Axis of Awesome

The Axis of Awesome is an Australian troupe of musical comedians. Self-aware and post-modern, their songs are as ironic as their T-shirts. Rather typically, the group consists of three characters, each invested with a distinct place within the dynamics of the comedy: a small, musically gifted pianist (who functions as the butt of all jokes); a sort of goofy but endearing lead guitar; and a round, larger-than-life front man whose fist pumps and high kicks summon the moribund energy of Gene Simmons on tour in the 90s.

Although the group go to great pains to acknowledge - and distance themselves - from Tenacious D (their obvious forbears in both appearance and sound), the initial similarities between Jack Black’s oeuvre and the content of the show are striking. The now hackneyed jokes about ’rock’ -an entity ‘harder than a diamond’ - are exhausting and standard, playing upon the staid ridiculousness of the ghosts of cock-rock.

Yet when the performers break from parody, the show succeeds. The most competent and well-delivered part of the musical relies upon the pianist’s knowledge of modern pop, and the four chords which structure Western music. Laying down a repeated chord progression, the band takes us on a tour of popular sounds, through Journey and The Beatles and N-Dubz, emphasising the sameness of it all. I guess you could call this ‘muso-comedy’ - a savvy look at the nature of music and its attendant oddities. At its best, the show is a literate, melodic treat, as interesting as it is irreverent.