The Lost Lost LOST Cabaret review | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Butterfly Club

What do a singing octopus, a mystical crow, an old woman who speaks little English and Wayne have in common? Not much, unless of course you're referring to Choo Choo Troupe's The Lost Lost LOST Cabaret. Presented as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the variety show enlists a number of performers from across the Festival to showcase their unique set of skills.

Taking reign of the proceedings is international award-winning chanteuse clown Sharnema Nougar and her loyal confidante, Pinky-Von-Sox (David Tieck). Nougar wears a most brilliant colander-skirt with Pinky making as much use of a funnel, red nose and cat ears as possible. The banter between the two is entertaining to watch, as is Nougar's interaction with the audience. It is impossible to not immediately warm to her, especially during her spontaneous playful turn with an audience member's Pavlov's Dog-like response to her clapping her tongs.

Passenger review

Immersive theatre performances seem to be growing in Melbourne, and I could not be more thrilled about this. The latest offering devised by Jessica Wilson, Ian Pidd and Nicola Gunn is Passenger, a show that takes place on a moving bus that drives us through the streets of Southbank and the Docklands where we observe two strangers strike up a conversation.

It all begins innocently enough, but as the trip progresses the conversation steers towards something darker and sinister that culminates in a highly intense and somewhat surreal ending. Gunn's text drip-feeds information to us and the way that earlier shared stories or anecdotes are used to bring it all full circle are clever, surprising and make full use of the local infrastructure to build on the environment and tone of the story.

The Worst - Melbourne International Comedy Festival preview

Have you heard the legend of The Worst? A game so terrible, that time itself has tried to wipe it from the memory of all living beings? But its creator, Clara Cupcakes, is not so willing to have the game disappear and never see the light of day again, so she's bringing The Worst to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival where everything will finally be exposed. While this appears to literally be a show about Clara inventing a video game staring herself as an octopus, there is a lot more going on than first meets the eye.

"The Worst started as a show about my terrible ex-boyfriend. Doing a show about your ex is a bit of a comedy cliché and I wanted in," she tells me. "But as I started writing it I realised I actually didn't care about him at all anymore, so while it's still about that time in my life but the part I still have feelings about, which is how I was the worst. WOAH THAT'S THE NAME OF THE SHOW! WOAH IT ALL TIES IN!"

CULL - Melbourne International Comedy Festival preview

We've all had that moment going through our Facebook feed and see the 17th meme from someone in two hours, or another baby update or another instance of keyboard activism and wonder why exactly we are friends with these people. Returning to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Honor Wolff and Patrick Durnan Silva's CULL delves into the deep dark recesses of social media as they bring to life all the annoying people we so desperately wish would leave the platform, or at at the very least, unfriend them.

The show is based on a conversation that Silva and Wolff had about the 'personalities' that appear on Facebook and with the constantly changing ways of using and interacting with social media, there have been some changes made to the show since its initial prodcution. "Whenever we see a new social media trend or meme that’s really funny or bizarre, we seek to include it in our show," Wolff tells me.

Go To Hell! - Melbourne International Comedy Festival preview

In the 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Watson asked us Who's Afraid of The Dark? This festival, well frankly they don't really care, as they premiere their brand new show Go To Hell! While this is another blend of horror and comedy, what sets this show apart and creates further interest is that Watson will be delving deep into fear itself and have audiences facing their own nightmares in an evening of scary storytelling and laughs. The trio that make up Watson, Adam McKenzie, Tegan Higginbotham and Liam Ryan, are also the recipients of the prestigious Moosehead Award this year, which provides grants for Australian comedians wishing to perform new and unique works, and by its description, Go To Hell! will definitely be leaving its mark on audiences.

"There are two things you can expect, when you come to see Go To Hell!" McKenzie tells me. "The first one is comedy and the second one is that you will literally shit yourself with horror. We wanted the show to be funny and terrifying. This time round we are at the Malthouse Theatre and there's going to be a good balance of lots of scares and lots of laughs."