[2015025] Golden Phung Go To Hell
The Golden Phung @ Channel 9 Kevin Crease Studios
4:00pm, Sun 15 Feb 2015
A mad dash out to North Adelaide (not the best idea on a stupidly hot – and increasingly muggy – day) saw me join a solid audience in the Channel 9 Studios. There was an infectious bubbliness to the crowd, which eased my nerves somewhat: I’d seen The Golden Phung a few times in the past, but never really clicked with them in the way that much of the audience had.
Go To Hell aims to create a meta-comedic through line to its sketches: The ‘Phung purported to be exploring the nine layers of sketch comedy hell (presumably as a result of a sketch dying onstage). The resultant pieces were an odd lot – the Equal Opportunity Pope was a highlight, as was the extended sketch featuring Tony Abbott as a boxer, Bill Shorten as a luchadore, and the surprise late arrival of Penny Wong.
If there’s one thing to be said about Goes To Hell, it’s that The ‘Phung’s production values set a high bar for other sketch comedy groups: the set is effective (with “heaven” and “hell” embedded in the background with LEDs), and the sound design – in particular, the impact of sound effects and musical stings in the sketches – is really well done.
But the bulk of The Golden Phung’s material doesn’t really work for me – but that may be just me, because the rest of the crowd was loving it (even the hoedown at the end of the show, which I found painful). Sure, it’s (mostly) quite topical, and there’s an understanding and confidence between the members of the ‘Phung; they’re obviously a well-honed group that bring a lot of people joy. But… yeah. After giving them a couple of shows, I just don’t think that Golden Phung are for me: we’re a little bit out-of-sync.
(25) Golden Phung Go To Hell: Solid sketch comedy that (deliberately) veers into the awkward. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 15, 2015