Robot vs World was really an excuse to spend an hour with lifesize 3D comedy versions of Astroboy, Optimus Prime from Transformers and a Dalek from Dr Who. So if you love that sort of thing, this is a show for you, if you are thinking ‘What?’ maybe find a Fringe show that has some semi naked people in it. There’s heaps to choose from. Though it did not quite hit the heights of their first outing ‘Super Happy Robot Hour’, if you enjoyed that show, you’re likely to have fun at this one too. Robot vs World surprisingly placed our robot friends into a Film Noir world. The now crimefighting trio have created a detective agency but it was not doing very well. So far they had only been asked to find missing or crapping cats which the Dalek had the unfortunate tendency to exterminate. After one of the our heroes was botnapped the others had the job of getting to the bottom of a spate of botnappings.
An aspect I felt was missing from this new show was the pathos of how sad they were to be left behind by all the modern, cool robots. An idea I felt that the modern Dr Who stole from Robot vs World creator Scott Pollard in their own version of the last lonely Dalek being left on Earth, in the episode called ‘Dalek’. Now our sad Dalek, sent loopy by the disconnection from his race, had friends to hang out with and became their comic relief character. It was actually a brilliant demented creation by Richard McKenzie who does the high pitched annoying Dalek voice to great comic effect. Optimus Prime (played by Pollard) was the authoritative straight man and Alison Bice’s Astroboy was perky and strangely alluring.
The robots themselves were all very awesome, its always amazing what Scott Pollard can come up with, using what seems like a bit of cardboard and duct tape. Optimus Prime’s arrival was impressive, he must’ve been at least 3 metres tall and enjoyed a spontaneous round of applause. Getting on and off stage was awkward for the robots but part of the humorous charm of it all. Humanoid characters added to the story included a bitter detective who used to work with Robocop and mysterious woman in a black dress both played confidently by Fabienne Martial. There was also an appearance by bits of a Cyberman and apparently an animated Wall-E, but unfortunately, I couldn’t see the animated backdrop from where I sat. I got a bit confused with the plot 2/3s in and why it took a humanoid to win the day but hey, it all ended like many a crowd pleasing, modern, animated flick; with a big song and dance ending and of course some abuse from the Dalek.
Robots vs World was a very hand-made, nerdy, hilariously awkward, daggy show with heaps of laughs, sparkly dialogue from Toby Sullivan and some very big robots. If that sounds like your cup of tea, check it out next time it’s on and take your geek friends.
For more info and booking details go to the Melbourne Fringe Festival website