Lovers of pop culture references and '90s nostalgia will feel right at home in 'Escape To The Megaverse' from The Game Boys, playing as part of Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF).
Into reality TV? Always wanted to play a life-size game of 'Tetris'? Destined to battle the Sith Lord Mark Zuckerbergus? 'Escape To The Megaverse' shifts and changes with audience interactions at every show.
"We love including our audiences in our shows to help give them a unique experience each night. In 'Escape To The Megaverse' we've doubled down on this idea of making each show unique and we utilise our live camera feed and a few other tricks to make this happen in really interesting ways,” Josh Porter of The Game Boys says.
"We've added way more meta elements to this new version of the show. There's sketches within sketches that are about performing the sketch. It can get pretty hectic!"
The Game Boys are Josh and Eden Porter, as well as Melbourne-based audiovisual designer Kinetic Screen. The ensemble has been described as 'kind of like The Umbilical Brothers but a bit younger, and actually brothers'. Their MICF show is filled to the brim with pop culture references, but it's for audiences of all sorts.
"If you grew up in the '90s like we did, there's a lot to love in the show. We're a bit pop culture obsessed and that shines through in our work. But don't worry, we always make sure we bring everyone along for the ride even if they might not know who Daryl Somers is."
The brothers' initial season of 'Escape To The Megaverse' won the 2023 Green Room Award for Best Independent Theatre Ensemble. They've taken some time to chill out, and now they're hitting the stage once again for this huge comedy festival – a place where they've been nominated for the Golden Gibbo not once, but twice!
"After taking the year off last year, we're so excited to be back as part of MICF. There's so much creative comedic energy flowing around Melbourne, it's hard not to be inspired by your fellow comedians,” Eden says.
"We've got some pretty remarkable use of cameras and screens in the show. Having the audience use their phones as a multi-cam setup for our classic '90s sitcom is probably my favourite part of the show. It's almost like magic when their camera feed pops up on-screen."
The pair reflect on their Green Room Award win.
"Winning the Green Room Award for Best Ensemble for this show was such a thrill and an honour. As a three-person ensemble, we each bring our own sensibilities and ways of thinking to the table. We've always felt that the creative dynamics within the group allow us to create truly unique and innovative work that we couldn't have individually, and the award was some very unexpected validation of that idea."
'Escape To The Megaverse' plays Trades Hall – Corner Store (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) 8-21 April.
