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stephbgLast night Husband and I enjoyed a birthday outing to QI Live at Burswood Theatre, compliments of the ABC.
The seats were quite good--in Row O but right in the middle--so we had an unobstructed view and were close enough to read facial expressions, and the Burswood Theatre is quite a nice venue. I know about half a dozen other people that were there but I couldn't spot them in the darkness. I really must get myself a phone capable of tweeting.
Stephen Fry was his usual lovely self, and for the opening we were treated to a monologue of reasonable length. The guests were then brought out at a leisurely pace whereupon they did a few practice questions in the style of the TV show, followed by an interval, and then a solid session of game play in the second half.
Guest 1 was Colin Lane, late of Lano and Woodley. I don't like him as a single performer. I really don't. Without the innocent and joyful balance of Frank he comes across as a bit too mean and slimy, but he was OKish on this occasion and provided a few good laughs over the course of the evening.
Guest 2 was Denise Scott, who was just adorable. I can't think what more to add.
Guest 3 was Jonno Coleman a.k.a. Jonathon Coleman (very) late of Simon Townsend's Wonder World, a show I recall with great fondness and more than a few learning experiences. Sadly he was hampered by mic issues throughout the first half, eventually having to resort to a hand mic. That combined with a radio performer's soft attack (i.e. intimate studio voice) meant we didn't hear very much from him. What we did get was generally amusing.
Poor Alan Davies was as sick as a dog and as high as a kite. He had suspected pneumonia, and we were treated to an intimate guide to his phlegm. The occasional rattly amplified cough had the audience wincing, and the first few rows flinching. He forged on and entertained to his usual high standard; nay, better, as he was let off the leash more so than we usually see on screen. All that sperm!
The whole thing took 3 hours, which was too long, and suffered the anticipated problems of a live version of a TV show: there was no-one to edit out the dull, slow, or more objectional bits. That said, there were still plenty of funny moments.
I found the content was a little disappointing in places; there were several long stories designed to reveal facts of which I was already aware, so there were more than a few "get on with it" places. I think this was probably the greatest weakness of the whole performance. Given that the audience were likely to be fans of the show, they were probably more clued up than most on material which had been covered back in season 1. We know it was from season 1, because we have the book.
However, there were several surprising factoids about Australia which I either didn't know or was sufficiently vague about to enjoy hearing them again. Chief amongst these was the revelation that the earliest recorded Eurpoean name for the Australian land mass was... New Zealand. This caused something of a fuss in the room.
I was not ideally placed to enjoy a long show, being in the early recovery phase of the flu (or something very flu-like). Excitement and adrenaline kept me going throughout the first half, but when the interval arrived I lost momentum, and it steadily declined over the second half. By the time the show ended I'd been out of the house for 5 hours or so, and then it took another hour+ to get home, so I was a tired bunny. Traffic management at Burswood sucks badly. I only slept a few hours so I suspect I'll spend much of today unconscious.
In the end I was very glad we got to go--getting dressed up, going out, and seeing people was an adventure in itself--but *extremely* glad we had not paid upwards of $400 (!) for the privilige. We did splash out $20 for a programme as a souvenir.
Skank-spotting in the hotel lobby was fun.
The seats were quite good--in Row O but right in the middle--so we had an unobstructed view and were close enough to read facial expressions, and the Burswood Theatre is quite a nice venue. I know about half a dozen other people that were there but I couldn't spot them in the darkness. I really must get myself a phone capable of tweeting.
Stephen Fry was his usual lovely self, and for the opening we were treated to a monologue of reasonable length. The guests were then brought out at a leisurely pace whereupon they did a few practice questions in the style of the TV show, followed by an interval, and then a solid session of game play in the second half.
Guest 1 was Colin Lane, late of Lano and Woodley. I don't like him as a single performer. I really don't. Without the innocent and joyful balance of Frank he comes across as a bit too mean and slimy, but he was OKish on this occasion and provided a few good laughs over the course of the evening.
Guest 2 was Denise Scott, who was just adorable. I can't think what more to add.
Guest 3 was Jonno Coleman a.k.a. Jonathon Coleman (very) late of Simon Townsend's Wonder World, a show I recall with great fondness and more than a few learning experiences. Sadly he was hampered by mic issues throughout the first half, eventually having to resort to a hand mic. That combined with a radio performer's soft attack (i.e. intimate studio voice) meant we didn't hear very much from him. What we did get was generally amusing.
Poor Alan Davies was as sick as a dog and as high as a kite. He had suspected pneumonia, and we were treated to an intimate guide to his phlegm. The occasional rattly amplified cough had the audience wincing, and the first few rows flinching. He forged on and entertained to his usual high standard; nay, better, as he was let off the leash more so than we usually see on screen. All that sperm!
The whole thing took 3 hours, which was too long, and suffered the anticipated problems of a live version of a TV show: there was no-one to edit out the dull, slow, or more objectional bits. That said, there were still plenty of funny moments.
I found the content was a little disappointing in places; there were several long stories designed to reveal facts of which I was already aware, so there were more than a few "get on with it" places. I think this was probably the greatest weakness of the whole performance. Given that the audience were likely to be fans of the show, they were probably more clued up than most on material which had been covered back in season 1. We know it was from season 1, because we have the book.
However, there were several surprising factoids about Australia which I either didn't know or was sufficiently vague about to enjoy hearing them again. Chief amongst these was the revelation that the earliest recorded Eurpoean name for the Australian land mass was... New Zealand. This caused something of a fuss in the room.
I was not ideally placed to enjoy a long show, being in the early recovery phase of the flu (or something very flu-like). Excitement and adrenaline kept me going throughout the first half, but when the interval arrived I lost momentum, and it steadily declined over the second half. By the time the show ended I'd been out of the house for 5 hours or so, and then it took another hour+ to get home, so I was a tired bunny. Traffic management at Burswood sucks badly. I only slept a few hours so I suspect I'll spend much of today unconscious.
In the end I was very glad we got to go--getting dressed up, going out, and seeing people was an adventure in itself--but *extremely* glad we had not paid upwards of $400 (!) for the privilige. We did splash out $20 for a programme as a souvenir.
Skank-spotting in the hotel lobby was fun.
