MISS ITCHY'S LAZY SUSAN Opens Today as Part of Melbourne Comedy Fest

One of Australia's most lauded comedy duos -- Miss Itchy -- makes a triumphant and much-anticipated return to the 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Opening today 26 March at the Tuxedo Cat (Melbourne CBD), Miss Itchy's Lazy Susan promises buckets of the chaos, the absurdity, the brilliance and the noxious secretions for which they are renowned.

Miss Itchy is the multi-award winning comedy duo of Miss Gerda (Linda Haggar) and Miss Candy-Girl (Fahey Younger). Billing themselves as 'Melbourne's only identical twin teenage bridesmaids', Miss Itchy's Gerda and Candy-Girl are the incorrigible love-children of French & Saunders and Monty Python -- surreal, mischievous, and utterly unique.

Adorned with gold plastic pearls and a fearless disregard for personal space, theirs is a profane and hilarious display that crosses every line and makes no apologies: a truly unique comic environment that no one else dares inhabit.

Their new work, Miss Itchy's Lazy Susan, is a cross between a chat show and a war crimes trial. It's a gloriously wrong mish-mash of panel show, TV infotainment, ritual humiliation (a.k.a. the notorious 'Cunt In A Cage', over which the festival's top comedians are currently scragging for a spot) and Susans. New characters include the strangely alluring yet repulsive Sa'faris -- mining magnate/enviro vandals and proprietors of a game park naturists' reserve -- and Safcol and Birdseye the opinionated mermaids -- along with foolhardy and/or brave regular guests Tim Harris and Scott Brennan.

Winner of some of comedy's most prestigious awards including The Barry and The Piece of Wood, and recipient of two Mooseheads, Miss Itchy has wowed audiences at Edinburgh Fringe, LA's Wired for Laughs, MICF and Melbourne Fringe.

An unfortunate accident involving hair spray, sump oil, several bolts of taffeta and an exploding meat tray rendered the Itchys unable to perform for many years, but luckily (and with the help of a team of top surgeons) they've bounced back in time for this year's festival.

Miss Itchy's influence on the Melbourne comedy scene is immeasurable. Universally loved and revered by other comedians, the duo has drawn praise from the likes of John Clarke, who said: ''In Australia (which is where Melbourne lives) the Minister for Women is Tony Abbott. He has been under a great deal of pressure lately but if there is one thing he should be enormously proud of, it is Miss Itchy. They represent everything he stands for.''And Wil Anderson: ''The comedy of Miss Itchy touches me in deep dark joy-filled places. That said, the members of Miss Itchy tend to touch me in those places too, if I let them too close.

''Arguably two of the most original, bodacious and accomplished comedians in the country today, these two fat tarts in industrial-strength taffeta will leave audiences brutally entertained, happily bewildered... and possibly damper than they were at the start of the show.

DETAILS:

MISS ITCHY'S LAZY SUSAN

Venue: Tuxedo Cat, 17-23 Will Street, Melbourne
Dates: Opening night: Thu 26 March 2014 Fri 27, Sat 28, Sun 29 March Sun 5, Mon 6 April Thu 9, Fri 10, Sat 11, Sun 12 April Thu 16, Fri 17, Sat 18, Sun 19 April
Tickets: $26.50 / $22
Times: 7.15pm (one hour show)
Bookings: comedyfestival.com.au/2015/season/shows/lazy-susan-miss-itchy-s

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