ROUGE et BLANC by the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA)

The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA)


Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Contemporary Circus Arts Training


PRESENTS




Circus Showcase 2014 “ROUGE et BLANC”
Solo acts, a singing MC and circus spectacles that will keep you on the edge of your seat! The annual Circus Showcase at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is almost upon us and the final year circus students are busy refining their graceful, dynamic...

High energy, high octane and high drama, the newest offering from Circus Oz is a show with a message; unplug, sit back and enjoy. ‘But Wait, There’s More...’ brings the conversation about the technology’s increasing role in our world to the Circus Oz stage using a mixture of old-world vaudevillian circus and references to Youtube, hashtags and videogames. Artistic Director, Mike Finch, said he wanted this concept of “infobesity” to be the focus of the show, as “society, as a whole, has started...

^{Pic by Jim Lee}

Australia’s premier short film festival, the St Kilda Film Festival awarded Director Dave Wade and Producer Alexandra BlueBest Short Film for Welcome to Iron Knob at the Closing Night Awards last night, Saturday 31 May.


As St Kilda Film Festival is an ACADEMY AWARDS® qualifying event, Welcome to Iron Knob is now eligible for consideration in the OSCARS® Short Film Awards. Held at the St Kilda Town Hall and proudly presented by the City of Po...

When: Saturday 24th May
Where: Wonderland Spiegeltent, Docklands Irish funnyman and world-wide headliner Jimeoin is acclaimed as one of the hottest stand-up comics of this generation ans is a true comedy master. A prolific writer with an exceptional audience rapport, he is known and loved for his brilliantly funny wit and charming observations on the absurdities of every-day life. "Hilarious. It gets no better than this. He’s not trying to preach to you, he won’t change your life but he...

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2014

So this is the Spiegeltent’s day job, being mobbed with hundreds of kids for the April break school holidays.

The house is full and our M.C.s for the afternoon are the Wizard Sandwiches, who clown and warm the gathered mob of children and adults alike. The great thing is that you don’t have to over think kids comedy.

The joy is in the joy of the wee ones.

First up is Jason Chong who...

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2014

David Quirk’s show ’Career, Suicide’ should be noted, in the first instance, for the comma that separates the two words therein. It eluded everyone and is the hinge point of a dual themed show. David recounts his time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and there is the unsaid that it nearly killed him financially. It was noted in the English newspaper The Guardian that the average comedian loses $14,000 putting a show up at the...

Shappi’s show was like sitting down to a glass of wine with THAT friend who keeps you in fits of laughter the whole evening, with tales of single-parenthood, best-friends, her son’s childhood romance, being pregnant and horny, boob-flashing relatives, internet dating, being a victim of racism, and learning to stand up for herself. Shappi has a really warm and easy way of leading us through the stupidity of life, and poking fun at social mores and conservatism with a sharp and insightful...

Heath Franklin at Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2014

Having spent the last nine years playing Chopper in his other stand up comedy show, Heath Franklin breaks free of Chopper and gets to do observational comedy that he otherwise couldn’t use Chopper as a mouth piece for. In fact Heath Franklin’s “Chopper: Big F**Ken Late Show” is running at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Heath arrives on stage with the Chopper Aviator sunglasses, handlebar moustache and texta t...

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2014

Jimmy McGhie is a plummy south eastern Englander who rambles through his set on a highlight Saturday as if it were an two for one Monday, with a hangover as big as Greenland. I felt I needed to be really drunk to enjoy this… possibly in a state near blackout where the world swoons hilariously in front of you before you parma the pavement. There was as much cohesion and energy to this as a half arsed wet fart. There was absolutely...

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2014

Welcome to the home of Neurosis Yak/yankland, aka North America. This places fizzes with the bent smash and grab of four performers who each rock 18 minutes.

First into the ring is Dave Meherje, from Toronto who goes at it like a Lebanese Woody Allen trying to address all the voices in his head at the one time. His hands pop left then right as if batting off invisible muggers. He improvs off the audience with the front...