George Glass – Tulpa Magazine

George Glass Proves the Existence of God successfully scratches the itches to life’s biggest questions. Is there a God? Can God hangout later? What’s God’s biggest weakness? Will the Hungry Caterpillar show up? Is there anyone working on an Eyes Wide Shut musical?

Adelaide’s own George Glass brings musicality, absurdity, and plenty of blood in this exceptional one night only performance. Kicking everything off the band (Nic Conway, Pud Hamilton, Chris Nenov, Alister McMichael, and Ruby Gazzola) appropriately introduces themselves in an extremely religious fashion. The Garden of Eden. Eve is a man with balloon breasts of biblical proportions, Adam is a woman in a muscle suit, the forbidden fruit is, of course, an inflatable red costume with matching face paint, and the snake (a morph-suit) slithers its way on stage.

With an intro like that, you know that what you’re about to see is no Sunday service.

George Glass Proves the Existence of God is full of running bits that never grow old. There’s a cleverly instigated checklist at the beginning of the show that provides topics or thematic elements (e.g. baby, cake, pussy cat, tie him up and throw him in the River Torrens), a drummer with a small bladder, and a literal hotline to God. The back and forth tongue and cheek between the band is seamless and never fails to get a laugh, together inhabiting the stage as if it were their home.

George Glass is foremost a rock-comedy showcase. Boasting an array of original songs (that you can listen to yourself on Spotify right now) that are catchy, full of energy, and of course humour. Particular songs such as Detective Andrews, God Is Dead, Christ Likes to Eat Pussy, and Secret Song are the highlights and bring to mind the works of Jack Black and Kyle Glass from Tenacious D. Cohesively the band are multi-talented, switching between instruments throughout the show as each member has their moment centre-stage. However, the first two songs were a little hard to decipher. Whether it be some slightly muddled vocals or technical difficulty, the lyrics weren’t entirely comprehensible, but the band soon found their footing and from there on out it was crystal clear.

George Glass also effortlessly involves the audience in their religious escapades. Members are utilised to form Caterpillars (of the hungry variety), dispose of very incriminating evidence, and to create a crowd surf that more or less turns into a polite yet wholesome carry.

If George Glass Proves the Existence of God resurrects itself for another performance in the future, make sure you see it.

4 1/2 stars

Words by Isaac Freeman

George Glass Proves the Existence of God‘s season has now concluded

For more information about George Glass visit his website

I have a blanket rule to always check out any show at the Fringe titled “____ the Musical”. This has so far always led to a good, entertaining 50 minute spectacle combining excellent original music and solid character performances parodying or mocking their subject. Scientology the Musical is no exception.

Presented by local production group George Glass, this production spends a good deal pointing out the ridiculousness of Scientology as well as everyone’s favourite legal religion, including its founder, science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. We are presented with four characters, Susan (Alister McMichael), Steve ‘O’ (Daniel Murnane), Cookie (Nicolas Conway) and their leader Braden (Brad Price), as four loyal believers in the teachings of Dianetics. These characters also double as band members, joined by Henry Gazzola on drums, jumping seamlessly from jokes to music and an impressive number of costume changes. The music was reminiscent of a variety of rock bands, from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers to the Beatles, proving themselves versatile musicians. There were some sound issues, where the instruments seemed to overpower the vocalists, making it difficult to understand some of the lyrics, but this improved over the course of the evening. The drone of outside noise was also an issue, but that can hardly be helped when performing in a tent – so sit in the front rows if you want the best experience.

The story itself was a lot looser than a traditional musical. Instead of a clear plot, we’re introduced to each character and their reason for embracing Scientology, a whole lot of jokes and monologues, and why they each are eager to uncover the secrets inside the briefcase of the totally true origins of the universe. And the payoff here is well worth it, especially if you’ve never seen or read anything about Scientology before.

There were times when jokes stretched on a little too long, and characters were a bit too over the top, but overall this was a thoroughly enjoyable show. Regardless of your beliefs (unless you’re a Scientologist, I suppose) you’ll enjoy this light-hearted and witty comedy musical.

Words by Simone Corletto

Four stars.

Scientology the Musical is performing at The Speakeasy in Gluttony on the 17^th of Feb to the 4^th of March. Tickets available here.