Tony Laumberg

JUSTIN AND JORDAN at the Sydney Fringe 2012

Jordan Shanks and Justin Locke at the Sydney Fringe 2012

Following in the footsteps of such great comedy duos as Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello (not the Lib pollies), Martin and Lewis, Morecambe and Wise and Pete Cook and Dudley Moore are Australia’s own Justin and Jordan.

Having been together for less than a year Justin Locke and Jordan Shanks started off performing at University Open Mic nights and have now spring boarded themselves into the comedy circuit under the mentorship of Colin Lane formerly of Lano and Woodley.

I caught up with them at the Sydney Fringe Festival and soon noticed that they have a unique style which combines a physical effervescence with a surreal and somewhat twisted sense of humour.

Presenting a show, which can best be described as a series of sketches linked by a monologue, Justin takes on the bewildered straight man role to Jordan’s multi-character madness.

The show opens with private school student, Steve (played by Justin), being interrogated by a virgin cop (played by Jordan) over a crime he didn’t commit. This is followed by Justin being confronted by his unsympathetic mother (Jordan in drag) for breaking the 9 pm curfew. It was then that I realised that Justin is the spitting image of golfing superstar, Rory McIlroy.

After being informed by his mother that she has rented out his room for being 12 minutes late, Steve then catches the space bus to the moon and undergoes a moon citizenship test. The first question is to describe how a nuclear reactor works in exactly 25 words. Unfortunately Steve fails the test because his eyebrows look like burritos instead of enchiladas.

What occurs next is a slip slop slap dance for those concerned with skin cancer followed by poor Steve being arrested by the virgin cop for public nudity simply because he removed his shirt. We go on to meet a lawyer/ rap artist, Hot Doggs, and a German process server both played by Jordan who seems to become more outrageous and hilarious as the show progresses.

I won’t spoil the ending but needless to say Steve can’t survive too many more days like this. I look forward to seeing Justin and Jordan in a year’s time to see if Justin has learnt to play golf and whether he and Jordan can continue to score well when it comes to absurdist comedy.

Justin & Jordan in “Steve: 2 Sugars thanks, I’ve had a bad day” played The Fuse Box at the Factory Theatre as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival on Saturday 29 September 2012

Tony Laumberg

1 October, 2012

Tags: Sydney Stage Reviews- JUSTIN AND JORDAN, Jordan Shanks, Justin Locke, Colin Lane, Sydney Fringe Festival, The Fuse Box Factory Theatre, Sydney Arts Guide, Tony Laumberg.

Published by Tony Laumberg

Tony Laumberg has been involved in entertainment since he was a child, having been persuaded by his mother to perform as a singer in talent contests while on holidays and managing only to win a wooden ruler showing the sights of the Blue Mountains! From there, he progressed to sharing his humorous insights on ABC TV and Radio while still a teenager and followed that with appearances on Willesee at Seven as a comedy reporter while trying to hold down a job as a CBD solicitor. It wasn’t long before Tony found his way onto the stages of the Comedy Store and other “interesting” venues as a stand-up comedian which he engaged in for 8 years and over 500 performances along with comedy legends such as Rodney Rude, Vince Sorrenti, Austen Tayshus and George Smilovici. After a stint as a writer of numerous optioned screenplays and a recipient of many government writing grants, he has ended up since 2002 writing and producing 12 plays, mostly comedies, including Unsolicited Male, Lawyer! Lawyer!, 2 Weddings & A Lawyer and his latest, Murder Most Funny!