"... even funnier than you're imagining ... truly delightful; and a little bit naughty." (XS Entertainment)

"I honestly thought I might need to give my 16 year old Ventolin on the way home - he's not asthmatic - he was just laughing so much at The Furze Family Variety Hour." Susan Hetherington, ABC Radio

Meet Red and Ginger Furze. The only remaining members of a once-great traveling vaudeville family. Sadly, all the others have left, got real jobs, died … or moved to the Gold Coast.

Now Red and Ginger must perform the entire show – even the bits they’re not quite sure about – all by themselves. Cringe as they crash through Uncle Joe’s famed Musical Interlude. Watch in horror as they attempt their mother’s lion taming act – without a lion. And reminisce with them as they recall little Baby June’s ill-fated sword-swallowing act – she only did it the once.

Imagine the Muppet Show, live on stage, with two people instead of lots of muppets – that’s The Furze Family Variety Hour.

Featuring acclaimed performers, Leon Cain and Helen Cassidy, original music by David Megarrity and Samuel Vincent: this is an hour (and-a-bit) of pure comic power that'll please audiences 7–77.

Premiere Judith_Wright_Centre as part of the 2014 Brisbane Festival.

Venue Format
Theatre, Hall, Black Box Venue, Outdoor
Technical Rating
C, The production can be modified to suit most venues
Touring Party
Four (2 performers, 2 crew).
Considerations

Furze Family Variety Hour appeals to wide range of audiences.

Suitable for theatres, halls, black-box venues, tents and marquees.

Wherever possible the show is performed with a bar and food/snacks available close at hand (a small bar and servery will travel with the company as part of the set) and has a short interval.

Show travels with it's own basic lighting rig and PA. Lighting design available for managed venues.

Other issues: the show really does culminate in pies in faces! The pies are made with shaving cream and are easy to clean up, stage will require a mop down after each performance.

Suitable for: theatres, halls, black box venues, tents/marquees.

Creating brilliant new comedies.

Working in Brisbane and Melbourne; touring nationally and internationally, debase has been producing new shows since 1998.

We are committed to telling Australian stories and challenging our audiences to question stereotypes, history and identity. Our body of work includes The Longest Minute (exploring the intersection of gender, race and sport), Chasing the Lollyman (Mark Sheppard’s exploration of urban Indigenous identity), The Clown from Snowy River (the entire history of Australia told by clowns), Spoilt (an examination of contemporary self-obsession) and Fly-In Fly-Out (a young person’s perspective on the mining boom).

In 2019, debase was awarded the Gold Matilda at the Queensland Theatre Awards for outstanding contribution to theatre in Queensland.

Company Website
debase.com.au

Unique Selling Point

The Furze Family Variety Hour (FFVH) is old school family-friendly variety fun - the Muppet Show meets Modern Family.

Debase creates events rather than 'fly-in fly-out' performances. FFVH will:

  • Incorporate a local performer into the show.
  • Transform halls and theatres into old-school traveling vaudeville tents (complete with festooning and a popcorn machine).
  • Get local community groups involved through bar/food stalls.
  • Make the space/performers available to the community for workshops/events.
  • Set up a mini-tent to promote the show in a highly visible spot before the performance.

Marketing Materials

  • High quality production images
  • Press releases
  • Archival footage of the premier performance
  • Poster and flyer design (at cost)
  • Youtube clip, images, press materials and images available from debase website www.debase.com.au/shows/furzefamilyvarietyhour

Community Engagement

This is an energetic entertaining show that brings audiences old and young together.

This tour creates an event that maximises opportunities for the community to get involved, makes the show highly visible, ensures artists spend more time in a community, and provides the community access to the venue by:

  • Incorporating a local into the show as a performer joining the Furze Family on stage as a long lost member of the family (this local performer doesn't need any particular performance skills and will rehearse with the company the day before).
  • Transform halls and theatres into old-school traveling vaudeville tents (complete with festooning and a popcorn-machine) creating opportunities for audiences to mingle before, during, and after the show.
  • Getting local community groups involved running a bar and/or food stalls. We hope to attract 'non-regular-theatre' audiences by involving non-arts groups.
  • Making the space/performers available to the community for workshops/events (workshops in comedy and vaudeville are available for schools/community groups, meet-and-greets and community events).
  • Setting up a mini-tent in a highly visible spot to promote the show.

Typical schedule Day 1 - Bump-in, rehearse with local performer, setup mini-tent, attend local event. Day 2 - Workshop, setup space with local groups, performance.