Ah Ghost Sharks, Mob of 3’s show about...well Ghost Sharks. The Aquageddon is coming people, and beware Lucifish and his minions who will randomly kill you. Somewhere in that last sentence something is funny, right? Mob of 3’s show is a garbled mess of pop culture references, bizzare cults and Armageddon scenarios. You get the feeling that this all sounded funnier late at night, when this show was obviously conceived. It’s not that Ghost Sharks as a show couldn’t work, but the performers here are so loose and unstructured you feel as though they’ve stumbled onto to stage and are improvising not just parts of the show but the entire show. Scene changes don’t exist without long delays and characters rarely hold their straight face for long enough to convince the audience of the convoluted story. This is a shame because it’s obvious that the Mob of 3 are funny, but they need a strong structure and a director (and if they have one, then maybe they shouldn’t work with that person again) to make this show work.
What was most disconcerting was that the room in the Portland Hotel doesn’t really work for Mob of 3’s style of humour, it was too large and cavernous to really fit the absurdity of Ghost Sharks. Worse still, the show in the next room over could be heard laughing loudly at their decidedly safe material (a show about being a groom and the pitfalls of marriage), while Mob of 3, who were obviously trying to do something different, were falling flat. There are some good moments to be had in Ghost Sharks (particularly the Jet Ski montage) but overall the show needs tightening.
2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Ghost Sharks
Mob of 3
Venue: Portland Hotel, Portland Room | Cnr Russell & Lt Collins Sts, Melbourne (licensed venue – under 18s must be accompanied by a Parent or Legal Guardian)
Dates: 31 March – 24 April, 2011
Times: Tue-Sat 7.15pm, Sun 6.15pm
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: $22 – $15
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 | at the door