Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour starts tonight!
The Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour kicks off at 6 PM tonight, conducted by A Record or an OBE star and "Man in the Lab Coat" Ben McKenzie, plus superstar comedians Sue-Ann Post and Tommy Dean!
Note that due to other activities in the museum we will be using an alternate entrance tonight, so please arrive a little early if you can so you can find it (it will be signposted).
Tickets are still available for tonight, and the other nights, via the Comedy Festival web site, Ticketmaster on 1300 660 013, the Comedy Festival box office or at the door.
Ben McKenzie guest spot tonight!
OBE writer/producer/performer Ben McKenzie will be be appearing as one of tonight's guest Scrabble players for Scrabble Unscripted, Impro Australia's Scrabble-based impro show! Come and cheer him on and see if he can get a triple word score.
You can also catch Ben at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre benefit gig 23 Positions in a One Night Stand, where he'll be performing one of the hits of Prince. It's on March 29 as part of Comedy @ Trades.
March 29 is also the night of Earth Hour, when Ben will be conducting a candlelit tour of historic Trades Hall with the aid of local expert Jacob.
Festival Week 2
Week one of the Comedy Festival is over - but A Record or an OBE continues at Trades Hall until April 13! Remember that this week and next, there are no performances on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, as star Ben McKenzie will be conducting the Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour.
You may have also heard of Ben's other exploits at Comedy @ Trades - yes, it's true, he won not only the first So You Drink? You Can Dance! competition on Friday night, but also the first round of the Inaugural Tennis Tournament of Skill and Glory! But don't worry, he hasn't given up geekery for sport - it was Wii Tennis.
Both of these achievements were part of Free @ Trades, the programme of free events happening at Comedy @ Trades throughout the festival, and they were both tremendous fun! It's just another reason why Trades Hall is the place to be at the Comedy Festival.
The Age reviews A Record or an OBE
Helen Razer in today's Age gave A Record or an OBE three stars, describing it as "goody, goody fun" and "a must" for Goodies fans, as well as a "pacey and perfect evening". Fellow Comedy @ Trades performer Simon Palomares also scored three stars.
A few pages earlier in the same paper (and at The Age online), you can find one of "moddish geek" (thanks Helen Razer!) Ben McKenzie's dinosaur jokes from the Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour in the article "A man walks into a bar...ouch!" which collects 50 one-liners from across the Festival.
Comedy Festival openings ahoy
Well, just as A Record or an OBE launched to a packed house and critical acclaim last night, so do other shows launch across the city as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival enters full swing. Some of the other comedians involved in the Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour open their own shows tonight, and OBE co-star Rob Lloyd has already blasted off with his show. Here are some of the friends of Shaolin Punk who you can catch at MICF 2008:
- Rob Lloyd and the Hound of the Baskervilles in Every Film Ever Made at Trades Hall from March 19.
- Tommy Dean in Are We There Yet? at the Melbourne Town Hall from March 20.
- Kent Valentine in A Fistful of Rainbows at the Portland Hotel from March 20.
- Bec Hill in If You Can Read This, My Cape Fell Off at Trades Hall from April 1.
Remember you can get special ticket prices when booking multiple shows at Trades Hall - including OBE and the shows above!