Shaolin Punk

The Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour finishes this week, and after some of the great reviews we’ve had from The Groggy Squirrel and UK comedy site Chortle, our last two nights are sure to be a great success. So come on down! Tonight, Ben McKenzie, Bec Hill and Sue-Ann Post will be your guides, and on Friday, Ben and Bec will instead be joined by Kent Valentine.

It’s the last days too for A Record or an OBE, the what if play about hit 70s British comedy group The Goodies. OBE plays this Saturday and Sunday, the 5th and 6th of April, and then every night next week until the 13th of April, with no show on Monday. Remember Tuesday April 8th is your last chance for a cheap $10 ticket!

For those of you unable to come to the show due to its early evening timeslot at 6:30 PM, there are plans for a late show at 11 PM on Friday, April 11th; watch this space for details!

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.

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.

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.

The Adelaide Fringe season of A Record or an OBE has finished, even if the heat wave that accompanied it has not. But that just means it’s time for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival season to begin! It all kicks off on Wednesday, March 19 - tomorrow!

It’s also nearly time for Shaolin Punk’s other Comedy festival project, the Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour. If you thought it was inappropriate to laugh in a museum, get ready for a shock! You can find out more on the Man in the Lab Coat web site.