Sammy J

Sammy J and Randy: Ricketts Lane

Extraordinary performances in an endearing show

30 Aug 2011

It’s been a busy month for comedian Sammy J and his antipodean compatriot Randy the purple puppet (performed by Heath McIvor). As well as their respective solo shows they pair up for this high-energy musical about companionship and tax evasion. After…

Sammy J: 1999

Swapping puppets for pubescence

20 Aug 2009

Melbourne’s smutty answer to Andrew Lloyd Webber returns with a tongue-in-cheek one-man musical set in the run-up to the millennium. With explicit references to the Y2K bug, Tamagotchis and Toy Story 2, he’s swapped puppeteer partner Heath McIvor (with…

Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams

Aussie puppeteers pull our strings

20 Aug 2009

The spirit of the Fringe is innovation rather than returning with a proven successful show. But since Heath McIvor's Randy's Postcards From Purgatory and Sammy J (Sammy J: 1999) are also performing their own new shows, we'll forgive the pair behind…

Puppet show round-up from the Edinburgh Festival

Rounding up the best acts made of socks, sponges and foam

16 Aug 2009

Puppetry acts are the black sheep of the performing arts family: indulged but not held in serious regard. Shitty Deal Puppet Theatre Company’s Oh! What a Shitty War (●●) recounts the history of warfare with hand puppets. Mistaking the charmingly…

A weekend fuelled by comedy and cake

Amber Baxter's festival blog

12 Aug 2009

For a bit of a laugh, I put on my boots this weekend and promptly stomped the streets of Edinburgh - filling them with comedy. On Friday night I took in an early evening performance at the Underbelly by Australian, award-winning comic Sammy J. He’s a…

Sammy J and Heath McIvor's puppetry for grown-ups

Forests, Dreams and Postcards from Purgatory in two new shows

13 Jul 2009

My favourite moments are when puppets break on stage,’ laughs puppeteer Heath McIvor, the man literally pulling the strings behind Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams, the cult adult puppet show which prepares to return to the Fringe this year. ‘There’s…

Edinburgh festival highlights: The top 30 shows

August’s finest entertainment at a glance

13 Jul 2009

We bring you a selection of the best shows at Edinburgh this year across all the festivals, including barnstorming retelling of the Goethe story Faust, former Talking Head David Byrne in experimental mood, The Wire's creator David Simon and theatre…

Sammy J

Puppetry's Hell's Angel rips Disney a new one

14 Aug 2008

Part of becoming an adult, sadly, is realising that life is not going to turn out as you planned, and that a Disney-style happy ending is something that eludes all but a few of us. Not only has Melbourne-based comedian Sammy J realised this, he's only…

Sammy J

The rude puppet show that blew Oz away roasts everything in its path

31 Jul 2008

‘If you put Disney, Les Mis and Queen in a blender, it might sound a little like our show,’ explains Sammy J, the delicately framed Antipodean whose puppet show Forest of Dreams is hoping to charm Edinburgh audiences. ‘That said,’ he continues, ‘the…

Sammy J

23 Aug 2007

Sitting at his grand piano, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Sammy J looks like a cruise ship entertainer, but his clever, self-referential comedy is much more than kitsch parody. His upbeat songs are gleefully ridiculous and intervals of smart stand-up keep…