REVIEW: THE PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEW

4 out of 5 stars

For his second offering at Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Ben Knight is back to share with you what teachers really think about parents, kids and the education system. He’s spent ten years teaching primary school children and he’s not holding back on the things that bother him in 50 minutes of no holds barred truth and humour.

He’s been through the Queensland RAW Comedy finals, and his show “And Then The Music Started” was well received, with the whole show told in rhyme and third person with alliteration, completed with being a talented musician likened to John Butler.

Opening with a Star Wars style rolling credits, the tech in this show is impressive. Animations of beat boxing word chart, and songs to go along with individual letter, grammar rule or literacy challenge he faces in the classroom. Songs exploring things like “I before E except for 52 other rules I just told you”, a beat boxing word chart and ‘all the different sounds the letter ‘C’ can make’ keep the audience chuckling, along with Knight’s cheeky and sultry voice, and the amusing animations that go with it. Projected on a screen behind him, it’s a great accompaniment to his humour and a great value add to the show but I worry that Knight relies on it too much, letting all of his comic points and jokes be delivered by the screen and projection.

He’s an expert on early childhood learning as well as the types of parents he faces each year, and he’s narrowed it down to three key groups : Bogans, Hippies and Helicopter parents. He explores the quirks of each, the different spellings of kids names in his class like Crystal-Beth and Kenjamin, Nebula-Ray, Holden and Gesseca- all the things that drive him and his teacher friends mad.

A full house of teachers in the audience couldn’t get enough of his clever and intelligent humour. He’s honest, he picks on PE teachers, and he does love teaching and preaches that kids need to be kids. He whips out a guitar and brings his rants to life with song. He’s tall, he’s ginger and he’s a bundle of energy.

Downstairs at the European Bier Cafe is a great space for comedy – it’s warm and inviting and well set up, and crammed full of people for Knight’s show. The delightful show ran until 23rd of April as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. MICF page: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/the-parent-teacher-interview

This article first appeared at: http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/the-parent-teacher-interview/ on 27 April 2017