Archive for March 5, 2010

Raw – Walworth Farce – Her Majestys

Enda Walsh’s playwrighting panache resides with families living in chronic isolation , ritually reenacting the story of what brought them to that point. If that is what excites you, especially in the Irish / English context, then Walworth Farce may very well be what you will enjoy. Others may well find the story rarely comprehensible, deeply sad, laced with delusion and cruel. The ‘play within a play’ idea is tough going for any audience but after a real world character enters the scene and for a few moments lifts accessibility and spirits, the complexity and rat-a-tat dialogue returns quickly making following it all hard to sustain and soon the rest is downhill until it all happily ends.

To be sure the acting is complete with all three major role players – Michael Glenn Murphy, Tadhg Murphy and Raymond Scannell – doing excellent jobs, with Murphy particularly outstanding. The set is well thought through and the ability to create isolated scenes in one of the areas is effective (or was it scenes within scenes within scenes).

Sure, this is what our great festival is all about – being challenged in ways we may not the other 23 1/2 months of every two years but as successful as Walworth Farce may have been in Great Britain, like many other arrivals from the mother country, it’s a fish out of water here.

Kryztoff Rating  2K

RAW: Dave Bloustein’s Complete History of Western Philosophy @ Tuxedo Cat (Attic)

*Unfortunately, our reviewer was sent into the wrong show on a preview night. He was supposed to see Tommy Little’s Afterthoughts this night, but was ushered upstairs to the Attic to the wrong room. Tuxedo Cat, please take note.* -Ed

About as funny as it sounds, sadly.

This show essentially feels like a lecture run by a kind of goofy professor. His knowledge of his material is impressive, and his jokes aren’t bad. The problem is that they are too few and far between. There are several moments in the show that are genuinely funny, and his closing is solid. It’s a shame that this standard is not maintained throughout the performance.

If you’re looking for intellectually stimulating material, this may be right up your alley. For the rest of us tho, this act is as it sounds – smart, but not that funny.

If you’re going to see this show, catch it toward the end of its run. Given time to find its feet, this show will improve with age.

Kryztoff Rating: 2.5K


>> Check out more interviews, videos, feature articles and polished previews in our latest Fringe Guide, http://www.kryztoff.com/fringe

RAW: Tommy Little’s Brainthoughts

I’m not going to bore you with too many words… I straight up loved this show!

Tommy Little has the sort of personality you can’t help but like and he immediately establishes an intimate rapport with his audience. A refreshingly honest and open comedian, his award-winning material is broad enough to appeal to a wide audience but is approached from a uniquely original viewpoint. This is 50 minutes of totally original stand-up, and Tommy masterfully holds the audience in the palm of his hand for every minute of it.

Tommy Little is consistently funny – not simply amusing or humorous, but laugh out loud funny.

RUSH to see him! This boy is going to have an incredible future. Put simply, he’s a joy to watch! Oh, and girls, he ain’t half bad looking either…

Kryztoff Rating: 4.5K

>> Check out more interviews, videos, feature articles and polished previews in our latest Fringe Guidehttp://www.kryztoff.com/fringe

Raw – Tim McMillan Band – Higher Ground

With tour dates in such far-away places as Prague, Hamburg and Zwickau (wherever that is) coming up in the near future it is a privilege to be able to catch Melbourne’s “post goblincore pioneers” here in Adelaide. They have one more gig left at the Fringe which is at the zoo, a somewhat fitting location to contain the energy emitted by this band.
The band let flow their virtuoso vibes upon the stage outside higher ground on light square last Friday (if you haven’t seen the stage check it out it’s awesome, and some of the best musical acts of the fringe are performing there.) I was thrilled to find out what a goblincore gig involves and that is amazing guitar playing ranging from atmospheric textural coloring to savage shredding and medieval themed jigs. Tim McMillan really is a brilliant guitarist and master of many styles. Infact he is pretty much guaranteed to blow you away unless you hate music or happened to see Jimi & Eric battling head to head back in the 60’s!!
If your looking to see a truly unique band who are all masters of their instruments and put on a fantastic show check out this band, get into Goblincore!! Highly recommended. Your last chance to catch one of Australia’s finest guitarists in Adelaide is at the Santos conservation centre at the Adelaide zoo, Friday the 12th of march @ 9pm. (By Socratos)

Kryztoff Rating  4.5

RAW: Axis of Awesome- Infinity Rock Explosion

So the lead singer of Axis of Awesome looks like Jack Black. You know it and he knows it. Yeah, it’s funny but it’s not the only funny thing the band has to offer. These guys are witty and talented to boot! The keyboard player, who looks like Chicken Little, has a music degree under his belt.

Covering the Kings of Leon’s Sex on Fire but changing the lyrics to form a ‘surprise’ song was a highlight as was a song about a superhero titled ‘Skeleton Man’. Not ones to shy away from a shameless plug, the guys promoted and preformed songs from their fictional CDs.

Upon entry to the venue you will be given 3D glasses. To ensure you don’t look like a dork, hold off on wearing the glasses until you are prompted and you will see an exclusive song in 3D. It’s just like Avatar! However, the real climax of the show came towards the end when the band performed their wonderful ‘Four Chords’ song. These guys are very funny. Jack Black, eat your heart out. 

Kryztoff Rating: 3.5K

>> Check out more interviews, videos, feature articles and polished previews in our latest Fringe Guidehttp://www.kryztoff.com/fringe