Show Name: Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun
Created By: Aunty Donna
Starring: Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane
Number of Seasons: 1
Number of Episodes: 6
Streaming Service: Netflix
Release Dates: November 11th, 2020
Introduction
I wanted to start by saying Happy New Years to old and new readers alike. Hope that 2021 will be a year full of love, health and happiness!
Right before the holiday break, one of my buddies suggested that I watch Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun. All that was said was that, if I wanted a good laugh I should give it a try.
Since, I thought that I saw everything that I wanted to watch on Netflix but I never had really seen this. Nor was this ever in my recommended feed either. So I decided to give it a shot.
Background
Since I never heard of this trio of comedians before, I thought that I would provide some background on this trio.
This group started in 2011 under the moniker of Aunty Donna. The group is comprised of 3 main individuals, Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane. they met at University of Ballarat's Arts Academy. However it would seem that the troupe had more members at some points which include Max Miller, Tom Armstrong and Sam Lingham. There are 2 other members that have left the group Adrian Dean and Joe Kosky.
Since their start, they have had success on their YouTube channel and also doing some Tours as well. in 2018, they released an album to great success. It charted as high as 7th on the Australian Artist Albums chart. They were nominated as Best Comedy Release that same year.
Premise
The show is comprised of 6 short episodes. These range from 15 minutes to about 25 minutes. Each episode has a theme. The sketches within the episodes revolve around that theme.
For example, episode one is about finding a new housemate. The second episode is about finding some kind of treasure and so on. Although each episode has a theme, the sketches themselves can be viewed individually for the most part.
Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun Trailer
Bottomline
I have to admit that this was actually pretty awesome. I did not expect to like it as much as I did.
The best way that I can describe this show is a modern version of Kids in the Hall. For those who do not know who they are, they were a Canadian Comedy troupe that had a show in the 1990's. It was produced by Lorne Michaels who is also known for being the creator is SNL (Saturday night Live). I compare it to them as the humour is funny but at times it can be abstract. However, it all comes together really nicely.
I love the chemistry between the 3 main characters. They do legit look like they are having fun. I am not sure, how they could have kept a straight face for most of the skits. Some of them it is pure gold. Having looked at the skits, some of them were done previously live or on their YouTube channel. That did not bother me much as I did not know them before so, I got to enjoy all of the skits for the first time.
I had a few skits that were standouts, such as the Morning Brown song, which stayed stuck in my head for days after watching it. There was also the Everything's a Drum. They had performed it live previously but I believe this version is actually better.
Aunty Donna - Morning Brown
Everyone always looks up to SNL as the iconic sketch show. However, in recent years, it has gotten very stale. Yes, there are some good skits here or there, but the golden age of this show I believe has passed.
That is why, I love new shows such as this one which is refreshing to see skits being done differently. Kind of how Mad TV was to SNL back in the day. I personally love the Canadian show Baroness Von Sketch Show. Which is basically the Canadian version of this without the theme for each episode. I should review that at some point as well.
In the end, I wanted to watch more of their sketches and ended up on their YouTube Channel to watch their previous stuff. Not everything is a home run but there is enough there to laugh.
I am surprised that I had not heard of them before now, but I am glad that I was referred to them. I recommend this to anyone really. There is no danger in trying it out. The shows are short in length, so if this is not your cup of "Morning Brown", then you can stop watching. I hope that they come up with more seasons but for now, I will have to keep an eye on their YouTube channel for more skits.
Have your watched this? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Arroundtable
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aroundtable.ca/
Email: allroundtable@gmail.com
Website: http://www.aroundtable.ca/