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Melbourne's first suburb, Fitzroy is a place you can go and see a half-decent band any night of the week for less than ten dollars, stumble out onto the street to grab a fine espresso and a kebab to keep you going while simultaneously admiring a few Mohawked males with piercings in places that you didn't know were physically possible. The rent's gone up in the last decade, but the inner-northern suburb is still king for contemporary art, and what your parents might still call 'alternative types'.

So now we're all roughly on the same page, comedian Simon Brodie's tour of the area, Fitzroyalty: A Know Your Brunswick St Tour is a silly, fun, and even somewhat informative ride. He employs the use of a PowerPoint slideshow, complete with sounds here and there to take us through a very quirky history 'lesson'. What begins as a fundamentally true story on the origin of Fitzroy's main streets morphs into a hilarious ongoing tale, as Brodie does a bit of creative storytelling to fill in historical blanks.

It all works off the back of Brodie's comic timing and storytelling ability. Obviously a bit of a larrikin, he delivers with an authentic confidence and manages to captivate the audience in the process. Particularly amusing were his personal stories from his decade of living in Fitzroy; his numerous run-ins with the law being an ongoing theme throughout the night. It must also be mentioned that he paces his show more professionally than some shows I've seen for a much higher price. Nothing to me felt drawn out over the show’s fifty minute run time.

Brodie is clearly having a great time on stage, and manages to take us along for the ride.


Simon Brodie of North Fitzroy presents
Fitzroyalty: A Know Your Brunswick St Tour

Venue: Palookaville* | 416 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Dates: 24 March - 17 April, 2010
Times: Wed - Sat 8pm
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: Full $12, Concession $10
Bookings: 03 9416 3942 | at the door

* Licensed venue. Under 18s must be accompanied by a Parent or Legal Guardian.