as more of an outsider. Having said that, she hit on universal themes like depression and slow but sure recovery and being annoyed at obnoxious people on trains, so there was still lots to enjoy.

It’s musical comedy, which is immediately a bit divisive. I don’t automatically dislike musical comedy, but it’s not my favourite thing, and a few of the songs I didn’t enjoy too much. But I really liked some other ones. I also loved her stories about teaching piano to kids, which she worked in with her own piano playing. And I thought the final song was very good.

I downloaded this one entirely because I like Rachel Parris on The Mash Report/Late Night Mash, so it was a bit weird to see her in a show that had no explicitly political content (I mean, I could at this point go into a discussion of how it’s a political issue that all people but particularly women are taught to feel like failures if they haven’t gotten married and borne biological children, but I shall refrain). She had a lot of the mannerisms that are so funny on that show, in a completely different type of content. However, those mannerisms are funny anywhere. The exaggerated smile, the talent for sounding so over-the-top in her sarcastic amount of sweetness, the straight face that just starts to break a little near the end of whatever point she’s making, betraying the irony. She’s very, very good at that.

Kiri Pritchard-McLean - Hysterical Woman 2017, Home Truths 2022

I watched her Victim, Complex show before Christmas and thought it was very good, so I rounded that out with these two this week. One show from before that one and one from after it, and you can really see her progression. In her first show, she referred to a lot of views that had clearly evolved by her most recent show - not even that she’d scrapped those views and adopted new ones, just that she’d developed them. It was interesting to watch.

All three shows I’ve seen show off Kiri Pritchard-McLean’s ability to go back and forth so quickly, which I really like. Back and forth between making a smart point and making a purely stupid joke. Back and forth between being intellectually political and filthy sexual humour delivered with a big smile. Back and forth between extreme confidence and self-deprecation. Back and forth between anger at all other people and solidarity with them. I enjoy all sides of those things, and I enjoy the whiplash of transitions between them.

There were a few points that left me with that thing of “Well I don’t know if that moment was funny, but I agreed the hell out of it.” And, somewhat controversially, I think that’s fine. Because all three shows I’ve seen by her also had many, many points - a high percentage of the show - that was funny. I like a show that can do both. I guess there’s some ratio of humour to just “agreed the hell out of it” that you don’t want to drop below, but she came nowhere near dropping below it. She always takes time to be funny.

I also like how she’s willing to criticize and contradict herself on stage. Her self-deprecation isn’t just for the sake of it, and it isn’t cheap shots about stupid things - it’s picking apart her own prejudices. She’ll do a routine, and then she’ll stop and point out of the flaws in it, that come from the limits of her own perspective. I really like any comedian who’s willing to do that, and Kiri Pritchard-McLean does it well.

I also just really like her. All the time, she has this “rough around the edges” energy immediately puts the audience in the mood to be entertained. She’s good sometimes on panel shows, but I like her a lot better in her own stand-up shows, when that energy comes out entirely.

2022 - Guy Montgomery - Guy Montgomery By Name, Guy Montgomery By Nature

For this last one, I decided to step away from all the rest of the things I’ve explored here, and watch a lanky white man in his mid-thirties from New Zealand list weird observations that occurred to him during lockdown, in a relatively understated way. I did this entirely because I really, really liked him on Taskmaster.

This one started a bit slowly, but I didn’t think any of it was bad, and by the end I thought it was very good. The first half or so were ruminations on idioms, particularly the famous Australian one about fucking spiders, with a lot of lines sort of casually thrown away, a list that was probably too long, and stuff about letters and numbers. The second half was more grounded in reality, but with callbacks that explain that actually the weird observations were all part of a plan to use them to explain the significance of other things. Which, as always, I love in a comedy show. I love a good callback, and a callback that reveals extra significance to what first appeared to be a casual observation - that’s just lovely (Jessica Fostekew’s show had a bunch of this too).

I liked his stuff about parenting. I really, really liked his routine about evening news shows. I liked the routine it built into, about professional athletes and role models, even more. Then he told a long surreal story about horse, and it was hilarious. That was pretty much the second half, it was brilliant.

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thecourtneychronicles · 5 years

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“Back in 2014, audiences stared rapt into their televisions as Courtney Act (aka Shane Jenek) debuted her flair and undeniable gorgeousness as one of the participants in RuPaul's Drag Race. They were already well known in their native Australia as they'd been the first queer contestant on reality TV, but the competition turned Courtney into a worldwide star.

Since then, Jenek appeared in (and won) the 2018 edition of Celebrity Big Brother UK and was a runner-up on this year's season of the Australian Dancing with the Stars, in which Jenek made history (again) with Joshua Keefe as the first same-sex couple to be paired on the show. After a run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer, Under The Covers arrives in London, putting together Act's showmanship and vocal prowess to take audiences "under the covers of music and life".

She compares covering songs to a drag act, adding and stripping off elements to reveal a person's own self through performing. Running just over an hour, the cabaret is jam-packed with comedy and musical numbers. She mixes humour and breeziness until she touches the core of the evening: time nearly arrests as the drag queen speaks of gender identity, fluidity, finding oneself, and the inherent nature of her art.

She shares what it meant growing up queer in Sydney, educating and never patronising her public in a strong script that leaves plenty of space to adapt it to her nightly crowds. Once she metaphorically tones down the glitter, her cleverness and passion for equality come out vividly, turning the act into a lot more than a vapid drag cabaret.

The show runs smoothly with well-crafted changes - although the insertion of long video installments in order to grant time to the performer to change outfits stalls it briefly. She is effortless as she juggles jokes and banter with touching personal experiences that reveal Under The Covers to be a journey to explain gender through music. Act belts out anything from pop to Disney-fied tunes, generously sprinkling references to her time on the various competitions.

She appeals to her loyal fanbase but never alienates the less savvy, opting to enlighten them on "The greatest cultural moment of 2018" as well as the importance of having straight allies when it comes to visibility. It's another dazzling win for Courtney Act, who seems to bring acceptance, positivity, and a good dose of camp wherever she goes.

Courtney Act: Under The Covers runs at Underbelly Festival until 19 May.”

Broadway World UK’s review of Under the Covers - May 14, 2019

#c act news #ca: under the covers #14.05.19 #courtney act #rupaul's drag race #rpdr

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sydneyharbourdinnercruise · 3 years

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Interesting Events and Festivals You Should Attend in Australia

Australia, also known as the Land Down Under, is a culturally rich country that is home to a number of interesting festivals that will make you inspired for life. Here are some amazing festivals that you could add to your bucket list.

Melbourne International Arts Festival

Melbourne International Arts Festival is a renowned event on the Australian cultural calendar. The festival, first established in 1986, has been formerly known by many names which later came to be known as Melbourne International Arts Festival from 2003. Every year, the festival introduces a number of experienced and new artists who practice various disciplines including dance, music, theatre, multimedia, visual arts and other outdoor events.

Vivid Sydney

Vivid Sydney is a 23-day lights and arts festival that happens in Sydney during the winter season. It is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and it’s more than just art. Artists and art lovers from near and far travel to Sydney to marvel at the advanced light displays, sculptures and installations. One of the best ways to enjoy the iconic 3D light display at Opera House and the decked-up Harbour Bridge is to get on board a Vivid Sydney cruise that offers ringside views of the harbourside displays. While onboard you can enjoy a delicious dinner that is freshly prepared by chefs on board while taking in the amazing views of the lights too. The Vivid cruises themselves are decked up in tune to the festival’s theme and it’s indeed a marvellous sight as the lights reflect upon the waters. Some of the major Vivid precincts in the city are Circular Quay, Luna Park, Hickson Road Reserve, Taronga Zoo and many more.

The Adelaide Fringe Festival

The Adelaide Fringe Festival is supposedly the world's second-largest annual arts festival in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It features more than 7000 artists from around the globe and it transforms the city into a wonderland. The festival runs for 31 magical summer days across 250 venues featuring over 800 works of art. The Adelaide Fringe is also a registered charity that has become an inevitable part of the cultural fabric of South Australia. The events that take place at the festivale range from cabarets and theatres to music, visual arts, comedy and so much more. The Fringe, being an open access festival, people show great interest in attending the events, making it truly ‘The People’s Festival’.

Parrtjima

Did you know that Australia’s biggest light installation is held by the world’s oldest living culture? Parrtjima(pronounce parr-chee-ma), held in the Northern Territory, is the country’s only Aboriginal-dedicated event that uses the latest technology. It is a free event that is hosted by the traditional owners of Alice Springs—the Arrernte community. You can visit the festival to see a vibrant display of their wonderful artworks and perhaps learn a little about the rich culture and history. The festival happens over a period of 10 nights every April and showcases a number of spectacular lighting displays. The MacDonnell Ranges is the 300-million-year-old canvas that is transformed during these festive days in the Northern Territory. Every night during the festival, the mountains light up with the most colourful projections and the stillness of the desert is interrupted by the exciting and booming live music sets. For those who love a hands-on experience of the Aboriginal culture, you sign up for a workshop where the visitors are encouraged to immerse themselves in the schedule of events.

The festivals in Australia are all essentially quite vibrant and filled with goodness. There is always something going on in Australia during any time of the year. To feel inspired and refreshed for life, visit any of these vibrant festivals in the country.

For more: https://www.sydneyharbourdinnercruises.com.au/vivid-sydney-dinner-cruise

#Vivid cruises #Vivid sydney cruise

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comedycafeberlin · 5 years

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Fern Brady: Power & Chaos at the Berlin Fringe Thursday, July 11 | 7:30pm - 8:30pm As seen on Live from the BBC, Live from the Comedy Store, The Russell Howard Hour, Frankie Boyle’s New World Orderand Live at the Apollo (the first Scottish woman to do so), Fern is one of the UK’s hottest comedy stars. Known for being totally unique and completely fearless, her new show will tackle nationality, sexual identity, power dynamics and female beauty standards all with her caustic wit, exceptional writing and electric stage craft. The show debuted at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival where it sold out in addition to a sellout run at Sydney Comedy Festival, gaining glowing reviews along the way. Other credits include 8 Out of 10 Cats,Comedy Central’s Roast Battle and Seann Walsh’s Late Night Comedy Spectacular. Fern has also appeared multiple times on BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz, The Now Show & BBC Scotland’s political panel show Breaking the News. Brady wrote a sitcom pilot for BBC Three (Radges) which has since been optioned by BBC Worldwide and sold to Snapchat in the US.Other US credits include her stand up album Male Comedienne which was bought by Comedy Dynamics following the success of her 2017 Edinburgh show of the same name. Brady is currently developing a new pilot for BBC studios in addition to writing a play for the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. What the press have said about Fern Brady ‘An astounding hour’ ★★★★★ The List ‘Quick-witted acerbic stand-up from a future household name…tough-talking and packed with don’t-give-a-shit honesty’’ ★★★★★ The Skinny ‘Solid gold material on top of a beautifully brutal turn of phrase’ ★★★★ Fest ‘Bold, whip-smart and unabashedly honest’ ★★★★ The Herald ‘Appealingly acidic…a great comic sensibility with moments of sparkling verve’ The Guardian ‘Top five young comedians to watch’ The Telegraph ‘Never less than compelling’ Evening Standard Early reviews of Power and Chaos from Australian press “A thoroughly enjoyable hour” ★★★★ Herald Sun “Deadly accurate” ★★★★ Daily Review “Effortlessly and authentically hilarious”★★★★1/2 The Music https://ift.tt/2LCHMUJ

#IFTTT #Instagram

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grahamstoney · 7 years

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Invitation to my Difficult First Show... This Weekend!

New Post has been published on https://grahamstoney.com/shows/invitation-to-my-difficult-first-show-this-weekend

Invitation to my Difficult First Show... This Weekend!

I’m doing my first full feature-length one-hour show at The Sydney Fringe Comedy Festival this weekend, and I’d love you to come and join in the fun!

Two shows only:

First Difficult First Show: Saturday September 30th 2017 at 5:45pm

Second Difficult First Show: Sunday 1st October 2017 at 4:45pm

Tickets are $15 for adults or $10 for students/concession.

I’ll be mucking around and playing crowd-pleasing yet-to-be-hit original songs like:

Everything Is Fucked

Sushi Girl

Music Theory Class

Perfectionism

Reggae Man

…and many more!

Here are some rave reviews of the material so far:

“Graham needs a constant stream of shit swirling around him to inspire his creativity” – Mel Forbes, Guitarist from Girls on the Avenue & my music theory teacher.

“I prefer Graham’s playing to the sound of a helicopter” – Michael, who I met in a park in Melbourne.

“I probably shouldn’t have let that happen” – Michael Brown, Saxophonist in The Protesters & my music composition teacher.

“You need to take a long, hard look at yourself” – Margot Thomas, Fellow TAFE Music Student.

Here’s a promotional video for the show where I maintain a creepy amount of eye-contact with the camera:

youtube

Click here to learn more or click here to just buy the goddam tickets.

#Difficult First Show #music #musical comedy #stand-up comedy #Shows

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scotianostra · 2 years

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Another actors birthday today is one of our busiest actors, Alan Cumming born on January 27th, 1965, in Aberfeldy to Mary (Darling), an insurance company secretary, and Alex Cumming.

His family lived nearby in Dunkeld, where his father was a forester for the Atholl Estate. The family moved to Fassfern near Fort William, before moving to the east coast of Scotland in 1969, where Alan’s father took up the position of Head Forester of Panmure Estate; it was there that Alan grew up.

He went to Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School, where he began appearing in plays, and soon after that began working with with the Carnoustie Theatre Club and Carnoustie Musical Society.

In 1981, Alan, showed he had brains when he left high school with 8 ‘O’ Grades and 4 Highers, but because he was too young to enter any university or drama school he worked for just over a year as a sub-editor at D.C. Thomson Publishers in Dundee. There he worked on the launch of a new magazine, “Tops”, and was also the “Young Alan” who answered readers’ letters.

In September 1982 Cumming began a three-year course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He graduated in 1985 with a B.A and awards for verse speaking and direction. He also had formed a cabaret double act with fellow student Forbes Masson called Victor and Barry, which went on to become hugely successful with tours including two Perrier Pick of the Fringe seasons in London and a month-long engagement at the Sydney Opera House as part of an Australian tour, albums Hear Victor and Barry and Faint, Are We Too Loud and many TV appearances throughout the UK.

Before graduating Alan made his professional theatre and film debuts in Macbeth at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and in Gillies MacKinnon’s Passing Glory. After graduating, Alan worked extensively in Scottish theatre and television, including a stint on the soap opera High Road before moving to London when Conquest of the South Pole, a play by German playwright Manfred Karge, transferred from the Traverse Theatre in, Edinburgh to the the Royal Court in he West End, earning him his first Olivier award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer of 1988.

His film career began with Ian Sellar’s Prague in 1992, in which he starred with Sandrine Bonnaire and Bruno Ganz. The film premiered at the 1992 Cannes film festival and went on to win him Best Actor award at the Atlantic Film Festival and a Scottish BAFTA Best Actor nomination. In the same year he made two films for the BBC - Screen Two: The Last Romantics (and Bernard and the Genie, the latter winning him the Top Television Newcomer award at 1992 British Comedy Awards. In the 1992 Olivier awards he was also nominated for Comedy Performance of the Year for La Bete. In 1993 he played Hamlet for the English Touring Theatre to great critical acclaim one reviewer raved that Alan (was) “An actor knocking on the door of greatness” He received a 1994 Olivier award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for “Cabaret”, and for Hamlet he received the 1994 TMA Best Actor award and a Shakespeare Globe award nomination.

In 1994, Alan made his first Hollywood film, Circle of Friends, and his performance as the oleaginous Sean Walsh along with those in two films released in quick succession Emma and Goldeneye brought him to the attention of American producers, and he appeared in several Hollywood films, such as Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Buddy. He returned home in 1997 to work with Stanley Kubrick and the Spice Girls before returning stateside in 1998 to reprise his role in Cabare” on Broadway. The show and his portrayal were a sensation, and he received the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics’ Circle, Theatre World, FANY, New York Press and New York Public Advocate’s awards for his performance.

Since then Alan Cumming has alternated between theatre and films, and also between smaller independent films and more mainstream fare. His films include Julie Taymor’s Titus, the Spy Kids trilogy, X-Men 2, Son of the Mask and the Showtime movie musical Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical.

Alan wrote, directed, produced and acted in The Anniversary Party with Jennifer Jason Leigh, which premiered at the Cannes Film festival in 2002 and went on to win a National Board of Review award and two Independent Spirit award nominations. He also produced the documentary Show People and the films Sweet Land and Full Grown Men (and appears in both) and acted in Gray Matters opposite Heather Graham and Bam Bam and Celeste , opposite Margaret Cho.

In 2006, he returned to Broadway as Macheath in The Threepenny Opera.

How, with everything he has been doing, he found the time to write a novel, Tommy’s Tale in 2002, I don’t know.

Cumming’s TV wok unused, Travelling Man, Third Rock from the Sun, Sex and the City, and of course that good old Scottish favourite Taggart.

More recently Alan teamed up with KT Tunstall to do a version of Caledonia, he turned up in DR Who in 2018, as oor James VI and was in a couple of episodes of the excellent, Prodigal Son and voiced, Loki in the Simpsons.

Alan has a few projects on the go according to IMDb including, a drama called Run and a road trip movie Bright in a Hollow Sky.

IMDb doesn’t say this, but I noticed a couple of days ago Alan is also lined up to appear in the National Theatre of Scotland's BURN. It’s a creative collaboration between Cumming and Olivier award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett, And described as “a powerful new piece of dance theatre inspired by the life and legacy of Scotland's most celebrated poet, Robert Burns.”

Away from the film and theatre Cumming has promoted LGBT rights, MC-ing and attending fundraisers for organisations such as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and taking part in an Equality Network video campaign, from New York, promoting the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Scotland. Cumming also supports several AIDS charities, including the American Foundation for AIDS Research

#Scotland #scottish #actor #writer #producer #singer #happy birhtday

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vileart · 7 years

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The Dramaturgy on the Bus: Carl Donnelly @ Edfringe 2017

GET ON A BUS WITH DOUBLE EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARD NOMINEE CARL DONNELLY

Carl Donnelly – The Nutter on the Bus

Venue: BlundaBus

Date: 3rd – 27th August

Time: 7:30pm (55min)

Following a sold-out run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and nationwide tour with his critically acclaimed show Bad Man Tings, double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Carl Donnelly will return to the Fringe with his brand new show The Nutter on the Bus, performing at the BlundaBus from the 3rd – 27th August at 7:30pm. The Nutter on the Bus sees Carl caught between his traditional working class upbringing and life in the new-age hippy division of the Metropolitan Liberal Elite®. Between disappointing his carnivore parents and crying around a campfire in an ayahuasca induced Shamanic haze, Carl’s new lifestyle is a mystical, meditative adventure that the formerly sceptical lapsed Catholic never dreamed of. But has Carl seen the light? Or is he just a nutter on a bus?

What was the inspiration for this performance?

The main inspiration for this show was partaking in an ayahuasca ceremony in October last year where I drank a hallucinogenic tea in the woods and had visions of my childhood. It made me realise how far removed I am from my childhood and family and how I should discuss it onstage.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

It’s an amazing way to communicate ideas and thoughts on the world. It allows the audience to not only hear or see and idea but to also see it through the eyes of the performer(s). What better way to fully understand an idea than to feel it from the perspective of someone else

How did you become interested in making performance?

My fall into comedy was purely by chance. I had been writing comedy ideas and sketches since my mid teens but never had the guts to do anything with them until a girlfriend in my early twenties signed me up to a stand up comedy workshop. It was a revelation as I found a platform where I could share my ideas and they seemed to go down well. From there I threw myself into it and the rest is history.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

My approach changes with every show. Sometimes I’ll have a topic that I really want to discuss and that will be the starting point. Other times (like this year) it will be an event that sparks the making of a show. After the Ayahuasca ceremony in October, I felt like I couldn’t write a show that didn’t discuss it as it was such a strange but interesting experience.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

In terms of content, yes. It is straight stand up and storytelling but the venue is unusual. I’m performing on the Blundabus this year as thought considering the subject matter, it would be interesting performing it in a less conventional space. Where better to share tales of Shamanic ceremonies and revelations than on the top deck of a bus?

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I hope as with all my previous shows that the audience find it funny but also come away feeling like they’ve learned a lot about me. I try and do the comedy that I like to watch. I like to laugh but also feel like I’m getting to really know the performer. I hope that I do that when I’m onstage.

A regular face on television, Carl’s credits include multiple appearances on Mock The Week (BBC Two), Russell Howard's Good News (BBC Three), Stand Up For The Week (Channel 4), Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central (Comedy Central), Dave's One Night Stand, Alan Davies’ As Yet Untitled (Dave) andFootball Tonight (BT Sport). In 2013 Carl and Chris Martin relaunched the Carl Donnelly and Chris Martin Comedy Podcast, which has since recorded over 160 episodes, gained over 50,000 subscribers and been highlighted as a top ten comedy podcast by the Guardian. The podcast will also be featuring at the Edinburgh Fringe with a variety of special guests on week days throughout the festival at Heroes @ The Hive at 9:45pm. Carl has twice been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards – as Best Newcomer in 2009 and for Best Show in 2013. He has also won Best Newcomerat The Chortle Awards, Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year and Laughing Horse New Act of the Year. As well as completing several nationwide UK tours, Carl has performed at some of the world’s biggest comedy festivals including Montreal Just for Laughs, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival and Kilkenny Cat Laughs.

from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2uLBCqn

#Theatre #Blogger #visual art #Edinburgh Fringe #Experimental Critique

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comedyinsydney · 1 year

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At Australia’s #1 School of Stand Up Comedy, 🎤we realize some people may want to consider doing Stand Up Comedy 🎭 but, aren’t exactly sure if it’s for them or they’re ready to invest in a full course. That’s why we’ve created several start up tools🧰 that will help you decide if it’s for you and at a price $22-$49 that won’t break the bank. Our best selling book📚”So u wanna be a Stand Up Comic?-15 things to know and do before or during your journey” covers the ends and outs of the industry and pointers to starting as a 🤩“Rising Comic”. Our 2nd, self help book, 📚 ” How not to lose money 💰at Fringe and Comedy festivals“ covers producing your own ( solo or group) fringe and comedy festival shows plus money saving tips from other producers and promoters from across the country. Oh don’t forget our online Intro to stand up comedy course. It’s also a great starting tool and even includes pop up quizzes to test yourself! Both books and our online course 📚 are Available now on or website and for a limited time, include free shipping 🛳️ ( no not that kind of shipping) 📬( That’s better).click the links below for more info or to purchase, oh check out the dates for our next up and coming complete industry courses in your city.🎤 Australia’s School of Stand Up Comedy “ Where we show you how to tickle their bones 😅“ 2023 Final Course Dates: Sydney : June 4th-8th and July 16-Aug 13th. Brisbane - April 23rd-27th (prep for Fest course) or Sept 3rd-7th (Final course in Brisbane) Adelaide - July 30th-Aug 3rd ( Final course in Adelaide) Canberra - June 18th-22nd,2023 ( Final course in Canberra) Melbourne - Aug 20th-24th ( Final course in Melbourne ) https://www.comedyintheraw.com.au/product-category/bonkerz-store/ #bonkerzcomedyaustralia #standupcomedyschools #comedyclubssydneycbd #comedy #sydneycbd #comedyclubs #comedysydney #sydneygeorgestreet #comedyschoolmelbourne #laughter #bonkerzaustralia #sydneypubs #liveperformances #comedians #comedyschooladelaide #festivals #comedyfestivals #fringefestivals #comedyschoolcanberra #openmiccomedysydney #bonkerzcomedyaustralia #standupcomedyschoolssydney #comedyclubssydneycbd #comedyschoolbrisbane https://www.instagram.com/p/CqE8xJiyqjK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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thelaughstand · 7 years

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TOMORROW (Tuesday 23 May) - The Return of CAM KNIGHT to The Laugh Stand at Harold Park! We are PUMPED!!

Your Headliner, Cam Knight has been an actor and stand up comedian for the past 16 years and was the co-host of a brand new show on Channel 9 called ‘Unreal Estate’ alongside Kate Langbroek in 2016. He has regularly appeared on the ‘Today Show’, co-hosted Studio 10 on Channel 10 and can be heard as a weekly co-host on Triple M's ‘Merrickville’ in Sydney.

As well as performing sell out shows across the country and receiving 5 star reviews and award nominations, Cam featured at the televised Montreal Just for Laughs Festival at the Sydney Opera House in 2015 as well as the televised Sydney Comedy Festival Gala on the Comedy Channel. As an actor, he's featured on Ch 7's ‘Big Bite’, ‘Blue Heelers’, ABC’s ‘Soul Mates’, ‘Wham Bam Thank You M’am’ and ‘How Not to Behave’.

“Cam Knight’s show has it all…Knight will have you in stitches from the first minute till the last…this show will be one of the best at this year’s Fringe and is a must see.” – 5 stars, The Adelaide Advertiser.

Only $10 HERE or $15 on the door!

PLUS! 5 buck beer spesh!

#tuesday #harold park #glebe #funny #hilarious #beer #cam knight #harold park hotel #the laugh stand #adelaide advertiser #comedy channel #comedy #soul mates #big bite #wham bam thank you ma'am #comedy star

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oliverphisher · 3 years

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Sam Bowring

Sam Bowring is a stand-up comedian and author living in Sydney, Australia. As well as the acclaimed Broken Well Trilogy and the Strange Threads Duology, he has also written children's books, plays, and for a number of television shows.

He writes for children, with titles such as THE LITTLE BAD WOLF and SAM THE CAT.

Sam Bowring has been writing and performing stand-up comedy since he was 16 and since then has been on ABC 702 with Richard Glover, and on Triple J, including a regular spot on the breakfast show with Wil Anderson and Adam Spencer in 2004. In 2006 Sam was nominated for Best Emerging Comic at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and for Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Sam's television writing includes The Big Bite (Channel 7), Ronnie Johns Half Hour (Channel 10), The Mansion (Comedy Channel) and Rove Live (Channel 10). He has also written several plays.

What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

My dad read me the Hobbit when I was small, which imbued me with a love of the fantastical that has lasted ever since. After that we went through an awful lot of Pratchett.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?

Hmm, tricky one. I am greatly enjoying a game called Pistol Whip on my VR headset, it cost something like $30. It gets me stretching and leaping about shooting bad guys to music, getting an aerobic workout that is actually fun. I feel less tightly wound when I sit back down for countless hours at the desk. Does the increasing popularity of VR mean we going to see a generation of accidentally ultra-fit nerds?

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

I’ll let you know when I experience the success bit.

Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?

Absolutely not. Okay fine, I have one that I made up myself, does that count? ‘As long as the books get written’. It basically means that, no matter what else is going on in life, I must always remember to write.

What is one of the best investment in a writing resource you’ve ever made?

An ergonomic chair. For a person who sits all day, this is a must!

What advice would you give to a smart, driven aspiring author? What advice should they ignore?

Don’t start each session re-reading what you already wrote. You are chipping away at a chunk of marble, it’s not going to look like David right away, so don’t dispirit yourself by examining his misshapen head the day after you begin, and thinking ‘this isn’t exactly what I wanted it to look like’. It is easier to work with an entire imperfect object than to try and carve the perfect finger first and then everything else around it. Finish your book, then spend as much time polishing as you need. You don’t have to show it to anyone until you’re ready! But if you never finish, then all you’ll wind up with is a drawer full of fingers. This metaphor is getting confusing.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession often?

I immediately lose interest when people start recommending proscribed structures and writing rules, i.e. the Hero’s Journey, three acts, ‘Save the Cat’ and all of that. By all means understand these things, but also, meh.

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)?

Freelance work. It’s tempting to always say yes, because ‘make hay while the sun shines’, right? But if the sun shines too bright for too long, all of sudden you’re not writing anything of your own, but instead rephrasing ‘the stakes could not be higher’ a dozen different ways for an episode for some dumb reality talent show.

What marketing tactics should authors avoid?

I heard about a guy who would go into bookstores and sneakily place glowing ‘staff review’ signs under his books. When he was found out, he got banned, although his books did not. I would not recommend this tactic.

What new realizations and/or approaches have helped you achieve your goals?

These interview questions have a very positive spin to them, and that’s not really my vibe.

When you feel overwhelmed or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?

I clear the decks of immediate natty tasks as quickly as possible, so there aren’t noises come at me from a dozen directions.

Any other tips?

When you start thinking of them as ‘bed rags’, it’s time to buy new pajamas.

________

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