Frank Woodley - Sunday, 13th April 2008 - Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Shut up and get to work already!
Anyway, last Comedy Festival entry for the year and this "season" Carmen and I saw five shows all up (Stephen K. Amos, Jason Byrne and Celebrity Theatresports... plus, the upcoming two you'll read about). We were quite "cultured" this year.
Earlier in the week, we attempted to get tickets for two or three shows: Frank Woodley's Possessed, Jason Byrne's Telly Idea Which May Also Work On The Radio Show and Die Roten Punkte's Super Musikant (Super Musician). Managed to snag tickets to Woodley and Die Roten Punkte, but the Jason Byrne one was all sold out. Probably because the show was only performed four times throughout the festival. Should've gotten in quicker! Oh well.
First up was Frank Woodley, and due to poor planning (under the guise of "actual planning") we arrived at the Comedy Theatre on Exhibition St just as the show was starting. Had to stand at the top of the aisle and wait for a break in the scene before we could quickly go to our seats, and during this time Woodley sleepily staggered around the set and proceeded to tumble down a flight of stairs several times. Yep, there's lots of physical comedy in the show: it didn't take long to realise that a good amount of the spiffy looking set was covered in padding.
The idea behind the one-man show is that Woodley is Louie Winkleman, a shut-in who spends his time building model boats and ends up unexpectedly possessed by the ghost of an Irish women from... err... long ago. (Long enough ago that transport between continents was done by boats!). And it's not a stand-up show: we're talking theatre here! Well, sorta. It probably wasn't non-stop funny, like "a joke every 10 seconds" stand-up routine, but it still had plenty of humour, and it was exceedingly charming. Woodley finds plenty of excuses to throw himself around: being possessed helps on that front. (I guess the whole possession thing gives an extra character to balance out Woodley's... Woodley-ness. Much like Lano would back in Lano and Woodley)
And the show's finale, involving a magnetic rat (yes, you read that correctly), is fantastically well-done and extremely funny, with Woodley stumbling / tumbling all over the set. It even had a particularly impressive stunt using a ladder. Whoah. Plus, during the course of the show he brings out the guitar and sings one or two songs and is quite a deft guitarist. Respekt. An enjoyable show, and quite charming, too.
Anyway, last Comedy Festival entry for the year and this "season" Carmen and I saw five shows all up (Stephen K. Amos, Jason Byrne and Celebrity Theatresports... plus, the upcoming two you'll read about). We were quite "cultured" this year.
Earlier in the week, we attempted to get tickets for two or three shows: Frank Woodley's Possessed, Jason Byrne's Telly Idea Which May Also Work On The Radio Show and Die Roten Punkte's Super Musikant (Super Musician). Managed to snag tickets to Woodley and Die Roten Punkte, but the Jason Byrne one was all sold out. Probably because the show was only performed four times throughout the festival. Should've gotten in quicker! Oh well.
First up was Frank Woodley, and due to poor planning (under the guise of "actual planning") we arrived at the Comedy Theatre on Exhibition St just as the show was starting. Had to stand at the top of the aisle and wait for a break in the scene before we could quickly go to our seats, and during this time Woodley sleepily staggered around the set and proceeded to tumble down a flight of stairs several times. Yep, there's lots of physical comedy in the show: it didn't take long to realise that a good amount of the spiffy looking set was covered in padding.
The idea behind the one-man show is that Woodley is Louie Winkleman, a shut-in who spends his time building model boats and ends up unexpectedly possessed by the ghost of an Irish women from... err... long ago. (Long enough ago that transport between continents was done by boats!). And it's not a stand-up show: we're talking theatre here! Well, sorta. It probably wasn't non-stop funny, like "a joke every 10 seconds" stand-up routine, but it still had plenty of humour, and it was exceedingly charming. Woodley finds plenty of excuses to throw himself around: being possessed helps on that front. (I guess the whole possession thing gives an extra character to balance out Woodley's... Woodley-ness. Much like Lano would back in Lano and Woodley)
And the show's finale, involving a magnetic rat (yes, you read that correctly), is fantastically well-done and extremely funny, with Woodley stumbling / tumbling all over the set. It even had a particularly impressive stunt using a ladder. Whoah. Plus, during the course of the show he brings out the guitar and sings one or two songs and is quite a deft guitarist. Respekt. An enjoyable show, and quite charming, too.