Comedy at the Corner – can we please see more of it? Several weeks later than the Melbourne Comedy Festival, Reggie Watts and Fiona Scott-Norman brought the laughs back into town with two sets of intelligent and impressive comedy.

Fiona Scott-Norman grew up on lard and double-entendres and introduces her show with a fine selection – I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts, Yakety Axe and Stayin’ Alive (in Cantonese, no less). Yes, she has a love for bad music and by the end of her set, which was a selection from her full show The Needle and the Damage Done, I think the crowd had a new found appreciation for crap as well.

Constructing her set around several categories, Fiona subjected the Corner to some painful sounds and equally horrifying images. Her – œAustralia’ selection highlighted the musical exploits of John Laws (the – œpoet’ who gave us In Love is an Expensive Way to Die), and Footy Favourites, a 70s vinyl record of footy players singing their favourite tunes. Fiona’s selection for the night: Melbourne’s Robbie Flower and a god awful version of Macho Man.

And so her show continued. – œChristian music’ (or, – œWhite American Christian music’) was headed by The Imperials attack on every other religion in Oh Buddha. – œMen with stuff’ featured The Hoff, posing naked with two puppies. – œI’m not racist, but…’ took a stab at our Rolf Harris and Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport.
– œSwinin’ sexism’ took on The Crystals, He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss). And whilst the grand finale, the painful Shaggs song My Friend Foot Foot was something to remember, a song titled Come In My Mouth from Let My People Come: A Sexual Musical really took the top spot.

From the moment he walked out, Reggie Watts had the audience in the palm of his hand. In town to play the Sydney Comedy Festival, the Melbourne crowd were treated to an exceptional performance from one of the greats in voices, looping and freestyle comedy.

Reggie’s first performance for the night was a loop heavy number (like most of his songs) that seemed semi-rehearsed, semi-improvisational. Climaxing with a frantic chant about baklava, Reggie had the crowd in awe and stitches at the same time. His show of skills in looping his own voice were brilliant – three simple beatboxing loops making it sound like he was backed by a full band.

And then there was Reggie’s voice. Whilst, yes, the man is comedy focussed nowadays, it’s hard to deny that his voice is his biggest asset. A massive range meant that Reggie could show off pretty much any style with real force. And he did just that. There were pop ballads, raps, soul tunes, reggae parts and some plain weird tunes – all of which impressed as much as the next.

As far as the laughs were concerned, Reggie’s ability to win people over with randomness was certainly on show. One particularly long ballad early in the set began with Reggie’s nerdier side. There were elves and clerics… And then there were panties. Seamlessly, the song moved from describing a fantasy game, to describing the shape and function of girls’ underwear. Another similar example came later, when Reggie transformed the sound effects of oral sex into a chant of – œJ R R Tolkien’.

Reggie’s casual commentaries, along with his – œdon’t give a shit attitude’, had the crowd in tears as he deliver lyrics like: – œI like women / I like the concept of a woman / I like to take that concept of a woman and reduce it to a quantifiable understandance / I like to objectify / I like to take those objects and put them in my videos…’

His characters were all throughout the show, too. After every track (and even within tracks), he would gain a new persona – the camp Englishman, the serious hip hopper and the annoying teenage girl, embroiled so much in her telephone conversation she had to pardon herself for ignoring the crowd.

Reggie Watts is a man of way too many talents. Everything he delivers leaves you wanting to know what else he has and because of that, an hour and a half didn’t seem long enough. Make sure you catch Reggie (and his hair) next time he’s in Melbourne – you’ll be happier for it.