One of the highlights of last year’s Fringeworld was the comedic burlesque group BRIEFS. Their show filled with plate spinning, acrobatics, drag, and hoola hoops was fun from the moment the curtain was raised. Now they’re heading back to Perth. OUTinPerth caught up with the groups MC, the outrageous Fez Fa’anana.
What’s happened to the BRIEFS team over the last year?
We’ve had a wild and epic journey since we were last in Perth. Last year was our first time in Perth and we were lucky enough to swing that nice juicy award from Fringeworld. We kicked off the year with Sydney and Perth and then we found ourselves in the United Kingdom for a four month tour.
We went over in July and did a run through London, Wales, Manchester, and Edinburgh and then we did Ireland.
How did overseas audiences engage with the show?
It’s such a uniquely Australian show, but even with touring around Australia – in my role as the MC as I tailor the performance for every city. There are some things about Australians though which I think are universally known they expect our irreverent sense of humour, the good Aussie piss-take.
Is it tough having a bunch of guys on the road for a long time?
The thing about BRIEFS is we never had any intentions of it being a theatre show or a touring show. We never thought it would have had such a successful run, but it has. The whole idea behind the show is it is about a group of friends coming together and trying out some new acts. It’s just a club night, a bit of a party and there are no rules about the kind of work we are making. So when it started it had to be fun and that philosophy remains.
Watching the show last year, one of the things that made it so good was it was not an overly polished performance, it was natural and that seemed to allow the talent to shine through.
It’s a bit like designer distressed denim – it’s a bit rough around the edges and looks like it been worn way too many times. There is a lot of rough and tumble amongst the strategic design and talent that we get to share with people.
Has anything changed in the show?
We have a local boy Johnny Domino who joined us for our UK tour. He’s a Perth boy who won the WA Boylesque title in 2012. He does a strongman act, its very old school. He’s a rockabilly boy and he can balance a barbell on his butt cheeks. He looks great in his leopard skin leotard.
BRIEFS returns to The West Australian Speigeltent from January 29 to February 11. Tickets from www.fringeworld.com.au
Graeme Watson
