The nightly performances of Tassie Stands Up has shown that Tasmania has an abundance of Stand up talent. Here are some of the faces that have performed before the Hobart audiences.
Acting as MC for several of the nights was a character creation from Ryk Goddard by the name of Cecil Brown. Decked out in cardigan and corduroy, the geeky Cecil brought us his unique view of the world. He wrapped up his set with a brilliant rap song about all things brown that with his awkward white boy rapping was a delight to watch.
The slightly blue language in his opening joke may have shocked any conservative Collectors viewers in the audience with, but Andy Muirhead kept the crowd entertained with a number of amusing stories. It was interesting to see how he changed the wording of this joke over the season, partly due to parents of comedians in the audience on several nights. Being in Hobart allowed Andy to make a number of local references, but we tourists could easily understand the joke. A quote in The Australian describing him as “perky” seemed to be apt with a stage persona that exudes enthusiasm and fun.
Tasmanian ex-pat Josh Earl provided the musical portion of each night. His unique style of acting out spoken conversations as some the verses were the perfect fit to some of the songs with more personal topics. We got a mix of old and new tunes as well as some visual and musical props. It surprised me when he included some lines that although were used regularly interstate may have offended the Tasmanian audience. I needn’t have worried because the way Josh presented it ensured that it got a huge laugh.
After winning Raw Comedy last year and touring overseas, Hannah Gadsby made a welcome return to home turf. Her low key delivery went very well with the very self deprecating material that made up the bulk of her set. With family in the audience one night she was subjected to some rather harsh heckling – provided by her mother! This threw Hannah considerably, but she was able to recover and provide some comebacks that were made all the more hilarious considering their target.
One of the new faces on the Tasmanian scene is Matt Burton. He often came across a slightly edgy guy who had mistakenly wandered onto the stage but when he launched into some brilliant wordplay, it was obviously he possesses a great talent for stand up. Frequent sips of water during the set were used for some hilarious pauses and distractions. Mid set deconstruction of his material gave the comedians in crowd some additional chuckles. Matt is one name to keep an eye out for in the future.
Wearing a microphone headset, we could tell that Mick Lowenstein was planning to do something special. With his hands free he performed a highly physical routine about some crazy hijinks to be had at Starbucks. As he told the tale, he jumped around like a madman with hilarious results. Despite it being a highly scripted piece he was able to work in some references to other performers and adlib some material when confronted by a strange response from an audience member.
A personal highlight of the season was a character by the name of Gary from Administration. Wearing rather formal attire and staying in character throughout, Gary worked the crowd during a break in the show as if conducting a meet and greet. When it was finally his turn to take the stage he produced a giant brown paper bag and with the assistance of two volunteers had himself tied inside. After failing to burst through the bag, he began to recite Shakespeare from within, all with exaggerated gestures. Finally a saw pierced through from inside the bag and not only did Gary emerge from the bag but also his colleague Glenda. This magic cum comedy act was suitably eccentric to delight the punters.