Maho Magic Bar; Rebecca Black at Forum Melbourne; Lewis Capaldi at Rod Laver Arena; Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again;

Wambi is a master of sleight of hand whose cup-and-ball routines reflect the Japanese passion for baseball. EO Lee, who grew up in Ipswich, Queensland, adds a bogan twist to illusionism by making items disappear or appear inside a bogan bag. And Shirayuri, the “mixologist of mischief,” creates olfactory spells with a whimsical spirit of flirtation.

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Magic buffs will almost certainly have seen some repeats of the performances on display, but punters should be surprised and there is something appealing about the intimacy of interactive magic performed in a bar right in front of you.

If you can’t get enough of Japan, or want to add a twist to a drunken night out with your friends, or are an Instagram tragic who wants to get a photo taken with this colorful group afterward, Maho Magic Bar might be just the ticket.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

MUSIC
Rebecca Black ★★★★
Forum Melbourne, 11 December

It’s one of the greatest stories of millennials: 13-year-old Rebecca Black launches her pop career with a song so shockingly terrible that she becomes the internet’s punching bag for a week. Over time, the banality of your song Friday turns into kitsch and cyberbullying gives way to a cycle of redemption – he’s gay, outspoken and doesn’t mind doing anything embarrassing as a kid – oh, he’s actually pretty cool!

The largely millennial and gay crowd loses it when the lights go out. Two large, shirtless men wearing chest harnesses hold signs reading “REGRET TIME” and “WARNING TO EVERYONE”; these banners feature a list of sinners, including “straight people, orgasm fraudsters, CYBER TRUCK OWNERS, JUDGMENTAL EX-MEN, AMERICAN IDORATORS, TRADERS, FAKE BISEXUALS, SOLID UPPER PEOPLE…” two of them.

Then they take Black out on a stretcher. He wears a fur coat and carries a glittering gun. The stage set is stark black, with just her and her dancers and a backing piece. “American baby,” he sings. “He’s banging his head against the wall / He doesn’t want money, he doesn’t need friends / He stabs in honey, he confuses men”. Charismatic, unpretentious and totally campy. He said he was bleeding freely now. The crowd loves it.

Black’s era of reinvention is sparkling, dark hyper-pop. The rawness of her performance (she’s no perfect diva) makes for a more interesting listen than the albums. This was probably closer to what he had in mind when he was 13: being a sparkling hot shot in front of a fan base.

Ironically, the Madonna-esque theme of repentance and religious ecstasy is vaguely woven throughout the night, but the main theme is rebirth. He says it was the last headline show of the tour and the biggest show he’s ever played. By June it was upgraded from the 1000-capacity 170 Russell to the 2000-capacity Forum. “I could fill a room with people telling me a night like this would never happen,” he says. “It’s easy to feel like your time has passed… but it never is. You have the right to reinvent yourself.”

Parkour towards the end of the night Sugar Water Cyanide briefly (for about a minute) goes into hyperspeed Friday. Then we come back at the same speed Sugar Water Cyanide.

A few questions: Did I hallucinate this? Is this good or just too much fun? What’s the difference? When I entered the room I thought there was one, but now I’m not so sure.
Reviewed by Will Cox

MUSIC
Lewis Capaldi | Australia and New Zealand Tour 2025 ★★★★
Rod Laver Arena, December 10

“I’ll rinse my spoils out no matter what it takes,” Lewis Capaldi promises the crowd near the start of his first Melbourne show in five years.

It’s the kind of self-deprecating joke that someone who’s had two beers might tell their friend at the bar. This is exactly what a Capaldi concert feels like; It’s like you’re listening to your long-time friend’s heart bleed between drinks.

Everyone loves a comeback story, but there’s something especially endearing about Capaldi’s story. Just a few years after the Scottish balladeer burst onto the scene, break He gave up touring to tend to his worsening mental health since he was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome in 2022. Now, two years after removing himself from the spotlight, he is back on the scene and in top form.

From the first piece, survive – One of their first albums since the hiatus – Capaldi’s soulful, gravelly voice echoes through Rod Laver Arena, drowning out the booming drums that accompany it.

His range is astounding, he strikes first earlier bruises before humming cooler tunes like something in the sky. While there are few bells and whistles around, its raw, rich sound fills every inch of the cavernous space.

“This is the happiest moment I’ve ever been on a tour in my life,” he told the crowd, many of whom were arm-in-arm or in tears. “I’m excited to be back on stage.”

But amidst the joy there is also a pinch of disbelief. Capaldi, arguably one of the most down-to-earth pop stars to date, is clearly surprised by his own comeback, repeatedly thanking fans for sticking with him and apologizing for previously canceled concerts.

He occasionally pauses mid-song, listening to the crowd sing the lyrics in perfect harmony, a look of pure curiosity on his face. Incredible giggles escape when fans loudly profess their love for her during quieter moments.

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No one can make a heartbreaking ballad like Capaldi; his face contorts with genuine pain every time he describes painful, all-consuming love. This threatens to overwhelm at times with sonically similar tracks Meaningless And let me go slowly It starts to blend together. But you don’t go to a Capaldi show because of his musical adventurousness; You go for his raw talent and endless playfulness.

“Be patient with me if this goes wrong. My testicles are just too low,” he says before moving to a higher volume. Only Capaldi could pair a joke about genitals with a ballad about eternal love.

Whether he’s joking or simply watching the crowd, there’s a deep sense of genuine vulnerability in everything Capaldi does. It’s a quality that probably every pop star claims to have, but few actually demonstrate. That’s why Capaldi is such a rare gem, and one we can all be thankful for shines once again.
Reviewed by Nell Geraets

THEATRE
Rebel. he said. Rebellion Again ★★★★
Bluestone Church Arts Space, Footscray, November and The Bowery Theatre, St Albans, 13 December.

The cultural and artistic vibrancy of Melbourne’s western suburbs is often overlooked, and it shouldn’t be. Westies have a strong creative presence in our performing arts scene and in venues such as The Substation or FCAC in Newport and nearby Bluestone Church Arts Space in Footscray. And in the melting pot of the west, diversity is not progressive. This is the norm, so the stages there more faithfully reflect what we see on the tram every day.

Wit Incorporated is a major independent company that calls the western suburbs home. Alice Birch’s feminist theater drops the bombshell Rebel. he said. Rebellion Again with a fickle spirit, and seems to carry out the playwright’s stage directive – “this play must not be tame” – with more courage and enterprise than might have been possible for a company from the bourgeois bastions of Melbourne’s leafy east or bayside suburbs.

Janice Muller’s superb production at the Malthouse in 2017 set the bar high, but this show proves that production values ​​are less important than ideas and theatrical craft. This is a “post-dramatic” version; the actors pace the scene long before the show “starts”; The set is placed throughout the rows of seating; the fourth wall strains the weight of the performance and occasionally breaks, revealing the vulnerabilities of the actors and ourselves; This highlights our complicity in the systemic oppression of women.

Disconnected stories ricochet through space. A woman (Madeleine Magee-Carr) reverses the seduction of a man (Jack Twelvetree) by subverting phallocentric language with playful aggression. Another woman (Lansy Feng) rejects a marriage proposal with wide-eyed, unrepentant fury before drawing traces of her partner’s confusion as he continues to try to explain himself.

A worker (Aya) who asks for one day off every week to “sleep more” stonewalls her obnoxious boss, who herself tries every argument and encouragement to ensure compliance. Interestingly, the only glimmer of mutual agreement in this lackluster office comedy is a winking acknowledgment of the persistent gender pay gap.

Other scenes follow; one is a domestic scene dealing with the mother’s expectation and abandonment; another in a supermarket, with misogynistic co-workers bullying a female customer; the woman’s unusual public behavior emerges as a horrifying, if bleakly rational, response to the experience of sexual assault.

From there, Birch fires live ammunition in a dispersed approach. The action turns into piecemeal suffering, exhaustion, and continued resistance despite the faltering progress of feminism. The climax echoes Valerie Solanis’ words SCUM Manifestoa radical feminist pamphlet advocating the destruction of all men on the planet… before expressing dismay at the disposability of men, a key element of the patriarchy in which our society continues to be mired.

The fiercely filtered performance, along with smart management and design choices, unleashes all the humor and anger that undergirds this truly subversive game that reveals just how deeply ingrained gender inequality is in our society, and how radically we may need to rethink to change it.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead
This review was written from a preview performance