Fringe Festival Fever Keeps Firing Up Perth.

Our Jean Hudson continues her Fringe summer! Here’s her latest report.

Perth’s Fringe Festival is now in its third week. After a farrago of five shows in the first week, mostly circus and a hypnotist show, this week I decided to try comedy, so off I fringed to Casey Filips – Virtuoso at Rehearsal Room 1 at the State Theatre of WA. And I am so glad I did—this madcap show was brilliant, and I know I’ve stumbled upon a great up-and-coming actor. This comedy show received the 2024 Take a Chance on Adelaide Award and has featured at Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Edinburgh and Sydney Fringe Festivals. Casey Filips hails from Melbourne and appeared on stage barefoot and decked out in his signature brown turtleneck and black tights.

Think of a mixture of Mr Bean and Monty Python – has one of those rubbery/elastic faces and can make fun of himself. In his one-man comedy show, he uses every part of the stage. His pretentious actor impersonation of Tobias Finlay-Fraser, the greatest actor of his generation, is hilarious.

Tobias has delusional dreams of stardom and becoming a Hollywood actor, but he’s not the greatest actor of his generation. After 300 rejections, he adopts a manic over the top approach to landing a role in Audition No. 86. It’s a train wreck and we the audience are the auditioning panel. He trips and brings out 5- star reviews – all from Uber Eats customers. This show is full of satire, costume changes, fun props and hilarious videos.

Filips is also a wonderful physical actor and used all the stage. He interacted with the audience throughout the show and if you wanted to be part of the action you could rush to the stage. Comedy is a difficult genre and doesn’t appeal to everyone, but Filips pulls it off.

The standout skit had to be when Filips donned a pair of brown tights on his head, so the legs hung down like fins, to become a female manatee. The tights had a hole cut out in the crutch for his face. Then with an exaggerated Attenborough voiceover, Finlay-Fraser now the female Manatee called out for her mate. A man from the audience wearing a matching pair of tights on his head— a ‘very horny’ manatee, jumped onto the stage for a mating dance. I had a pain in my side from laughing.

In Virtuoso, Filips is described as ‘The Man. The Myth. The Idiot.’ Filips attended clown school in Paris and after years of failed acting auditions, came up with the show. This show is a master class in comic catastrophe, and I left with a huge smile on my face. Thanks Dixie Battersby for tickets.

Casey Filips – Virtuoso runs until February 15, 2026. Don’t miss it.

Tickets are on sale right here from Fringeworld.

How lucky are we to have a Fringe Festival each year—it’s a celebration of diversity and boundless creativity with a spirit of openness and acceptance.

From Briefs

Fringe shows are inclusive, boundary pushing arts events, born from a spirit of rebellion and experimentation. Shows include everyone, regardless of body type, gender, background or artistic expertise. Shows are fun spaces where uncensored creativity knows no limits—nothing is too weird of too much.

There is something for everyone: theatre, cabaret, stand-up comedy, circus or something completely random. The core value of Fringe is acceptance, artists of all gender identities with bodies of all shapes and sizes perform, challenging societal norms and breaking down harmful stereotypes.

It’s important to support Fringe, artists push themselves to the limit for our entertainment. This is how they earn a living. Whether you’re a seasoned theatre goer, an inquisitive first-timer or simply out to have fun – give it a go.

*Story and all the Casey Filips photographs by Jean Hudson @jeansodyssey. Other photographs from Fringeworld

Jean Hudson is our Shipping and Sailing Correspondent and also a regular feature writer, reviewer and photographer here on the Shipping News. You may also like to follow up her informative Places I Love stories, as well as other feature stories and Freo Today photographs, right here.

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