Reviewed by Frank McKone
March 22 3pm
John Shortis and Moya Simpson have been creating a range of shows for the past 30 years. Irony Done Here, the title derived with their nice sense of humour from a Bungendore neighbour’s “Ironing Done Here” is just typical.
Amusing word play is central to their satire, to which they add what I call song play. Moya can turn our expectations on our heads. I won’t forget her American Country and Western songs about the nature of love.
Despite this seeming to be their swansong, John is unable to put the keys away, and promises he is already writing a new show – an epilogue, say?
I began my review of their first show together as follows:
Shortis & Curlies John Shortis, Moya Simpson, Andrew Bissett at The School of Arts Cafe, 108 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan. Season: Thursdays to Saturdays till June 29, 1996. Bookings: Phone 297 6857. Professional.
If you are a Liberal politician confident that cutting government spending is the only way to go; or a Labour politician feeling sorry for yourself after 100 days of the new [John Howard] regime; or a veterinary surgeon operating out of Woden Valley; or someone who thinks that a national gun register is not a good idea; or Princess Diana; or Jeff Kennett; or even a frozen embryo who hopes to inherit your dead father's estate: then you shouldn't see this show because you probably won't laugh.
Their, possibly, last show is a selected history of 30 years in 90 minutes, including, to use their term, ‘human’ songs as well as their iconic political satires, showing their always engaging range of lyric writing, music composing, and song making in action, which is not always about subtle ironies in our lives. Empathetic celebration has its place on the right occasion.
They managed this even for our first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, whose pay was so low, he had to live cheaply, more or less in his office.
But I think the best bit of irony done here is that, among the prime ministers with the least sense of humour and appreciation of satire, Tony Abbott provided the best title for one of Shortis & Simpson’s previous shows and which I now designate as the title revealing the guts of Irony Done Here – A Suppository of Wisdom.
The show is wise because it reveals the truth through incisive humour. It is a measure of both John’s and Moya’s art and intelligence – for which the audience at the conclusion of the 3pm show on Sunday spontaneously thanked them personally.
At https://shortisandsimpson.com/about-us/ they have provided brief notes about their histories, and quotes from many reviews. I was pleased to see one of my own, on a projection of a past advertising poster, for The Three Scrooges - Comedy Christmas Cabaret, at The Street Theatre in 2005:
“,,,this is a terrible show. It’s funny, for a start. Even worse, it’s satirical.”
