Tripod , April 4, 1999

Melbourne International Comedy Festival

at Melbourne Town Hall 7pm Tues-Sun until April 25, 1999

Reviewer: Kate Herbert on April 4, 1999

Cute and funny comedy-musical trios are popular. Perhaps three performers allow far more variation that two, three voices provide a bigger sound, the repertoire can be more extensive and the guitar can always be handed to one of the others.

Tripod (Get it? A three-legged stand.) is a cute and funny trio. The three may not have the impeccable musical skill of Combo Fiasco or the extraordinary, mad comic antics of the old Doug Anthony All Stars or Found Objects (they used to be a trio too,) but they do have charm and some funny material.

It is particularly the 20-something male trios that are a hit with the 18-30's audiences on the comedy scene and Tripod, alias Gatesy, Scott and Yonnie, fit the profile. Gatesy ("dial 775 DANGEROUS") looks as though he stepped out of a K-Mart catalogue, the sleek, smart and bespectacled Scott is truly "Geek Chic" while Yonnie looks and acts like a pixie alien.

Event though the three promote the swivel-hipped Gatesy as the sexy one, all three, in spite of their Star Trek look-alike outfits which make them look like chemical engineering students at a fancy-dress party, will be pulling birds (or boys) after the show from the predominantly university-looking crowd. Funny is considered very cute and attractive in men. Be warned gals: only in men.

Their material is very uneven and parts could do with an edit and a director's eye, but there are some very good moments. "Is it O.K. if I Stalk You" is a clever musical parody of a stalker. "Everything Fits in the Second Drawer Down" hands out advice to stuff all and sundry into that drawer below the cutlery.

Scott has a fantasy of playing 'furniture-based' rock music and "I Wanna Be the Guy Who Makes the Plastic TV's for IKEA" is the first of the series. Their one-line folk song is a treat and "Words Can't Express What You Mean to Me" is hilarious.

If you are a pop music follower, you'll understand the musical gag of swapping music by Prodigy, a loud, thrashy band, with the cutesy lyrics of :"I'm a Barbie Girl" by Aqua, the Danish pop band.

Their physical antics go on a bit long but the basic idea of Montu falcon-headed God of War was good and their new dance craze, The Sailor Dance, is funny and the hour passes entertainingly.

By Kate Herbert