What a bloody great way to return to events in 2020! Well done and thank you to all who attended Grapes of Mirth in Orange on the weekend. That Aussie ‘can do’ attitude to having a good time with friends at the end of a difficult year made this one just that little bit more special. The crowd was BRILLIANT! The food and wine absolutely on point and not even the inclement weather could prevent the well-earned day of laughs.
It can’t be understated the pleasure comedians received performing to a crowd of that size. Some performers have gone close to half a year unable to leave their homes to work. The gratitude from the comedians to the audience was, and vice versa, a beautiful thing to witness.
A massive thank you to these stellar comedians who travelled from across the country to make it to Orange for our show: Nazeem Hussain – not even COVID hibernation was enough to dull this guy’s razor-sharp timing. Great to have Naz out of Iso on the front foot!
Chris Ryan – was absolutely brilliant, working collective crowd touch points and making the fine line of discomfort and hilarity bleed into one with total mastery.
Cameron James – destroyed, with guitar in hand for parts, and sang a song about penile mediocrity that was possibly just a bit too relatable to both the men and the women present.
Justin Hamilton – after performing at our last GoM way back in pre COVID March, it was as though he’d been cryogenically frozen in the meantime, defrosted backstage, and then he hit the microphone so hot he was on fire!
Bec Charlwood – it was great to see the different reactions from the audience members with some of Bec’s youthful peers going “Ah ha, that’s me as well” where some of the mums in the audience were like “Holy shit!” LOL. Love it!
Dilruk Jayasinha – was like a duck returning to his pond once his feet hit that stage, delivering with his predictable brilliance. He loved the stand up almost as much as the people of Orange and the food they provided him to sample.
Big thanks to: Nick and Ruby from Factory Espresso for being our eyes and ears on the ground in Orange, so critical we could not have done it without them – our brilliant event partner Five Four Entertainment – amazing wine and beers by See Saw Organic Wine, Cumulus High Attitude Vineyards and Pioneer Brewing Co. – awesome food by Factory Espresso, Enjoy Orange & Pho Orange.
Till next time Amigos!