Powerhouse Theatre - Sat May 23

Yeo Choong cleverly prefaces tonight’s meeting at the intersection of music and comedy by meekly greeting the seated theatre in Japanese. The joke’s on the unfamiliar audience, though, as he soon breaks into well-articulated English while beginning the set with a solo keyboard piece. His four Fresh Goods then arrive to indulge us in their stupidly accomplished genre-hopping pop. Choong is a wholly charming host, while his band conduct themselves with dexterity and contagious enthusiasm throughout a highly entertaining support set. Their unexpected Limp Bizkit piss-take song introduction also wins best gag of the night. Time to print more CDs, Yeo, ‘cause you just sold out again.

Although he walked these floorboards just four months ago, Reggie Watts cheekily greets a capacity Powerhouse Theatre by shuffling across the dark stage several times before stepping into the spotlight. Despite my absence at his February show, it’s a safe bet that he airs an abundance of new material tonight, given his propensity for the unpredicted. Watts’ absurd humour is most potent when operating on a seeming stream-of-consciousness: his finely-tuned comedic mind happily deadpans rapidly-fired high-brow concepts and phrases, much to our amusement.

Watts’ primary schtick is his extraordinary vocal range and the live looping thereof; from his library of beats to otherworldly sound effects, the man is never uncomfortable on stage. Unlike the bound and gagged live Spiderman, who struggles beside a tiny cardboard city at the back of stage for 90 minutes before breaking free during the encore. It’s an unexplained gag with a dubious punchline, yet it fits snugly among the show’s controlled chaos. The set is punctuated by a freeform riff on deadly Australian fauna, this city, and urinating on jellyfish stings – set to a repetitive piano chord progression – before Watts figures a way to end the night on positive note: a simulation of cunnilingus. Stay classy, Reggie.

ANDREW MCMILLEN

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