Review | Lehmo Can't Say
February 16th 2010 14:42
:
Review | Lehmo Can't Say "No"
Lehmo Can't Say No
Rhino Room Upstairs
Preview Show 8.30 PM 16 February 2010
Frome Street, Adelaide
I was not exactly sure what to expect from Lehmo because I avoid commercial radio at all costs and especially commercial breakfast radio teams - must be some old radio station owner's idea of what the public want first thing in the morning, two raving boofheads and a bimbo blithering on at breakfast. I have not seen him present comedy before. All I knew is he was from Adelaide and then he went interstate to find some success on radio and television.
Whenever his name comes up in the Adelaide press it is always 'Adelaide's Lehmo', which is not his fault, just the way he is portrayed by local press. You would not hear, read or say 'Adelaide's Lehmo' anywhere else in the country unless you were trying to have a bit of a go at him.
A preview show can easily go either way as far as hitting the mark is concerned. The house is sometimes filled with fanatics who will laugh so determinedly you wonder if they are part of the act or it is genuinely tragic because no one is quite ready for a great time, after all, the trappings and excitement that go with the festival are yet to enhance the overall experience of being out on a Tuesday night in Adelaide.
I personally love festival time in Adelaide because it brings an otherwise dull city to life. Lehmo certainly managed to make it a fun night with genuine laughs and funny anecdotes. He reels off a load of stories that are so surreal and misshapen you feel they must be true.
Good friends disrupting his act because they have had a gut-full of plonk and think his spotlight encompasses them. Wild Australian rock stars, comedians and sports identities all get a look in, but in a very natural way, it does not appear forced or contrived beyond reality; Lehmo is just as thrilled at dressing up as a woman for a radio stunt as he is donning one of those fabricated character costumes you see at Disneyland or Movie World on the Gold Coast. These character costumes are so difficult to clean they usually go without a good wash for years on end, they stink like rancid everything on the inside. This means the poor bugger wearing it is rubbing up against the remoistened sweat and exhaled fumes of everyone who ever hired and wore it.
He keeps the show pretty relaxed so he can flesh them out relative to the audience whom he happily involves and questions from time to time. The program is uncluttered by gimmicks and well nourished with his very personable approach.
The poor guy has had some frightful moments in his career including appearing on programs he probably wishes he had said a firm NO to; being a naturally affable performer he just does not have the ability to say NO to things; his girlfriend, his mates, his boss, his agent. It is always fun when a comedian makes you laugh unexpectedly, and particularly when they sound like what they are telling you is intimate and tinged with a philosophically nice approach rather than the bitching session so many of his contemporaries dole out.
Lots of Australian comedians are just nasty drug fu**ed smart arses, they draw the battle lines early in the show and basically bitch and scrape about easy targets and things they hate. Lehmo does not even get close to that type of humour. He just tells stories about his life so far and they are fun to listen to, are usually pretty hilarious and I really enjoyed it.
Lehmo is playing a short season over three weeks at the Rhino Room, so buy your tickets in advance to avoid missing out. It's a typically pokey little venue which adds to the intimacy and there is no toilet humour, although technically that is not true I just don't want to spoil the ending.
David Jobling
More details about the show here.
Rhino Room Upstairs
Preview Show 8.30 PM 16 February 2010
Frome Street, Adelaide
Lots of Australian comedians are just nasty drug f**ked smart arses, they draw the battle lines early in the show and basically bitch and scrape about easy targets and things they hate. Lehmo does not even get close to that type of humour. He just tells stories about his life so far and they are fun to listen to, are usually pretty hilarious and I really enjoyed it.
I was not exactly sure what to expect from Lehmo because I avoid commercial radio at all costs and especially commercial breakfast radio teams - must be some old radio station owner's idea of what the public want first thing in the morning, two raving boofheads and a bimbo blithering on at breakfast. I have not seen him present comedy before. All I knew is he was from Adelaide and then he went interstate to find some success on radio and television.
Whenever his name comes up in the Adelaide press it is always 'Adelaide's Lehmo', which is not his fault, just the way he is portrayed by local press. You would not hear, read or say 'Adelaide's Lehmo' anywhere else in the country unless you were trying to have a bit of a go at him.
A preview show can easily go either way as far as hitting the mark is concerned. The house is sometimes filled with fanatics who will laugh so determinedly you wonder if they are part of the act or it is genuinely tragic because no one is quite ready for a great time, after all, the trappings and excitement that go with the festival are yet to enhance the overall experience of being out on a Tuesday night in Adelaide.
Rhino Room | Frome Street
I personally love festival time in Adelaide because it brings an otherwise dull city to life. Lehmo certainly managed to make it a fun night with genuine laughs and funny anecdotes. He reels off a load of stories that are so surreal and misshapen you feel they must be true.
Good friends disrupting his act because they have had a gut-full of plonk and think his spotlight encompasses them. Wild Australian rock stars, comedians and sports identities all get a look in, but in a very natural way, it does not appear forced or contrived beyond reality; Lehmo is just as thrilled at dressing up as a woman for a radio stunt as he is donning one of those fabricated character costumes you see at Disneyland or Movie World on the Gold Coast. These character costumes are so difficult to clean they usually go without a good wash for years on end, they stink like rancid everything on the inside. This means the poor bugger wearing it is rubbing up against the remoistened sweat and exhaled fumes of everyone who ever hired and wore it.
He keeps the show pretty relaxed so he can flesh them out relative to the audience whom he happily involves and questions from time to time. The program is uncluttered by gimmicks and well nourished with his very personable approach.
The poor guy has had some frightful moments in his career including appearing on programs he probably wishes he had said a firm NO to; being a naturally affable performer he just does not have the ability to say NO to things; his girlfriend, his mates, his boss, his agent. It is always fun when a comedian makes you laugh unexpectedly, and particularly when they sound like what they are telling you is intimate and tinged with a philosophically nice approach rather than the bitching session so many of his contemporaries dole out.
Lots of Australian comedians are just nasty drug fu**ed smart arses, they draw the battle lines early in the show and basically bitch and scrape about easy targets and things they hate. Lehmo does not even get close to that type of humour. He just tells stories about his life so far and they are fun to listen to, are usually pretty hilarious and I really enjoyed it.
Lehmo is playing a short season over three weeks at the Rhino Room, so buy your tickets in advance to avoid missing out. It's a typically pokey little venue which adds to the intimacy and there is no toilet humour, although technically that is not true I just don't want to spoil the ending.
David Jobling
More details about the show here.
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