430 stories by "Anne-Marie Peard"
Last night Melbourne’s theatre artists filled the Comedy Theatre for the 31st Green Room Awards presentation. First awarded for 1983, the Green Room Awards celebrate and recognise e…
Having toured the UK for a year to celebrate Rocky’s 40th birthday, the Australian-cast version have snapped on their fishnets in Melbourne. It was great when it all began. So I’…
With everyone having seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show film, how do you convince them to see another live production? Anne-Marie Peard asked its creator, Richard O'Brien, when he was Melbou…
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival finishes tomorrow! Which means it’s your last chance to see all the shows you’ve been meaning to see all festival " and discover the s…
PuppetUp! and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival finish on Sunday. PuppetUp! is part tribute to the genius of Jim Henson (Sesame Street, The Muppets), part look at how his puppetry …
One night, one venue, one room. So much easier than trying to Tetris in shows all over town. And every show being shriekingly brilliant didn’t hurt; I don’t apologise for my over…
I was 13 when I saw Men at Work at the Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide. It was one of my first big concerts at that time when vinyl was all we knew and an illegal download was sitting in front…
Tim Key write shows about being a slut. I was a Tim Key virgin; shame on me! He started performing in about 2003, won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2009, was a MICF Barry nominee in 2103 and…
Scott Gooding has been involved with more festivals than most of us have gone to. He hasn’t performed, much, for a while but is bringing the very successful Eric back to the Comedy Fes…
Sunday night at MICF. Trades Hall, Swanston Hotel, the Forum and the Tuxedo Cat. I started with the awesome Em Rusciano, whose Catholic upbringing offered a couple jokes about going to hell,…
Late night variety chat shows with guests from around the festival are a winning formula. Find a game that doesn’t alienate the audience, ask your friends performing around the festiva…
Simon Keck won the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s prestigious Golden Gibbo  last year for his powerhouse show Nob Happy Sock and returns this year with the vastly differe…
Zoe Coombs Marr is known for her work with independent company Post; she’s also known as Dave. Dave’s gross and may well be a bit too close to some young stand ups in town. If…
There’s no denying it, Ben McKenzie is not what society would call cool. In Ben McKenzie is Uncool he embraces his uncool labels and shows is all just how cool it is to be uncool! Ben …
Puppet Up!: Uncensored is a must see show this festival. Straight from the most well known puppet workshop, this band of merry puppeteers and improvisers bring puppets to life in ways you…
Ellen has moved out of Melbourne into a new apartment in Sydney: a city that she hates everything about. Complications arise when her father, who has been away for two years, arrives unannou…
As I sat down to write about Adrienne, Stella and Zoe, Â a fellow-writer posted this on Facebook: “A guy at work just said to me, ‘Not to be sexist but I don’t like femal…
James Acaster is from the UK and was a nominee for the 2012 and 2103 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award. His show’s called Lawnmower and he’d love the Chilean miners from the …
With so many venues in an easy dash of each other in the city, it's too easy to see more than one show a night. In fact, with an info board, an info booth, info staff and performers with fly…
I’m no 6 year old but you would’ve had to be blind not to notice how much fun the kids were having at Three Silly Stories presented by Angus and Jessikah of The Flying Bookwork T…
Making a show that is deliberately cringe worthy is not as easy as the creators of Wolf Creek The Musical seem to think. Â They tick a lot of the boxes, but at the end of the show I walked…
Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model had me in tears at the beginning and at the end and in the middle. All good tears; it’s a work that doesn’t just talk about optimism and al…
I know it’s a brave call, but if you can only see one show at the Comedy Festival, make it More Tape from The Boy With Tape on His Face. It’s pure joy; like mainlining a rainbow.…
After dodging the noise and smoke to climb the three flights of stairs to the comedy venue at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow hotel, I was ready to sit down and have a good laugh. I wasn't …
Shane and David of The Umbilical Brothers are incredibly good at a few very captivating skills. They have amazing use of physical movement and mime comedy. They are, in my opinion, unparalle…
