Dave: Zoe Coombs Marr

Overview

Zoe Coombs Marr is quite the multi-tasker. You may know her as part of performance trio POST, who recently drenched Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre in fake blood with their gory death scene-extravaganza Oedipus Schmoedipus. This time around, the award-winning comedian will be flying solo in Melbourne to star in DAVE, a standup drag parody she wrote with Charlie Garber. Given Coombs Marr's long-standing passion for the genre (she eschewed schoolies in favour of staging a drag musical), it sounds like material she'll handle with aplomb.

In a self-professed wacky show that describes itself as "a hysterical endurance drag adventure into the dark pits of Dave," Coombs Marr transforms herself — with deliberate transparency — into a bearded stand-up comic dude. A dystopian version of the Aussie everyman, the character is inspired by Coombs Marr's experiences as a female comedian in the male-dominated realm of standup. There's talk of pizza, lesbians and cats. And there may, or may not, be another sterling example of onstage death technique.

Last year's preview run of DAVE sold out and scored some five star write up's from those in the know, with The Age celebrating it as "A comedy turducken of gross-out gags, absurdist humour and sharply observed parody." No, we're not explaining what a "turducken" is; just see the show.

For more coverage of this year's MICF, see our rolling festival diary.