What a great fringe festival! i’ve only been to three or four events but i’m sure i chose the best ones:

• Deceased Estate by Roundangle
• Don’t Cut my Fringe Straight at 3RRR
• the fully enjoyable dance-athon 6000 from the Town Bikes and known associates ..

oh the Town Bikes .. how ever did the world manage without them, way back in the 20th century?? That’s right, we had the Butt Funky troupe of mischief-makers. Along with their buddies .. the magical dj marieke, the hot slush puppies and more, they roused the crowd into a wet and wild state of krumpy frenzy. Yum.

( What’s this video .. a Town Bikes showreel? They are fun. i love them. )

Deceased Estate was insanely wonderful. Many old stories from the history of an East Brunswick house. Blindfolded sessions, of course, down the side of the house. Shadow theatre, hot milo and monsters in the backyard, a neighbourly dinner party in the front yard with the original family back in 1946.

Harry pours scotch for the gents and tells us he’s delighted that Chifley’s at the helm. The 1940’s couple freeze, as we flash forward to a teenager climbing out the window and listening to Joy Division on her walkman.

.. the live event at 3RRR was a thoroughly weird adventure. Pikelet and Qua were on the bill, so i’d thought it would be fun. Bum Creek started off the action with their bizarre journey into sound .. and the night looked promising. One guy had invented an instrument made out of old coils and springs .. he was hilarious and i wish i’d gotten a photograph.

Ah Melbourne – joy and delight and wonderful weirdness at every turn!

i’ve had such a good run of great theatre!

• That Kid’s Show that Lynne took me to see, oh what was it called, with The Woman from the Kransky Sisters (Christine) .. um ..
• Miracle Man by Bernard and Bruce
• Yana Alana and the Paranas by Sarah Ward (aka MC Eila of Sista She)
• The Plains directed by Lachlan for his VCA Masters (brilliant puppetry)

..and now, The Burlesque Hour. Finally after four years of waiting i have seen the show. Very delightful, and completely insane. We love our theatre insane. Moira Finucane pouring milk all over herself has to be seen. Azaria Universe doing a Zombie routine on the trapeze. Yumi Umiumare’s Japanese schoolgirl is such a funny way to start the show, and her kimono striptease was extraordinary and touching.

Oooh i love it.

Annie and i agreed that The Town Bikes could have been given two appearances really .. they are so good. Look at this if you haven’t seen them:

What a windy hell of a day. So cold we forgot it was springtime, so windy the outdoor sun-shelter blew off its groundings and hurled itself across the yard to shatter some pottery, just before Jude and Jody arrived for the pancake brunch. “What’s that?” everyone else asked about the frame with no canvas, “.. your meditation dome?”

There’s nothing like mango pancakes to kick off the windiest music festival this side of the Yarra, and we had a gorgeous spread. The best moment was when Tim flipped his pancake and it went behind the stove. No, wait the best moment was watching Tim use giant chopsticks to recover his pancake from behind the stove – no chance, it’s gone!

Wind and rain and hail surprisingly made for a really good festival, because you had to be inside to survive, and inside was where the best music would be found. (oh, that’s why i saw no music last year, i was drinking in the sun all day)

Describe Eliza were fun and funky at the Peacock. Toy Band (jazz plus lots of toys, balloons, streamers, on and around stage) and Tzigas (Russian Gypsy music – plenty of this around Northcote at the moment) at 303 were terrific.

The Town Bikes and Die Roten Punkte impressed the crowds no end at the new Ballroom venue (usually only Italian receptions, but they opened it up for the day), and finally Martin Martini at Open Studio (Eloise’s bar) – wild gypsy funk with a gravelly and skeletal voice. i liked these guys so much i bought the CD on the spot.

The Open Studio crowd kept going of course, when Tegan came out from behind the bar with her clarinet to draw the musos together for one or two final sets. Dance dance dance. Baby.
Yeah.

Last night, here in Melbn, Oz, the world capital of art and culture, we experienced the Snuff Puppets’ version of the Twin Towers – very irreverent and moderately shocking. Two people dressed in enormous skyscraper costumes were battered by an Arab puppet with an aeroplane on a stick. Tremendous Art.

(But we should remember, that it’s not okay to laugh about that day because, “the world changed from that day on“, as Marylou Badeaux reminds us in this Herald Sun article.)

As well as the Snuffies and, again, the amazing Town Bikes (Suxy and Fuxy go Clubbing – you has to see to believe), The Spanish Club also saw the astonishingly insane Dilapidated Diva emerge from retirement for a glamorous performance of La Vie en Rose.

After encouraging seven volunteers to lie on the stage with their legs in the air, so she could lick and caress their shoes, my favourite moment was when the Diva pulled apart her microphone mid-song, and throwing it on the stage in frustration, continued to sing at full voice, while dancing with a man in a yellow raincoat. The woman is a genius.

Her parting shot was of course, the middle finger up at her loving audience, “You are all assholes!” she cried.

Tim, Sam, Nathan and Michael joined the crowds to boogie at Spanish Club (Kenny Lopez’ Cuban All Stars), Laundry and then the Old Bar. Going wild with Leanne on the dance floor, when the DJ came up with two beers and said, “These are for you, for being the BEST dancers EVER.” She was playing AC/DC mixed with 1950’s Rocknroll, what could we do? I’ve got to say this was easily the best award i’ve EVER received in my LIFE.

so how can i be grumpy on a day like today?

much love from michael