Tag Archives: Lawrence Leung

A Night Terrace Guide to the Comedy Festival

March 20, 2016NewsAamer Rahman, Adam Richard, Amanda Buckley, Andrew McClelland, Ben McKenzie, Brianna Williams, Celia Pacquola, Comedy Festival, Dave Callan, David Innes, guest stars, Lawrence Leung, Lisa-Skye, Petra Elliott, Rob Lloyd, Steven Gates, Tegan HigginbothamBen

It’s that time of year again! No, not Moomba. The Grand Prix? I don’t think so. Nor the Food and Wine Festival, Fashion Festival, Flower and Garden Show, Motoring Festival or Melbourne Queer Film Festival… No, it’s the Melbourne International Coffee Ex– wait, what? We have one of those? Really?

Do they have tea?

Sorry, got distracted there. No, the particular item we mean from the over-stuffed calendar of the Festival State is of course the Melbourne International Comedy Festival! And many of the performers who appear in Night Terrace are featured in this year’s program.

Petra Elliott (Sue) is one of the stars of the improvised puppet show, The Mighty Little Puppet Show! You won’t want to miss her performing as one of the “Ritas”, colourful puppets on which the audience will build their own characters. It also features guest stars David Innes and Rob Lloyd. The Mighty Little Puppet Show runs at 7:30 PM, upstairs @ Little Sista (next to the Town Hall). It’s a rotating ensemble show, so if you want to see Petra you can catch her on March 25, 27, 29 and 31, and April 1.

Ben McKenzie (Eddie Jones) has had a hand in Claire Hooper’s show this year, through his games company Pop Up Playground; together they present Being Claire Hooper, a whimsical, Claire Hooper-themed treasure hunt through the city. You might even see a familiar face or two… Being Claire Hooper begins at 6 PM each Saturday and Sunday at the statue of Burke and Wills at City Square (opposite the Town Hall). Tickets are very limited so be sure to book!

Amanda Buckley, woman of many voices and one of our company players, features in the completely improvised musical Impromptunes. Every night the ensemble cast will create an entire stage musical based on your suggestions. It’s on at 7 PM at Trades Hall in the Old Council Chambers for ten shows only, March 24 to April 3. Like Petra’s show, it’s a rotating ensemble, so to catch Amanda book tickets for March 24, 30 or 31, or April 3!

You can also find many of our guest stars in the festival! Go see them, do. Check the linked listings for more details.

Aamer Rahman (season one) – featured in Political Asylum’s Late Night Riot. Melbourne Town Hall, one show only – 11 PM, April 2.
Adam Richard (season one) – Splitsecondism. Imperial Hotel, 8 PM, April 5-17.
Andrew McClelland (season one and two) – We Really Must Do This Again Sometime. Forum Theatre, 8:30 PM, March 24 – April 17.
Brianna Williams (Eddie miniseries, season two) – Little Mountain Goblin. Belleville, 8:30 PM, March 23 – April 2.
Celia Pacquola (season two) – The Looking Glass. Comedy Theatre, 7 PM, four shows only – March 30 and April 1, 2 and 4. Celia also hosts this year’s Gala, airing on Channel 10 at 8:30 PM on Monday, March 21.
Dave Callan (season two) – A Little Less Conversation 3: Even More Less Conversation. Trades Hall, 9:45 PM, March 24 – April 17.
Lawrence Leung (season two) – Very Strange Things. Coopers Malthouse, 9:15 PM, March 25 – April 17.
Lisa-Skye (Eddie miniseries) – Spiders Wearing Party Hats (March 24 – April 5) and Gentlemen’s Agreement with Nick Caddaye (April 7-17). Both at The Tuxedo Cat, 9:45.
Steven Gates (upcoming live episode) – Tripod’s 101 Hits. Famous Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre, 8:30 PM, March 24 – April 17.
Tegan Higginbotham (upcoming live episode) – The City of Love. Greek Centre, 7:15 PM, March 24 – April 3. Also Watson’s The Life Education Van for Adults! Melbourne Town Hall, 10:45 PM, March 24 – April 16.

Season two update!

August 17, 2015NewsAndrew Hansen, Andrew McClelland, Emily Taheny, Gary Russell, guest stars, Ian Smith, jackie woodburne, Lawrence Leung, Ming-Zhu Hii, season two, series twoJohn Richards

Recording for season two of Night Terrace is well underway, with six of our eight episodes recorded! Well, mostly recorded. Night Terrace production can be quite timey-wimey, as actor availability leads to gaps to be filled later, but our company actors Dave Lamb and Amanda Buckley are always on hand to fill in a missing voice. Hearing Dave Lamb play a 1950s Tea Lady is… interesting.

Our first recording day saw Lawrence Leung and Mad As Hell’s Emily Taheny joining us, while the second brought us Gary Russell, Jane Badler and Ian Smith. Yes, Harold From Neighbours joined Susan From Neighbours for the time-traveling adventure you’ve always hoped for. And they were all brilliant.

One of our other welcome visitors this year has been Madame Fromage, our caterer! We always stress we can’t make this show without the generosity of our listeners, but Madame Fromage brought crowdfunding to a new level by graciously donating lunch! Not only did this free up our budget to put more money toward hiring actors and studio time, it also gave us more time, since we no longer had to be up late making sandwiches the night before a studio day. (Yes, that’s the glamour of audio comedy production.) We heartily recommend you hire her for your next crowd-funded audio production recording/historical banquet/event.

Our main studio this year has been Bakehouse Studios in Richmond, a massive warren of rooms mostly used as a rehearsal studio. Most musicians in Melbourne have been to Bakehouse at some point, with John and David realising on arrival that they had recorded there 20 years ago when it was Stable Sound. An enormous image of Nick Cave (and The Boys Next Door) greets you as you enter, and by the evening the huge beer-garden-like central courtyard is full of tattooed and pierced musicians. At one point we discovered Frenzal Rhomb were rehearsing in the next studio. We could hear them through the wall of the control room, but we’re confident you won’t in the finished episode!

We then spent some more intimate days at the Sample And Hold studio, with Andrew McClelland and Ming-Zhu Hii joining us for an afternoon of space travel. And then The Chaser’s Andrew Hansen came down from Sydney to record a couple of episodes with us. And a prequel scene. And some webisodes. We may have been out of control. We also made him tell us how great it was to work with us while we recorded him. At that point it had become more of a hostage situation.

We have one more major studio day left, as well at least two smaller sessions and our live show (September 12! Book those tickets now!), but we have great stuff in the can and we’re looking forward to sharing it with you.

Season two guest stars: Gary Russell and Lawrence Leung

April 2, 2015NewsGary Russell, guest stars, Lawrence Leung, season two, series twoBen

We loved it during season one when we asked people to be in Night Terrace and they enthusiastically said yes – and this season, we have some more great actors and comedians joining us! We’ve already confirmed the return of Virginia Gay (All Saints, Winners and Losers) and Jane Badler (V, Mission: Impossible), and our fantastic ensemble players Dave Lamb (Bell Shakespeare) and Amanda Buckley (Impro Melbourne, Graham Clone: Virtually Live!).

Joining us for the first time, we have Gary Russell! Gary might be best known for his long-time work writing Doctor Who novels and writing and directing audio adventures with Big Finish, but did you know he also played Dick in the television version of The Famous Five??? Amazing!

Gary is no stranger to audio, having appeared in numerous Big Finish productions as various computers, psychic worm and, in one story, “First Yokel”. We won’t say too much about his appearance in season two of Night Terrace, except that he’ll be in the first episode of the season and his character will definitely have a name.

Also joining us for season two is Lawrence Leung! Lawrence is an award-winning stand-up comedian, you might know Lawrence from his ABC1 comedies Choose Your Own Adventure and Unbelievable, or most recently from starring in and writing episodes of Australia’s first kung fu comedy series, Maximum Choppage for ABC2 (still available on iView!).

Lawrence Leung Maximum Choppage — Lawrence in ghost busting mode in Maximum Choppage.

Lawrence is currently performing his new stand up show The Escapist at Melbourne International Comedy Festival until April 19. Lawrence may have solved a Rubik’s Cube while skydiving and have a Jedi named after him in a Star Wars comic, but he’s never travelled through time and space with Susan from Neighbours, so we’re happy to give him a new opportunity for geekery! Though we’ll keep the nature of his role a secret for now…

Watch out for more guest star announcements in the near future!