Katherine Phelps

Rama Nicholas is one of the finest actors treading the Melbourne Comedy Festival stages. This theatrical gem should be getting so much more support for the talent, skills, and hard work she puts into her magical and engaging shows. Nicholas’s current production, After Ever After, plays with the concept of what happens to fairytale characters […]

Stella Wilkenson was an eight year old YouTube Viral sensation. With that success she had more attention than an eight year old can handle, much less her mother. Now eleven, she is being “productised” in order to attract money. This is the set up for the very funny EDGE!. Isabel Angus plays the hyper-active and […]

I find it is always worth scanning the cabaret and theatre sections of the Melbourne Fringe guide. Frequently comic gems are tucked away in those corners. When Sammy J creates a show, it finds its way into comedy. When Cosgriff wrote this show, she placed it in cabaret. Probably a wise move to attract fans […]

Great art doesn’t always happen where you expect it to. The comic book distribution method has produced the fertile ground for exciting and original work such as Maus, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. I agreed to become a literary judge in 2003 and was assigned the Young Adult division. I was disappointed at […]

Jovial is the word for both Neil Sinclair and his show. Charmingly Useless is like attending a Christmas barbeque with uncle Neil cracking everyone up until their nostrils hurt from all the drink they’ve snorted through their noses. Sincliar is a traditional humourist with jokes, gags, puns, and a generous sprinkling of one-liners. He delivers […]

Claire Hooper’s goofy sense of humour is always a delight. Her shows are like being invited to an adults only bouncy castle where the big kids are given a chance to jump and play. Fables starts with the Aesop story of the tortoise and the hare and music from Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals, just […]

I grew up where we had a radio station that played the old radio shows. I loved listening to episodes of The Shadow or comedy by the likes of Burns & Allen. More recently I’m a big fan of Prairie Home Companion which is a contemporary radio program using an old-time format. Radio Variety Hour […]

As they say in real estate: location, location, location…or not. When putting together a festival show, where and at what time you hold a show can mean a lot when attempting to attract an audience. The easier you make it for people to find you, the more likely they will give you a chance. However, […]

I am a fan of fans. I may not always share their passion for vampire flicks (Goths), mechanical tails (Furries), or giant robots popping out of the bump on some kid’s head (FLCL maniacs), but I like them. I like the fact that they don’t fear their own passions and do not indulge in dissembling […]

The character of Leslie Squid is the delightful creation of Lucy Schmidt. Leslie Squid is a psychic with a big heart, a big voice, and many a delightful anecdote to tell. The evening begins with a few magic tricks and some back story for Madam Squid. Schmidt has chosen to portray her as something of […]