Review: The Axis Of Awesome vs Bee

After they vanquish the Bee, Benny, Jordan and Lee will tackle their next antagonist: Photoshop Filter.

The Axis Of Awesome vs Bee
Starring: Jordan Raskopoulos, Benny Davis and Lee Naimo
Appearing at: Bosco Theatre, Melbourne, for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

“Yes, I know / I look like Jack Black…” begins Jordan Raskopoulos, the Axis Of Awesome’s cocky, roly-poly singer, in one of this show’s musical numbers. The audience appears palpably relieved to have someone recognise this elephant in the room. In both appearance and stage persona, Raskopoulos undeniably recalls the Tenacious D frontman, although he’s best known as a former cast member of Channel Ten’s Ronnie Johns Half Hour. He might also be pleased to know he has more of an SBS physique than a Channel Nine one.

I first discovered the Axis Of Awesome in 2007, when their very funny rap about the Federal election campaign went viral. They also enjoyed international publicity for their ‘Four Chords’ song, in which they demonstrate the wide variety of pop songs that employ similar chord progressions.

The Scotsman called them “Spinal Tap meets Flight Of The Conchords”. But they’re not nearly as portentous as Spinal Tap, nor as whimsical as the Conchords. More than anything else they remind me of Tripod, that other home-grown musical comedy trio. Even the roles they take on are similar: Jordan in Gatesy’s role as charismatic singer; keyboardist Benny Davis playing Scod’s nerdy muso; and guitarist Lee Naimo in the weirdo role occupied by Yon. Benny, however, must endure the jokes about being short.

Raskopoulos and Davis appear on stage in a cloud of machine smoke, wearing Nordic costumes – capes, Viking helmets, furry vests. (Inexplicably, Naimo is wearing a Scooby Doo costume that’s a teensy bit small.) This pastiche of Brit-metal clichés only lasts long enough to introduce the Axis and explain that they have been cursed to remain forever without a drummer. (An empty drum kit sits on stage.)

The ‘Bee’ part of the show is introduced in a funny, well-produced video segment in which the trio demonstrate their general hatred of bees. Then they discover that a giant bee has escaped from the zoo and is heading straight for them, pretty buzzed off. The remainder of the show weaves musical numbers into the trio’s anxiety about this impending threat. However, the ‘bee’ narrative feels like more of an excuse than an actual plot, and is resolved in a pat and not unexpected way.

The songs, as well, seemed like first drafts rather than well-honed material. Although always impeccably performed (I was impressed by the way an amp malfunction was turned into an impromptu ‘unplugged’ number), they’re mainly of the observational, ’80s-pop-culture sort and are chuckle-worthy rather than hysterically funny. There’s a cute updating of what the Ninja Turtles are up to now they’re no longer teenagers, a re-telling of the Karate Kid tale as Tolkien-esque legend, and a song about the inherent unromantic qualities of the German language. However, they could stand to lose a dull and pointless riff on ‘Hotel California’ by the Eagles, which is already a dull and pointless song.

Ultimately the Axis’s older material worked best. I enjoyed ‘Birdplane’ for its willingness to ridicule the eminently ridiculous emo anthem ‘Superman’, and the smart ‘Four Chords’ proved to be the finale.

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