It’s the end – but the moment has been prepared for…

Yes, the Comedy Festival is over, and so is . For now, at least. The Man would like to thank everyone who made Science-ology possible, including Lynn, Cath, Keiran, both Emmas, Neil, Fifi, Paul, Emily and everyone else at Comedy @ Trades, Scott Gooding, Melanie Kerr and a bunch of other people who are too numerous to mention.

Until the Man returns (and it’ll happen soon), you can relive the glory and the passion by reading these reviews, even the bad one (as a scientician, I must be fair and present all the evidence).

  • The Age – Tim Richards from The Age rather enjoyed Science-ology.
  • The Groggy Squirrel – the Squirrel reviewed Science-ology in both its incarnations: Lisa Clark saw it during the 2006 Fringe Festival, and Daniel Sheppard saw it in the Comedy Festival this year.
  • The Funny Tonne – in their bid to see as many MICF shows as possible, both Dani and Nathanael saw and reviewed Science-ology, and both gave it 8 out of 10!
  • The Pun – the annual comedy review magazine, distributed for free during the Festival, sent Brewster Hipik along to Science-ology.
  • Chortle – for an opposing view to those above, check out Steve Bennet’s review for the UK-based comedy web site, Chortle.

Tell me doctor, where are we going this time?

The Man in the Lab Coat travels back in time tonight for a spooky Friday the 13th! See him travel back to 1985 as a special guest of megaband 80s Enuff, performing for free tonight in the Bella Union bar at Trades Hall. So come and get your dose of time travelling megahits of the 80s, and while you’re there you should probably buy your tickets to Science-ology in advance – the ever popular Tightarse Tuesdays are selling out fast!

The Age review

I won’t pretend I’m not excited to have my first ever Age review, especially when it tells the world that Science-ology “successfully sticks it to The Man in a vibrant, educational and funny show”.

Just for the record: yes, I was uncool, geeky and bullied in primary school – Craig Wellington (of Wellington Who, which is awesome – go see it) had it easy when the kids called him Doctor, they called me “Doctor Who freak” and chased me across the playground, mockingly chanting the chorus from “Doctorin’ the TARDIS”. By the end of High School, however, I was totally cool. I’d starred in the most popular school play ever, won a bunch of Eisteddfod prizes for the school, and – as part of our farewell year 12 extravaganza – played my first rock gig with a student band, singing Spiderbait’s “Old Man Sam” to a packed assembly hall. We rocked.

Not to put too fine a point on it

Here’s another Man in the Lab Coat date for your calendars: on April 21st, as part of Trade Aid, I’ll be performing as part of BirdHouse, a tribute to the songs of They Might Be Giants. What songs will the Man be singing, you ask? Well, let’s just say that he’s been brushing up on his astrophysics and the life-cycle of stars…

Tickets are $22 or $18 for groups of 6 or more, with all proceeds benefiting the Asylum Seekers’ Resource Group.

Don’t forget, Science-ology is still on until April 29th, and you can also see the Man performing with the Crew in Classic Impro Sundae, Instant Order: Trial by Audience, and Instant Musical Odyssey. Check out the Crew’s line-ups for details!

Reviews, giveaways and improvised excellence

More buzz about : one of the hardy souls participating in the Funny Tonne (where the contestants try to see 100 Festival shows) gave the show 8 out of 10. Also the very lovely Edward Yates came to see the show, and you can read his thoughts about it in his blog, the wells of fancy.

If you’d like to see Science-ology on Friday the 13th (spooky!), arts web site The Program are giving away three double-passes for every show in my venue, the Banner Room (aka the TARDIS) at Comedy @ Trades! Check out this awesome giveaway here.

The Crew‘s Instant Order: Trial by Audience opened last night, and you can catch Ben in this improvised murder trial tonight at Glitch Bar + Cinema in St. George’s Road, Fitzroy North. And don’t forget to check out the other Crew shows: Classic Impro Sundae at the Comic’s Lounge, and Instant Musical Odyssey at Laundry, as part of Triple Trouble.