Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Comic: David Quirk
Show: Thrasher
Venue: Fast Times – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
David Quirk is a skateboarding lifer who works in a skate shop. He also happens to be a comedian.
So when it came time to find a place to host a comedy show about his life’s work in skateboarding retail, he could think of no other appropriate place than in the shop itself. So that’s where I found myself Monday night, watching one of Australia’s most original comedians, performing his new show, Thrasher, in front of a wall of skate decks and a counter turned makeshift bar, within the four walls that inspired most of the material. The obscure setting added a layer of authenticity to proceedings as Quirk delivered a quirky, at times crass, yet always clever hour of comedy that used his 14 years as an employee of the store as the focal point for a broader analysis of his identity.
Aided by a performance artist posing as a fellow employee, Quirk displayed his versatile comedic chops by blending skits and recreations into a mix of stand-up and good old-fashioned story-telling that delivered plenty of laughs, but also plenty of insight into the man behind the counter and the mind behind the microphone.
Highlights included a selection of clever skits about workplace romance, a hilarious story about a childhood skating accident which he segued into a genuinely moving reflection on his late mother, as a list of ingenious ways to fend off boredom in retail and a reenactment of oral sex on a mannequin.
Yet another quirky original from David Quirk.
David Quirk’s ‘Thrasher’ is on now at Fast Times. See here for remaining dates and ticket details.
- UTG @ MICF: Paul Foot, Neil Hamburger & Sara Pascoe - April 17, 2015
- UTG @ MICF: Sarah Kendall, DeAnne Smith, Russell Kane & Jonestown - April 13, 2015
- UTG @ Melbourne International Comedy Festival: James Acaster (UK) - April 6, 2015