Fringe laughs with Aunty Donna
Adelaide Fringe
Melbourne comedic trio Aunty Donna have already established a cult-like following online, and now they plan to spread the love at the Adelaide Fringe.
Broden Kelly, Zachary Ruane and Mark Samual Bonanno may be a little hyperactive, but after spending a year selling out venues in Australian and the UK and winning comedy awards, why wouldn’t they be?
The two episodes launched so far in their 10-part YouTube series, 1999, have already had a total of more than half a million views.
While pouring beer over each other’s heads and poking fun a bikie crime, Aunty Donna dig for laughs in places assumed to be off-limits.
What can people expect from Aunty Donna at your new Fringe show (appropriately titled New Show)?
Broden: It’s a compilation of about four or five months’ of work. We’ve been touring all over the place. We have this big collection of sketches and we wanted to see if we could fit them all into one show and make it the funniest show we’ve done.
How would you describe your comedy to someone who’s never seen it before?
Broden: I think that’s the best way to come into our shows – to have no idea of what you’re about to see. If you have low expectations, or just heard we’re a bit bizarre or crazy, then that’s exactly what we’re after.
Mark: I’d say it’s pretty funny, but if you’ve ever seen our sound designer, it’s super-sexy.
Who are you likely to offend?
Mark: Probably nuns, and the Polish.
Why the Polish?
Mark: I’d rather not say.
How much of your YouTube stuff is incorporated into this new show?
Benson: We write specifically for YouTube and we write specifically for our live stuff. It’s a really cool thing because if you’ve seen our YouTube stuff, and you come and see it live, you’re going to see the same characters engage people and play with people – something you can’t do on YouTube.
Zachary: We hope to one day get our YouTube sketches and do them live for fans, but for now it’s a completely new show.
Can we expect the live show to be crazy like your YouTube sketches, at least?
Zachary: Absolutely. If at least one of us isn’t losing our voice in every show, we’re not doing it right.
You do quite a bit of music comedy on YouTube. Is this incorporated into the Fringe performance?
Zachary: There are about two or three songs in it, written by one of the sexy invisible members of the group named Tom Armstrong.
What is your favourite song in your new show, Mark?
Mark: Probably the song called “Sex a Lot Jig About” which Tom made based upon his experience being a man and just living in this world as a sex god. We basically just run around the stage, pretty naked, and regale the tales from Tom’s love life.
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How much do you guys make up on the spot?
Benson: A lot of our sketches are really well scripted out and cleverly done. There are other parts we read a bit, but we like to involve the audience a fair bit. We definitely play with what is going on. So there is a bit of improvisation, yes.
For a taste of Aunty Donna’s comedy, you can watch the first episode of 1999 here.
The group will be doing four shows for the Adelaide Fringe, from March 3-5, at Palace Nova, Cinema 9.
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