What's so funny!?

While I'm not that fond of Dave Hughes, I know lots of people out there are. Whether it's his 'agro' episodes, his voice or his everyman appeal, it's up to you. Check out his comic talent in his new DVD:

[From the press release]
Dave Hughes is perhaps one of the most important and significant talents to have emerged from the Australian comedy scene in the last ten years. A natural and un- mistakably Australian comic, Dave’s laconic style thinly disguises one of the fastest comic minds this country has ever seen.

It was at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 1999 that Hughesy was forced to move from a tiny upstairs city bar into a 300-seat room at the Melbourne Town Hall. Word had started to spread about this impossibly laid back guy from Warrnambool.

Since 1999, the word has spread even further and Hughesy has become one of the biggest and most loved names in Australian stand up comedy. Honest and imperfect is how Australians like their comedy and Dave Hughes delivers exactly that in spades.

Along with Kate Langbroek, Hughesy makes up Mel- bourne’s Nova 100 breakfast team. He can be seen on Network Ten’s Before the Game during the AFL footy season, and on the highly successful light-entertain- ment program, Rove. And if that’s not enough, he can now also be seen on the new Channel 10 news enter- tainment program The 7PM Project.

His very first DVD, aptly titled Dave Hughes LIVE was released in September 2006 through Liberation Music. It quickly went on to go 7 times platinum.

The most powerful testimony to Dave’s talent is his enduring popularity with audiences. He has over the course of the last five years become one of the highest selling Australian comedy acts in the country. He hit the road in 2009, with his latest solo show offering, Dave Hughes is Handy. And now Liberation Music is proud to release the DVD of that show, Dave Hughes Is Handy. Featuring all brand new material, this new DVD cements Dave’s position at the top of the Australian comedy pantheon.

The DVD features a full length show recorded at the 2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, along with bonus features including exclusive backstage footage and ‘At Home With The Hugheses’, an intimate and personal look at Dave’s family life in his Melbourne home.

"Hughes has become one of the most appealing, and most powerful, comics around." Sydney Morning Herald
"Dave Hughes is one of the funniest men in a city that has produced many of Australia’s funniest people." Sunday Telegraph, Sydney
"Hughes is skilled, appealing to all and always in control. Excellent." The Age, Melbourne

Dave Hughes Is Handy is released August 21
through Liberation Music

Tim Minchin, the eye-lined, profane, piano-playing, frazzle-haired comic genius has put out his own DVD.

[From the website]
"Filmed in June 2007 in the intimacy of the Sydney Opera House Studio, this is an extraordinary 2-hour solo performance featuring material from "Dark Side" (2005) and "So Rock" (2006) - the shows that rocketed Tim Minchin onto the international stage. Environmentalism, the Middle East, mental illness, rock n roll, God, sex, death and paradise... once you've watched this show, you pretty much don't need to watch anything else. Awarded sparkly prizes and acclaimed critically on three continents for his irreverant, hilarious and mildy affronting piano-driven pop-comedy-cabaret stylings, Tim Minchin is without doubt one of the 7 best pianist / singer / songwriter / actor / comedian / pervert / wannabe rockstars born in Western Australia in the mid seventies.

Out now!

Speaking to people about doing a comedy blog is nice. People have their own little nuggets of comedy they like to speak about. Whether they range from how much they hated loved Borat but hated Ali-G or quoted lines from The Life of Brian. So a friend of mine lent me Bill Bailey's Part Troll to have a look at. Right off the bat I love Bill Bailey as I recently wrote about and was happy to sit down with the DVD.

Recorded in 2004 at the Hammersmith Apollo in London as part of his Part Troll tour, which incorporated 52 shows throughout the UK, playing to some 80,000 people. Bill Bailey's style of humour is surreal, kind of like Ross Noble, but a bit more restrained (I loved the part about the giant breaking a twig - trust me, it's great). Bill flip-flops from musings about West English accents, religion from different parts of the world, the US, drugs, insurance and how reviewers always seem to comment about the way he looks (which I will refrain from doing). Drugs seem to permeate that show, and once you've listened to some of his musings, you'll understand the role drugs probably played in this show!

Bill's signature for any show is to incorporate music and song and the odd sound effect into the comedy. Bill was once a lounge pianist until he figured out he enjoyed freaking out his clientele more than playing music to them. I don't usually like music comedy, but Bill's songs are original enough and don't go on too long. Fully apparent by the end of the show is his patent dislike for Chris de Burgh (yes, Lady in Red Chris de Burgh).

Overall the show had me consistently laughing out loud and the tangents he often takes keep the viewer guessing about what the hell is going to come up next! His musical moments keep the fun going until the end. Stay tuned for his trubite to Kraftwerk!

Rating: 8/10