A Rational Fear is described as the ‘must-see comedy of the year’, but a better tagline would probably be the must-listen comedy of the year, since every participant on the panel held an unsightly A4 sheet of paper in front of the microphone to read from word-for-word (except Hannah May Reilly, who had actually memorised most of what she said and only glanced occasionally at a small iPad). This meant the gig had a slightly amateur look to it. Let’s be fair, most comedians memorise their content, so why didn’t these performers, especially when some of them are already quite established in the media? The answer is because they wanted it sounding as slick as possible for the FBI radio broadcast, and the live audience were short changed somewhat for the sake of that listenership. Sure, it’s likely they had to come up with their content very quickly, but still, they were charging money for the event at Factory Theatre, while radio listeners heard it for free. It would have sounded great though, granted. Actually, what Dan Ilic really needs to do is be honest and invite people to be part of a live recording for radio, instead of marketing his gig as a live version of a television show like The Project or Q & A.
Dan Ilic is a filmmaker, comedian and journalist, and well known for taking a witty wallop at whatever is happening in the current political landscape. For him no topic is taboo, so boat people, Tony Abbott and climate change were some of the hot topics on the agenda at the only staging of A Rational Fear at Sydney Fringe this year.
Ilic is an MC and panel moderator for the show however, so he was out of the limelight apart from asking a few questions of his panellists, and making wisecracks during conversation with Amanda McKenzie from the new Climate Council. This interview was by far the most magnetizing part of the evening, probably deliberately saved til last, since it’s been just a week since the new Prime Minister Abbott shut down the former Labour Government’s Climate Commission, but only mere days since a significant portion of the Australian population collectively said ‘F*#% that’ by pledging over $500,000 via crowd funding to create the now independent Climate Council.
Still hugely enamouring though, were the issues and events each of the panel brought to the crowd’s attention in a way that left them with sore tummy muscles instead of a bad taste in their mouth. Mark Humphries (of ABC’s The Roast) showed News.com.au up for the internet trash it is, while Neel Kolhatkar did some refreshing stand-up about the political correctness of racial slurs.
FBI’s Hannah May Reilly listed the selection criteria required for those who might be interested in a shot at the new reality show Mars One. Don’t like Earth anymore? Want to jet off to a new life on Mars? Sign up here. Crowds are not always kind to female comedians, but Reilly was bang on the money with each of her quips about this new standard in moronic television, and had the audience in stitches for her whole routine.
One of the best things about this particular line-up for A Rational Fear was that it seemed like a good cross section of Sydney’s youth – a varied bunch of cleverdicks. It’s true that white people dominated the panel, but just as when you’re walking down the street, this reviewer, nor anyone else in the audience, had no way of knowing what cultural backgrounds might be in the mix behind those light complexions, or what their personal experiences have been. They all had Aussie accents too, so in fact the radio broadcast would have further devalued any point of difference that could be made using skin colour. The important part was that they all possessed a healthy dose of generation X-and-Y cynical humour, and applied it to a highly intelligent social conscience. Ugly babies or fake orgasms anyone? Pope Francis being ‘totes cool’?
It’s also worth noting that there was minimal crass language on the night – for me, that always commands twice the respect I can ever muster for someone trying to be funny by dropping F and C bombs every second sentence. Given, this was probably necessary for the radio recording, but it didn’t detract from the hilarity one bit – if anything, it increased it. Young Australians are a smart bunch, contrary to the opinions that fly around in the media. They’re also not afraid – in fact, they’re waiting for any opportunity to pounce – to call out the older generations who control commercial media and politics on their bullshit. That’s often interpreted as a bad attitude, but there’s no doubt it made for an hour of comedy gold.
All in all, it’s definitely worth paying for a ticket to see A Rational Fear at least once. The buzz around political awareness Ilic has given birth to with this show is to be commended, and is also awesome to be part of. You can hear it for free whenever you like on radio, but there’s always something special about being at a gig live. It’s worth forgiving the reading-aloud-eyesore thing to see some of Australia’s wittiest social commentators in the flesh, and to be part of an audience who crack up like crazy about it together.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
A Rational Fear
Produced by Dan Ilic
Guests included Amanda McKenzie, Hannah May Reilly, Mark Humphries and Neel Kolhatkar
The Fusebox, Factory Theatre, Marrickville
25 September
Sydney Fringe
2013.sydneyfringe.com
6-29 September
Comedian Dan Ilic
Photo: Jeremy Belinfante
