Top 10 Melbourne Culture On this week 17/01/2021
Laugh out loud! It’s less disruptive to the people around you than the hollow wailing playing on a loop in your head.
Virtual
5) Kamala Harris: How Will America’s New Vice President Wield Her Power?
19th January
What: Harris is poised to become the first woman, the first Black and the first person of Asian descent to be inaugurated vice president of the US. As she steps into the White House, millions of voters responsible for her win are asking challenging questions: will she emerge as a brave and powerful voice for the nation’s most vulnerable? Or will her embrace of the political centre limit her impact? Looking ahead to the next four years, the panel – including Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic Margo Jefferson and Guardian West Coast political reporter Maanvi Singh – will discuss the opportunities Harris will have to drive policy change and inspire a new generation of leadership, and the hopes, obstacles and anxieties that accompany her rise to vice president.
Why: If we’re all going to be forced to be invested in US politics, we might as well do so with a degree of depth.
4) Ambush Comedy
20th January
What: Ambush Comedy is on ZOOM! Join Lucas Connolly, David Piccolomini, and Brittany Cardwell for stacked lineups of top comics from NYC and beyond. This week’s lineup features: Josh Johnson (Comedy Central’s The Daily Show), Kate Willett (Netflix), Courtney Maginnis (Comedy Central), Mic Nguyen (Asian Not Asian podcast), Joe Larson (America’s Got Talent, FOX) and Isabel Hagen (Fallon).
Why: A Fallon alum and a Got Talent contestant on a Zoom comedy show; because sometimes you need reminding that your life isn’t as pathetic as it could be.
https://on.com.au/search/events/Ambush-Comedy-(Melbourne)/df4a40a0-56ca-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
3) Uncertainty: An Existential Perspective
18th January
What: Among the various contemporary psychotherapeutic models, the existential approach emphasises the inevitability of uncertainty. The openness of existence alerts us to the awareness that, at any moment, all prior knowledge, values, assumptions and beliefs regarding self, others and the world in general may be “opened” to challenge, reconsideration or dissolution. Paradoxically, existential therapy argues that uncertainty remains a constant given of human experience rather than reveal itself to be just an occasional and temporary consequence arising out of unusual circumstances. If existential thought is correct in this view, what might it have to tell us about the practical aspects of working with uncertainty? In these uncertain times, join Professor Ernesto Spinelli for a workshop concerning the particulars of existential thought.
Why: It’s time you updated your soapbox rhetoric, or else people will think you’re losing your lack of charm.
2) Virtual Stargazing: Tour of the Moon
22nd January
What: Take a closer look at various surface features of the Moon in this interactive session! The view will include the craters, maria, mountains and highlands, and much more!
Why: Staring at anything other than the earth right now seems preferable.
1) Shinto, Nature, and Impermanence: The Puzzle of the Ise Shrines
22nd January
What: Japan’s most famous sacred site is a pair of shrines in Ise that have been ritually rebuilt every twenty years for over twelve centuries. The shrines at Ise are often seen to embody the essential features of Shinto, Japan’s native creed, including a love of nature and acceptance of impermanence. Yet these are in fact modern ideas, unsupported by the historical record of Ise. Shrine priests and others have meticulously documented Ise for a millennium. These documents reveal a complex and eventful history, marked by war, natural disaster, and theft, as well as miracles and massive crowds of pilgrims. This presentation will introduce the history of Ise Shinto, explore the metaphors that have developed around the ritual rebuilding, and unpack some of the puzzles in the forgotten history of Ise.
Why: Fetishise Japanese art that’s over-age.
Real
5) The Big Hoo-Haa!
22nd January
What: Starring a who’s who of Melbourne’s finest comedians, The Big HOO-HAA! ensemble dazzles audiences with its unique brand of high-octane improv, killer punchlines and sizzling (and occasionally fizzling) one-liners. Hosted by The Butterfly Club in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, two teams, the Hearts and the Bones, battle for comedic supremacy before your very eyes, armed with only audience suggestions and a handful of props as they leave no song unsung, no joke undelivered and no pun unpunished in their mad dash for the punchline.
Why: Sure, you have a depressing home life, are terrible at maintaining relationships and that thing on your back is getting bigger…but at least you’re not an improv comedian.
https://on.com.au/search/events/The-Big-Hoo-Haa!/ef93a580-56cc-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
4) An Evening with Peter McIntyre AO
22nd January
What: Experience a very special documentary screening and conversation with MPavilion Parkade’s architect Peter McIntyre AO. ‘Peter and Dione McIntyre 1950-1960 – Counterbalancing Forces’ is a documentary that explores an architecture of ideas between 1950 and 1960. Central to the generation of these ideas is the concept of counterbalancing forces: structural, spatial, geometric, social, aesthetic as well as political. The documentary focuses on this period of their architecture, which had a seminal influence on Australian architecture and is a uniquely original pocket of mid 20th century modernism.
Why: Because you’ll go anywhere to be around people who aren’t your loved ones.
3) Fitzroy Market
23rd January
What: Experience over 70 stalls of artisan gifts, fresh produce, delicious food, vintage goods, flowers, pre-loved treasures, coffee, craft beer, live music and more!
Why: Let population density take one last hit as the siren song for geriatrics and hipsters everywhere calls forth another virus cluster.
https://on.com.au/search/events/Fitzroy-Market/ff12ee80-56cc-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
2) Ale Stars Featuring Bright Brewery
19th January
What: It’s the first Ale Stars of 2021 and they’re back at The Local Taphouse just like the good ol’ days! Be joined by the legendary Scott Brandon, owner and founder of the independent, family owned and operated Bright Brewery, and experience a night of excellent ales!
Why: Get fancy pissed.
1) Simon Taylor
19th January
What: Coming off the back of his ABC stand-up comedy special, Simon Taylor has a fresh new show that will knock your socks slightly closer to being off. This show will be nothing short of spectacular-ish with stand-up comedy that is taking the world by light showers. You’ll definitely have the time of your night.
Why: A self-effacing, insecure comedic persona? How radical!
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