Duos Push Boundaries at MICF

The Chasers Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor make their Melbourne International Comedy Festival debut (Photo: James Brickwood)

Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen from the ABC’s satirical comedy The Chaser, step out of their usual television format at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) with their show In Conversation with Lionel Corn.

Unlike the classic stand-up set up of a sole performer and microphone, the stage at Flinders Street’s Forum Theatre is constructed as a mock-interview.

Taylor plays a self-assured failed co-author questioning the bewildered yet snappy author Lionel Corn (Hansen), closely modelled on real-life Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin.

As the interview unfolds, frustrating fake audience questions, like incomprehensible seven-part questions, are followed by equally stupid and snappy responses from the dynamic duo.

In typical Chaser fashion, many fall victim to witty and satirical remarks. Pretentious professors, under-qualified-over-opinionated tweeters and relentless advertisers like Bunnings Warehouse are among the targets.

Fans of the popular television shows Game of Thrones and Q and A are sure to be impressed with Taylor and Hansen’s clever references and dissection of popular culture.

This innovative mock-interview style of comedy hits the nail on the head, in particular with the impersonations of ordinary people who ‘love the sound of their own voice’.

An awkward misplaced homoerotic scene and a couple of tasteless fart jokes were the only low points in the performance.

The duo put on an inventive and hilariously engaging show and will be one to watch as they learn and continue to develop their live acts.

3.5/5 stars

Colin Lane and David Collins give a wild makeover to Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado (Photo: Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Unlike Taylor and Hansen, the MICF isn’t new for comic veterans Colin Lane (Lano and Woodley) and David Collins (Umbilical Brothers) however it’s their first time working together and performing their show The 3 Mikados.

The intimate and quirky Famous Spiegeltent is the perfect location for this modern comic rendition of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic Japanese love story, The Mikado.

Joined by the delightful Ester Hannaford (King Kong), the comedians fumble their way through a seriously condensed Mikado, chaotically managing the roles of a 26-member cast between three people.

The 70-minute show rapidly jumps between frenzied Mikado scenes, off-screen heated arguments about characters and talented musical numbers carried by Hannaford’s exceptional voice.

Collins and Hannaford’s retaliations to always centre-of-attention Lane hijacking all the major roles and dictating himself ‘head of the whole show’ result in a side-splitting scene of comic chaos.

As The Mikado falls apart, the new duo become even more enthralling and entertaining as you wonder if they will ever pull it back together.

The nervous energy and crazed atmosphere of the performance made parts of The Mikado difficult to follow, but this adds to the routines chaotic charm.

Collins’ eccentric remake of Gilbert and Sullivan’s I’ve Got a Little List is simply brilliant and the duo’s use of emotionally exaggerated slow motion speech will have you in tears.

These comic veterans have it right. If you’re looking for something way off the beaten track from the usual stand-up, The 3 Mikados is the best option.

4.5/5 stars

Both In Conversation with Lionel Corn and The 3 Mikados bring exciting new duos and unique styles of satirical and theatrical comedy to this year’s comedy festival.

Lane and Collins' experience in live comedy is overwhelmingly clear in their gripping show, but Hansen and Taylor are not to be missed for subtler satire.