Matt Harvey first performed Wage Against the Machine at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2022 and the anecdotes are still as funny and as relevant as they were then.
Although the show was still at the Mission to the Seafarers, instead of being in the Billiard Room as promoted, it was moved into the Chapel space for ‘one night only’.
The new location made for an intimate space, with the audience in pews and the stern of a 19th century sailing ship looming large in the heavily wooded room. The space framed Harvey as an atheist preacher who’d come to share his first-hand experiences of the exploitative practices of small businesses and nonsensical government practices.
Interwoven with well-written jokes were many pop culture references to sitcoms and songs of the past couple of decades. His energetic comedy made his ideas for better working conditions and non-Big Brother-esque processes for government payments all the more relatable. The self-deprecation came out at times too, when he’d momentarily break character (deftly reading his audience of when to do so) to say how important it is to appreciate the “fleeting joys of existence” by laughing at his own jokes.
Being aware of the earlier season made it easy to spot the polished ‘set pieces’ that are designed to be performed on a stage in a convivial venue and to a larger audience. So, Harvey did a great job of thinking on his feet and adapting his material to respond to the audience and the last-minute change of venue.
Read: Performance review: Beyond The Beehive: Amy Winehouse’s Musical Mastery, MC Showroom
If you’ve ever been to a theme park, experienced Centrelink or just wondered how adult shops manage to operate outside the territories, then this was the show for you. It really deserves its own tour outside the festival circuit, though another festival appearance would be very worthwhile too.
Wage Against the Machine
Writer and Performer: Matt Harvey
The Mission to Seafarers Victoria
Wage Against the Machine was performed from 10-20 October 2024 as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival.
