Melbourne International Comedy Festival comedian Q&A: Jeff Achtem, Stark and Dormy

You’d be a muppet to miss this creative show with its mix of shadow puppets, comedy and story telling fun, says comedian Jeff Achtem.

Stark and Dormy, Melbourne Comedy Festival 2019

What can people expect from your show at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival?

When you tell people that we do puppet shows, people usually expect warm and cuddly stories.

Our approach has been to skewer our puppets with a hot poker, drench them in hot sauce and them leave them laying out in the midday sun.

Once properly baked, we give them a good soaking in bourbon with a waft of stale Vegemite vapour, and stiffen them up and then get to work.

Stark and Dormy is a cracking mash-up of sketch comedy and shadow puppetry.

It involves dead ostriches, rollercoaster accidents and warm and cuddly threats from a Ukrainian loan shark.

What have you been up to since last time you were here?

Melbourne around comedy festival time is a wee bit intense, so since Bunk Puppets were here last we’ve been off travelling the world.

Highlights may or may not include: A) being invited to a puppet festival in Iran; B) having Donald Trump foil our plans to go to Iran by being bat-s …; C) scooting unscathed past the great puppet wall of China.

Who should see your show, and why?

Audiences who are up for a dark comedy, in that sort of ‘quick delivery, multi-plot line structure that all seems to come together just as the hero is … oh no! You didn’t just whack the hero did you ?!?’

What’s your No. 1 tip for people coming to see a show at the comedy festival?

Really, there is too much on — so be judicious, or else your head will explode and you will struggle to laugh without feeling all your emotions simultaneously.

See one show that look familiar, see one show that looks wacky, see one show that looks slick.

Who or what is your comedic inspiration, and why?

Hands down the best comedy moments in today’s modern world is watching pedestrians skilfully navigate the busy city, while staring head down at their phones.

Anything else you want us to know about you or your show?

Stark and Dormy features about a dozen characters all playfully brought to life using puppets and sketch performers. It’s sort of like watching a live cartoon, with real people on a real stage.

BUNK PUPPETS, STARK AND DORMY, MARCH 28-APRIL 21, THE MALTHOUSE THEATRE, THE TOWER, 113 STURT ST, SOUTHBANK. BOOK TICKETS