Melbourne International Comedy Festival review by Steve Bennett

It’s not what they’d want to hear, but for a musical trio, Suns Of Fred tend to be better when they shut up. For there are some smatterings of great physical comedy in an hour that’s otherwise defined by workmanlike, but unspectacular, comic tracks.

The three, friends since their schooldays in Perth, have a strong rapport, high energy, tight vocal arrangements and some impressive quiffs. But their lyrics tend towards the pedestrian – for example reworking a Lady Gaga song so it’s about cigarettes and becomes, inevitably, Smoker Face.

There are gags about Paris Hilton - remember her? – and familiar Australian archetypes. And when they have a track about being sexually attracted to a computer, it’s a certainty that they’ll include a double entendre about ‘floppy discs’ – which younger audiences may have to google. Not that Suns Of Fred are suitable for youngsters.

Not all their references are dated, however: they have a song ‘sideboob’ that seems to exist simply to use a relatively modern buzzword, although the follow-up they tag on the end gives it a new life.

For all their lyrical limitations, the tracks are jaunty and slickly performed by camp Micky J, alpha frontman Sly, and the mild-mannered guitarist, Fox, who has an additional repertoire of bad jokes. They may be delivered with irony, but they are still bad jokes.

The trio, who are heading to the Edinburgh Fringe this August, are likeable chaps with a nice line in muted choreography, and even better mimes, especially a sad rollercoaster ride and a Chariots Of Fire parody. Such interludes keep the hour entertaining, even if their shtick doesn’t stand out as strongly definitive among hundreds of other festival shows.

Review date: 21 Apr 2014
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett