Melbourne Comedy - Whats The Show

Bev & Myrt and the Scrolling of Doom

01/02/202630/01/2026 Emelia May🥉

Bev & Myrt and the Scrolling of Doom Rating

★★★★★

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Aliens, lesbians and eighties music: three surefire ways of getting me in a room. All three…together? Let’s just say I was first in line to catch the opening performance of ‘Bev & Myrt and the Scrolling of Doom’ at the Motley last night.

Presented by How Delightful Theatre, ‘Bev & Myrt’ follows a secret society of alien investigators defending the Hoddle Grid from extraterrestrial terrors: galactic parasites, sentient robots, conservative real estate agents. When AI threatens to absorb the minds of Melburnians, Bev (Jenny Lovel), Myrt (Amanda Owen) and their son Jamie (Jackson Eather) must take down evil tech conglomerates all the while navigating their own growing pains at home.

Writer and producer David Innes, producer and dramaturg Dr Stayci Taylor, and director Cale Dennis clearly had a distinct vision for the show. With a razor-sharp script and just enough fourth-wall stroking to keep things perfectly meta, ‘Bev & Myrt’ was an unapologetically nerdy and hilariously queer little slice of theatre. Think Douglas Adams meets ‘Ghostbusters’: irreverent, witty, weird, and so on the nose. It was quintessentially Melburnian too, so full of in-jokes the crowd spent more time laughing than not. With a runtime of an hour, ‘Bev & Myrt’ is a masterclass in short-form playwriting and I only wish it ran longer for my own selfish reasons.

Jenny Lovel, Amanda Owen and Jackson Eather were outstanding to watch as a unit, with brilliant chemistry on stage and some unforgettable physical comedy. Liliana Braumberger, Kitt Forbes, Alex Joy and Donna Prince effortlessly navigated several roles all the while puppeteering tentacled robots and throwing around props left right and centre. The sound and lighting design never missed a beat either, which is a testament to just how much work was put into this show by the entire cast and crew.

It would be easy to fall into all shenanigans and no substance in a show like this (especially given the short runtime) but I’m happy to report that wasn’t the case. ‘Bev & Myrt’ was fun all the way through, but it was the moments of queer love that resonated so personally in an otherwise unworldly story. It was at heart a celebration of our elder queer heroes: the people who loved and fought for us and the people we can hope to become ourselves—aliens or no.

You can catch ‘Bev & Myrt and the Scrolling of Doom’ at the Motley Bauhaus until the 8th of February!

To book tickets to Bev & Myrt and the Scrolling of Doom, please visit https://tickets.midsumma.org.au/event/396:1014/.

Photographer: Mark Gambino

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Ethnically Ambiguous

19/10/2025 Annie Zeleznikow🥉

Ethnically Ambiguous Rating

★★★★★

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Ethnically Ambiguous is a silly and heartfelt comedy that explores three actors disappointing experiences as culturally diverse individuals in a shallow industry. Max Nunes-Cesar, Jo Malta and Zac Rose created and performed Ethnically Ambiguous as an exploration and presentation of their upsetting experiences as actors. This show contained a skit like format, moving between storytelling, faux game shows, musical numbers, and heartfelt monologues. This show also broke the fourth wall in frequently funny ways.

Ethnically Ambiguous contained a plethora of clever self-referential jokes and audience participation. The most powerful audience participation is the game of ‘guess the ethnicity’ with a wheel of origin as a practical gag. This worked well in combination with the actors and creators, it had an immediate and powerful impact on the audience. This skit was a clear and powerful moment of the actors creating tension, and using themselves and their experiences to cut the tension and connect with the audience.

The actors felt authentic, which makes sense given their roles as creators of the show, sharing their own experiences of the world. In particular, Zac Rose stood out as a powerful story teller, conveying his experiences and personal narrative in a touching and meaningful way. Rose was able to explore his ongoing feelings of shame and guilt, accepting that his ancestors were discriminated against because of the colour of their skin, and acknowledging that he carries the trauma of those experience, with the understanding that no one can see it, and he doesn’t experience it himself (due to his white passing presentation). Rose is told by his friends that “you choose what defines you,” as he decides to reclaim his sense of self, and falls into a space of acceptance.

The show’s theme of disconnection of perception and sense of self was well established and maintained. However, the show at times lacked direction and focus, with skits between the characters stagnating the pacing of the show. There were moments of the show that felt non-sensical. A sharp and clear perspective was missing at times, which meant the impetus of the show fell flat. As a result, the long-lasting impact of the show might not be as clear as the creators intended.

Acting is a visual and audible job, how you look and sound impacts how you are perceived, and although Nunes-Cesar, Malta and Rose don’t state it, to me it felt that it important to recognise and accept that there are things you cannot change, like the colour of your skin. This show reminded me that one’s sense of self, confidence, and acceptance of self should be tied to who you are, rather than the success you find in your career.

Ultimately, I came out of this show with the knowledge that pursuing a career in acting is risky, idealistic and irrational, and I’m glad Nunes-Cesar, Malta, and Rose are doing it.

To book tickets to Ethnically Ambiguous, please visit https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/ethnically-ambiguous.

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Checked Out: The Musical

10/10/2025 Debra Campbell🥈

Checked Out: The Musical Rating

★★★★★

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Checked Out: The Musical – A musical comedy about the mundane lives of supermarket workers in a cost of living crisis.

Check in, deal with angry customers. Check out, repeat again tomorrow. Connell and Lee, the team behind GRAA-nominated musical ‘A Zoom Group Project’ have joined forces again to create this brand-new supermarket musical comedy premiering at Melbourne Fringe 2025. This time they are using their years of retail experience as creative fuel because nothing makes a story sing like hating your job does. In ‘Checked Out: The Musical’ a group of employees are sick of their mundane lives working for big supermarket chain Woles, who still pay them minimum wage despite its recent record profits. What’s the manager’s solution to staff complaints? Throwing a party to celebrate the company’s profits and making attendance mandatory of course!

As I watched this cast of comrades band together to unite against the epitome of capitalism: their workplace, I laughed, laughed and laughed again.

This show deserves the highest accolades and surely it is set to win some of the current Melbourne Fringe Festival awards. The entire audience would agree going by their laughter and cheering. I don’t think there was ever someone not laughing throughout 90% of the show – there are a few serious moments (not!).

It is simply put together on stage with boxes coloured in like supermarket aisles, something a little like an advanced kinder project so you’re wondering what’s going to go on here… then one by one starting their day in the store enter 5 very different staff members … mops with eyes as fierce customers, register and clock on-off beeps, announcement microphones and the big ‘boss’ guy up the top over the loud speaker of course (we don’t get to see him, but he’s equally as talented as the rest of the cast).

‘Price gouging’ clap along was the best! Finger puppets not dissimilar to ones we all frequently recognise instantly, the team of ‘Woles’ in their blue aprons, Bridget, Jasmine, Taylor, Seb and Jack hit every silly, funny but scarily true to life topic we experience in shopping today and working in retail spot on!

I am personally constantly complaining of how much milk and bread and a few fruit and veg will set me back. These guys take it to the next level, but when I thought about it, it’s not next level, these prices are reality!

Their 10cent per hour pay rise is also reality, and they have to fight for it!

Swapping out ‘Clean Up’ for ‘Love in Aisle 9’ may be the only highlight of a day otherwise full of being scolded by customers, bossy bosses and trying to keep to an impossible down-to-the second time schedule. Of course, don’t take your break early and certainly don’t be 17 seconds over returning to your duties!

Will Jack be able to play his songs at the MCG? Will Jasmine continue to be excited as the newest employee? Will Seb get to take his long service leave in Vietnam? Will Taylor ever do up her apron and will supervisor Bridget finally get to head up the company, or will she decide to band with her team?

The beaming smiles and genuine love for what they do on stage giving it their all, these talented bright bubby actors and actresses totally nailed this plot and I can’t wait to see what they do next!

Hopefully major media will go along and see this show, I could see it tour!

Enjoy!!

Ticket Link: https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/checked-out-the-musical

Playing 8 – 12 October 2025

Well organised ticketing and access, lots of volunteers helping to get you into the right area – the Fringe Festival is fantastic with so much to choose from, but definitely DON’T MISS this one ‘CHECKED OUT – THE MUSCAL!’

WRITTEN BY
Josh Connell and Steph Lee
LIGHTING DESIGN
Tom Vulcan
DIRECTED BY
Steph Lee
CAST
Anita Mei La Terra
Oscar O’Brien
Jackson Cross
An Dang
Shanu Sobti

Venue: Solidarity Hall at Festival Hub: Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton

EVENT WARNING
Contains strobe lighting, Mild coarse language
CONTENT WARNING
Misogyny, Sexual References

To book tickets to Checked Out: The Musical, please visit https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/checked-out-the-musical.

Photographer: Leo Cherry

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Greeking Out

09/10/2025 Adam Miller🥉

Greeking Out Rating

★★★★★

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Greeking Out reminded me why I love fringe theatre. At its best, fringe is lean and mean, a little scrappy, full of wit and invention and always just outside the norm. Rebecca Perich’s show delivered all of that in spades. This was peak fringe and I loved everything about it.

The premise is deceptively simple: a lecture on Greek mythology, given from a stool with a projector and an easel as props. Yet from that stripped-back set, Perich created an hour of comedy, storytelling and mythological deep-diving that was as enlightening as it was entertaining. The projector doubled as a lecturer’s whiteboard, lighting shifts offered just enough atmosphere and the black cloth-draped brick walls of the pop-up venue made the room feel like the kind of black box theatre where ideas are meant to spark. Even the old school seating added to the classroom vibe. It was, in every sense, authentic fringe.

What struck me most was Perich’s ability to master two seemingly opposite demands: making the audience laugh while also making them think. The show had proper laugh-out-loud moments There were cheeky asides, call-and-response games and even bursts of light choreography that pulled us into her world. But it also had a depth that stayed with me long after. I really loved how Perich didn’t just retell myths. She unpacked their cultural resonance, wove them into pop culture touchpoints and reminded us why these ancient stories still matter. Her skill lay in making the complex simple, without ever dumbing it down.

Fringe theatre can sometimes alienate, but Perich did the opposite. She met her audience exactly where we were, adapting her pace, her explanations and even her jokes to ensure accessibility. She was like that favourite teacher who can’t help but share their hyperfocus with you, dragging you joyfully into side quests and tangents like the naming of Europe or the complex family tree of Greek gods. These digressions were never wasted, they added texture and charm, much like the best detours on a road trip.

The 60-minute format was exactly right. As one of my favourite theatre sayings goes, “Everything good is better shorter”. Perich clearly understands this. The show was tight, sharp and left me wanting more. By the end, I wasn’t just entertained, I was ready to sign up for Mythology 201.

Rebecca Perich is a gifted storyteller, part comedian and part lecturer, who has found a form that feels utterly her own. She can take a myth thousands of years old and make it feel like gossip you’ve just overheard at the bar. That’s no small feat. Greeking Out was smart, funny and brimming with charm. More importantly, it was a reminder of why myth still holds power in our lives.
I laughed, I learned and I can’t wait for the next class. That’s my takeaway and I suspect anyone lucky enough to see this show will feel the same.

To book tickets to Greeking Out, please visit https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/greeking-out.

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