Shut Your Juicy Mouth was an ensemble comedy experience. Held in the intimate space of the Loop Bar, it featured three comedians with 15 minute sets. The night was engaging and warm. All comics bringing their own strange taste of the world to the stage.

Phoebe O’Brien, Anthony McCormack and Stephen Porter each shared with us some raw and at times, personal comedy, that at its heart was innocent, pessimistic and surreal. The show began with a well-executed gage via a video that opened the tone of our evening, whimsical. It welcomed us into their comedy, a primer to make the audience settle. I felt ready to open up and laugh even before the first comedian of the night took the stage.

The comedians cultivated a personal relationship with the audience and always talked to us directly, often seemingly pausing the show to shit talk like a close mate, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Each comic comes from media and radio backgrounds, which was reflected in their language’s inclusivity.

However despite achieving this air, it was clear how much preparation had gone into each comedians set’s structure and pacing, in terms of performance.

Choosing the small space of Loop was fantastic, it helped the comedians build a repour with their audience, ensuring we were with them every step of the way. There was smart integration of multi-media into jokes, images, drawings, and music – taking their surrealism to the next level.

The comedy was primarily observational, about either themselves or about other strange parts of life. They each had great command of language and quick wit.

Stage presence was good, however, it was clear that this was the skill they were each building. Fantastic storytelling was were all comics excelled.

This was the first time they’ve taken to the stage together at the Comedy Festival and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. It was an engaging show and the parts that were shaky seemed as if the comics were just working out what would work on the first night of the season. It was clear that they were each receptive to the audience’s responses to their jokes – which made us feel safe to go on any journey with them.

With a short and sweet run of their show at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival, I’d come to hear whatever bizarre but oddly innocent story they have to tell next!