Giant Dwarf Turns Two

Giant Dwarf is the best arts venue in Sydney. Done. Said it. Moving rapidly forward —

The Chaser's Cleveland St Theatre venue celebrated its second birthday with a variety night of favourite performances from their favourite shows of the year gone. Hosted by comedian Susie Youssef and Zoe Norton Lodge, who each perform monthly in the theatre, hosting their own shows, the night was joyous and simple, a treat for those gathered who were familiar, and a taster for people looking for a reliable venue for comedy/improv/storytelling/music/everything.

We were treated to:

Ben Jenkins opening with a Story Club story about Uber drivers, Uber passengers, and their ulterior motives (listen to the podcast!). A great story.

A taste of Dragon Friends, a live dungeons and dragons comedy show, with a song from the group, as led by Benny Davis, Michael Hing, David Harmon and Simon Greiner, and a disturbing look at their fan art.

Bridie Jabour performing a true-to-life Ghost Story - it didn't quite hit, but garnered a couple grateful guffaws nonetheless. An accomplished writer, but maybe not the right story for the night.

Cameron James covering Silverchair's Tomorrow representing Gen Fricker's Under Cover - his Daniel Johns impression is pitch perfect, and the accompanying story gets a deserved chuckle from the crowd.

David Cunningham reading a Story Club story (listen to it on the podcast) about wanking. It was hilarious. We will not go further.

Hannah and Eliza Reilly had us almost on the floor laughing at their primary school TOD Talk about Yarramadoon sinkholes and secret crushes. They're wonderful performers, their slideshow was hilarious, we can't recommend their work more.  

Comic Justin Hamilton representing Comedyish by honouring the late David Bowie — a sweet story.

Penny Greenhalgh and Phil Spencer showing us how to not do improv - and getting a very uncomfortable audience member to boot-scoot. Only excellent improvisers can show us that level of train crash.

Two-thirds of the Axis Of Awesome (Benny Davis and Jordan Raskopoulos) parodying One Direction et al, capping off the night, and earning drunken roars from the crowd.

This was all interspersed with video footage - from Julia Gillard in conversation with Julian Morrow and Kristina Keneally for politics night Photo Opp, to Andrew Denton and Julian Morrow welcoming Andrew Hansen on stage at Better Off Dead to sing about becoming "a good bloke after death", to the interval entertainment featuring songs performed by the likes of Paul Dempsey, Darren Hanlon and Tim Rogers at My Tunes, and Sarah Blasko at Under Cover.