Shaolin Punk

There’s excitement all around  time all round at Shaolin Punk - and we’re not talking about the Olympics! We have two shows coming up in the next couple of weeks, and here are the details.

Set List, Shaolin Punk’s improvised music show, kicks off with a preview season at the Butterfly Club from August 21st to 24th. See the Set List page for details.

A Brief History of A Brief History of Time is a new Man in the Lab Coat show, premiering during Science Week at the Royal Society of Victoria. There’s a matinee for schools on the afternoon of Friday, August 22, and then two evening performances on the 23rd and 24th. See labcoatman.com.au for more details about this show and Ben’s other Science Week adventures.

It’s been a while since our last update, so we figure it’s time to fill you in on the latest doings of Shaolin Punk and its creative director, Ben McKenzie.

This Sunday saw the launch of Melbourne’s newest comedy event, the Anarchist Guild Social Committee, at the Bella Union bar at Trades Hall. The brainchild of host Nick Caddaye, the AGSC is a monthly live sketch comedy show. Shaolin Punk’s Ben McKenzie is assistant producer and also a writer/performer, alongside the main cast of Andrew McClelland, Tegan Higginbotham, Dave Bushell, Celia Pacquola, Richard McKenzie and Courteney Hocking. The first meeting of the AGSC was a huge success, so don’t miss its return on July 20!

Shaolin Punk has two new shows coming up in the next few months. First up, as part of National Science Week, Ben McKenzie premieres his new one-man comedy science lecture, A (Very) Brief History of Time, to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Stephen Hawking’s influential book. Then, for the 2008 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Shaolin Punk presents Set List, an improvised musical performance devised and performed by Dan Walmsley and Karin Muiznieks and featuring Ben McKenzie. Set List will premiere in three afternoon sessions at the Bella Union bar at Trades Hall as part of the Fringe @ Trades programme. Watch this space for more details soon!

And finally, with the departure of Janelle Koenig for the UK, Ben McKenzie has taken on the role of artistic director of Melbourne improvised comedy troupe The Crew. The group’s final performance of Impro Sundae at Bar Open, before they move to another venue, is this Sunday, June 22. Don’t miss it!