Reviewed by: Matilda Marseillaise
Review by Matilda Marseillaise | 19 February 2024
In pour taste is so much fun you may find yourself dancing in your seat Currently at Adelaide Fringe 2024 is In pour taste: A comedy wine tasting experience, which sees comedians Sweeney Preston & Ethan Cavanagh joined by a wine expert Henry Doyle lead audiences through 5 wines and at least 5 jokes. And that is exactly what they delivered. The show is finely balanced pairing laughs with finding out a little about wine. It was a pretty full Bank SA Theatre, with cabaret style seating, (which is a nice venue btw) when we attended on Sunday afternoon and it was a great and diverse crowd. The day we attended was World Drink Wine Day and even thought it wasn’t mentioned, it seemed the audience was definitely onboard. With Alpha, Box & Dice being the Gluttony sponsor, the majority of the wines we tasted at In pour taste were from this South Australian winery, which was fine by us because they produce delicious wines. Ethan and Sweeney warmed up the crowd and got to know where on the scale of wine drinkers to wine snobs we sat. Achieved by a range of questions starting from the simple “have you ever drunk wine?” to the more budgetary ones – have you ever spent $3 on a bottle of wine vs have you ever spent $300 on a bottle of wine? Ethan provides 5 different amusing ways to react to your first sip of wine to appear more in the know, and each seemed to be funnier than the last. Sweeney yells out prompts, the audience’s answers to which will form that audience’s very own wine descriptor. A highly amusing part of the show (but to be honest we laughed equally throughout) saw answers as varied as Mother in Law’s tongue (apparently a plant) to wet dog. Thankfully the only compulsory audience participation is the hot potato dance but even then, the shyer members of the crowd can rest at ease because everyone does the moves while remaining seated. Being from a generation that missed The Wiggles and not being around children who grew up with it, my hesitation came not from not wanting to join in but from actually not knowing the dance. Ethan and Sweeney appear to be in their 20s at most so would have grown up with The Wiggles and be well-acquainted with their dances. In Pour Taste is a wine tasting without any of the snobbery, with plenty of laughs and you may even learn a thing or two. A fun afternoon with friends or even to make new ones if you attend solo as I did. 5 CROISSANTS Matilda Marseillaise was a guest of Adelaide Fringe KEY INFO FOR IN POUR TASTE: A COMEDY WINE TASTING EXPERIENCE WHAT: In Pour Taste: A comedy wine tasting experience WHERE: Bank SA Theatre, Gluttony, Rymill Park, ADELAIDE WHEN: Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Fridays and Sundays until 17 March plus a show on public holiday 11 March 2024. HOW: Purchase your tickets via this link: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/in-pour-taste-a-comedy-wine-tasting-experience-af2024 NOTE: The weekend shows (with the exception of 17 March) have already sold out and others are selling quickly so buy your tickets ASAP to avoid missing out HOW MUCH: Full price tickets are $49 and include 5 generous wine tastings. There are also discounts for groups of 6 or more The show is travelling to Melbourne Comedy Festival after Adelaide Fringe. You can buy tickets for that season via this link https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2024/shows/in-pour-taste-a-comedy-wine-tasting-experience