Oz Comic-Con returns with five exciting shows in 2017. Join in the quest to ‘Unleash Our Inner Geeks’ and celebrate all that is cool, awesome and nerdy at Oz Comic-Con Perth March 25-26, Adelaide April 1-2, and Melbourne July 1-2. Come and meet your favourite celebrity guests, shop the expansive show floors full of the…
Ever sat in the living room watching music videos and wondered to yourself, “What the hell is going on here,”? Well, Dave Callan has. And in his riotous fringe show for 2017, he takes you deep into the weirdness that is music videos. Some would say MTV have a lot to answer for. As a…
The Kinsey Sicks are “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet” and it’s easy to see why. With patriotic red white and blue costumes straight from the fifties, and four part harmonies of your favorite songs over the last twenty-three years, these girls know how throw to party. A tupperware party, that is. The four girls: Trixie, Trampolina,…
It’s so refreshing when an original piece of work is brought to a wider audience, especially one that shines a light on a snippet of Australian history. Ladies in Black had such a successful premiere season last year that they’ve come back to delight audiences once again, this time touring to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and ending in…
Yesterday evening, I, and about 40 or so others, braved the heat and humidity and took part in Perth’s first ever Midnight Run – organised as part of the Perth International Arts Festival. What is a Midnight Run you ask? The Midnight Run is the brainchild of poet, performer and artist Inua Ellams. It’s a…
Little Death Club is not like most cabaret shows. The slightly twisted and strange collection of acts is what would be classified as Fringe by people who complain that the fringe has become too safe and mainstream. Dressed in black sequins and feather, MC Bernadette “Bernie” Byrne wanders through the crowd, greeting the seated guests…
Set to hit the Adelaide Fringe Festival later this week is foals [art exhibition], which features work exclusively created by kids between the ages of 3 to 16 from around the world. Ahead of the event, we caught up with the exhibition’s curator Sofie Kim to learn more about it. Can you tell us a…
Anyone who has done a minute’s research into popular music history understands that if you attempt to trace pretty much any style of contemporary music back to its roots, you end up at 1920’s Blues. It’s generally considered that that’s because as these originators of guitar driven music pushed lyrical and melodic boundaries, they influenced…
It’s hard to believe it’s already March, but as we continue to steamroll our way through the year, the arts offerings around the country are only getting better. Here’s just seven of the events we think you can’t miss – from an entire month dedicated to art in Sydney, to theatre, exhibition openings and comedy…
There are many people who ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” but in the case of Meshel Laurie, it was, “What would Buddha do?” The Australian writer, comedian and radio personality was looking towards her Buddhist faith as a way of making sense of the end of her 19 year marriage. Except that there were…
There is a huge exuberance to Bridget Everett. Her performances at MICF last year where a barrage of singing, dancing and getting very close to audience members. Her style has caught the eye of comedians Amy Schumer and Whitney Cummings – who she has both collaborated with on TV projects. She is coming back to…
Michael Gow’s Away is one of Australia’s most popular plays and this latest production makes it easy to see why. The current Sydney Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre Production sees the play return to its second home at the Sydney Opera House (the show played here one year after it debuted at the Stables Theatre…
It’s passed 5pm on a Saturday afternoon in Adelaide. Away from the sun-kissed public-crawling surrounds of the Royal Croquet Club, Briefs Creative Director Fez Fa’anana sits in a dressing room, meticulously applying makeup. A corporate gig has been lined up for the Adelaide Fringe Festival favourite, meaning it’s all systems go. And that’s just the beginning of his night….
For most people the iconic artist, Andy Warhol is synonymous with the colourful pop art of Campbell’s soup cans, portraits of Marilyn Monroe and the record sleeves from The Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones. What some people may not realise is that Andy Warhol was an accomplished commercial illustrator and draftsman who worked in…
The house lights dim, a backing track kicks into life. Inua Ellams – poet, playwright, and performer – appears dressed in what I presume is traditional garb parading through the assembled audience. He entreats us to clap in time (naturally we do), before breaking into self-deprecating laughter. Right from the start Ellams had us in…
It’s not without some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to the Wank Bank Masterclass. Adam Seymour, aka Rural Ranga, perfected the art of Taoist massage during his stay in New York and has presented this class as a way of improving the art of genital stimulation. We are ushered into the tent and given a bag containing…
The first thing you need to know about Amy Hetherington is that she’s possibly the happiest person you could come across. Spend an hour in her company and you’ll come away feeling like you’ve been injected with a ray of sunshine itself. This is exactly what her Adelaide Fringe show, Terminally Positive, aims to do….
For those lucky enough to call Sierra Boggess their friend, sister, colleague, a former colleague, teacher or otherwise, they get to experience a ray of sunshine each and every day. The Broadway star is headed to our shores in a few months but we got to chat with her in the lead up to her…
The Bedroom Philosopher leaves the 86 Tram behind in favour of a furry performance at the Tuxedo Cat for the Adelaide Fringe Festival, introducing us to an entertaining run of songs about cats. Yep, you read that correctly. The Cat Show is a comedic musical projection for the performer to involve the crowd in a special…
As a young student in Swingin’ Sixties London, Michael Peppiatt met the star of British contemporary art, Francis Bacon. Initially just hoping to secure an interview for a university magazine, what followed was thirty years of friendship, late nights, copious amounts of champagne, and an interview that never really ended. The author of an acclaimed…
The list of participants for this year’s SXSW Comedy Festival has now been announced. Now into its tenth edition, the festival continues it’s tradition of celebrating some of the industries best comics; whilst also introducing the industry to some of the brightest up-and-coming talents. In cooperation with the Film, Interactive and Music Festivals, SXSW has…
The Puzzle Collective are proud to present the world premiere of Superhal, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Henriad as a superhero origin story, at NIDA Parade Theatre in Kensington from March 7th to 18th. In an alternate England ruled by beings with superhuman powers, the young Prince Hal rebels against his father, the King, by associating…
There was the bride stripped bare and now there’s the dumped stripped without a care. In The Helen 100, broadcaster and writer, Helen Razer is disarmingly honest in recounting the aftermath of the breakdown of her 15-year relationship. It’s a tale that thumbs its nose at traditional, dating self-help guides and instead offers something more…
Jamie Morton’s smash hit podcast My Dad Wrote A Porno has been given the stage show treatment, and will tour Australia and New Zealand later this year. Imagine you found out that your sixty year old father wrote erotic fiction. What would you do? Well, when Jamie Morton found himself in that situation, the answer…
Broadway actor, American Idol finalist and YouTube star Todrick Hall has announced his musical Straight Outta Oz will be hitting Australian shores in June, following a run of shows in North America and Europe. Straight Outta Oz is a twisted take on L. Frank Baum’s classic creation – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The show,…
In what will be a rare solo appearance poet, writer and Rock n Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith will take to the Joan Sutherland Theatre Stage at the Sydney Opera House on April 23rd to talk, read and sing from her acclaimed oeuvre. Over the course of the evening Smith will touch on the…
In Opera Australia’s latest production of Tosca the period is transformed into Nazi-occupied Rome. A decision director John Bell explains “A tyrannical regime, resistance fighters hunted down, women forced to give sexual favours in order to protect a loved one — these things are still happening, and always have been, during war.” At the head of…
In John Bell’s latest production of Tosca for Opera Australia we are transported into a troubling Nazi-occupied Rome, combining all the elements of this most tragic opera into a frighteningly real presentation. And above it all soars Puccini’s magnificent music- nothing compares to the works of this master of the operatic art. Scrawled across the…
Michelle Law’s Single Asian Female says all the things we’re not allowed to, the things we should be allowed to. The things we know are right even though more often than not Australian culture and politics gets it so wrong. This show says all of that and lets you laugh while they do it. After…
It’s not every night you go to the theatre to see a show and arrive at a protest. Well, that’s exactly what we encountered on the opening night of a very politically charged ballet work called The Red Detachment of Women. It’s important to understand why there is a backlash to such a show and perhaps…
