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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Adam Buxton at The Seymour Centre, Sydney


As part of the Sydney Festival, British radio-presenter, comedian and actor Adam Buxton brought BUG to the Seymour Centre. Following sell-out runs at Edinburgh Fringe and London's British Film Institute,  BUG took a sold-out room on a journey through the new democracy of video-making, checking out well-known masters, newcomers on zero budgets and a few funny youtube clips just for the hell of it (Fenton! Jesus Christ!).

Anyone who watched Adam & Joe on late-night television back in the day or listens to their radio show on BBC 6 Music will know that Buxton is a disarming, funny and instantly likeable presence, and this proved again to be the case as he bounded on stage and burst into song before sharing some of his favourite clips with the audience.

You know how when you go round your mate's house and they are all, like, "you've gotta see this awesome shit I found online,"? Well, that was essentially what BUG's debut Australian show was like. There were a few in-jokes for fans of Buxton's radio programme (but not enough to alienate the uninitiated), some of his own creations (a child-friendly version of an NWA classic, entitled Help The Police), some technical glitches which added to the home-grown and intimate vibe and, importantly, plenty of really interesting and thought-provoking clips. For instance, is this one genius or wrong on every level?

Some of the funniest moments of the evening came as Buxton dissected genuine Youtube comments and debates that were posted about the featured videos, while the most jaw-dropping clip was saved until last. At the end of an irreverent, highly entertaining and fun evening, the above Manchester Orchestra offering was nice way to close in that it served as a reminder of what a powerful medium the music video is.

Review by Bobby Townsend

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