Pizza Live On Stage

On Saturday 29 September 2001, I had the pleasure of returning to the Enmore Theatre in the inner western suburbs of Sydney for Pizza - Live On Stage.

For those of you who may not be up to speed on the comic genius of a show, Pizza is an Australian production that is shown on SBS TV on Monday nights at 8.30pm. It is a comedy that follows the adventures of two pizza delivery boys (Pauly and Sleek) and their boss (Bobo) at the fictitious pizza shop called Fat Pizza. You can see more about Pizza in the Pizza section of this site.

As is the case with the TV series, the Pizza stage show may not appeal to those people without a sense of humour or those who like their comedy clean and slick. Pizza is slick but it is by no means clean. Due to the fact that there are no censors at the theatre, there are things that can be done/seen at the theatre that can't be done on the TV series - which is good.

If you think that this show is going to be just 2 and a half hours of Sleek rapping or Bobo yelling, you are in for a treat. There is a mixture between the usual theatre style sets and also the use of video to enhance the experience and do things that normally can not be done in a normal theatre environment. This is where the Enmore Theatre shines.

There is not just one story as might occur with other stage shows. However, a theme runs through the show. Sleek gets chicks, Pauly doesn't. Neither does Bobo who let's just say gets the attention of the female audience members in a way he could not imagine!

Celebrities also contribute to the production with Mario Fenech being the feature celeb tonight with Bernard King on the video package also appearing. According to the program, other celebs to appear at various stages include Maria Venuti (Mama), Andy from Big Brother, Bessie Bardot, Kamahl and Vulcan from Gladiators.

In addition, the show features audience participation which ensures that no two shows will be the same. This section is handled by Habib and George Kapiniaris (from the Wogs Out of Work series) who search the crowd looking for their next stooge.......oops victim.......oops participant. It is important that people performing these roles have the ability to think on their feet and react to whatever the stooge....oops victim.....oops participant throws up at them. Despite some very non talkative stooges (that weren't even wearing Fat Pizza t shirts!), Habib and George got the crowd laughing due to their interaction with the crowd. There was also some classic Habib standup (when are you touring, man!) which fitted in very well with what the production is about.

There was a bit of a crowd problem on the night with Sleek's cousin Rocky wanting to get in on the action. Despite the efforts of the security at the theatre, Rocky made his presence felt. Rocky obviously thought he was part of the fun and he wanted in after making a large impact on the female fans after his appearances in the TV series! Seriously though, some people around me appeared to think that Rocky was a troublemaker - mission accomplished Rocky! If Rocky was a real troublemaker (and if it was not part of the script), the staff at the Enmore would have been no match for the Lebanese Rambo called Rocky.

Sleek was up to his usual tricks - rapping, screwing and stooging. I'm a bit concerned about the sock though! If there was a good looking chick on the stage, Sleek would soon appear. As always, he was trying to give Pauly advice on picking up women to no avail. Pauly was at his tip top best, especially when he got into a road rage fight with Ronald McDoogle. He is still having no luck with the women though.

And Bobo - Bobo's a machine! Not one normally for trying to pick up women, Bobo tried and he failed. He tried to compare a babe to his mama - big mistake Bobo! Bobo's friend Mr Chainsaw made several appearances as well.........mmmmm 2 stroke smell.

The cast performed very well out of the environment of making a TV series. It is obvious that some of the cast (Habib, George and Sleek especially) have had a lot more experience in front of a live audience than the rest of the cast but this was a bonus, not a hindrance. As the show progresses, you will probably see that the cast get more used to the live aspect of the production.

Some of the show would be very taxing physically, especially for Pauly who was noticeably suffering from the effects with a more raspy voice than usual.

The advertisements were right. There's comedy, sex and violence. If you don't like these things, stay away. And if you decide to ignore my advice (and those of the producers), don't come crying to me - you were warned!

However if you are a Sydney based Pizza fan like me, race down to Ticketek and get a ticket for Pizza - Live on stage. You will kick yourself if you don't. I was laughing that much, my eyes watered.

However, you don't need to have seen an episode of Pizza to understand what is going on but if you have seen a few episodes, you will recognise some of the content. Basically, if you like to laugh, order your slice of Live Pizza now!

POST SCRIPT - I went back to the Enmore for another slice of Pizza on 17 October. Like I predicted in my original review above, it is plain to see that the cast have grown more comfortable with the stage and the stooge....oops audience..... participation.

The special guest on this occasion was Andy from Big Brother. She was too tough for Sleek who complained about getting whipped - what a stooge! I'd bet that there were several guys willing to swap places with Sleek - I knew I did!

Andy also seemed to be in the show more than the previous celebrity I saw, Mario Fenech. Also, the celebrity interaction with Pauly and Sleek is geared to each celebrity. After all, it would be useless talking to Andy about football!

I did recognise that some of the jokes had been changed to keep the show fresh. This in addition to the added experience of the cast onstage made the show just as good or if not better than my first visit.

I also made an appearance or 2 in this show! Before the show started, I was interviewed by the camera crew on about a Survivor type set up only to find that I was stooged and the question was changed! Also during the show, Habib found me and said hi to me in front of the cameras. So can I list Pizza in my CV as an appearance?

Pizza - Live On Stage

Festival Hall, Brisbane

Review By Ellie

On March 1, Festival Hall in Brisbane WENT OFF!! Some guys and girls from
Sydney took about 1700 Brisbanites into a world of cheese & chocos, sex &
sleazes and all things Pizza.

The warnings about how Pizza, Live On Stage was not going to be your average
show were definitely accurate. 2 guys in masks got in on before the it even
started, and the show pretty much at that level for the rest of the evening.

I think sex would have to have been the main topic of the night. The video
screens were well in use as the boys took use through their experiences at
Sexpo - which was an absolute crack-up! There were various romances too,
and it was here that we found out what "the world's largest blow-up doll"
was getting up to!

If it wasn't sex getting the guys in trouble, it was violence. Sleek got
some, Habib got some, and even bin Laden got involved. Not surprisingly,
Pauly, Bobo and special guest Vulcan were the most active. Fists, feet,
heads, chairs and feathers all flew!

Speaking of special guests, the interaction with the video was excellent.
After all, it wouldn't be Pizza without a call from Mama. And Rocky,
Bernard King, the Queen, Pauline Hanson all got the crowds going.

That was the special treat. Audience participation. Habib, you know how to
pick 'em! You also know how to make an entire audience act stupid, and
that's got to be a talent!

Okay, so Festival Hall wasn't a large venue. But it was perfect. It was
easy to forget that you were watching a show. Instead it felt like chilling
out with some (lively) friends. Friends whose gift for comedy couldn't be
beaten. I went to 2 of the 3 Brisbane shows, once with a Pizza fan, and
once with someone who'd only seen 1 episode, and both were in stitches!

Was the highlight of the night the exploding cockatoo? Watching the guys
try to pick up chicks? Or maybe just the spirit of the crowd. Anyway, if
Pizza ever returns to Brisbane, I'll be there every night, because I
wouldn't miss it for the world!

Page last updated 05 March 2002

This site is copyright � Erk Communications 2002. All photos/opinions are personal unless stated. Non personal photos are used with permission of the owner/copyright holder. This site is not an official Fat Pizza website.

This site is best viewed in 1024 X 768 resolution or greater.