At any one time there are around twenty comedy rooms in Melbourne. It’s a fluid figure… they come, they go, they take breaks, they launch new seasons…The second half of 2005 saw three of our younger regular rooms emerge, The Vault, Comedy C’mon Down and The Wrong Room. The Vault was started by Colin Cameron in December last year, running every Tuesday, Ben Hodson began C’mon Down in October last year featuring it on a Wednesday, adding Sundays to his repertoire in February this year as Room with a Cue, and The Wrong Room was started by comedy group The Six, made up of three protagonists, Josh Cameron, Mandy Mannion and Kate McLennan in August last year as a fortnightly room. I asked Kate, Colin and Ben a few questions about their experiences, the good the bad and everything in between.
Many people complain that there aren’t enough rooms in Melbourne. Many people talk about starting a room. These guys have done more than just talk, they did something about it. So what motivates them to go that extra step? Kate says “We had been performing sketch shows for a few years and found that we tended to run out of puff in between festivals, I guess like we had a hang over from Comedy Festival to Fringe and vice-versa, so we wanted to get back out there and perform in between festivals. But sketch just didn’t tend to work that well in stand-up venues, so we thought we would start a night where we would perform sketches but invite other acts in to perform a variety of stuff, not just stand-up. So far we’ve had puppets, characters, instructional demonstrations, bizarre dance numbers etc etc. The Wrong idea really came from us sitting and down thinking about the common thread that linked all of our sketches/characters and what sort of comedy we loved, the link was ‘wrong’ comedy”. Ben says that his “motivation for running this room was because several people had been saying that there were enough rooms in Melbourne, so I thought I’d put my hand up and run on. It’s been quiet an eye opening experience.” Colin adds “I want to have a room that respects comics and that gives them a comfortable environment in which to perform. I also want to help advance the Stand Up art form by encouraging new material and new concepts wherever possible. I guess as a booker I will lean towards the more prolific comics who constantly write new material and I will also try to encourage others to do more so.”
Colin describes The Vault as “a relaxed, fun space where comic’s feel free to extend themselves. I try to run the Tuesday night as smoothly as possible. I usually have an MC, about 4 support spots and a headliner of about 25mins and no flashing red lights. I start at 8:30pm sharp and finish at around 10:45pm with one 15min break. To keep the night fresh I try and have 2 comic’s take the ‘Comic’s 3 Minute Challenge’. Basically this is where comic’s rock up early, hopefully get chosen, and then go off for an hour to write 3 mins of brand new material on an article which they pull out of the (poorly) chained box. We’ve had some ripper spots so far and the audience seems to really embrace it. I think they really enjoy not only watching comics sweat but also seeing their favourite comics putting their spin on totally new material.” Kate says The Wrong Night is “Chaotic. Shambolic. We wanted to create a room where the audience really felt like anything could happen, I think that we have achieved that. We like to think of it as the car crash of comedy nights, you know you shouldn’t look, you know you shouldn’t laugh, but you do anyway, even if it’s peeking through your fingers as your hands are slapped firmly to your face.” Ben describes his room as “fairly unpredictable, fun and warm. Because I don’t have a set list for the first bracket, comedians names are drawn out of a hat for when they take to the stage, it can be very interesting, both for the crowd and the performers. I personally think its quiet a buzz waiting for your name to be drawn out of the hat.”
During festival, with so many shows drawing attention it can be hard to get an audience in a room, so it becomes more important than ever that promoters have something unique to offer punters. “I’m going to continue running the room with the same format for the first bracket,” says Ben,”but the second bracket, when I normally have people doing 10 minute spots, I’ll be running a flyer show, basically when people that are running festival shows can come up and give a 10-15 preview of there show and hand flyers out to the crowd. With the flyer shows I won’t be booking acts for it but simply who ever shows up on the night will get a chance to peddle their wares as it were. I’m also thinking of finishing the nights off with either a limbo or dance contest.” Kate says that “it’s been fun pitching the night to comics, basically saying you can do whatever you want. We want to realise those late-night pissed/stoned conversations between comics like ‘we should do something together, like castrate a giraffe on stage’ etc etc. We’ve got great line-ups, lots of variety, from My Brother and I Are Porn Stars (NZ) to Baby Take a Bow, Tim Minchin to Misbehave (Hard to Swallow) as well as lots of surprise guests along the way. It will also be the room where audience’s can see comics collaborating with one another too. It will have the same vibe as our normal room but bigger and better, I can’t wait to see how it goes at Umbrella Revolution.” Colin’s plans for his room are evolving come this festival, he says that for the “three Tuesdays of the festival we have what will hopefully be a really exciting concept. Each support comic will do all new material. Yes, that’s new, never previously performed material. The concept is designed to make comics re-live that feeling unique to their first ever gig where they had a brand new 5 minutes. Is it funny? Will I remember it all? Does anyone care about this material?”
Running a room during Comedy Festival can be a boon because of the extraordinary talent available but can be a challenge due to the competition for audiences. It’s a tricky gamble and all of these guys are running their room during the Melbourne Comedy festival for the first time. Kate says that “It’s already harder…Last week we were organising our normal room and Com Fest and little Katey had a trip to the hospital cos she was spewing blood due to stress and well…the research involved in the comedy scene. There’s just more work to be done because we have to fill more seats, there’s more cash to be lost etc etc. The boys (Josh and Jon) are also doing a show called Jaundice Table too, so it’ll be chaotic. The stakes are higher. Having said that it’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time so I think it’ll be cool, particularly when we can sit back with a beer up the back and have a laugh at what we’ve created.” Colin says he’s not sure how it will go. “I put out the call to all comics on my list to let me know if they want to be involved in the ‘Brand New 5’ challenge and I had a great response,” he says. “So I think the scheduling shouldn’t be too hard. Whether we get an audience or not is another thing! Still, if you keep it fresh then you’re probably a better chance.” Ben adds the salient point that not being ‘in the hub’ can sometimes be a disadvantage. “Being that I’m up in Fitzroy I think it will probably be a little bit harder to draw a crowd, and some acts will be harder to book when they are doing their fest show’” says Ben. “So I’m going with a little bit harder, but hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.”
Ultimately running a room is rewarding. If it wasn’t no one would do it. This a feeling expressed by Kate who says “the most rewarding part of running a room is the camaraderie and just providing a place for acts to try out weird shit, really WRONG stuff and watching it work. Like last Sunday watching Wes Snelling and Cara Mitchell performing as Clent and Clarinda, a pair of autistic aids suffering rape victims, touching one another in an act of mutual masturbation on stage. Josh and Jon licking out a mussel, Tessa talking about getting a worm in her urethra cos she was sleeping in the dog kennel…”. Colin says “I really enjoy meeting and getting to know comics on a different level from simply performing alongside them. I have the pleasure of booking great comics and then getting to watch how they work. I’m learning so much! I also enjoy helping up-andcoming comics with spots. I try and provide the best possible atmosphere for them and when they have a great spot it’s a huge buzz for me too.” Ben adds that his satisfaction comes from “seeing people have there first ever gigs and doing incredibly well, that or just the good feeling of knowing that I’m doing something for others.”
Brand New 5 The Vault, downstairs @ Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets, 80 Smith St Collingwood, Dates: 18th April, 25th April and 2nd May, 9pm start, Gold Coin Donation (03)9415 8876 www.crds.com.au
Comedy C’Mon Down The Cue, 1/277 Brunswick St Fitzroy, every Wednesdays the 12th, 19th 26th of April and 3rd of May, doors open 8.30 show starts 9pm, Gold Coin Donation
The Wrong Night The Umbrella Revolution, Federation Square, Saturday April 15th, 22nd, 29th and May 5th, 10.45pm, $20, Bookings through Ticketmaster on 1300 660 013 www.comedyfestival.com.au