REVIEW: Commerce Revue 2022 – Show and Tell

Christine Lai is still in fits over the Com Revue spectacle. They really showed us (up).

Taking us back to the early days of school, brimming with a wide-eyed inquisition that knows no bounds, this year’s cast of Commerce Revue: Show and Tell, delivered performances that rivalled Whose Line Is It Anyway. Filled with punchy one liners and deadpan shticks, and featuring omnipresent ‘Triple J’ radio hosts who offered a light-hearted backdrop that was peppered throughout the show, there was never a dull moment in the stands. 

An ode to the self portraits every five-year-old must undertake in their first year of schooling, where they’re expected to draw in class, (budding artist or not) the set was plastered in colourful drawings of the cast members, with a mishmash of letters, numbers and vibrant paper plates surrounding lively facial expressions. 

The show began with an elaborate musical number à la Blondie’s “Call Me”, revamped to fit the titular “Show Me” theme, with lyrics sung-yelled including, “Com Rev / I went to the beach and found a shell” and “Gotta run cause we hear the school bell / Com Rev”. Dressed in bright red polo shirts, the Com Rev school kids have a musical interlude during their introduction which involves dancing with the aid of woodwind instruments. Here we see Elliot Ulm and SURGs’ very own Matthew Forbes making use of the hopscotch drawn on the floor while they jump in the air and demonstrate their talent of mimic-playing the flute, alongside their fellow Com Rev flute-iscians. To add even more flair, the ensemble holds up performer Alison Cooper in a classic cheer V stance, while she has a clarinet in hand and waves to the crowd. 

Primed with talent and a striking array of sketches, the doubled-over laughter stretched across the audience several times that evening – a testament to the cast and their varied spunky skits. Amongst the sketches were: Sunrise hosts Nat Barr (Lachie Double) and David ‘Kochie’ Koch (Emily Small) meeting their match in the ‘Apparently’ kid (Sarah Doyle) delivering weather forecasts, a modern Hansel and Gretel (Lewis Ulm and Lara Newman) using Facebook Marketplace to pick up a free oven on King Street, vouching on their vape smoke to get home, and the Patrick/Spongebob/Mr Krabs trio dealing with the fallout of their company going underwater after a two hundred thousand dollar embezzlement scandal. “If the ATO asks, we never worked here!”, they declare, before shuffling off the stage, alongside a Southern voiced Sandy Cheeks, their designated HR representative. 

What Com Revue excelled at was timing. Kudos to the lighting managers and the sound production team who worked to ensure the delivery of the sketches always fell bang-on the punchline, or quickly faded the stage to black when the scene ended. 

Highlights of the show that must(!) be mentioned include a ‘comedian’ (Leah Bruce) giving a talk during the ‘Health and Wellness’ week in Fisher Library. I was in a fit of laughter when, in a deadpan delivery, she addressed the audience with, “You’re probably wondering where all the therapy dogs are.” We wait a beat. “They’re all unionised.” Other lines in that sketch included, “I need some [headphones] for my wife”, quickly followed by, “I’m not married. I need people to know I’m single. I’m single,” she declared. Thank you for telling us. 

Another high point was a TikTok duo (Georgia Condon and Gita Pastro) dancing at Camperdown Park in a ‘so slay’ fashion, before being interrupted by Sam (Cooper), who pointed out they were in the middle of a cemetery. The awkward face-off falls away however, when Sam and the TikToker come together and dance to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” (“I can lick it / I can ride it / While you’re slippin and slidin’”), in memory of her grandmother. 

More highlights:

• Someone’s pen licence being taken away and their pen substituted with a pacer. Gasp. 
• A song about being bitten by a dog which deserves to be on Triple J’s Hottest 100. 
• Someone (Jenna Lewis) stuck in a tree. In their pursuit of help, they manage to climb even higher and become worse off a few sketches later. 
• A Too Hot to Handle ensemble singing “God I hope I get laid”
• Some guffaws in the audience when watching, with piqued interest, a dog woofing and a monkey taking the place of a child during ‘show and tell’ 
• A love affair-broken-down between Miss Piggy and Kermit (who ‘porked’ dear Miss Piggy’s coworker!) 
• Lime bike meets sewage-rat-infestation whipped up in song

Every sketch was bitingly fresh. The balance between tension and comedic relief was stirring and had my mouth sore from smiling.

If there was ever a time to go out and feast your eyes on something new, I implore you to watch the utter chaos and downright entertaining extravaganza that is ‘Show and Tell’. You will not be disappointed. I would bet my money on it. 
ComRev closes on Saturday September 3rd, tickets are available here. Get in while it’s hot!