At the same time Ross Noble was regaling the masses in Melbourne’s Town Hall, Tommy Dassalo was performing The Third Guy in the aptly named Wee (as in tiny) Room in the same building.
With the assistance of pictures on an easel and prerecorded voice-overs, Dassalo discussed individuals history has forgotten because they weren’t the first or second person on the moon, others took credit for the discovery of DNA or they failed to emulate the success they had as a cartoon character singing alongside Paula Abdul.
Dassalo also made himself a third wheel by claiming to be the fellow who wasn’t included in the photograph when “The Age” ran a story about the invention of the world’s most unhealthy sandwich aka “the widow maker”.
A dig at the “Herald Sun” during this part of proceedings went down well with one note-taking audience member.
The theme of Dassalo’s show was interesting and inventive, and there was humorous material to be enjoyed including the fictionalised interchanges between Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and their unknown colleague, Michael “Douche” Collins.
A conversation about Uno between a pair of colleagues who loathed each other was amusing, and made funnier by the use of a delightfully childish drawing.
For a university dropout, Dassalo obviously did tons of research when he was writing The Third Guy, even venturing onto the MySpace site of Hotdogs, a former “Big Brother” contestant turned late night television host and author of some stupid comments about “the kids”.
Dassalo’s analysis of the modern obsession with being a celebrity at any cost was sharp and smart.
Unfortunately, it did feel at times like we were being inundated with information rather than entertained, while Dassalo didn’t connect with the small crowd as much as he could of.
The use of homophobic epithets, even though uttered ironically, was unnecessary for a performer who otherwise came across as likable and intelligent.
Even with the preview night’s teething problems, the 20-year-old Dassalo showed signs he’s got the talent to one day play in the room Noble was appearing in.
“The Third Guy” is playing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) until the 29th of April. Further information about purchasing tickets is available at “The Third Guy”:http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/season/2007/show/33/