I spent a little of Saturday evening seeing an import, Jimmy McGhie, my first non-Aussie performer for this Comedy Festival. The title of the show, ‘Winged Goddess of Victory’ refers to his proclivity for purchasing expensive sportswear, but this makes up only a tiny portion of his show.
Even though this isn’t his first visit to Australia, or even to Melbourne, Brit Jimmy is still confused as to what constitutes swimming weather. He’s also confused by the level of courtesy shown by comedy audiences here. When he distracted himself with some impromptu ribbing of an audience member and forgot his original thread, instead of heckling, someone else in the crowd reminded him what he had originally been talking about! Indeed, a lot of his material revolves around his observations of how different life is in Melbourne compared to the U.K., even in our quality of hipsters.
Jimmy put together an excellent stand-up show. From one-liners bounced off the audience to longer stories, he kept us laughing. When Jimmy asked his tech people how much time he had left, he was told ‘5 minutes’. He protested that he’d started a little late and asked the audience if he should do another 10 minutes, receiving a resounding reply of ‘yeah!’ That tells you all you need to know. Everyone wanted more.
– Craig
Unlike Jimmy, Craig Macbride has never purchased branded running shoes.
‘Jimmy McGhie – Winged Goddess of Victory’ runs until 17 April at the Upstairs Lounge @ Little Sista. The venue is accessible.
Check out our guide to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for more great shows.
