[2014069] Wizard Sandwiches: The Last Lunch
Wizard Sandwiches @ Tuxedo Cat – Raj House – Room 2
8:30pm, Fri 28 Feb 2014
With my mood positively buoyant after a boozy VIP function in the Banquet Room to celebrate the opening of the Festival (including a rush or two during the set changes of opening-night Roman Tragedies), I trotted back to the delightful new TuxCat to avoid the hordes gathered for the free concert in Elder Park. My goal: the Wizard Sandwiches, whose précis promised that there would be no potato salad absurdity in their show… just as well, really, since I was well-and-truly carb-loaded from the VIP drinkies.
(A slight fib, that, since champers contains about half the carbs of beer, and I tend to drink Croser at Festival events. Long may Petaluma’s sponsorship continue!)
Regardless, I find myself quite cheery and in a seemingly cheery-minded crowd – not all of whom, judging by their accents, had English as their first language. And as the Wizard Sandwiches – a five-member Victorian troupe – open with their Mexican bandido airline safety announcement, there’s raised eyebrows and nervous laughter amongst some in the crowd as they tried to pick the words out from the hilariously thick accents.
Not that they had to, really: the physical presentation alone was chortle-worthy.
The Last Lunch is a brilliantly paced collection of sketches, and whilst there’s no consistent narrative throughout the show, there are plenty of repeat characters and callbacks: sure, the cold light of day may not make strokes seem funny, but having characters flop out of a sketch as a result of a cerebrovascular accident worked incredibly well on the night, and the poncey pith-helmeted hunter was a sure-fire hit.
And, really, that’s all there is to say about the Wizard Sandwiches. They do sketch comedy really well, they have a wonderful stage presence, the writing and presentation is spot-on, and they’re all lovely chaps to talk to at the TuxCat bar. I may have been a little drunk coming into The Last Lunch, but I’m pretty sure I would have laughed just as much sober.
(69) Wizard Sandwiches: The Last Lunch: Wonderfully paced sketch comedy… Tons of laughs and (awful) puns. #ff2014 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 28, 2014