As you drive to Marrickville from Newtown you come across an array of coloured lights and bunting along a broad street frontage. It is not a carnival. It is The Factory.
The factory at Marrickville is just that. An old industrial building put to use as a Little Henry drinkery and a performance venue. It works well.There is a raw excitement about it. This is New Sydney. Its patrons, young and dripping vitality cram into it. They have no pretense. They are in the moment and they savour every millisecond of it.
Tonight’s performance is in the Fuse Box. Back of the stage there is a gaudy yellow curtain with two microphones at the front. The place is packed. Louise Gong warms up the crowd. She is Asian and as such people tell her things , because hey, Asians are non threatening. She squats on stage. How can anyone take Asians seriously? She dates and sleeps around and sends her lovers exit surveys. It is Bathos and Pathos and the audience responds with delight.
Then comes Lakshman…real name Lakshman Nitrthanakumaran. Here is a comedian like no other. Dave Hughes and the others labour their delivery. Lakshman is just the opposite. On stage his slightly pudgy frame sinks, literally, into an armchair. Humour at once gracious and witty comes from a warm sunny visage. His talk is of the perennials. Of life and love and loss and joy. Mum and Dad. Of when he was a medico . Of rectal examinations and inshallah. He is relaxed and having the time of his life and we are there with him. Bracketed on one side by electric guitarist and on vibes Ganathipan, on the other by a serious senior systems analyst (in real life) on guitar and Saxophone ,are his props and sidekicks.
Half time and there is a juice under the chair for each of us.
This is Lakshman.
You must see him
