2023 Adelaide Fringe Reviews
REVIEWED BY KATIA RAWLINGS, OLIVER LAND, BRIANNA DINNING, RACHELLE SUMMERS, WILLIAM LANGREHR, MAHALIA CLARK, MIDCHELL DAYKIN, AND ALYSHA DINNING.
Press Any Key To Start - Sarah Valle
I am lucky enough to have a job that connects me with many amazing people, and one of those people is Sarah Valle. After a work talk she revealed that she had a show in the Adelaide Fringe called Press Any Key to Start, where she played a collection of sci-fi and fantasy themes on the piano for an audience at The Lost Dice cafe. So, I rounded up a group of friends and off we went. I was thrilled to hear so many tunes I recognised, most excitingly the theme to The X-Files, and then whole medleys dedicated to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Me and my friends played a fun game of ‘place that tune’, and enjoyed the food and drink that The Lost Dice does particularly well. All in all, the show was a fantastic time, and I highly recommend it for the future.
The Best of The Edinburgh Festival
Each year, me and my parents have gone to see a show called The Best of the Edinburgh Festival. Three comedians with 20-minute sets, the show has been good each year, and this year was no exception. Mark Simmons, the first comedian delivered several clever one liners, the second comedian, Markus Birdman, told a couple of funny stories, partly about being a stroke survivor, and lastly John Hastings taught us about the dangers of microdosing mushrooms before a wedding. Yep, fun for the whole family. This year’s show was one of the best I’ve seen, and if you’ve never been to a Fringe show before, I reckon this is a great place to start.
Seeing The Invisible
The Adelaide Botanic Gardens has become a Fringe venue again this year, as they‘re hosting an augmented reality (AR) ‘show’ of sorts. After downloading the ‘Seeing the Invisible’ app, you can walk the 1km trail around the gardens to see what isn’t there. At each of the locations you have to engage technologically with your surroundings, whilst enjoying the beautiful Botanic Gardens. Using sound, images and video technology, the pieces of art expand around you, whilst you only have the ability to see it through the virtual world. Some of the art contains beautiful imagery, whilst others are interactive, forcing you to walk through the site to see the full picture. The only place you can see this artwork is at the Botanic Gardens which makes it an experience unlike others. Free of cost and available until September, go check it out!
Rueben Solo
A comedian from Melbourne, Rueben Solo is fairly well known online, with followers on YouTube and TikTok. The show was at the Rhino Room on Pire St. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, partially because I was so close to the comedian, and almost the entire room got to interact with him. However, if the idea of being in the firing line for a comedian scares you, perhaps skip the show. Rueben was very funny, well known for his skits, and it was great watching his jokes come together. I recommend checking him out, and if you like what he does, see if you can catch him next time he’s in Adelaide.
Tom Gleeson’s Hard Quiz Live
There is no doubt that Tom Gleeson is good at what he does. The show we went to see, located in the Boboli at the Garden of Unearthly Delights, was a live version of Gleeson’s television series Hard Quiz. As I was given the tickets, I had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised! A lot of the jokes before the quiz started were aimed at older generations who tend to watch free-to-air television, which, as a child of the streaming era, went straight over my head. Despite my cluelessness, he hit the mark with his audience who were in stitches by the end of the hour long show. His quick wit when hosting the quiz portion of the show made it stand out from other quiz shows and kept the laughter flowing throughout.
Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope is a mirror maze art installation created by Keith Courtney. Made entirely of mirrors, steel framing and clever lighting, it is a struggle to find your way out. Using a key as your entry ticket, you are immediately immersed in the experience. I was worried that I would walk into mirrors as I made my way through the maze. Some of the walls were made of a yellow glass which let you see through to the other side and some were mirrors that had a dark blue colouring to them, making us believe that we would be getting out through a door that didn’t exist. Despite the confusion, it was a one-of-a-kind experience that was incredible to be a part of.
The Umbilical Brothers ‘The Distraction’
A mishmash of gags displayed on a green screen located in the Garden of Unearthly Delights, ‘The Distraction’ was an hour-long, nostalgia-filled update to The Umbilical Brothers style of comedy. The duo, having been together since 1988, has been around for a long time and their unique style of comedy will never cease to get you laughing. A few swear words here and there but nothing too inappropriate or crude. Good old Aussie humour with a side of nostalgia. Even despite hiccups, they are still very entertaining. The next time you see them around, don’t hesitate to check it out!
Lost in Translation - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Lost in Translation is a show in which an original film script is shortened to an hour long, translated into many different languages, and then translated back into English. Actors must perform the final product in character. They had a few different movies that they did this to, like ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ and ‘Titanic’. The show that I went to see with my friends was ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’. One of the cast members on the show had never seen the script before and needed to perform on the spot. It was hilarious to see their reactions to some of the sentences that they had to say, making it that much more ridiculous. Every minute of that hour was spent laughing my ass off — to the point where I needed to physically stop myself from laughing so my stomach and smiling muscles could have a break. There were a lot of inside jokes, making it funnier if you knew the source material because you could mostly tell where the changed phrases came from i.e. The Black Pearl turned into The Beige Marble. This show was exceptionally feel-good, funny and extremely ridiculous. If it is in Adelaide again I’d recommend going to see it, just make sure you check the rating if you’re thinking of going with someone below the age of 18.
Lano and Woodley’s Moby Dick
Lano and Woodley’s Moby Dick is a comedic retelling of the classic novel. The two comedians have a comedic duo relationship - one who is trying to tell the story and the other that derails the narrative. The surprising narrative had the audience in fits of laughter throughout the hour long run time. The duo involved the audience in the show as well. There was a five-year-old sitting in the front row and they regularly included him whilst still keeping to the storyline as much as they could. Lano and Woodley are still going strong decades after their first show and are still as funny as ever.
Shit-Faced Shakespeare
Shit-Faced Shakespeare is a fantastic comedy theatre show. This unique retelling of Romeo and Juliet consists of five actors all playing multiple parts. One of these actors is drunk throughout the whole performance which makes it even funnier. The casual jokes combined with the absurdity of the actors created a room full of hysterical laughter. Because the remaining cast is sober, they have to fill in the gaps the drunk actor creates, using incredibly amusing improvisation. The audience is included throughout the show as well. Three people are given objects that end up being an essential part of the play, and one other plays Paris, who appears briefly in two scenes. I loved it so much that I went and saw it a second time. The actors rotate through roles and who is drunk every night which means that no matter how many times you see it the show will be different every time. I highly recommend seeing them the next time they are in Adelaide because the show was absolutely incredible and had me in stitches.
Thank you Adelaide for another awesome Fringe Festival. We can’t wait for next year!
EDITORIAL NOTE: This article has been reuploaded and was originally published in 2023.