Shaolin Punk

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!

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.

Yes, the Fringe is into its final week, which means there are just six more performances of A Record or an OBE in Adelaide! Don’t miss out; after all, the Independent Weekly was kind enough to say the show is “beautifully played with lots of skilful dialogue” and recommended it to “anyone with an interest in good talent performing a well-worked script that is obviously loved by its players”. Even the Advertiser, who didn’t get the jokes, thought “the performances of the two protagonists are watertight, the passion is evident and the production is short and sweet”.

If you’re in Melbourne, then you only have a week to wait until the show opens as part of the Comedy @ Trades programme - and you can buy your tickets now!

Get ready Adelaide - it’s finally time! A Record or an OBE opens tonight in The Fridge at the Fringe Factory. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Tickets for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival are now on sale, including both A Record or an OBE and the Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour! You can book tickets for OBE with Comedy @ Trades, and of course both shows are also listed in the Festival’s official programme, both online and in print. The print programme will be launched on February 14, when it is included with The Age newspaper. (Note that on the web site, OBE is in the Theatre section, listed under “R” rather than “A”, while the Tour is in the “Stand-Up” section.)

The Man in the Lab Coat web site will be updated over the next week with more information on the Tour, including participating comedians and line-ups for each night, so keep an eye out!