Many years ago, my first experience and rite of passage to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival was through Tripod. It’s crazy how time flies and that Scod (Scott Edgar), Yon (Simon Hall) and Gatesy (Steven Gates) have been a band now for 27 years!
After having Tripod’s ‘Middleborough Rd’ on cycle as part of my music collection alongside Australian music titans Powderfinger and Eskimo Joe, I recall being thrilled seeing Tripod for the first time and loving their welcoming stage presence and quirky lyrical finesse. With Covid getting in the way of me seeing their show last year (I ended up getting Covid and when I could reschedule, the band had cancelled their shows due to the same thing), it seemed surreal to finally be attending their show a year later than originally intended.
With their 2023 show appropriately named ‘Tripod’ (or it’s just called that because that’s the band’s name and the show has no title), patrons gathered at The Famous Spiegeltent at Arts Centre Melbourne for a wonderful session of cheeky banter, awkward stories, and catchy songs. To my delight, all the songs I heard during their performance were new to me.
From ‘Jazz Chords’, and ‘Sex in a Tesla’, to ‘Yon Watches Chenobyl: The Musical’, Tripod have the uncanny ability to make anything and everything funny including Scod’s inability to shred the electric guitar (yet we know he really can because he can play the acoustic one), a nuclear meltdown (I’ve actually never watched that Chenobyl TV show and I still found this funny), being middle-aged dads, Gatesy’s bachelor status, Rob Mills being a very bad wingman, and even white supremacy.
Perfectly timed for Easter and seeing them on Good Friday, Tripod even had a song titled ‘There’s No God’ up their sleeves which was hilarious. However, the most striking song performed that left me stunned would be their song about people who love Harry Potter and having J.K. Rowling ruin it due to questionable things that she has said. The song is almost mischievously gleeful as Tripod shamelessly share that they don’t have to be conflicted and suffer because they never really got into Harry Potter in the first place. Although Yon did admit going with his family to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child once. And I’m not gonna lie, I’m a long-time Harry Potter fan, so not only was this song triggering, but even I can admit this was smart as hell.
During their segment that leads into ‘Yon Watches Chenobyl: The Musical’, Tripod thought they could trick audiences with their banter about their ignorance of musicals, but I haven’t forgotten how good their past work, a musical and science fiction opus, ‘Lady Robots’ was. I’m still sad that it was never recorded.
Tripod have masterfully evolved with the times while remaining true to themselves. Whether you’re a long-time fan or new to their work, at the end of the day, Tripod remain to be a great comedy trio. Titans in their own right, these fierce friends (almost brothers) naturally playfully poke fun at each other while singing silly songs with incredible harmonies and musical skill. And they’re just as funny as ever.
Tripod are performing at The Famous Spiegeltent outside Arts Centre Melbourne as part of the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival until April 23rd.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/tripod
https://3pod.com.au