Michael Williams - Our Princess Is In Another Castle : Melbourne International Comedy Festival
By Lisa Dib
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Michael Williams
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In the multi-faceted and intricate world of nerdery, I have long
considered myself belonging to several factions : books, music and
quotes… with a major in Nineties Song Lyrics. And, until recently, I
never fully embraced my inner gamer nerd.
Sure, I had several
awesome gaming consoles as a kid (Super Nintendo, Sega, Ninetendo 64, a
brief flirtation with Playstation) and would play Wii on occasion with
a gamer-nerd ex-boyfriend, but, due possibly to lack of friends with
which to play and lack of money with which to buy vintage consoles, I
had let that part of me go…
That is until I found an Atari system and a SNES in my garage and my love was reignited.
The
memories came flooding back : playing ‘Zelda’ and ‘Mario Kart’ for
hours on the 64, especially the bit where Link goes fishing; getting
some brilliant shots of Slowpoke in ‘Pokemon Snap’; crappy car racing
games on the Playstation that made you scream when you inevitably
crashed into the barriers and other cars; even the time when my sister
and I played Dr. Mario for an entire afternoon at our Nana’s, certain
that the Nintendo had been installed to keep us from bothering our
mother with constant pleas to go home.
Though, gamer or non-gamer, you will still love Michael Williams’ show, Our Princess is in Another Castle.
The
title, of course, is a Super Mario Bros reference and the game is
chockers with game humour, but Williams is a rising star in the local
scene, and it’s just peachy to see a fresh face and some new humour.
The
show is different from the get-go; a TV sits in the middle of the
stage, seemingly as a prop. But then Williams enters and conducts the
entire show from side stage, everything broadcast on the aforementioned
television.
Williams has gone to great lengths to reproduce his show in 8-bit form, complete with a little 8-bit Michael Williams. Cute!
The
premise of the show is simple : Williams needs to grow up and become an
adult. And, like all video games, and life, there are a number of
levels to pass. He has to get a job, move out, get a girlfriend, get it
all sorted.
The show follows Williams on his adventures and,
without giving too much away, the many foibles and challenges that
ensue; including, but not limited to, Sam Neil dancing with a monkey.
Williams’
only problem is that, being a new-ish performer, his routine is
slightly clunky in parts. But that is but a minor technicality;
Williams is endearing and loveable in his nerdery, of which he makes no
denying or downplaying thereof.
Even though you know it’ll
probably turn out okay, you end up rooting for him, hoping he finds the
castle that holds the princess, praying he doesn’t get pawned.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Tickets: www.comedyfestival.com.au
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