Volume 42, Issue 1 | April 24, 2023

---

---

RECEDING HARELINE

Run No.	Date	Hare Apparent	On On
2226	08 May	Prawn Star	TBA
2227	15 May	Her Highness Eager	Club Hotel, Glenorchy
2228	22 May	Contessa Coupla Weeks	TBA
2229	29 May	KKK (TBC)	TBA
2230	05 Jun	Combined Hash Clubs charity run	Royal Yacht Club Tasmania

---

UP AND CUMMING

12-14 May 2023 | Aussie Nash Hash, Darwin
05 June 2023 | Combined Hash Clubs Charity Run in support of gynaecological cancer research (see flyer)
29 February 2024 | Leap Year H3 Run 8 (as set by the Phantom Hasher!)
8-10 March 2024 | Interhash 2024, Queenstown, New Zealand

---

RUN REPORT

Run 2224 | Hare Grizzly | Bombay on the Beach, Blackmans Bay

Opening night of any performance is always highly anticipated and so it was that the H5 Annual Revue 2023 opened to a full house at the Bombay on the Beach theatre-restaurant on Monday evening. Indeed, so popular was this entertainment that dozens of patrons arriving without a booking were turned away.

Co-directors Growler and Sonar have had less than a week to pull this together with no opportunity for a dress rehearsal and have wisely depended heavily on audience participation. There were some cracks showing, of course, but these were deftly papered over.

This iteration of the Revue is presented as a cabaret in three acts. Opening the proceedings is an art and culture trail curated by Grizzly. Patrons are taken out of their comfort zone and cast adrift in the chilly wilds of Blackmans Bay. Simplicity is the overriding theme with the audience separating into small groups advancing, sometimes uncertainly, from one artwork to another. These take the form of calcified arrows evoking the number ‘5’, drawn with broad, confident strokes in a muscular style. Subtle changes in orientation and altitude and even, occasionally, misdirection draw the eye to the immediate surroundings and the overall effect is of wonderment (“Are you?” “WTF?”).

Audience participation here is essential and those in the vanguard, such as Dishlicker and Half a Bee’s Dick, contributed tunelessly but enthusiastically with the repetitive but urgent chant “On! On!”. Musical accompaniment is provided by lone bugler Fallen Madonna and while on this occasion her technique could only be described as “raw” it succeeded nevertheless in engaging neighbourhood dogs thereby adding tone and texture to her output.

Act 2 takes place back in the theatre-restaurant itself and the pace slows as food and beverages are distributed. Improv is the key here and the staff join in the fun, stumbling over names to the amusement of the patrons: Patrick (Prickit), Goff (Geoff, aka Steady Eddie), Mary (Fallen Madonna), Half a Bee (“Where did his dick go?”). Unrehearsed sight gags abound, finest among them surely the picture of Her Highness Eager with a glass of beer so tall that she had to stand on her chair to sip at the froth. (For the purists, this is a Haywards 5000, an 8% Indian monster that also found favour on this evening with food and beverage consultants Griz and Sir Eve).

No review of this performance would be complete without reference to the traditional goat curry (sponsored by Fluffy’s Family Funerals) which, on its own, is worth the price of admission.

The final act is the defining stanza of this Revue and takes place in the courtyard where a flickering firepot adds light and colour. Sub-titled “The Lip Session” this is the first outing for the comedy double act The Joint Lips, featuring TicToc and Snack Bar. Despite their widely divergent styles it was felt that their past experience as joined lips would bridge the gap. The jury is still out but it’s early days yet.

TicToc displayed some nerves during Act 2 where she was seen scribbling prompt notes on a serviette, which she promptly lost. Her concerns were unfounded. She is a natural performer who can spray words like a fire hose. Her partner provides sound and subtle support: in an endearing display of solidarity Snack Bar on several occasions blocked the exit to prevent the escape of patrons while TicToc was deep into one of her extended monologues.

The verbal comedy is interspersed with slapstick as audience members are randomly selected for ritual humiliation. The classic “custard pie in the face” so beloved of Vaudevillians is reimagined on this occasion in the “creaming” of Wee Bev and Dishlicker and there’s a brief but somehow unsatisfactory cameo by Steady Eddie in an homage to the late Barry Humphries – he nailed it with the Dame Edna glasses but missed the mark dramatically with a ravaged agapanthus in place of the essential gladiolus.

A final singalong of The H5 Song brought the curtain down and now the Revue will go on the road and play weekly for the next 12 months. The rough edges will be smoothed and new material is already being planned. The producers promise no two shows will be the same.

On! On! Honkers

---

SKOLS

• Grizzly – Hare apparent
• Can’t Stop – ‘C*nt of the Year’ hat presentation
• Dish Licker – 25 runs milestone reached. Congratulations
• Flat Cat – 50 runs milestone reached. Congratulations
• Wee Bev – 200 runs milestone reached. Congratulations
• Karate Kid – Naming of Ky (Flat Cat’s grandson)
• Lone Arranger – bought along  a torch for TicToc for tonight’s run, however, it had no batteries and therefore was useless
• Her Highness Eager – self-inflicted injury to face
• Can’t Stop – hurt his arm swimming around Diamond Island at the weekend
• Steady Eddie – poor impression of Dame Edna tonight; the agapanthus is a poor substitute for a gladioli
• Pole Dancer – not calling out trail tonight (just tonight?)Skols from the floor:
• Madonna, Steady Eddie and Prickit – too embarrassed to order their meals using their Hash names
• TicToc – complained about her new pants falling down on the run. Has she bought them too big?
• TicToc – stalking actor Erik Thompson (from TV show Packed to the Rafters, apparently) at Salamanca
• Top Dek – two knees done by the surgeon; ready to party in Darwin
• Grizzly – falling in the car park before the start of the circle
• TicToc – pictured with legend Patrick Farmer
• Half A Bee’s Dick – left out the word ‘Dick’ when giving his food order tonight

---

HASH FLASH

Link to all photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xy2eGfbG1Davqi7T9