Wordplay convener Geoff Lemon talks up tomorrow night’s Overload line-up at the Dan O’Connell:
The Tongue is being imported by us direct from Sydney purely for this show. The Tongue is one of the few artists in the country good enough to be signed by record label Elefant Traks. He’s had four substantial JJJ hits in the past couple of years, and is the only out-of-town MC ever to win the Revolver MC Battle. This tells you he’s witty, complex, and incredibly quick on his feet. A masterful performer. So trust me, you don’t want to miss him. If you don’t trust me, go to Myspace and have a listen. Also, even more than usual, we really want to get a good crowd in. If the dude is travelling down just for us, we want to make sure we give him a packed house. So, a little help from the back would be much appreciated.

The Bedroom Philosopher has been raised in my estimation from funny guy to comic genius. In all seriousness, I saw him play a few days ago at the Writers Festival, and I laughed until I cried. I cried, Melbourne. He made me cry, and I still didn’t want to leave. It was like an old-fashioned marriage. But way funnier, and it only lasted twenty minutes. Of the hundreds of shows eligible, his show ‘Songs from the 86 Tram’ won the hugely prestigious Director’s Choice Award at the last Melbourne Comedy Festival. There’s a reason for that. It’s brilliant.

Tom Joyce is quite simply, one of the most striking performers of spoken word you’ll ever encounter. I don’t recall ever seeing him read from paper. In fact, I doubt he’s ever written anything down. Tom just seems to make it up as he goes, plucking words from the air in a stream of silver syllables that can hypnotise an entire room.

Zoë Barron is a poetry editor of Voiceworks and fast gaining a cult Melbourne following, Red Barron is one of the energetic new voices making poetry a living, breathing, entertaining artform again. She likes writing about drunken adventures. You all like drunken adventures, right? Match made in heaven.

We really really really want a huge crowd, so we can fool our NSW guest into thinking that Melbourne has some class. And this line-up deserves a huge crowd anyway, it’s one of the most sizzling we’ve ever assembled, and the best show in town you’ll ever find for five bucks. So please do forward the invite around the place, and please find at least one friend who has never experienced the joys of Wordplay and drag them along. By the hair, if necessary. If they don’t do it now they’ll miss out, and that will haunt them for the rest of their drab miserable lives.

Wordplay at the Dan O’Connell Hotel
Thursday September 10, doors open 8:00 pm
Featuring The Tongue, The Bedroom Philosopher, Tom Joyce, Zoë Barron
Corner of Canning and Princes Streets, Carlton (between Lygon and Nicholson)
Entry by donation.