Melbourne Festival: Earworms

Here’s my list of things that are funnier than The Listies:

1. ummm
2. errr
3. I’m thinking
4. maybe …? Nup
5. more of The Listies

Matt Kelly and Richard Higgins are The Listies and they rock the socks off everyone who is lucky enough to see them.

Five-year-old Ella, who took me and let me sit in the front row, said that her favourite bit was “all the silly bits”. And when we deconstructed her opinion on the tram ride home, she realised that it was all silly, so all of it was her favourite bit. (However, she was concerned when Matt farted out a mosquito.)

Earworms was recorded as a podcast (available soon) and there were aliens, games of “Hey, Cow”, machines that go ‘ping’ (supplied by Glen 20), lists of things to do in the holidays (like go to South A-Free-Car) and discussion about earworms – those songs that you can’t get our of your heard.

Everyone knows that the only way to get rid of an earworm is to replace it with another song and if there’s anyone not still singing Matt’s “I like bananas”, it’s because they weren’t there. With a dance, a costume and lyric flash cards, you didn’t even need ears to start singing along.

The Listies make theatre for kids because they know that kids are smarter than most groan-ups and that they deserve shows that never forget what it’s like to be a kid or to be silly.

A gazillion billion mazillion stars.

And, I dare any groan up to not laugh as much – and sometimes more – than the kids.