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Comedy: Review: Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase - Brisbane Powerhouse (19.07.13)

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Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase

A very lucky Brisbane audience was bought to tears, to fits of laughter courtesy of the Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase at Brisbane’s Powerhouse. With a range of talented local and national comedians, punters were treated to a night of comedic gold.

The night began with local Brisbanite Damien Power, the MC for the night. Charming, incredibly likable and relatable, Power kept the night moving along nicely and never failed to lose the crowd. Quick-witted and amiable, even when messing up the orders and names of the comedians, Power was a wonderful and perfect choice for MC.

Kicking the showcase off was Oliver Phommavanh. Relying heavily on his Asian heritage, Oliver was very endearing, but very, very nervous. Getting a few laughs here and there, it was obvious the crowd could feel Phommavanh’s nervousness throughout his set. Unfortunately, by the end of the night, after such a group of talented and unique comedians, Phommavanh’s set became generally forgettable.

Next to hit the stage was Sydney comedian Rhys Nicholson. Crass, wildly entertaining and relying heavily on his sexual preference, Nicholson hit the stage and immediately had the crowd in stiches. Moving from bogans to religion to gay marriage, Nicholson is certainly not for the politically correct. Covering up a technical issue with even more hilarity, Nicholson also managed to show his fantastic ad-libbing skills. A definite favourite of the night, if you ever have a chance to check him out live, I would heavily recommend it.

Running through the crowd, El Jaguar confused punters with a flurry of yelling and ridiculously tight tights. Incredibly astute and ad-libbing almost the entire show, El Jaguar was a complete juxtaposition. A crazy looking Mexican wrestler, who was loud and ridiculous, but could also quite capably discuss the validity of apocalyptic movies from the 80s. Guaranteed to be the only time you’ll ever hear a Mexican wrestler utter the word “ellipsis” or talk about famous town planners, El Jaguar was a little slice of something different. A scholar of the ad-libbing style of comedy, his portion of the show was certainly a favourite of the night, complete with party poppers and cougar jokes.

After the interval, we were introduced to Steen Raskopoulos. A purveyor of the sketch comedy arts, Raskopolous came out and immediately launched into a skit about the similarities of terminology between homosexual sex acts and football. Moving straight into a hilarious sketch about a Greek Orthodox movie reviewer, Raskopoulos was funny, entertaining and changed up the vibe from the standard comedic sets of the rest of the night.

Next up, Bruce Griffiths came out on stage. Incredibly minimalist, with all stage lights going down, besides a singular spotlight, Griffiths was quite a change from El Jaguars insanity, and Raskopoulos’ skit comedy. Completely dead-pan, with a lethargic, even-toned voice, Griffiths was entirely reminiscent of Steven Wright. Hitting the crowd with pun after pun, plenty of laughs were had, as well as many, many groans from the puns that were just too much for the audience. Intense and hilarious, Griffiths bought an entirely different edge to the show.

Nick Cody rounded out the stellar lineup that the Brisbane audience was treated to. Charming, and very relatable, Cody was a great way to finish off the night. Incredibly quick-witted, and likeable, he gave us plenty of congenial and hilarious lines. Moving from kids to planes to sex, Cody was sharp and charismatic. Possibly a little generic as opposed to the group of amazing talent of the night, Cody was a wonderful and refreshing end to a delightful night of comedy.

Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase

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