Matt Harvey and Marty Atta are two reasonably new faces on the Melbourne stand up circuit who have combined their resources to put on a Fringe show. There will be lol was the resultant show that showcased their stand up abilities in which they allocated themselves twenty five minutes each to wow the crowd. In his introduction to the show, Marty promised that they would try to provide lol, but could not guarantee rofl!
The first to perform was Matt whose set was a series of monologues about the inner workings of his mind. He delved into his love of pop culture, his ability to remember dreams and his fear of alzheimers. He had a very rambling way of imparting his material that often got bogged down in intricate details on the long journey to the punchlines. The jokes he told and the funny lines he came out with did get decent laughs and the information he relayed was quite interesting, but there didn’t seem to be huge payoffs for such long build ups. He utilised a couple of musical tracks in his act that suffered some technical glitches and were rather long. His introductory music eventually paid off in an amusing audio joke, but his other piece was merely background music that didn’t actually add to his words. His very low key manner betrayed his obvious confidence on stage to some extent but he is sure to refine his act with more experience.
On the other hand, Marty was almost the complete opposite of Matt. He was boisterous and animated in his delivery and, despite some excessive explanation to set things up, started out with punchy one liners. His life as an unemployed fellow was the main fodder of his material that covered subjects such as infomercials and comparing himself to his employed friends. He indulged in a bit too much dissection of his act by posing questions on the audiences’ behalf and answering to those criticisms. He was able to create some witty, self deprecating jokes but he mostly resorted to childish taunts. Overall, Marty had the punters laughing throughout with few flat spots.
Matt and Marty were involved in every aspect of this production from sound desk to ticketing that, while making proceedings a little clunky at times, showed that great effort had gone into this show. It was worth the measly five dollar entry to take a chance on two new faces. Lols were certainly delivered.
For more info and booking details go to the Melbourne Fringe Festival website