Yes please… and if, like me, you also prefer the kind of tennis that features more shirt changes and much less grunting, then this is the show for you. In their debut show held at the Butterfly Club in South Melbourne, Andrew Doodson and Jason English-Rees arrived with sweatbands on and ready for action.
Once the guys were finally satisfied that their entrance to the stage did not create too high an expectation for the remainder of the performance, they continue to navigate and commentate their own way through the progress of the show and this banter served as an effective transition between songs.
The show featured original songs and parodies tackling the big issues such as breakfast cereal and the woes faced with constructing Ikea products. Songs on topics of a slightly more risqué nature were always performed in a fun and inoffensive manner.
The inclusion of a clever DVD audio commentary of the show as it happened, along with fun, non-invasive interaction with the crowd and even a grade three poetry piece, all prevents the tennis gimmick from going stale throughout the hour length show, and much unlike an actual tennis match, there are no boring bits to wait for where you can afford to pop out to the loo.
This relatively new duo on the comedy scene, have already managed to prove that they are not ‘just another’ musical comedy act in amongst the bevy of such talent emerging in recent times. Through establishing identifiable personalities of their characters, the addition of sketches and stories, with creative and hilarious songs to back all that up, ‘Anyone for Tennis?’ show that they have a promising future ahead of them.
While you may have missed them performing at the Butterfly Club in January, you can check out their myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/anyone_for_tennis for upcoming gigs around Melbourne.