Freelancing Gods 2008

Another quick Comedy Festival show review – The Hound of the Baskervilles’ Every Film Ever Made. A chaotic hour of film references and banter, which is extremely entertaining, if a bit scattered.

The same three local comedians (Tegan Higginbotham, Adam McKenzie, and Rob Lloyd) performed an adaption of the film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles in a similar style at last year’s festival, and they’re just as delightful this time around. Probably useful knowing a decent portion of well known films though (like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Godfather, Casablanca, Titanic, Back to the Future, and, err, 8 Mile).

Definitely worth seeing if you can spare the time – and it’s always good to support some local up-and-coming acts. I wouldn’t say it’s brilliant, but it’s a massive amount of fun.

The Comedy Festival is running again here in Melbourne – which is one of my favourite times of the year. Just saw my first show this afternoon – Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn’s The Ballad of Rodger & Grace. In short, it was amazing, funny, heartwarming and beautiful.

Kitson is a fantastic wordsmith, sometimes using words that don’t get used enough, and using otherwise common words in clever and different ways. Osborn provided a touching and emotive soundtrack to the story Kitson wove, filling in a different perspective.

I know I’ve raved about Kitson before – and I’ve got a different show of his for this festival that I’m yet to see, so I likely will rave again soon – but do yourself a favour and go catch one of his shows (this one is only running for a few more days, but his solo festival show runs until mid April). He is one of the finest comedic talents out there – and a masterful storyteller to boot. Osborn’s music just adds to the brilliance.

RailsCamp 2.0 finished earlier today – and I think it’s safe to declare it a fantastic success (even given my bias).

Massive thanks to Ben and Karen for their hard work getting everyone fed and co-ordinating people in the kitchen (and the RailsCamp bus from Melbourne to Sunnystones). Thanks too to everyone who helped at various points – both in the organising and over the weekend.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came along – these camps are so much fun because of the calibre of people who attend, and their willingness to share ideas, code and laughs.

Will be posting a version of my talk at some point soon… once I’ve recovered from the weekend.

In case the few readers of this blog are not aware, there’s a RailsCamp happening just outside of Melbourne, from the 23rd-26th November (not far away at all). It will be a weekend of hacking, chatting, food & drink, and very likely some gaming (along the lines of GuitarHero and WiiSports), taking a similar approach to barcamps. The first one, back in June near Sydney, was a fantastic success, and judging by the current list of attendees, I’m expecting it to be much the same.

We’re edging closer and closer to being sold out, so if you’re considering coming along, I recommend signing up as soon as possible. Day passes for the Saturday and Sunday are also available.

I went to see Daniel Kitson’s C-90 tonight. Absolutely amazing storytelling – and a lovely counterpoint to his regularly brilliant stand-up shows. There’s only one day left of the show here in Melbourne (and I’m guessing it’s sold out), but if you ever get the chance to go see him, do so. He’s pure genius.