An Interview with Dean Eizenberg
”$6.99kg” is Dean Eizenberg’s first proper outing in the comedy festival and he’s chosen to bring along a few friends for the ride. “There’s five of us in it, it’s myself Dana Katz, Pete Sharkey, Claire Turner and Kieran Yap, ” says Dean. With a set up very much like one you might find in a comedy night in a room, each comedian will be doing do ten to fifteen minutes with the role of MC rotating amongst the group.
The name of the show $6.99kg is an unusual one. “We wanted to come up with a name that was different and hopefully memorable,” says Dean. “When we came up with the name I was in Dana Katz’s work (Delicatassen) at the time, so that may have had an influence. I thought it would be good if your average comedy fan was looking through the magazine, wondering what to see, and goes ’$6.99kg ?. is that an ad for a comedy show or chopped liver? I have to find out! This must be a mistake! If I don’t find out this will affect my thoughts for weeks!’” He also says there was some consideration regard to pricing policy, not the admission price in the show, but how much they should represent themselves as in the title. ”...we all agreed $6.99 has more cache than any other price per kg (even though ticket prices are $8). $7.99 doesn’t seem as memorable, 12.99 sounds exclusive and $24.99 is just plain ridiculous.”
“We’ve got a variety of different people…we’re each different characters” says Dean, “if you don’t one comedian you’ll like the next one…and it’s a tight ten minutes so it’s ‘best of’ each of these people.” Although wanting to launch a Comedy Festival show Dean says he’s not yet comfortable with doing one on his own. “That’s why I got five people because I didn’t wanna do my own one yet…and these people, the same aswell…[it’s] a good entrance into the comedy festival…we can all share the responsibilities.” Starting in the Raw Comedy in 2004 Dean made it through to the national final, an experience he describes as scary. “That was only my seventh gig” he says, but adds that the experience “got me doing it regularly aswell”.
For details on $699kg, showcasing the talents of Dean Eizenberg, Dana Katz, Kieran Yap, Pete Sharkey and Clare Turner go to $6.99