The steaming wok of Sydney’s fledgling performer scene is a promisingly eclectic evening of raw talent and surprise guest entertainers like Stir Fry in the sensually atmospheric surrounds of Bohem Lounge…
Stir Fry in Sydney
Stir Fry founder Shane C.Rodrigo, a hard-working yet charismatic fellow if ever there is such a thing, has created an event which is quite unforgettable, a pageantry of exotic colour and spectacle which has seen over 350 performers grace and tumble across the Stir Fry stage in the last 12 months.
“It’s a networking night for the creative,” says Shane. “A night where we’re given the chance to collaborate, create and then appreciate a new wealth of projects together.”
Glamour is the mantle on which somewhat chaotic performers rough it out under the spotlight. Some entertainers, such as masterly comedians Ed Kavalee and Josh Szeps, make the stage their own, embedding their hilarious routines on awed audiences, effortlessly becoming the highlight of the night. Singers and bands glide through the show, leaving milder impressions as they coast on well-rehearsed Latino rhythms or infectious pop beats, their moment in the sun part of meticulously orchestrated career plans that often perish on the social graveyard of the live music scene.
Sexy dancers shake their delicious booty in trios, a legitimate cultural perve for champagne or cocktail-consuming artistic networkers, actors and life coaches (strangely enough, there were a couple of actors who were life coaches on the night we visited) mingling with short film-makers (none of them were tall), fashion designers and their stunning six-foot models, sculptors, artists, costume designers, make-up artists, alto-sax players and even a tantric poet (who later delivered an eight-minute ode to breasts – this man is obsessed!).
“We encourage like-minded people who appreciate and support the arts and entertainment industry to come along and be part of this unique concept,” says Shane.
Hope is the currency on which the Stir Fry performers trade, and some try-outs go onto brighter lights (even though the guy who does the lighting, VJ Nathan Garnett, is dazzling). Caribbean singer Sami Williams, comedian Akmel Saleh (recently starring in You Can’t Stop The Murders), illusionist Sam Powers and acoustic guitarist Sam Nardo (it seems if your name is Sam and you perform at Stir Fry you’re likely to make it big), have trod the Stir Fry Live stage on their way to trampling out real you-pay-me-for-performing careers.
DJ Dave Fernandez provides a sentient soundscape as we can expect to be treated to “an explosion of pure, uninhibited entertainment” as Shane crystalises it.
Finally there’s the Stir Fry MC, the deeply magnificent Stevie Punch, flanked by scantily gorgeous dancerettes, hosting the show with verve, chutspah and other strange words. In the glorious world of celebrity personas, Stevie Punch is like Sydney’s very own Austin Powers, except darker, danker and somehow not so self-obsessed. He revs up the crowd to appreciate the raw talent, his staccato style weaving the kind of magic spell which causes us all to put our tongues firmly in our cheeks – rather than in somebody else’s.
For more information on the next monthly Stir Fry Live event, check out www.stirfrylive.com or email shane@stirfrylive.com
