Shaolin Punk

Well, Comedy Festival is over, and the Melbourne Fringe is still months away, so it’s time for a little rest for Shaolin Punk. Well - a rest where performance is concerned. Ben McKenzie is currently working on some new ideas for projects for 2008, so watch this space for details. And of course you can catch both Ben and A Record or an OBE co-star Rob Lloyd at Impro Sundae, the fortnightly improvised comedy show from The Crew.

But we’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who saw A Record or an OBE in Adelaide or Melbourne, and all those who attended the Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour. While OBE may not return - certainly not in Melbourne - there will be more tours, both here and in other cities. Again, watch this space for details!

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!

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 opening night of Comedy @ Trades was a great success, and the packed audience attending A Record or an OBE was in fine form! And, in perhaps the first review posted for the Comedy Festival (not counting those based on previews), we already have a review from Australian Stage Online, who described OBE as “inspired Goodies silliness”.