Melbourne Fringe Review: 99 Schnitzels (Veal Ain’t One)

Make sure to check out our guide to the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2015

I’ll be honest, I wanted to see this show for the title alone. Part of me was hoping there’d be a few German jokes (I like to make fun of my people) but mainly I had a feeling that this might be extremely entertaining. I was not disappointed.

Joshua Glanc delivers a one-man show that had me in stitches. In a series of sketches and songs Glanc effortlessly slips into different personas and presents us with random and delightfully awkward scenarios. He strikes a very fine balance between bad taste and comical brilliance and involves the audience in a way that is at times uncomfortable and hilarious but never threatening: audience member Paul didn’t know what he had coming when he found himself on an online date with a Latin American pop singer.

Prepare yourself for taxidermy, coffee shop love and heartfelt rap about physical shortcomings. If this sounds random, you are getting a pretty good idea of what ‘99 Schnitzels’ is like. It reminded me of my first time watching ‘Family Guy’ where I often asked myself what the writers must have been smoking. But the beauty of ‘Schnitzels’ is that for all the randomness there is an aspect of sharp cultural observation that underpins every sketch. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my Friday night after a long week. To quote my plus one: “I had to stop myself from smiling because my jar hurt from laughing so much.” Don’t miss out on this one.

-Claudia

Claudia B. is a German/Kiwi graphic designer and illustrator who has been living andworking in Melbourne for the last four years. She enjoys a good glass of whiskey and the occasional pole dancing class.

99 Schnitzels (Veal Ain’t One)‘ runs 16-27 September at Tuxedo Cat – The Atrium.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of 99 Schnitzels (Veal Ain’t One).