Review: The Dollop at Astor Theatre
The Dollop live at Astor Theatre
Monday, May 13, 2024
Right before heading over to ‘Straya for this tour, The Dollop podcast recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary. That means it’s been ten years of history buff and comedian Dave Anthony reading comedian Gareth (not Gary) Reynolds a story he has never heard from American history, with ten years of witty hilarity ensuing twice a week. It turns out American history is wild, and when good writing is paired with whip-smart improv comedy skills, learning can be fun!
Of course, this isn’t totally an American history podcast. When The Dollop tours to our fair shores, which, in fact, we’ve been lucky enough to experience seven times, including this current tour, Dave tells a story from Australian history and even brings Gareth an Australian comedian friend to play with. It turns out Australian history is pretty wild too! Take for example Episode 111: The Emu War, with special guest Lindsay Webb, Episode 208: The Australian Sex Philosopher with special guest Nick Cody, and Episode 204: The Real Crocodile Dundee with frequent guest from the beginning of the pod, Wil Anderson.
In Perth, comedian Xavier Michelides joined the boys for the recording, proving to have some fairly decent comic chops alongside master of improv, Gareth. This of course is a big ask, given Gareth is second to none in that area—a significant factor in why the show has enjoyed so much success and so many millions of downloads.
Our topic of the night centred around the Mickleberg brothers and the Perth Mint swindle, with the years of fallout as this epic conspiracy unfolded. This was an ambitious tale with countless twists and turns to try to keep up with, a whole bunch of Australian place names for Dave to enjoy attempting to pronounce, and a dizzying array of characters which Gareth was able to flex his Australian accent to. And it has to be said: the accent is getting pretty respectable these days. It seems seven tours of Australia, as well as Gareth’s own recent stand-up tour, has done the trick!
The Astor Theatre was a great spot for this live podcast recording, with it being big enough to contain all the Perth “Dollheads”(what Gareth has recently taken to calling Dollop fans, much to Dave’s chagrin: “I fuckin’ hate it, this is the worst thing we’ve ever done”), while still retaining the feeling of intimacy that is so crucial to the podcasting format.
Many of us there on the night have been developing a parasocial relationship with these two comedians for a decade now, so feeling like we’re in a lounge with them as they do their funny thing is nice. The set up looked comfortable, with decent couches on the stage, and, of course, their beverages of choice on hand. Dave picked a good story for this one, the comedians seemed almost to enjoy themselves as much as the crowd, and by the turnout—despite the Monday night of it all—it’s safe to say that there’s a huge group of people here in Perth who are grateful this pair were willing to battle some righteous jetlag so we could enjoy their company in WA again.
It’s been ten years of The Dollop, which means it’s been ten years of just utterly wild stories to enjoy. New to the podcast? Lucky! You have a decade worth of bingeing to do. Go take a glimpse at their recently updated 10-year-anniversary banner to sneak a peek at some of the ridiculousness that’s been covered throughout the years, and see if you can spot Gareth’s cat José, while you’re at it. And, if you get a chance to see a live recording of The Dollop, don’t miss it. It’s even funnier live! The rest of the The Dollop Down Under 7 and The Past Times tour dates are here. If you’re lucky enough to be in Melbourne on Thursday, May 30 or Sydney on Friday, May 31, catch Gareth Reynolds with Wil Anderson in a crowd work special show, Beyond the Punderdome.
MELISSA KRUGER