I saw the second part of Otto and Astrid’s act back a the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009 with filmmaker Yanni Kronenberg. We were filming a 24 hours in Edinburgh piece for ABC Arts and Ruby TV and were all done, exhausted and ready to wrap but couldn’t say no to their go get’em agent at the time Gayle Austin (Paul Lucas Management). She just wasn’t taking no for an answer. Her enthusiasm worked. And we were glad. They were the perfect end to our 24 hour stint of catching up with Antipodean performers including Adam Hills, Dusty Limits, Mikelangelo and Tony Roberts…
So I was more to happy to head back to the Sydney Festival for a late night show entitled ‘Eurosmash’.
But who are Otto & Astrid? The premise is simple- brother and sister German orphans with a punk/pop/euro trash act ( à la White Stripes – their group ‘Die Roten Punkte’ means the Red Dots) touring the world playing guitar (Otto) and drums (Astrid) while having outrageous (and hilarious) mid performance discussions and fights.
And behind it all? Two talented Melbournian writers and performers Clare Bartholomew and Daniel Tobias creating bold, lovable characters. Has the act changed that much since 2009? Not really. Did it matter? Not one bit. The show/concert/ cabaret works as a clowning, slapstick comedy perked with catchy, funny, poppy ‘hits’. A good dose of audience participation, some cheeky running gags and fun, vibrant punky outfits and it’s a hit. Endearing, clever and just very, very funny.
Missed the show? Check out their webseries!
Ruby Boukabou
