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28th April, 2009
All good things must come to an end, and this year Comedy @ Trades was indeed a good thing with the hallowed halls of Trades Hall reverberating to the sound of 27,000 punters guffawing, belly laughing and making with the mad LOLs at 533 show performances
Comedy @ Trades delivered on its long-standing commitment to programming new works by emerging and established artists across a diverse mix of art forms including music, cabaret, storytelling, theatre, physical comedy and the absurd. Melbourne audiences were looking for big laughs with ticket sales up 31% on 2008 and more than 64 shows playing to full houses.
Top selling shows included Philip Escoffey’s Six Impossible Things Before Dinner, Lawrence Leung & Andrew McClelland’s Time Ninjas, Sam Wills’ The Boy With Tape on His Face, Vigilantelope’s Tale of the Golden Lease and Geraldine Quinn’s Hex and the City had them absolutely rolling in the aisles.
Over 4,500 punters enjoyed the eclectic Free @ Trades program and were delighted by Betty and Bert’s Biscuit Readings, informed by Truman Joseph’s Nature Box appalled by intriguing food combinations in Bitchen Kitchen nd inspired to dance to the swinging tunes of Scott Edgar and The Universe. Standing exhibitions AMUSEum and Comic Book Funny also received numerous wry smiles. Whilst the late night program was significantly contracted this year due to the State Government’s restrictions on granting of late licences, folks with a penchant for boogie embraced Mr McClelland’s Finishing School, DJ Yianni, DJ Monski Mouse and The Celine Dion Warwick Capper Blues Explosion.
It wasn’t all just about the laughs though. Comedy @ Trades is very proud of the efforts of local performers who came together to raise funds for community groups. The three Trade Aid Benefit shows The Anarchist Guild Social Committee Annual General Meeting (Peter Mac Cancer Research), So You Drink? You Can Dance! (Autism Victoria), Life on Mars? (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre) and the Out of The Ashes Comedy Benefit for CFA Victoria (held on 22 February in the run up to the festival) raised over $17,000 for these hard-working organisations.
And whilst we know they don’t do it for the awards, our hearty congratulations to Golden Gibbo Nominee Vigilantelope for Tale of The Golden Lease and Trades Hall Alumni Celia Pacquola (MICF 2008), Felicity Ward (Melbourne Fringe 2008), and Jesse Griffin’s Wilson Dixon (MICF 2006) for their respective nods from Festival judges.
At Comedy @ Trades closing night party it was all about embracing the festival that was with rousing performances by Eva Johabsen and The Caravan of Love, The Birdmann, Geraldine Quinn, CZECH1!2! and the Half-Arsed Three (Casey Bennetto, Ben Henry and Vincenzo Roberto) and of course DJ Andrew McClelland to
Sprinkled amongst the festivities were the announcement of The Groggy Squirrel Awards with The Critics’ Choice going to Denise Scott for Number 26 and the The Readers’ Choice to World War Wonderful. The Pun gave their Emerging Writer / Editor Award to Zilla Bailey (reviewer for The Pun) and the Professional Development Award to The Skirt Network - Keep Your Skirt On, produced by Kelly Fastuca.
Just to show that nepotism is alive and well in comedy Comedy @ Trades’ 4th Annual Comrade Awards covered 20 Award Categories with the highlights including:
Best Collaborative Performance
Scott Edgar & Casey Bennetto for Life on Mars?
(24 songs; over 50 artists and crew; raising $7,000 for Asylum Seeker Resource Centre)
Most Promising Debut
Lou Sanz for Dear Lou, I Thought We Agreed Not To Talk About This
Hardest Working Artist
Andrew McClelland for being everywhere with humour and unstoppable enthusiasm
Roald Dahl Award For Storytelling
Dave Bushell – Let the Kid Go (Directed by Adrian Calear)
Best Instructional Show
Xavier Michelides for The Post Apocalyptic Users’ Guide
Best Band In The World
CZECH 1!2! (Stage 1 Eurovision 2010 Winners).
In keeping with Comedy @ Trades established tradition, the final award for the night was The Golden Toastie For The Most Outstanding Show. Drawn from 40 nominees by the random selection of one balloon from a bunch of 60 and bursting it to reveal the show title on a piece of paper contained therein. Our congratulations this year go to Lawrence Leung & Andrew McClelland for Time Ninjas.
Whilst the credits may be rolling on this year’s festival keep in mind Bella Union keeps bringing the laughs all year round with plenty of reason’s to keep your funny bone in shape during the pre-season. Click HERE to pop on over to our permanent website