comedy - Whats The Show

CON 2077: A Wildly Inventive Comedy

27 February 2025 Emma Bennett

CON2077 Rating

★★★★★

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One man. Hundreds of sound cues. A time-traveling plot. That’s all you really need to know before stepping into Con 2077. That, and that Con Coutis is easily one of the funniest performers you’ll see this Fringe season.

The premise? Delightfully ridiculous. In 2027, a meteor strikes Earth, wiping out every comedian—except one. Fast forward to 2077, when an Arctic researcher stumbles upon the lost art of comedy and resurrects the world’s last comedian from cryosleep: Con Coutis. Now, humanity’s fate rests on one man’s ability to rediscover the joke. No pressure.

From the moment Con springs out from behind the red curtain, he commands the stage with an infectious energy that never lets up. Armed with a few props and an impossible number of sound cues, he masterfully blends stand-up, sketch comedy, and physical performance into a high-octane, laugh-out-loud spectacle. His physicality is next-level—flinging himself across the tent, weaving through the audience, dodging invisible ninja spikes, and racing against time to answer a phantom phone call. Very impressive, and the ease at which he moves in and out is a true skill.

Coutis’s ability to balance the absurd with razor-sharp comedic timing is born from natural talent, creativity and dedication to his craft. His deadpan delivery of high-concept sci-fi lunacy—interwoven with spot-on stand-up about everyday life—creates a perfect contrast. One moment, he’s breaking down the price of safes at Bunnings; the next, he’s deciphering cryptic voice recordings left by past Con for future Con. It’s chaotic, it’s clever, and it’s utterly hilarious.

The show’s technical elements are equally as impressive. The precision of its lighting, sound design, and audio effects make Con 2077 feel like a full-blown theatrical production disguised as stand-up. And when the occasional technical hiccup occurs, Coutis rolls with it so smoothly that the audience is left wondering whether it was planned all along.

The real magic, though, is how effortlessly he connects with his audience. The playful participation feels like goofing around with a friend rather than a spotlight interrogation. It’s a testament to Coutis’ warmth and natural charisma—he makes the ridiculous feel relatable and the surreal feel strangely familiar.

So, can Con save the world with comedy? No spoilers here. But one thing’s for sure: Con 2077 is a wildly original, utterly bonkers, and unmissable ride that will have you laughing out loud and leave you in awe. Coutis delivers innovative, fresh, and thoroughly entertaining content. It needs to be seen to be believed, and I encourage you to get yourself to the BankSA Theatre this week.

To book tickets to CON2077, please visit https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/con-coutis-con-2077-af2025

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Emma Bennett

The Butcher, The Baker’ Serves Up Role-Shifting Revelry

12 February 2025 Megan Davis

The Butcher The Baker Rating

★★★★★

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From the opening notes, The Butcher, The Baker immediately transports you into a world reminiscent of 1930s European cabaret—glamorous, provocative, and deeply steeped in the tradition of Weimar-style performance. Written, composed, and musically directed by Ella Filar, this production is both a showcase of exuberant musicality and a shocking exploration of sexuality, identity, and the fluidity of roles that people inhabit.

Directed by Kevin Hopkins—who first encountered the script while in the Czech Republic—The Butcher, The Baker carries a distinctly European flavour. Hopkins’s stated fascination with the piece’s “grotesquery and absurdism” is evident in his staging. The narrative follows three focal characters: Honey Valik (portrayed by Natasha Broadstock), an artist deeply invested in her craft; Alex Summers (played by Claire Nicholls), a brain surgeon; and Johnny Agostino (Fletcher Dyson), a butcher who captures both character’s imaginations. Threading the story together are two captivating narrators, Myf Powell and Bruce Langdon, who serve as muses and as the voices of subconscious (and sometimes very conscious) desires.

What makes The Butcher, The Baker especially compelling is how it shifts seamlessly between riotous humour and unexpected shocks. In one moment, it revels in playful innuendo and high-spirited wordplay; in the next, it confronts the audience with overt sexuality or sudden shifts in character roles—often leaving you unsure whom you’re meant to be rooting for. This is intentional: the show’s dada-esque edge delights in keeping viewers off-balance, forcing us to question the “meaning” behind both words and actions on stage.

Throughout, Filar’s score is vibrantly eclectic. One moment, you might hear a quick staccato reminiscent of German dance halls; the next, soaring operatic passages or lively jazz. The band—**Martin Khromchenko and Lucke Schreiber on saxophones, Lyuba Khromchenko on violin, Ella Filar on keyboard, and Christos Linou and Bradon Payne on percussion—**heightens the sense of off-kilter fun, playing behind a curtain in costumes that evoke both a bustling kitchen and a risqué soirée. It’s a deliberate collision of worlds, perfectly reflecting the script’s thematic juxtapositions.

The production is a tight 75 minutes, ensuring audiences never have the chance to lose focus. At times, you might catch yourself marvelling at the sheer cheekiness of the dialogue and lyrics, only to be hurled into the next song or scene before you can fully process what just transpired. As you watch these characters grapple with their obsessions, desires, and identities, you may feel that you’re taken on a ride rather than asked to pick sides. This experience becomes more explicit when reading through the printed lyrics and programme after the show.

Chris Molyneux, the technical manager, deserves commendation for crafting a production that feels seamless yet offbeat. Lights and sound create an immersive environment, supporting the transitions between the boisterously funny and the unabashedly sensual.

If you’re seeking a conventional storyline, The Butcher, The Baker may throw you off-guard. But for anyone who revels in cabaret’s capacity to shock, surprise, and delight, this show is a feast. It’s a testament to a distinctly European tradition of theatre—a kaleidoscope of humour, sexuality, and absurdity that leaves you both entertained and intriguingly disoriented.

As Director Kevin Hopkins notes, this play’s “unpredictable plot” and “strange characters” offer a fresh, modern slant on old-world cabaret. With gender identities and roles under the spotlight, it feels very much of this moment, even as it channels the spirit of another era. Ultimately, The Butcher, The Baker is fun, fast-paced, and a tantalising entry in the Midsumma Festival line-up—and a wild ride well worth taking.

To book tickets to The Butcher The Baker, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2025/the-butcher-the-baker

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Megan Davis

Improbable Fiction: A Comedic Delight

9 February 2025 Isobel Knight

Improbable Fiction Rating

★★★★★

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There’s something specifically delightful about a farce with a lot of heart. Castle Hill Player’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s ’Improbable Fiction’ has a charming ensemble cast, a Shakespearean change-maker of a storm, and several comic surprises that had the house in stitches.

Jem Rowe is warm and funny as our anchoring host Arnold Hassock. The characters he welcomes to the house he shares with his aging mother bemuse and enthral him (and the audience) in turn. This is a show for you if you’re interested in writing and the oddball folks who do it.

Abby Bishop’s set, in concert with Mark Dawson’s lighting design, is incredibly effective and is the key support for good actors working with a good script. They’ve created a little world that it was a delight to fall into for the night, and Alan Ayckbourn’s skill with words is shepherded effectively by director Dave Went.

Leone Sharp’s costume design is excellent, and the pace of some of the changes was very impressive. Each detail gave richness to the whirl of the second act. Some of the prop work drew gasps and cheers from the audience and facilitatedsome of the big surprises and delights across the show.

The second act swings at quite a different pace to the first and gives the ensemble more space to stretch their muscles. Anthea Brown is a comic highlight throughout, and the whole cast embodies Gina Willison’s choreography with verve. Brendan Iddles enters last in the first act, and has some of the stand-out moments in the second; his transformations are some of the most striking. Will Shipp drew out some of the most vocal audience responses, and Lauren Asten-Smith’s characters (and late second act reveal) were all some of the strongest emotionally connected moments in the scheme of the comedy of the show.

George Cartledge’s sound design is, like the set, effective and integrated, with musical moments and audio gags all landing. The storm he created was one of the key elements of the plot, and the design and delivery was seamless. The mood-setting musical moments were effective enough to situate you instantly without feeling repetitious, and Jem Rowe was particularly good at working with them to carry the audience along through all the different twists and turns of the show.

For this reviewer, the second act was the highlight, but all the threads that ran through from first-act conversations really did add to the story. There’s a lot to love and laugh along with in this show, and the cast and crew have put on a lovely production of a fun piece. There is more wordplay the more you look, and plenty of clowning and character comedy besides, so I would recommend catching this show while it’s on.

To book tickets to Improbable Fiction, please visit https://paviliontheatre.org.au/improbable-fiction/

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Isobel Knight

I Watched Someone Die On TikTok

25 January 2025 Manuela Kacomanolis

I Watched Someone Die on TikTok Rating

★★★★★

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With the show’s title, ‘I Watched Someone Die on TikTok,’ I had no idea what to expect from this show. All I knew was that it would be a one-person show. Sometimes these can be the best sorts of shows without any preconceived ideas.

As part of the Perth Fringe Festival, WAAPA alumnus Charlotte Otton delivers a quirky, commentary-style and partial biographical performance involving her relationship with the internet and social media.

Although the performance is delivered in a humorous manner, it touches on serious topical issues such as social media addiction, minors on social media, cyber-bullying and the multitude of disturbing content found on the internet.

Charlotte takes the audience on a journey from the early stages of the internet in the early 90s to the colossal digital platform it now is.

She makes a point of how the internet is filled with so much dark content and how easily accessible this content is to any person of any age. This content she refers to includes people dying in hospitals, beheadings and people being beaten to death. In the early internet days, it may have been a bit tricky, but certainly not impossible, to access such content, but nowadays, videos, regardless of whether they are age-appropriate or not, so easily pop up in social media feeds.

The strong grip social media has on people’s lives is real, and Charlotte brings this to focus. In one segment, the absurdity of some of the TikTok challenges is brought to life as she playfully takes up the challenge that the audience selects for her.

Any person who is guilty of doom-scrolling will relate to Charlotte’s commentary.

I found this show immensely entertaining and Charlotte to be an outstanding solo performer. I never knew which way the show would go or what Charlotte would do next. Mirroring much of how Tik Tok operates, she performs multiple segments in the show at a fast pace—keeping the attention of the audience glued to the stage.

To book tickets to I Watched Someone Die on TikTok, please visit https://fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/i-watched-someone-die-on-tiktok-fw2025

This year’s Fringeworld Festival Perth runs from 17 January to 16 February. For more information, please visit https://fringeworld.com.au.

Photographer: Sophie Minissale

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Manuela Kacomanolis

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