December 06
I was very fortunate to be back on assignment for Scenestr magazine, this time my first live event since COVID shut down the Brisbane Comedy Festival in March.
It was at The Sideshow in Brisbane’s West End. West End has its own character and history as a southside boy from the suburbs I am fairly ignorant of.
It’s down from the city’s South Bank precinct which I am more familiar with which is a giant cultural and restaurant hub with museums, art gallery and markets.
West End is the cheaper hippier end of this.
I remember going to see show with David Hasselholf years ago and seeing young people eating on a window sill out of saucepans in an apartment above a set of shops and just being delighted by it.
Places like West End are in danger of losing such culture with increased urban development but it was alive and well on sunday night December 6.
We entered what looked like a regular cafe, went up some stairs, got served at some makeshift bar and sat on pretty simple chairs. Nobody was wearing masks, we just didn’t do that in Queensland.
There were 13 active cases in the state.
The venue had the setting of being in someone’s large living room for a get together on a sunday arvo for a few laughs.
It was good to have a laugh.
The comedians were diverse in their styles and backgrounds and led by MC Steph Tisdell who got the crowd supporting them fully and open to the experimentation of the event.
You can read my review here https://scenestr.com.au/comedy/hot-mess-comedy-brisbane-review-the-sideshow-20201208
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Having started in 1993 they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland every month.
The West End Garden Restaurant staff were so good to us, the food was fantastic and the whole place was just wonderful. Karen and I really enjoyed our night out.
Numbers were climbing around the word, I was worried about people who lived there. It was almost surreal what was happening in Australia. It felt like we being kept out of some sick game although I’m sure Victorians would agree they had had their fill.
On the 6th of December the World Health Organisation reported there had been 66,184,789 cases globally with a daily increase of 652,608.
1 million 5 hundred 2 twenty 6 six thousand and 6 hundred and 6 sixty 2 two deaths.
1,526,662 deaths globally from COVID.
With a daily increase of 10,767.
In Australia there had been 27,956 confirmed cases with a daily increase of seven. There had been 908 deaths.
In Canada there had been 402,569 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 6,299. There had been 12,496 deaths with a daily increase of 89.
In the United Kingdom there had been 1,705,975 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 15,539. There had been 61,014 deaths with a daily increase of 397.
In India there had been 9,644,222 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 36,011. There had been 140,182 deaths with a daily increase of 482.
In the United States of America the day before, the 5th of December had been a day of big numbers. A new record for daily increase in confirmed cases – 218,671. The highest number of daily recorded deaths since March and April – 2,844.
On the 6th of December there had been 14,191,298 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 213,127. There had been 276,503 deaths with a daily increase of 2,426.
-Lloyd Marken
Back to the Drawing Board Productions 
I enjoyed the review, and your photos. It made me wish I had been there with you, which is the best compliment I can give.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thank you very Pete, I appreciate that. Best wishes Pete.
Good review, Lloyd. Sounds like you had a chance to escape the dark for a time. Stay Safe.
Thank you Don, we’ve had a better run of it for sure. Stay safe.