Comedy Lounge Perth City launch @ Comedy Lounge
w/ Peter Rowsthorn, Greg Fleet, Ben Sutton, SUNS of FRED, MC Sian Choyce
Friday, December 1, 2017
Perth’s comedy scene gains a huge new player with the opening of a venue dedicated to the art of making people laugh: Comedy Lounge Perth City. Just a short jaunt from the heart of the CBD, Comedy Lounge is situated in prime Murray Street territory, and is poised to become one of Perth’s must-visit nightspots. It officially opened on December 1 to a full house and delivered a tasty sampling of what we can expect from the new funny kid on the block.
The evening’s MC, Sian Choyce, welcomed us and warmed us up with a solid, smart set simmering with deadpan irony, alternating between the blatant and the subtle. She was low-key, but had an easy rapport with the audience that set the evening out on the right foot.
The first comedian up to the mic was one of Australia’s favourites, Peter Rowsthorn. His five-minute set had plenty of the physical humour that makes him such a lovable character actor, and he worked off of the audience without putting anyone on the spot. He always made himself the butt of the joke, even though there were probably plenty of other butts sitting in front of him to joke about.
Rowsthorn’s set was over all too quickly, but next up was gravelly-voiced, fully-bearded Greg Fleet. His set took some time to find its footing; one or two anecdotes didn’t quite pay off, but his black humour eventually hit its stride, and had the audience cackling.
After a short break that allowed us to refill our glasses, Choyce introduced Ben Sutton, a UK-born actor and comedian who walked the well-trodden territory about the differences between Aussies and Brits. It’s easy fodder, but Sutton made it his own by giving us a quick run-down of MLE (Multicultural London English) and demonstrating his linguistic dexterity in delivering MLE with absolute authority.
By then, the audience was now well and truly prepped for the final act of the evening, the high-energy musical comedy trio SUNS of FRED. These three blend boy-band parody with original songs, dance breaks, audience banter and a little bit of sexy gyrating and crotch-grabbing. They absolutely delighted the crowd, worked the whole room, and created a party atmosphere that ended the night on a fantastic high.
There are still plenty of long-standing places to get your comedy fix in Perth, like Lazy Susan’s or the Charles Hotel plus a few other hole-in-the-wall comedy nights at other bars, but the opening of Comedy Lounge feels like the city is finally taking its comedy seriously. With stand-up happy hours (Six in the City), drag comedy revues (DIVAS All Male Review) and a regular showcase of local, national and international talent (Live Laughs), Comedy Lounge is well on its way to providing non-stop mirth to Perth.
CICELY BINFORD
