Tag Archives: funny

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews, Videos

Video’s: Parody Transformer Shorts

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Over the last month or two, my son and I have been reacquainting ourselves with the world of online videos by making The Transformatorium Show, doing character discussions, unboxings and the like.

However, this warped brain of mine started coming up with all kinds of other ideas for silly little Transformer Shorts, some of which were not appropriate in content to make with my son, but usually because even at 11 he is too mature for that kind of humour 😉

So enjoy the first five silly little Shorts I made of Big Angry Trev’s Super Swift Transformer Reviews!

 

If you found the above shorts entertaining, why not head to the Big Angry Trev YouTube Channel, subscribe while you are there and feel free to like and share the video’s!

 

The Transformatorium Show! Episodes 1-4 plus Pilot

 

Random Reviews

Concert Review – Weird Al: Ill-Advised Vanity Tour

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Weird Al is easily the most beloved comedic singer of all time.  One of only four artists in history that has managed to have a Top 40 hit four decades running (the others being U2, Michael Jackson & Madonna), his enduring popularity and relatively clean material means that adults and kids alike have been enjoying his music for nearly half a century!

Well, Weird Al has been touring once again with his self-deprecatingly titled show ‘The Ill-Advised Vanity Tour’ and luckily for residents of the land down under, this tour has included Australia.

My son is as big a Weird Al fan as I, so what better to be the first concert of a 10-year old than to see the funny man in person, which we did at the Enmore Theatre.

 

Originals – Yes, Parodies – No

Weird Al is best known for his parodies of other singers works, but chose to leave them out of this tour, instead focusing on his original songs (of which he has written over 90).  Whilst this was somewhat of a disappointment for those for whom songs like Fat or Foil are favourites, it meant that for many of us we were hearing some of his lesser known songs for the first time which was a treat indeed.

Still kickin it at 63

Despite the fact he looks much younger (he practices a level of clean living I could never attain) Weird Al is now in his mid sixties.  When first entering the stage he did a high kick that would make the most stringent Karate master proud… and then sat down.  For the rest of the show Weird Al and his band, also getting on in years, stayed seated with just some thrashing of the heads.  Whilst this took away somewhat from the spectacle of the show, it did not detract overall and Al’s voice has lost nothing over the years – he could still belt out the hardest rock with an intensity that would rip my vocal cords apart.  Lighting was used to excellent effect, adding some much needed visual appeal.

The Sound

Perhaps the one disappointment of the show.  Either side of the stage were huge walls of speakers.  Whether they were aging themselves so not as crisp sounding, or simply were cranked too high, the volume was such that there were a few songs where you simply couldn’t understand what Al was singing.  Hopefully this is something they can rectify for future shows.  The volume was that intense that at one point I could feel myself getting a headache and my son was covering his ears with his hands, despite us being a full 20 rows back from the stage.

Live Show Review: An Evening With Henry Rollins

Bringing down the house!

Despite these few quibbles, the last 3rd of the show really kicked buttock!  Al finished off his main set with an even longer version of ‘Albuquerque’, a song of his that I had never cared for but that night had me in hysterics!  This was followed by a most surprising encore: first Weird Al sang Paul Simon’s ‘You can call me Al’ – and no it wasn’t a parody, he just sang the song.  It would be the first time in 40 years I’ve heard Weird Al sing a straight cover of another performers song and he did it quite well.

This was followed by a huge pastiche of bits of Al’s own parody songs (such as Amish Paradise) along with snippets of other songs like ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ – garnering him and his band a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd.

 

Other attendee’s reactions:

David from Sydney

It’s always a massive joy to see one of your favourite performers live, and it’s even more enjoyable when they surprise you! A really unusual selection of songs and bits of banter that reminded us all that Al has a hugely wide range, and just doing parodies isn’t his jam. sometimes you need to play a full set of your own weird idiosyncratic numbers that some folks may not know as well. but still showcase the bizarre brain of the man himself…  The Pre-show set of Emo Phillips was a weird throwback to an older style of comedy that is both timeless and at the same time strangely dated.  It therfore felt even weirder when making up to the minute gags about Russia and American foreign policy along side “kill my wife” that could have been from the 60s, 80s or 90s….  

It was a great show, but the band and Al himself are definitely showing their age.  A little less running around the stage, a little more 3 guys on stools playing great technically brilliant music.

I would have been happy to have seen any show, but “funny feeling you don’t love me anymore” is one of my all-time faves so it made me very happy that i got that one on my night. Oh and the dada-ist poem and rhythmic chanting in the end was a piece of pure magic!

 

Orion from Rural NSW

It was a really good concert, Weird Al sang ‘Albuquerque’ really well.  I liked how he would say every berry donut they probably ever made in it. He mixed up lots of his parody choruses in one bit for the encore.

 

Jamie from Sydney

Weird Al Yankovic was such a joy to see in person! Performing at his very weirdest, he put on a show that included such dubious classics as “Dare to Be Stupid”, “Don’t Download This Song” and “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota”. Demonstrating his phenomenal range, he performed some of his songs in different styles, including a Reggae cover of Word Crimes. Friends of mine went to the show the next night and got a completely different set – I know I’ll be buying tickets for both nights if I’m lucky enough to see him again!

 

Aaron from Perth

I think the show itself was pretty dang great. Biases aside Al is still extremely funny, and he and his band legitimately rock on stage. Admittedly the sound system wasn’t the best so during many of the songs it was difficult to understand any of the lyrics, which could hurt the enjoyment of any songs that I or other audience members aren’t intimately familiar with.

That said, the songs I didn’t know I enjoyed which was only a few, and he also played a few of my all time favourites of his (including a style altered version of my absolute childhood favourite). And the finale was a mind bending spectacle I couldn’t have seen coming.

Less to do with the show itself, but I did find the audience a tad underwhelming, it seemed barely anyone was reacting most of the time in contract to my family and I headbanging along with Sue for instance (and that’s not to mention the one guy that wouldn’t stop yelling “Albuquerque”).

All in all, a fun experience that my family and I loved.

 

Brendan from Sydney

Finally after being a fan of his for so long, I got the chance to see him in concert. And it was no disappointment. A great artist with alot of music out there, parodies and his own. Both are great.

 

Did you see Weird Al live in concert?  What did you think?  Feel free to pop your thoughts in the comments section below!

Tales of the Trev

The Tale of Toby – from Phallus to Family Member

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Many, many years ago I was trying my hand at stand-up comedy.  Though I had always found it easy to be the funniest guy in the room, I often had trouble transferring that skill to behind the mic.

In the late 90’s I tried a skit out – ‘Big Angry Trev the Feminist’.  In it I would berate the men in the audience at length in satirical ways, one of which was to physically attack them.  For this I used Toby.

BEHOLD MY MAGESTY!

Toby, procured at a sex shop for about sixty bucks, was a 1 foot long, huge rubber cock.  Where the name Toby came from I can’t remember, but I called it that once and the name stuck.  In my skit I would run out into the audience and hit men over the head with Toby, yelling random arguments about how men in society are always metaphorically beating women over the head with their phallus’s at any given moment, so now it was their turn.

Some comedians had advanced animatronic puppets -my budget was much lower

The humour was supposed to work via the men nervously laughing or getting embarrassed by my actions, which would then lead me into more tirades while the rest of the audience would laugh at my victim’s obvious discomfort.  It didn’t work.  I was playing to Uni crowds after all, and more often than not the guys I would attack Toby with would take Toby out of my hands with zero discomfort and pretend to fellate him (note by now Toby had become a ‘him’ rather than an ‘it’).  Between this and actual feminists in the audience being somewhat unimpressed by my portrayal of being one of their number, the act soon died and Toby was retired from showbiz after only half a dozen outings.

No autographs!

Retired from Showbiz?  Yes.  Retired from life?  Absolutely not!  Toby had become something of a mascot of the household and, given my propensity to constantly have mates over as well as throw a big party every few months, Toby gained something of a cult following amongst my frequent visitors.

Toby also came to live in the fridge, my thinking being that ‘who wants a big sweaty cock sitting around in the heat?’.  It was amazing just how many housemates over the years were perfectly fine with this!  So, unless busy with his social obligations entertaining guests, Toby always had a prime position on the top shelf of the fridge, which he inhabited for well over a decade.  This went on for so many years across so many share-houses that it became normalized practice.  If someone new to the social group expressed surprise or puzzlement about there being a giant rubber cock in the fridge, they would be treated by others with bemusement.  ‘That’s Toby’ they would be informed matter-of-factly, as if it was perfectly natural for a foot-long rubber dick to live in the fridge next to the cheese and margarine.

Rug up Toby – its a bit chilly, you wouldn’t want shrinkage now would you?

In 2003 I travelled overseas to do Stand Up Comedy and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland – a dream come true!  As I was staying on to backpack around Europe for an extra year after the festival concluded, all my worldly possessions here in Australia went into storage.  But a couple of friends volunteered to babysit Toby while I was away.  Toby enjoyed his time there, especially when they started making little costumes for him to wear and photoshopped albums of him!

Sadly Toby has since met his end.  When my fiancé and I got pets circa 2008, poor Toby was no longer the cute baby of the household and was carried around and coddled much less, though still got a bit of attention.

Napping with our cat on the couch.

When we had children of our own several years later I didn’t think appropriate to store Toby in the fridge next to our infants milk bottles, so he lost his longtime home and got stored in the farm shed instead.  A year after that when I randomly unearthed him, rats had obviously been at him and the rubber was gnawed in a dozen places up and down his shaft (ouch!).  Thus, after 15 years, Toby was put to his final rest.

“Goodbye my beloved child, I shall weep for thee”

But the legend of Toby lives on!  And it would be nice to think that there is, like his original purpose called for, a bit of Toby deep up inside each and every one of us.

 

Got something to say about this post?  Or perhaps you are a friend of Toby’s from the old days?  Pop it in the comments section below!

The greatest invention in the world happened – and nobody told you!

 

 

Random Reviews

Movie Review – Deadpool 2

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Deadpool was the movie that surprised everyone with its popularity at the box office.  Not only did it out-earn the vast majority of its peer super hero movies, but received rave reviews across the board for both its humour and it’s adult take on the comic book world.  So not surprisingly, this year we have been treated to Deadpool 2.

 

Deadpool 2 takes place not long after the end of the previous movie, with Wade and his love interest deciding to start a family.  But naturally, she gets shot and killed (even before the opening credits!) and thus the stage is set for Deadpool 2 go on a journey of heartbreak and self-discovery.

First off I have to say that this is one of the few times I genuinely got choked up at a movie.  I enjoyed the weird romance from the first flick and loved the character played by Morena Baccarin.  So I was genuinely upset when I saw her die, and I’m not a man who has much, if any, interest in love stories usually.

Deadpool subsequently tries to kill himself, but since he is incapable of dying all he manages is to blow himself to pieces, those pieces collected by Collosus and returned to the X-Mansion where Deadpool heals his body, if not his heart.

It’s Deadpools first mission as a trainee X-man that sets up the rest of the story.  They go to subdue an out of control young mutant from a orphanage, but in the process Deadpool finds that the boy has been abused so kills one of the attendants.  This results in both he and the boy going to a prison where mutant abilities are subdued.  Wade starts dying all over again since his healing factor no longer retards his cancer and when you think things can’t get worse, Cable shows up and starts blasting!

Cable has been around in the comics for many years as a time-travelling violent hero, but not everyone realizes that he and Deadpool have a long history together and even shared a comic series for a few years.  Thus Cable was a sensible and worthy addition to the second flick and is portrayed very well.  Domino is another character introduced in this movie that has been associated with Deadpool for a long time, and despite lacking the sarcasm and pale make-up she…

 

… you know what?  Lets stop with the plot synopsis and character dissection!  There are so many things that warrant inclusion and it’ll take too long!

 

Let’s just say this is a damn fine flick!  Yes, not as great as the first one, but the first one was that fantastic that I reckon that’s forgivable.  This movie is darker than it’s predecessor (and considering the first one was full of constant violence and murder that’s saying a lot) and Deadpool isn’t quite as flippant in his discourse.  But his struggle to save a kid that doesn’t want to be saved works well as a plotline, there are a ton of Easter Eggs for those who are familiar with the comics and the humour and action never cease.  Two stand-out scenes are definitely when Deadpool’s new X-Force meet gruesome ends not long after being introduced (and thus totally Lampooning so many other Marvel team movie titles) and when Cable comes to Blind Al’s house to find Deadpool growing back the bottom half of his body, all of his bottom half.

 

So I heartily recommend Deadpool 2.  Ryan Reynolds has nailed it once again and it is indeed a most worthy successor to the first flick, and whatever you do don’t leave when the credits start to roll, otherwise you will miss some of the funniest post-movie sequences ever!

 

Deadpool 2 gets 5 out of 5 baby butts!

 

Blu Ray Review: Deadpool

Art Book Review: Deadpool – Drawing the Merc with a Mouth