Katherine Phelps

2012 Melbourne Fringe:
• Two Guys, a Girl and a Microphone
• Girls Night

Posted on 27 September 2012

Two Guys, a Girl and a Microphone

To any developing comedians seeking to make their way up the comedy ladder, go see Two Guys, a Girl and a Microphone. Lauren Bok, Roland Hoffmann, and Sam Petersen are excellent examples of doing it right when joining the comedy field of play.

The three of them were doing the rounds at various major open mic nights when they decided to form a group and put up a show. You can’t really be a comedian alone, you have to be just social enough to make friends and do a little networking. I’m not fond of pushing my face into loads of other people’s faces just to make useful connections. I don’t find it respectful. Understand though, getting to know people and forming alliances is still important.

To test the waters the three chose to start with Melbourne Fringe Festival…good choice. With Melbourne Fringe you get loads of support from both the festival and patient audiences to find your feet, without damaging your hip-pocket too badly. If you gain a reputation at Fringe, it will serve you well when you move onto the Melbourne Comedy Festival. People are much more likely to turn up at that event if you can wave around good reviews.

Their marketing is modest but effective. The show title is descriptive of the event. Their advertising image emphasizes themselves presenting clear pleasant demeanors. Their show copy is informative and humorous.

The show is a youthful work full of rough energy. You can see the uncut diamonds emerging from each performance.

Lauren Bok will need to work on getting more laughs per minute, but the laughs she earns are good solid belly laughs that arrive frequently enough to leave you wanting more. Bok’s strength is her comic acting. Her expressive face and lilting voice make her a joy to watch. She has a delightfully ditzy Lucille Ball vibe about her. I would love to see her do sketch comedy.

Roland Hoffmann’s cool sophisticated presence should make him popular with university audiences. His humour picked up pace when he went from spot anecdotes to full stories. His story about the scooter was particularly good. I loved his story about the Shakespearean fare evader. He didn’t do any political humour, but I kept wondering if it might suit him. One point of improvement: keep the “ums” and “ahs” to a minimum.

When Sam Petersen mentioned he is twenty-one years old, I was amazed. He has a secure stage presence that usually comes with long experience. He exudes warmth and readily engages his audience. Like Adam Hills he could talk about anything and people would be happy to just enjoy his company. I would encourage him to stay committed to this career path, he has real talent.

Go watch Two Guys, a Girl and a Microphone. If this threesome keeps at it, they have a bright future ahead of them.

Two Guys, A Girl and a Microphone Melbourne Fringe Website.

Cath Styles Presents: Girls Night

Cath Styles is becoming a comedy institution at the festivals. She regularly organises Girls Night samplers where all the best female comedians are brought together to share their talent. She usually ensures that each evening has one headliner, a female comedian well-loved by the public, combined with carefully selected up and comers. Mind you, after all these years some of those “up and comers” are beginning to be in the “well-loved” category.

Styles’s own performance is rock solid. She knows how to own the stage, her timing is impeccable, she’s great at unifying an audience in their enjoyment, and she’s a gracious MC. She’s the woman you always want to invite along when you’re going to a pub with your friends.

She has a long and impressive list of performers who will be turning up each night of her show. So, it would be worthwhile buying tickets for more than one night. The evening I turned up the performers included Anna Log, Morven Smith, Diana Nguyen, and Telia Neville.

Anna Log is always fun. This blond curly-haired fireball can get people to laugh with just a laugh of her own and a goofy grin. Her specialty is light-hearted bogan humour.

Morven Smith was just back from a successful run at Edinburgh Fringe. Her humour is both human and humane. She talks about the little things in life and makes them sparkle with absurdity. I loved her geek joke and would enjoy more.

Telia Neville is the thinking person’s comedian. Her rants about language: its use and abuse, were uproariously funny. Her mashup of grindcore with anguished laments about the improper use of apostrophes had me busting a gut. Rock on language lady.

Diana Nguyen mercilessly sent up her own Vietnamese mother. Of course the funny thing about that sort of humour is no matter how outrageously you portray such a character, they always end up sympathetic. I was impressed by what a fine actor Nguyen is and how spontaneous she could be with her audience.

Cath Styles always does so much to support the comedy community. Her shows provide places where female comedians can be seen and where they can network. Make sure to return some of that love. You won’t regret it.

Girls Night Melbourne Fringe Website.

Peace and kindness,

Katherine