IN A MOOD TO LAUGH
There’s still almost five weeks until the much-loved Spiegeltent returns to Tasmania for another year, but tickets are selling fast, suggesting Tasmanians are looking for laughs.
Comedian Tommy Little’s show I’ll See Myself Out was the first Tasmanian Spiegeltent shows to sell out for 2020, with fans rushing to grab tickets following Little’s sellout appearance in Hobart last year. That was closely followed by fellow comedian Tom Gleeson’s Lighten Up show — his first show sold out quickly, and a second show has since been added to the line-up to meet demand.
Meanwhile, tickets for shows by comedians Frank Woodley and Joel Creasey are selling fast, along with cabaret show Blanc De Blanc, as the Spiegeltent Hobart season — from March 5-29 — draws closer. Head of Strut & Fret Production (creators of Spiegeltent) Scott Maidment says tickets have sold more quickly this year and comedians are always the first to sell out in Hobart. “This is the seventh season in Hobart, and tickets are selling faster than normal,’’ he says. “People are getting smart and not wanting to miss out so are booking earlier ... so yes this is earlier than normal for sell outs. Comedy is a particular favourite of Tassie audiences. The headline act always does well, sales-wise, too – Blanc de Blanc is no exception, because it is so spectacular – the mix of circus and cabaret that is world class.’’
Comedy lovers will get a laugh out of Heath Franklin’s Chopper and Effie in Love Me Tinder, as well as shows by Anne Edmonds, Sam Simmons and the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars.
Cabaret fans are well catered for – Blanc de Blanc brings together the finest cabaret and acrobatic talent from around the world, serving an intoxicating blend of vintage glamour, high-end spectacle and titillating acts, from the creative team behind previous smash hits like Limbo and Cantina. The show has enjoyed triumphant seasons at Sydney Opera House, London’s West End and in Las Vegas.
And there’s also Carlota, Moonlight Aviators, Fat Musicals: A Body of Work and Tasmania’s own Emily Burke in Diva.
Magician Dom Chambers — winner of Best Magic Show at Adelaide Fringe in 2019, semi- finalist in America’s Got Talent and star of Broadway show The Illusionists — brings his hilarious take on magic, viral videos and beer sorcery to Hobart in Fake Wizard, putting on “a show like no other magician”.
Much-loved Australian acts Things of Stone and Wood, The Black Sorrows, Kate Ceberano and Renee Geyer are part of the musical line-up, with rising Aussie star Freya Josephine Hollick.
There’s also a celebration of the work of Michael Buble in three-man act Shades of Buble, as well as acclaimed Canadian folk trio The East Pointers and Irish songstress Susan O’Neill.
Spiegeltent comes to Hobart’s Princes Wharf 1 forecourt from March 5-29. Tickets from $35.
More info at spiegeltenthobart.com
CRUSH
Julia Drouhin
Project Space Contemporary Art Tasmania, Tasma St North Hobart
Until February 24
Crush is a concise but crammed sculpture and video installation work from Julia Drouhin, an artist who balances a playful spirit of investigation with a slight vibe of urban voodoo. Here Drouhin presents works hatched on residency in the semidesert of Karoo, in South Africa, taking in experiments with radio sound, some quasishamanic howling and a lot of pink rope. Druohin’s art always starts in a fairly simple space but manages to head somewhere tinged with an occult sensation, and this collection is no exception. The scream is the sound that Drouhin plays with so deftly, but there’s not an element out of place, even down to the prankster-ish pink chalk dust I got all over me. Art that follows you home is always fun.