You don’t have to hear many songs from Karin Muiznieks’ show First Against the Wall before it’s abundantly clear that you’re in the presence of a prodigious talent, both as a musician, singer and comedian. She is an all-round entertainer, extremely likable when she speaks and extremely impressive when she sings. Of course, if you’d seen her previous two Comedy Fest shows, the very good Give My Regards to Broady and the downright stellar World War Wonderful, you’d already know this. In fact, it might put you at something of a disadvantage, as while those two shows were very focused stories that organized all of the songs around a central premise, this show is much more free-form experience, harking back to her earlier solo cabaret shows. The songs in this piece aren’t thematically linked, ranging from topics as diverse as kittens, cannibalism and country yard sales. ‘Eurovisionary’, a song about the power of a certain song contest, is a highlight.
In between the songs is a different story, as Muiznieks slowly lays out both the inevitable history of governance (from feudalism to robot uprising) and her plans to seize power and start a new world order. It’s in these parts that Karin’s character shines through and it’s clearly confident, smart and very funny. With the aid of some amusingly drawn cartoons on a flip chart, and some amiable banter with the pianist (sometimes bongo player) and the drummer (who also plays about six other instruments throughout the evening), a very funny mental image is slowly pieced together.
While the disconnection between the songs and the spoken-word material is a bit disconcerting at first, you’ll adjust your mindset once you get swept up in the music and the humour. Certainly for our audience, the laughs slowly built up over the course of the show, from subdued giggles at the start of the show to outright guffaws by the end. If you’re a fan of cabaret, or just plain having a good time, this is highly recommended- catch it while you can.
First Against the Wall runs until April 18th at The Butterfly Club. For full booking details go to the Melbourne Comedy Festival website