It wasn’t long after Mick Molloy ambled on stage, belly draped in a Hawaiian shirt, hand clutching a VB, that you realised that the sanitised, prime-time persona had been discarded for the evening.
While he does drink beer and talk footy on the telly, he does so like a fast bowler who is trying to avoid delivering no balls: his foot is well behind the line. At this Captain Courageous Foundation fundraiser, though, Mick showed no fear, brazenly testing where the line was and then cheekily overstepping it.
It was the Mick Molloy that you may recall from 'The Late Show', and if you sat in the front row, you had the right to be scared. As his first visit to Adelaide since fronting the Supreme Court in defamation proceedings, he took the opportunity to deliver some payback, ripping the scab off the pain from last year’s AFL Grand Final defeat; armed with his cheeky grin, though, Mick has always been immune from the imperatives of political correctness.
Political correctness was a consistent theme of the comedians on the bill. Hipster and ethical diet choices where ripe fodder for many, particularly for the stand-up with the most rotund midriff: Chopper. Both Chopper and Harley Breen asked whether moral righteousness has gone too far; Harley joked about being a consumer of free-range porn. While the Donald Trump joke wave has crested, the Barnaby Joyce tsunami is still building speed. Lawrence Mooney may need to hastily write some new material, given that he is impersonating Malcolm Turnbull this year. While the old guard, represented by Mooney, Molloy, Chopper, Peter Helliar and Jeff Green landed almost every punch, it was the new guard of Simon Taylor, Ivan Aristeguieta, Rose Callaghan and James Smith that delivered the knockout blows.
It would be fascinating and hilarious to see a debate on the merits of vegetarianism between Chopper and Simon Taylor. Simon, the essential hipster Melbournite, delivered a set as tight as his skinny jeans. Ivan brought his joyous and unique perspective on Australian culture and mango eating technique. Rose, a foul-mouthed wolf in sheep’s clothing, built her set around the themes of body image and sexuality. The laconic James Smith curbed his enthusiasm; he made Larry David seem optimistic, but you cannot question the truth of his cynicism.
The Gala was like a trip to the buffet: not every menu item will be to your tastes, particularly if you are paleo or fruitarian. It was a reminder, too, that if you are a fan of stand-up, there is no excuse for going hungry this Fringe.
