Guy F. Webster

Apr 19, 2024 | theage.com.au | Guy F. Webster |Hannah Francis |John Bailey |Lefa Singleton Norton

The best joke of the festival was life itself. When John Kearns asked an audience member to recount the ending of Raymond Briggs’ perennial tearjerker The Snowman they describe his death-by-melting as going “back to normal”. Kearns only needed a few choice words to extend the implication: the complete dissolution of the self and the black pit of oblivion that awaits us all? That’s us just going back to normal.

Apr 19, 2024 | smh.com.au | Guy F. Webster |Hannah Francis |John Bailey |Lefa Singleton Norton

The best joke of the festival was life itself. When John Kearns asked an audience member to recount the ending of Raymond Briggs' perennial tearjerker The Snowman they describe his death-by-melting as going "back to normal". Kearns only needed a few choice words to extend the implication: the complete dissolution of the self and the black pit of oblivion that awaits us all? That's us just going back to normal.

Sep 3, 2023 | overland.org.au | Liz Crash |Maddison Stoff |Guy F. Webster

Have you heard about lesbians? Women who love women—what a concept! And it’s not just a Seventies throwback. It seems like lesbians are everywhere these days, from Deadloch to DFAT. Yet everywhere you turn, in every social media comment section, you find stalwart self-professed defenders of lesbians, warning that lesbians are under threat of erasure.

May 19, 2023 | overland.org.au | Dan Hogan |Ender Başkan |Guy F. Webster

The year is 1998 and a spectre is haunting capitalism from ages six and up—the spectre of virtual and robotic kin. All the powers of the capitalist class have entered an unholy alliance to exploit this spectre: Tyco, Hasbro, and Mattel, or: Tickle Me Elmo, Furby, and Tamagotchi. Almost-earthling artefacts are sharpening the blades of consumerist desire by ventriloquising aliveness and kinship.

Apr 4, 2023 | timeout.com | Guy F. Webster

Anyone familiar with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival knows Diana Nguyen. Her signature blend of honest storytelling and gaudy wit (as well as her charming snort-laugh) has made her a festival staple since her first show back in 2016. In Going All In, she emerges from a seven-year journey of self-discovery and soul searching. In the years since that first performance, she’s surfed the world’s most dangerous waves, fallen in love and even dabbled in holotropic breath therapy.