That Weird Brown Colour: Guys and Dollar Bills, the 2015 Commerce Revue

My opinion of The 2015 Commerce Revue is as mixed as when you get lots of different colours of paint, and then mix them all together, and it comes out this weird brown colour and you’re like ‘Hey, that’s weird.’

First, the negative ­opinions – the dark reds, and dark greens, and this greyish black colour I found on the Dulux website called ‘Bistre’. The main problem was the second half. I’m fairly sure this had to do with the writing, because the performances of the first half were great, and I doubt the cast mysteriously became immediately worse in the second. The second half was undercooked or overcooked or burnt or raw. The jokes were either predictable or not very good. Admittedly, I spoke to a few people afterwards who thought the second half was good, so it might just be me; it did seem like there were a few numbers in the second half which were well received (such as the ‘Ticket to Tay Tay’ song).

The first half wasn’t without it’s flaws: the opening sketch about ‘The’ Amazon didn’t leave me in a good state. Sensitive to opportunity cost, I thought I had made a terrible mistake and that it might not be too late to sneak out of here and do something else. But despite setting the bar low, it was only up from there.

Way up.

Other than the odd bit here or there that didn’t really gel, I thought the first half of the show was hilarious, and the ‘Let’s Occupy Wall Street’ number was definitely my favourite. It summed up many people’s feelings about the world today, including mine, in an immensely creative way, as well as being well-written and very funny. Particular shout outs to Elliot Falzon for his role in the book club sketch, and Alex Norden as host of the game show ‘Dignity’ – his performances throughout the night were hugely entertaining. Jack Savage was excellent as the bread sandwich dad, and Isaac Carroll was outstanding in crab girl. Both those sketches had excellent punchlines.

I hadn’t seen subtitles for songs in any revues previously and, as a deaf motherfucker and someone who enjoys good lyrics, they were a fantastic addition to the show. Additionally, I liked the idea of using the jukebox to transition between sketches, and I thought it worked well. About the only serious problem I had with the first half of Guys and Dollar Bills was sitting within the >100 decibels range of a certain USU president, whose heckling did get a little obnoxious at times.

In conclusion: The second half of the 2015 Commerce Revue was a bit dodgy, but the first half was pretty dang good. I’m glad I wasn’t doing something else.