Jun 202011
 

Yes, we know you’re all breathless with Harry Potter excitement! And why wouldn’t you be? In four days, we all find out what on Earth J K Rowling has planned for “Pottermore“; next month sees the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two; and of course, on July 6, you can join Ben and Richard McKenzie for Dungeon Crawl and the Deathly Philosopher Prince’s Goblet of Azkaban!

Allow us to reveal the spectacular line-up for the event: actor and cabaret star Louise Joy McCrae (The Gift Horse, World War Wonderful); actor and comedian Fiona Harris (Skithouse, The Librarians); composer and cabaret genius Karin Muiznieks (World War Wonderful, Filthy Secrets); and star of ABC1′s Unbelieveable, Lawrence Leung! We’ll see you there, right?

But that’s not all; we’re also pleased to announce that Dungeon Crawl will return for an extra show in July! On Thursday, July 21, join us for Dungeon Mook, a fundraiser for Vignette Press’ new journal of original nerdy writing, Geek Mook. Watch this space for more details as the day approaches!

Jun 152011
 

It’s a busy time for many of our wonderful Dungeon Crawlers and other comedy friends, and we hope you’ll check out what they’re up to!

This week in Adelaide Karin Muiznieks appears in the Cabaret Fringe Festival with a showcase of her songs from the last five years. We’ve often described Karin as a musical genius, and if you need proof, check out On Reflection at La Bohème from tonight until Saturday. And fret not if you’re in Melbourne; in July, after appearing in Dungeon Crawl and the Deathly Philosopher Prince’s Goblet of Azkaban, Karin and co-cabaret-conspirator Louise Joy McCrae have two shows in the Melbourne Cabaret Festival -World War Wonderful (fresh from its rebirth with a new cast in the Adelaide Fringe) and Filthy Secrets.

In Sydney tomorrow night, Lou Sanz begins a run of Not Suitable For Children at TAP Gallery. While Lou is yet to appear in a Shaolin Punk production, we’ve supported much of her work, including The Skirt Network and her previous solo shows; we’d recommend checking her out if you like your comedy dark and smoky.

Also tonight, wherever you are, you can tune into ABC1 for the premiere of Lawrence Leung‘s new show Unbelievable. Watch as Lawrence explores the world of psychics, aliens, magic and…well, lots of stuff we do in Dungeon Crawl, really. Tune in 9:30 PM Wednesdays for the next few weeks.

Finally (for now) you can catch Tripod – including crawlers Scott “Scod” Edgar and Steven “Gatesy” Gates – doing a regular spot in Melbourne on Sundays this month at the Toff in Town. Unfortunately the ticketing links are all for specific Sundays, but you can find ‘em via the Toff’s shows page.

Watch this space as I unveil our final line-up for Dungeon Crawl and the Deathly Philosopher Prince’s Goblet of Azkaban later this week – plus, if we’re lucky, some great news about Dungeon Crawl for those who don’t live in Melbourne…

Jun 062011
 

Not only did we not all ascend to Heaven a couple of weeks ago (or get left behind to suffer unimaginable torment, which is ostensibly the fate of those who play D&D), but the last Dungeon Crawl also coincided with the opening of The Rapture, a new comedy show about being transported to another dimension by supernatural forces.

So of course, that’s what happened to our party of adventurers, as captured on film by intrepid chronicler Rob Young.

While travelling through a wood, our adventurers – barbarian bibliophile Conan the Librarian (Jimmy James Eaton), Gingantulor the part-giant with low self-esteem (Brenna Courtney-Glazebrook), sexually ambiguous hands-on healer Ivana Tuchyorbodi (Karin Muiznieks) and singing wandering man of the forest Tim Bombadildo (Casey Bennetto) – come across an old man struggling to move a large rock. Promised a vague reward of “half of double of two” to help him, Gingantulor easily moves the rock – and traps the party inside a portal to another dimension! The old man has had his soul stolen, and will release the party – and hand over their reward – when they retrieve it for him.

After falling for a length of time long enough to be hilarious, but not quite long enough to be irritating, the party encounter a two-headed dog (half-played by Jess Hutchinson), cousin of Cerberus, guarding a doorway into the realm beyond. Deciding it’s too dangerous to fight, Gigantulor banishes it with the mystic phrase “Who wants a ride in the car?”

Beyond the door lies a vast expanse of nothing, a realm shaped by the will and desire of those who enter it. The party wish for a sign, and one promptly arrives, reading “Green Room”, and pointing to a small green door. Behind the door lies a small wooden-panelled room – occupied by a Beholder! The creature seems not to see too well, but manages to paralyse Bombadildo. Ivana sumons her familiars – a pair of hipsters – to save him, but the spell doesn’t quite work as planned; while Tim is freed, Ivana can no longer contact the familiars. Gigantulor and Conan manage to destroy the Beholder with the help of their companions.

There is a wooden door leading out of the room, and Tim draws on his connection with the forest from which it came to commune with it. It creaks out “fear”, but the party don’t hear it quite right and charge on through – into a realm where they must face their own darkest fears.

Tim is confronted by the horror of non-rhyming words, like “orange” and “purple”, but Conan supplies the works of Dr Seuss and his companions teach him to make up words for rhymes. Ivana faces the disapproving glares of her conservative Christian parents, but Tim drives them off through the power of bad Christian rock. Gingantulor is taunted about her size by tiny Lilliputians, until Conan helps her squash them flat. Conan is driven mad by books that won’t stay on their correct shelves, but Ivana manages to use her connection to hipsters to summon an iPad, where the electronic books can be automatically sorted.

Having passed through this harrowing ordeal, the party finally find themselves face to…well, sort of face with The Collector, a tiny undead creature who speaks through a giant of a man under his control. The Collector intends to add the adventurers to his collection of souls, but Gigantulor tries to appeal to the giant to throw off his oppressor, succeeding by seducing him one semi-giant to another.

The former slave throws off The Collector, and hands the party a locket containing the old man’s soul. Gingantulor unleashes her special “stiletto” move and smashes it open, returning them all to the forest and the old man, where they collect their reward – which they eventually negotiate up to a small bag of gold each.

@easybee))