The Axis of Awesome: Viva La Vida Loca Las Vegas

There seems to be fewer musical comedy acts at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, so thank goodness for Axis of Awesome’s return.

Jordan Raskopoulos (vocals), Benny Davis (keyboard, vocals) and Lee Naimo (guitar, thankfully few vocals) are the three members of ‘The World’s Most Awesomest Comedy Band’ (TM?).

These guys built their career on YouTube, with one of their biggest hits being the song 4 Chords, which demonstrates the monotony of modern pop music. 

Fans of the band (and there are many – at least half of the audience had seen them before) will be relieved to hear that the band does perform the song, but that they’ve even added to it. It brought the house down.

Other fantastic sketches/songs included some audience participation to show what it’s like to dance like a man and some lessons in how to dance to different music styles (how DO you dance to dubstep?).

All three members of the band bring a different quality to the stage, which is what makes them such a good trio. Naimo’s bizarre face and facial expressions make his physical comedy hilarious, while Davis brings some serious musical credentials to the stage as a classically trained musician.

Raskopoulos is the glue that pulls it all together as the front man, with the presence to make it work and a darned good voice once he warms up.

The disappointing aspect of the show is the segues. If you don’t want to make the show run as one story, that’s fine, but if you’re going to segue into a new sketch, you have to do it properly and some of the connecting material in this show felt a little forced and silly.

I know that Axis of Awesome are a band built on social media, but I was a bit disappointed that some of the songs they performed in this show are freely available on their website. It means that if you head to the website to check them out before the show, you’ve seen some of the best material. Just food for thought.

But ultimately, this is a great show by three really excellent local comedians who are still making great music and even better puns.

And just like any good rock band, if you clap loudly enough, Axis of Awesome will come back on stage for one final song. And it’s a bloody cracker…with a serious message. How do I know? I read the f*ing book.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

Viva La Vida Loca Las Vegas
By Axis of Awesome