Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • UTS elects new Chancellor
    • Out of the Deep: The Story of a Shark Kid Who Dared to Question Fear
    • Prima Facie: Losing faith in a system you truly believed in
    • Jason Clare seeks replacement for ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop after $790,000 expense report
    • ‘If you silence someone or shush someone, you can get out’: SISTREN is an unabashed celebration of black and trans joy. Is Australia ready?
    • Mark Gowing waxes lyrical on aesthetics, time, language, and his new exhibition ‘This one is a song’
    • NTEU wins wage theft case against Monash University
    • Turning Kindness Into Strength in ‘A Different Kind of Power’
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Thursday, July 10
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»Reviews

    Rugged charm: The Arts Revue Games

    By Zoe Stojanovic-HillAugust 22, 2016 Reviews 2 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    The 2016 Arts Revue was a shabby-chic production. Some would call the humour hit-and-miss, but I think the show had rugged charm, like a handsome rogue with razor wit and a forgivable affinity for dad jokes.

    The writers harnessed the power of nostalgia, with lines like “Dear Dolly, my boyfriend touched my boob AM I PREGNANT?”, a Bop It toy that went from playing the role of a personal trainer to being a relationship counsellor to vindictive life-ruining menace, and my favourite skit of the night, Blue Heelys – a film featuring Jon Lo and Eliza Ronan as police officers who speed after runaway rogues on their miniature wheels. Jenna Owen switched from hilarious role to hilarious role with spooky, shaping-shifting versatility and Ondine Manfrin added flair with her Broadway vocals.

    I loved the scene about a workplace boys’ club, played by an all-female cast, becoming feminist allies for PR reasons. The boys mansplained feminism, tried to king-hit the glass ceiling, and left me craving more satire. That’s not to suggest that I didn’t enjoy watching Ondine Manfrin and Aaron Chen gorging themselves on chicken drumsticks in time to the Chicken Dance song – I lapped up the slapstick.

    However, rather than linking each skit together to provide overarching structure, the Olympics theme was superficial. The opening Olympic torch sequence was brilliant, effectively hijacking the audience’s space, but the theme petered out until it was hurriedly revamped for the finale, referenced sporadically through vanilla filler acts like a rendition of Queen’s We are the Champions.

    The theme faltered and there were moments when the comedic timing was a beat late. However, like Youtube before DSLR gentrification, on Thursday the 18th, the Everest Theatre of the Seymour Centre was a space for the unpolished, unpretentious sketch – and funnier for it. Perfection is boring. A little bit of imperfection translated into spontaneity and verve.

    I left the theatre with DJ Ba$$face’s sick beats and Gough Whitlam’s sexy speech ringing in my ears as sweet tinnitus, with Jimmy the Crazy Dancing Monkey’s dance moves and Darby Judd’s seductive feline smirk on my mind. I realised two things: 1) the Arts Revue is utterly stupid, and 2) I need to be part of it next year.

    Read another review of this show here. 

    art revue 2016 arts revue arts revue games bopit chicken dance comedy dancing monkey revue

    Keep Reading

    Prima Facie: Losing faith in a system you truly believed in

    ‘If you silence someone or shush someone, you can get out’: SISTREN is an unabashed celebration of black and trans joy. Is Australia ready?

    Turning Kindness Into Strength in ‘A Different Kind of Power’

    The Lady Vanishes, as does the genre

    Instructions for Correct Assembly Review: a quirky satire as hilarious as it is unsettling

    The Afterthoughts @ Oxford Art Factory: Single Release Party “Horses and Courtney”

    Just In

    UTS elects new Chancellor

    July 8, 2025

    Out of the Deep: The Story of a Shark Kid Who Dared to Question Fear

    July 8, 2025

    Prima Facie: Losing faith in a system you truly believed in

    July 8, 2025

    Jason Clare seeks replacement for ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop after $790,000 expense report

    July 7, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    Part One: The Tale of the Corporate University

    May 28, 2025

    “Thank you Conspiracy!” says Capitalism, as it survives another day

    May 21, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.