Funny business

March 4, 2005
Ross Noble.

Ross Noble.

Two comedy festivals go head to head to see who can get the most laughs out of Sydney. Ross Noble is caught in the middle. Lenny Ann Low reports.

Enmore Theatre, @Newtown and the Comedy Store
Until April 1, although some acts go past that date
Bookings 9550 3666
More information Noble performs at the Enmore Theatre on March 18 and 19, 9550 3666, $35/$28

Riverside Theatres, Seymour Centre and Sydney and State theatres
Until March 20
Bookings 8839 3399
More information Noble performs at Parramatta's Riverside Theatres on March 20, 7.30pm, 8839 3399, $35/$28

In Ross Noble's book, comedy is weather-driven. He says if you think of the cities around the world most associated with comedy, it's highly likely they're also renowned for bad weather.

"In London, in winter, there's nobody going, 'Hmmm, shall we go to the cricket?'"says Noble. "They're just thinking, 'We've got to find something to do indoors', and comedy is brilliant for that."

Weather could be one reason why Sydney is not as renowned for live comedy as its southern counterpart, Melbourne. That and the longevity of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

"Because Melbourne's weather is a bit shittier, people don't spend so much time outdoors," says Noble, who lives in both Melbourne and Britain.

"Comedy is played in darkness, in clubs and in theatres. It's an indoor thing. The hot places, like Sydney, are a lot more difficult because you have got a culture that's based around the outdoors. Put it this way; you don't get too many Hawaiian comics."

This month Noble is featuring in the Cracker Comedy Festival and the Big Laugh Comedy Festival, both under way in Sydney.

After initially considering joining forces, the two have gone head to head in a battle to prove who is bigger, better and funnier.

It is odd enough that Sydney is suddenly featuring two comedy festivals, each with high-profile international and local acts and new and emerging performers and shows. Surely two concurrent festivals will just confuse everybody? Particularly when the festivals are sharing acts such as Scottish comic Danny Bhoy and Noble.

The Parramatta-based Big Laugh Comedy Festival, now in its fifth year, has expanded its geographical boundaries to include the State Theatre, Sydney Theatre and the Seymour Theatre Centre, a venue only minutes away from Cracker's base in the inner-west suburb of Newtown.

Punters could be forgiven for wondering how two comedy festivals can survive at the same time in the same city?

Asking the creators of each festival, two long-time players in the Australian entertainment scene, only muddles the issue.

John Pinder, the pioneering festival director of the burgeoning Big Laugh, founder of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the man who asked The Goodies to perform in Australia, is determinedly tight-lipped.

"Look, I don't want to comment about Cracker at all," he says. "Straight and simple."

Elia Eliades, Cracker director and one of the close-knit Eliades family that manages the Enmore Theatre, is happier to talk.

Eliades finds it "peculiar" that the Big Laugh Comedy Festival, until now based solely at Parramatta Riverside Theatres, is staging various shows down the road, but he insists two comedy festivals "can only be good for punters".

"At the end of the day it might be a little bit strange but it is by no means annoying," Eliades says. "The more shows there are, the more options there are on the table. It's fantastic. If I was out on the market looking for something to see, I'd think all this comedy was tremendous."

Despite the close competition, Eliades sees Cracker catering for people who would not travel to Parramatta for comedy. He also believes two festivals at once is not confusing for punters.

"Your average person is just going to pick up a program and find something that's interesting because of the picture or the quote or some media," he says.

"If you sat down and really analysed the whole geographical thing it would probably be a little perplexing, but I don't actually believe anybody would do that."

The majority of the Big Laugh Comedy Festival's punters come from areas close to Parramatta, but Pinder's plans could change that. Pinder believes the Big Laugh's geographical expansion this year, and his intention to spread the festival across the entire city by 2007, means the festival is essentially the Sydney Comedy Festival in all but name.

"Our marketing line this year is 'Rolling out the red carpet across Sydney'," he says. "We've started to roll out the red carpet and we will continue to roll it out further and further."

Eliades says his team also has plans to expand Cracker but only to venues in the Newtown area.

"Newtown is the only area that has some 15 or 16 venues all within a three or four kilometre radius and it has exactly the right vibe and atmosphere for an event like this," he says.

Pinder says running the Big Laugh has taught him "how to crack Sydney". He now believes events such as this don't have to be focused in the traditional city centre because "the centre is just one of the city's locations."

"When you think about the focus of arts precincts in Sydney there is no other city in the world where things are focused like this: all over the place," he says.

Eliades agrees, but adds that Parramatta is "an entirely different precinct with an entirely different demeanour. If you look at the product out there I think they're pretty much diametrically opposed to what happens in the city in many regards," he says.

Applying a microscope to the two programs reveals both similarities and differences in the flavour and style of acts at each festival, but what becomes abundantly clear is the proliferation of comedy acts in Sydney generally.

What will punters get in the end, then?

Pinder, who describes the Big Laugh as a curated festival "in that it's not a fringe-style festival that's open to anybody", says he wants to also support new work.

"There's no point putting on something that you can see at the Comedy Store, or any of the other venues, any week of the year because why would you bother?

"It's just not special enough for a festival."

Eliades says Cracker is trying to accommodate what punters have asked him to program or congratulated him for providing while also supporting new work.

"I care a lot about the little shows, the embryonic shows and I care a lot about Sydney people who want to stick their toe in the water and try something new," he says.

"And we'll definitely be back next year to continue that commitment."
