A scorching autumn night in the Tin Shed at the Wheatsheaf Hotel Thebarton was no place to play it straight and Anthony Jucha didn’t try.
Tinged with Gilt, his latest Fringe offering, was tinged with laughter, surprise appearances by two people in a horse costume and a re-enactment of Michael Hutchence’s last hours.
Jucha, a lawyer with a conscience, touch of madness and an apparent penchant for ladies’ underwear, mixed multimedia with live comedy and music. Jucha and friend Michael Hicks take the crowd on Jucha’s rambling, but entertaining journey from corporate lawyer to defending the citizens of Redfern, Sydney and refugees.
His Cleese-like mania interacted perfectly with the dry humour of the multi-character Hicks. While the show hits some flat notes, mainly during the few thankfully brief songs, they kept the crowd entertained with hilarious as-libs mostly aimed at each other. Jucha (pronounced Yoo-ha) isn’t afraid to have a laugh at himself and encourages others to do the same. Which they did. Wheatsheaf Hotel Thebarton until March 8.
By MELISSA MACK
(The Independent Weekly – 7 March 2008)