With over 40 events and 140 performances in 19 days, the Perth International Comedy Festival launches into Perth in May 2012. With local, national and international comedians performing at the Astor Theatre, the Jack High Comedy Club, the Velvet Lounge and the Daily Planet Café, there will be stand-up, musical acts, spoken words and special events.
Headlining the festival are huge acts Henry Rollins (USA), Stephen K Amos (UK), Daniel Kitson (UK), The Pajama Men (USA), Des Bishop (Ireland), Peter Powers (UK), Steve Hughes, Tripod, Fiona O’Loughlin, Charlie Pickering, Sammy J & Randy and Tom Gleeson. Adding to the international component are Glenn Wool (Canada), Neil Hamburger (USA) and DeAnne Smith (Canada).
Also performing will be Brendon Burns, Greg Fleet, Dave Callan, Felicity Ward, Lawrence Mooney, Asher Treleaven, Hannah Gadsby, Yon (Tripod) and Jennifer Wong.
Comprising the local component of the festival will be John Robertson, Werzel, Bonnie Davies, Emma Zammit, Laura Davis, Michael Workman, Joel Creasey, Tropical Parodies, Superdub, Andrea Gibbs, Jimmy James Eaton, Xavier Michelides, Next Gen Comedy and the Daily Planet Sessions.
The iconic Astor Theatre will be the main hub for the Festival, which will run from May 2-20 and provide 19 days of laughs, chuckles and guffaws galore. With all the venues within a 500-metre radius of each other, audiences are able to see up to three different shows at three different venues each night. It all kicks off with the Opening Night Gala on May 2 and draws to a close with the Festival Finale on May 20.
Sharing the laughs around regional WA before the Festival starts in Perth, the Comedy Suitcase Tour will be rolling into the Albany Entertainment Centre on April 26, the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on April 27 and Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on April 28, and will feature a line-up of Tripod, John Robertson and Werzel and Mike G (USA).
Tickets for all shows are available through BOCS Ticketing (www.bocsticketing.com.au / 08 9484 1133) or please visit www.perthcomedyfest.com.au for full details.
International comedy star David Strassman returns to Australia with his brand new show, CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! Chuck Wood’s sharp-tongued, caustic, and sarcastic humour, has been cracking up audiences for years. And this show is an all-new creation from the dark and twisted mind of puppet master David Strassman.
Strassman’s latest tour includes Perth Regal Theatre and regional Western Australia. Tickets ARE NOW ON SALE.
Strassman’s new show truly ventures down the rabbit hole. Alternate realities? Parallel universes? It’s a mind-bending journey into a world where nothing is as it seems. Chuck and Ted E. Bare are back but a strange ‘wish” transforms them into comical alternate selves, taking over Strassman’s mind. The road home may be scary for Strassman…but hilarious for audiences!
Strassman returns to Australia after a hit season at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Working with leading American theatre writer and director Steve Altman, he created the dark psychological comedy DUALITY. The show was a sensation in Edinburgh, with The Mirror giving it 5 stars, calling it “A fabulous achievement…is mind blowing”. Chortle.co.uk called it “supremely clever… faultlessly performed”. The List said “Absolute genius. The writing is truly superb and the performance – or should that be performances? – breath-taking in linguistic and ventriloquistic dexterity. Takes the ancient art of ventriloquism up several notches.”
Back in Australia, comedy returns to the forefront of Strassman’s show. Considered by many to be one of the best ventriloquists in the world, his shows are hilariously funny and razor sharp, featuring full stage production complete with dazzling sets and state-of-the-art theatrical effects. His shows involve multiple characters and high-tech puppetronics (robotics) that bring his characters to life, even when he has left the stage.
Embraced in Australia since his early performances in the 1990s, his numerous television appearances and his own show on Channel 9, Strassman is now hoping to keep Chuck Wood in control.
Perth | Tues 15 May 7pm | Wed 16 May 7pm| Thurs 17 May 7pm | Fri 18 May 7pm| Sat 19 May 7pm | Sun 20 May 6pm
Regal Theatre | Book at Ticketek on 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au
Geraldton | Tues 8 May 7pm
Queens Park Theatre | Book on (08) 9956 6662 www.queensparktheatre.com.au
Kalgoorlie | Wed 9 May 7pm
Goldfields Arts Centre | Book on (08) 9088 6900 www.goldfieldsartscentre.com.au
Esperance | Thurs 10 May 7pm
Esperance Civic Centre | Book on (08) 9083 1566 www.esperanceciviccentre.com.au
Albany | Fri 11 May 7pm
Albany Entertainment Centre | Book on (08) 9844 5005 www.albanyentertainment.com.au
Bunbury | Sat 12 May 7pm | Sun 13 May 6pm
Bunbury Entertainment Centre | Book at BREC Ticketing on 1300 661 272 www.bunburyentertainment.com
Mandurah | Sun 27 May 6pm
Performing Arts Centre | Book on (08) 9550 3900 www.manpac.com.au
