The Oyster Club
Earlier this year a post on the comedy forum Mosh entitled “The Oyster Club Manifesto” appeared. This document promised something different than your standard night of stand up which, being a jaded comedy punter, certainly piqued my interest. After missing the inaugural Oyster Club, I was finally able to experience it when the second edition occurred in early February.
The room had a certain cabaret feel to it. This may have been due to the luxurious surrounds of The Spanish Club with its red lighting, cabaret seating and large stage. It may have also had something to do with the mixed bag of performers that entertained us. Straight stand up was kept to a minimum and we were treated to humorous songs by numerous acts, a new short film by Laurence Leung, the wacky interpretive dancing of Claire Hooper , the character work of Damian Callinan and Kate McLennan and the off the wall lounge singer shenanigans of Oliver Clark .
The evenings entertainment was held together by the wholly unique MCing of Asher Treleaven . He displayed some faux apathy in his introductions to some of the acts and was brimming with enthusiasm for others which kept everyone on their toes. Some playful hamming it up in the background during another’s set was taken in good humour by all involved. Asher even changed the running order mid introduction to the horror of Geraldine Quinn. Crowd warming was achieved via some hilariously bizarre readings from his library of books that were kept on stage.
Looking at the club’s Manifesto, it was interesting to note that not all of the rules/suggestions were adhered to. A statement by Asher that this would not be an evening involving a lot of audience interaction was ignored by a couple of acts. Claire Hooper employed some gentle audience polling for a piece of improvised insanity while Damian Callinan went the aggressive option by dragging punters up on stage for a physical demonstration.
The Manifesto statement that “you may play ‘til you’re too tired…’drag it out’” was an offer that none of the acts seemed to take up. All of the performers in the first bracket adhered to the standard 5 to 10 minutes while the remainder stayed on stage longer, but not to any marathon lengths.
The Oyster Club’s plea for “new material please, often” resulted in a mix of both old and new gear from the acts. Damian revisited his old character of “Troy Carrington” who hadn’t been seen in a number of years. This open door policy may have tempted comedians to treat the room as a warm up for their upcoming festival shows, but there were only two who took that opportunity. Kate McLellan performed an excerpt from “The Debutante Diaries” while Laurence Leung only hinted at what his Comedy Festival show may entail.
It was entertaining, albeit long, evening that was experienced at The Club. This is a much needed outlet for comedians to inspire creativity and new ideas, where everyone is encouraged to try something unique. Even if the results are not what was anticipated, this is a group of performers who give kudos for trying. Even though publicity such as this is not what they are seeking, I would encourage everyone with an open mind to check out The Oyster Club.
The Oyster Club runs every third Sunday (the next one happens on the 25th of February) at The Salon, Melbourne’s Spanish Club (59 Johnson St, Fitzroy,Victoria). Doors open at 7pm and entry is $8.