Melbourne Reviews

Up Late with Andy & Adrian is clearly a piece for fans of the radio show. This is where I’m meant to say ‘don’t worry, you’ll still enjoy it if you’re not familiar with their radio gig’, but I can’t. The mediums of radio and theatre are vastly different and despite there being some good material in the theatre show, as a whole it doesn’t come off well.

While handing around a plate of Arrowroot and Scotch Finger biscuits and telling the (95% gay audience) to choose between a finger and a root is funny, you have to give an audience more than that to win them over. (There’s another joke in that, I know.)

What undoubtedly works across the radio waves falls flat in the confines of the Butterfly Club cabaret room; what was promised as 60 minutes of hilarity is 60 minutes of a few chuckles. The problem is mostly in the ubiquitous and clichéd banter between Andy and Adrian. Listening to two gay men call everyone ‘love’ and ‘dear’, discuss their coming out stories, and sing out of tune to the likes of Kylie and ABBA just isn’t new anymore. In fact, I think someone forgot to tell Andy and Adrian that it’s very very old.

Not that that stuff can’t work, it can, but it needs some slick new material to go with it and some proficient performing to back it up, and there was too little of either on Saturday night. The opening dance routine, “inspired by their 1996 rock eisteddfod”, was fun, but the closing number was painful, mostly due to the fact that they can’t sing but tried anyway.

The boys did at least show they have great taste by inviting Katie Underwood to close the show for them with two songs, which included a wonderful jazz rendition of her 2002 hit Beautiful.


Up Late with Andy & Adrian

Venue: The Butterfly Club | 204 Bank Street, South Melbourne
Dates: Sat 12 and Sun 13 December (two performances)
Times: 9pm Sat, 8pm Sun
Tickets: $22 full / $17 concession, JOY members and for groups of 8 or more
Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com
Duration: 60 minutes approx
More info: www.andyandadrian.com