Speakeasy

Presented by Darebin Arts, Speakeasy is a series of comedy shows that represent the northern hub of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The program includes Tommy Bradson's Sweet Sixteen Or The Birthday Party Massacre; Live On Air With Poet Laureate Telia Nevile; Sweet Child Of Mine by Bron Batten; Dave by Zoe Coombs Marr; Sl*tmonster & Friends; God Fights The Dinosaurs And 9 Other Stories That Will Awesome You In The Face by Fabian Lapham and Body Poet by Sabrina D'Angelo. There's even something for the kids, with MC Platypus & Queen Koala's Hip Hop Jamboree and The Listies In 6D. Given the wildly eclectic range of shows on offer, naturally we want to know how the hell programmer Beau McCafferty went about choosing them.

“I am an arts programmer for a living and keenly attend a huge variety of performances throughout the year,” he says. “I knew I wanted something markedly different to the standard stand-up with a microphone. I wanted to provide a home for the adventurous and risky work, the most exciting and non-traditional stuff I could find. The focus is on artists doing something differently, shifting your worldview for better or worse. But they also had to be hugely funny.”

So does McCafferty have a highlight? “The highlight is the fact that these nine shows are all so keen to work with each other to build something new,” he says. “The Comedy Festival can be a very daunting beast and to take a chance and recognise that there is an audience hungry for something different... There is such camaraderie between the shows already and the season hasn't even begun. It is going to be very exciting to spend a night there going from one show to the next.”

McCafferty also talks about the Comedy Festival branching out into the north of the city, or the opposite, depending on your worldview. “It's important to have a hub of alternative comedy and to have a hub in the north. All of these shows are quite theatrical and intricate and can't be staged in standard festival venues. It will be a visual experience dramatically different to most other comedy venues. Additionally, the Comedy Festival is huge and has venues spread all over Melbourne, there's simply no need to head into the CBD as the only way to see a show. We believe that a Northcote experience of seeing a show or two at the Town Hall and having dinner and a drink at one of the many local establishments beats heading into a packed city and dealing with hordes of people.”