Mark Watson: Before It Overtakes Us
Alongside Danny Bhoy, UK comic Mark Watson is another stalwart of MICF; he’s been coming here for nearly 20-odd years.
If you’ve seen him perform before, you’ll know it’s all about the delivery. Watson may change his content, but his mannerisms remain the same. He is a veritable fast talker, barely taking a breath before launching into his stories. And he frequently goes on multiple tangents, his narrative often splitting into various asides before he remembers and returns to the main topic at hand. Watson is powered by a kind of nervous, restless, shambolic energy. He’s nonetheless endearing in his self-deprecation.
There are various ways to deal with latecomers. Some comics heckle, some ignore. Watson has another tactic. He tells the seated audience that we have permission to boo anyone who arrives late. It’s a clever ruse to prevent him from being seen as the bad guy. Of course, there are many boos during the night – interruptions that serve to break up his train of thought even more so.
When the show finally gets underway, he tells various stories, including his fear of lightning (like that Queen song “very, very frightening!”) and his fear of flight. If you like humour that stop-starts, is convoluted and not straight-lined with an identifiable end, Watson is your man.
Read: Comedy review: Danny Bhoy: Dear World, Playhouse Arts Centre Melbourne, MICF 2025
Mark Watson: Before It Overtakes Us will be performed at the Lower Town Hall at the Melbourne Town Hall until 20 April as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF 2025).
Charlene Kaye: Tiger Daughter, Or How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame
There are two narratives going on in American-Chinese Charlene Kaye’s show, the title of which is explicitly self-explanatory. One is obvious, and the other is hidden.
It begins with a video of a child playing piano – very demure, very cutesy – then the adult Kaye jumps onto the stage practically growling at us with a Kermit-green guitar slung over her shoulder. Welcome to the collision of past and present.
Kaye is a successful singer/songwriter, but she’s spent her entire life trying to please her demanding and overbearing mother Lily, and the show spends most of its runtime with Kaye roasting her mum. Those of us who’ve Asian parents know too well the pressures to succeed academically and young Kaye was no stranger to unrealistic expectations foisted upon her, but she rebelled – my, did she ever!
The show is made up of Kaye strutting her rock star vocals interspersed with original and photoshopped photos and videos to tell the story of the fraught, complicated mother-daughter relationship. And, yes, while some of Lily’s antics do appear rather odd and laugh-inducing (commissioned naked self-portrait paintings with foxes – what?!), only towards the end of the night does Kaye explores the reasons why her mother acts the way she does: it’s insecurity and a poverty-stricken childhood that’s led her to wish a more stable future for her daughter – one that preferably does not involve her joining an all-girls Guns n’ Roses band (‘Welcome to the Vajungle!’)
Kaye oozes confidence; she’s a star performer as she tells of her progression from squeaky recorder to heavy metal and hip hop, with a disapproving and confused mother all the way through. In the end though, despite the hilarity, there’s real pathos in this tale. The immigrant mother also grudgingly and eventually feels pride towards her wayward child. And so she should!
Charlene Kaye: Tiger Daughter, Or How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame will be performed at Gandel Lab, ACMI until 20 April as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF 2025).
