The Chaser's Age Of Terror Variety Hour

Just a quick warning to anyone who's got a ticket and is going to see the aforementioned show - this review contains spoilers that may dampen your experience so please don't read on. And if you don't like the Chaser don't read on either, and CERTAINLY don't go down to the bottom and comment on your distaste. Show it by going away.

So yes, anyway, while my Birthday was over a month ago the last of my presents was collected yesterday evening as I went down to the Enmore Theatre for the Chasers live show. Whilst I knew that it was going to be hilarious, I and the people around me had no idea what to expect. The stage was set up simply with a lectern/laptop as well as the obligatory keyboard.

The lights went down and the show began with the voice of Andrew Hansen telling us that everyone had been replaced except himself before he walked out on stage. He welcomed everyone and asked that no photos or videos be taken (which is unfortunate but I obliged - so no photos for you!) before lambasting someone in the crowd for being late. The spotlight moves, a song begins and the latecomer is revealed as Julian Morrow, awkwardly squeezing his way between people trying to get to a seat. The second verse sees Chas Licciardello running in from the back as an even 'later (than Heath Ledger)' person before the two combine to ask patrons whether they want an ass or balls in their face (a common problem when trying to get to the middle of a full row). The stage is then filled with the 5 of them as they point at newcomer (to the fivesome anyway) Dominic Knight and ask 'who the fuck are you?' before telling us 'he's an extra in the background in that bit from season 2'.

The song ends, the crowd applauds and the first part of the show is a very tv-esque slideshow presentation filled with the usual political jokes changed around approapriately for the Rudd government. Morrow took to the stage by himself for a while, telling us of the new love in his life, Lara (the voice automated machine for Vodaphone) - she's there to take his call 24 hours a day and a song follows with excellently used samples from the service ('hold on one moment while I put you through' will never sound the same again).

The musical numbers didnt end there. A shirtless (and to be honest - hypnotically hideous) Knight came out with a guitar to sing a hilarious song about the plight of the hairy man (and god is he), whilst Hansen kept the tunes alive all night with a Python-esque grin and also contributing songs about Tree Man getting lots of roots as well as the wonderful joys of incest conveyed through the appropriate medium - country music.

Music isn't the only thing the Chaser are good at though and the slideshow presentations that occurred throughout the night were fantastic. First up was Craig Reucassel with a marketing and branding segment - about his arse. From its humble beginnings on Facebook to a news report on South Australian television, he showed us just how to get your product out there. Julian also presented a powerpoint presentation on.. powerpoint presentations and how everything can be made a hell of a lot easier. From general conversation to Hamlets Soliloquy. The best presentation however, was left to Licciardello - who conducted a social experiment on AdultMatchMaker. Needless to say it exposed the giant amount of deviants out there who will offer money to women for sex, lie about who they are to different women for sex, tell you how nice you seem even though you've told them to blatantly fuck off (for sex) and the unfortunate fact that by being a completely NORMAL person, you aren't really eligible for the world of online dating.

Current Affairs programs, and particularly Today Tonight were still on the agenda, with Andrew and Chas dressing up as Anna Corens for the 'Anna Coren Segue Challenge' where the audience were asked to pick two random topics for each of them to segue between, each one having to take a minimum of thirty seconds. The final one involved the two taking alternating sentences to try and get from 'erectile dysfunction' to 'desalination' - hilarious stuff. The musical '8 Days That Didn't Exactly Shake The World' - based on the political carreer of Frank Forde (Australias shortest serving PM) dealt with the big decisions at a difficult time (changing the carpet in the lodge) with rousing hilarity. Osama bin Laden was once again not safe with an Al Qaeda meeting taking place on stage with the 3 Mohammeds (and Pete) talking marketing strategies, equal opportunity (no women - praise Allah!) and inflation (72 virgins now being 83).

The audience weren't safe either with 'Chaser Trivia' bringing two people up on stage to compete with Craig. One was a 14 year old girl who, upon taking the lead was told 'You're beating Craig!' to which Ruecassel replied 'You're not old enough to do that'. The laughing was certainly louder than Julians advance apology to the parents. There was an FAQ section covering things from Andrews hair to what happened with the APEC case ('we got off!' followed by rapturous applause) and the guys finally left us with a song. A song detailing that we were in fact the worst audience they had ever seen and that we could all 'get fucked', even using the word c*nts in there. Then it was time to be upstanding and patriotic for the second verse of the national anthem. The lyrics were printed on the big screen with 'dah dah', 'hmmm mmmm mmmmm girt' and 'blah' included. The stage was emptied and the house lights came on. There would be no encore.

Was it a great night? You bet. While a little on the short side it was a non-stop ride of social observation, political incorrectness and perfect comic timing. Everything I was expecting and more. I'm not sure if tickets are still available to the other shows but if they are - grab yourself one. If not then head in anyway, Comedy Festivals bring some of the worlds funniest people to our doorsteps every so often. Dont miss out.