Presented by Token Events
Reviewed 14 February 2016
There’s a natural phenomenon at Fringe time to hedge your bets by spending your hard-earned cash on headliners, rather than risk it on little, or unknown, acts. After all, you’re guaranteed a great show by those whose reputations preceded them, right? Sad to say, this wasn’t really the case for young fans of comedy-great, Frank Woodley.
Known for his physical slapstick and bumbling, almost stream-of-consciousness, style of humour, Woodley has this year debuted his fist show for kids, Noodlenut. And at its opening weekend, Noodlenut was a sell-out, so it’s doubtful that bad reviews will hurt ticket sales. That’s kind of a shame because, while I’m sure Mr Woodley did his best for his target audience, that target audience is children who are eight years and older. This isn’t made clear in the Fringe promo materials, and Sunday’s performance was filled with families who had kids much younger than this. Some of these younger ones were, at times, distressed during the performance. These families would have been better-off spending their money on a riskier, but more age-appropriate, unknown than on this show.
Noodlenut is both the name of Woodley’s show, and the name of a character that shapes the show. Apparently, when he was a child, Woodley’s grandfather wrote stories about a monkey called Noodlenut, incorporating aspects of Woodley’s life and stories. In the performance, Woodley purports to read from the book about the monkey Noodlenut, interspersing that with his own comic skits about his childhood. There are intentional mishaps along the way resulting in unexpected and loud noises which upset some of the younger children. When one burst into tears, clearly shocked by the first explosion, rather than apologise, Woodley told the parents in the audience off for bringing children who were too young. “I did say, parents, it was for eight plus,” were his words. Um, no you didn’t. As the intermittent “explosions” continued, some parents with littlies had to leave the show due to ongoing distress. While I’m sure this wasn’t what Woodley intended, I’m pointing this out to warn other parents who are probably unaware that Noodlenut is only suitable for older kids.
And if you do have older kids, will they enjoy it? Possibly. It was alright. Woodley showcased some of his famous physical awkwardness and was rewarded with laughs, but more of this would have upped the har-de-har factor. For the most part, Woodley regaled with humorous stories about his childhood (such as the day he bested two bullies) probably most appealing to boys in later primary years. The older kids did laugh at these, but there was silence from the bevy of under-fives sitting on mats at the front — clearly shot over their heads, they appeared somewhat mystified. There was also some audience interaction with a few original songs, and adventures of Noodlenut the monkey continued on-and-off throughout.
As far as a star rating goes, I’ll be fair and assess it for the children he intended to see it, rather than those who did and give it 2.5 stars. Perhaps be daring and take the little ones to an act you’ve never heard of instead.
Reviewed by Samantha Bond
Twitter: @SamStaceyBond
Rating (out of 5): 2.5
Venue: Garden of Unearthly Delights – The Factory
Season: 13-21 February
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: Adult: $23.00, Child: $20.00, Companion Card, Family: $65.00
Bookings: Book through FringeTix online or at a FringeTix box office (booking fees apply)
http://www.adelaidefringe.com.au
http://www.gardenofunearthlydelights.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/frankwoodley/
http://www.frankwoodley.com.au/
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