Newcomers to the comedy stages in Brisbane Andrew Dawson, Simone Eclaire, and Jasmine Fairbairn present their debut show at The Milk Factory.
Facebook is an interesting beast. It’s both a platform for ego-building, and a tool for voyeurism – Facebook is very much the new way of ‘Keeping Up With The Joneses’. But, the site also allows us to peek at the personalities of individuals: from their interests, to their beliefs, their likes and dislikes. Much like Facebook, stand-up comedy also allows for a stage to showcase personalities. The trio of comedians featured in ‘Facebook Friends Forever’ realise this, and have built routines as strong as their Facebook game must be.
The hour-long show sees each of the comedians detailing their lives. The trio of Andrew Dawson, Simone Eclaire, and Jasmine Fairbairn have graduated from presenting tight five minute pieces of material, to being able to let their jokes breathe more in the less-restricting 20 minute format. Each of the comedians use their times very wisely, packing in amusing ideas and hilarious observations.
Opening the show is Andrew Dawson. Dawson’s material takes on the concept of “what if?”, and taking them in new directions. Starting off a bit shaky, Dawson gains his confidence during a bit about his job subtitling karaoke videos – a bit which utilises extremely some hilarious lyrics depicted on screen to show how well they fit in. Dawson goes into the next gear when he introduces ideas about the origin of sausage dogs, and an original routine about backpackers exploring obscure Australian locations, taking his set to a higher peak.
In the middle was Simone Eclaire, a comedian whose jokes are as strong as her feminist ideals. Eclaire opens with a bit on Coconut Oil, the multi-purpose ointment which is a regular in many “alternative” households. Her quips on this subject land really well, with audiences especially lighting up when she compares it to another household essential. From there, Eclaire delivers observations about sex which never feel too smutty; instead exuding with confidence. From Venn Diagrams, to vibrators as communication devices, Eclaire delivers an entertaining sex-ed lesson. Closing the night was Jasmine Fairbairn. Fairbairn is a gifted storyteller, mining the subject of the dysfunction of families as her underlining theme. Her set flowed really well, with each story never feeling out-of-place or disjointed. Fairbairn has a real eye for detail, with each small bit crafted to service the whole set. Material ranging from marital arguments, to a sex-ed lesson going horribly wrong, would come off as vicious from another comedian, but Fairbairn fills hers with jest.
What really ties the show up well is the use of new media. On stage with the comedians is a television screen, with a display resembling a Facebook home page. The screen is used to segue between performers, acting as a really brilliant framing device. Each comedian has an introductory video, making each set feel like the audience is scrolling through their Facebook feed and seeing each of the comedians’ pages. The screen was further utilised for assisting in each of the comics’ routines, turning Dawson’s karaoke bit and Fairbairn’s recordings of phone messages from her son into amusing videos they’ve shared.
All in all, ‘Facebook Friends Forever’ is a great excuse to put down your phone and head out to be social.
‘Facebook Friends Forever’ will be performed again at the Milk Factory on 6th July.
