Nightlife

Melbourne International Arts Festival is back again in 2019, with a stellar line-up of shows, exhibitions and gigs between October 2 to 20. If you’re a festival first-timer the stacked list of performances can be daunting – and even long-time festival fans appreciate a hot tip. The list of theatre shows coming to the city is particularly strong, with everything from rock‘n’roll biographies to a hilarious mother-versus-son verbal sparring match getting a run. Here are four shows to put on your Melbourne International Arts Festival bucket list in 2019.

As any lunch fan will attest, making a good sandwich is an art unto itself. Only amateurs haphazardly slap a filling between some bread and call it lunch – sandwich artists, like those at Sandwich Chefs, take your midday sambos seriously by combining only the most delicious artisanal bread, cheeses and perfectly roasted meats. Sandwich Chefs have been slicing, spreading and assembling their magnificent sandwiches for more than 30 years, delighting diners with their deli-style sangers. After all that time, the titular chefs have learnt a thing or two about making sandwiches and are launching a brand new menu that showcases sandwiches from around the world.  The tasty new range includes American sandwich favourites like the Cheesesteak, Cubano and New York’s favourite lunchtime treat, the Reuben (featuring 14-hour slow-roasted beef plus pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island Dressing). Love chicken? Try the Schnitzel Club (it comes with Australia’s favourite brunch item, smashed avo) or try Sandwich Chef’s gourmet bánh mì.  Traditionalists will want to get around the 14-hour slow-roasted pork or beef rolls (served with apple sauce and/or gravy) or if you can’t decide you can always opt for a make-your-own sandwich. Plus to celebrate the shiny new range of sangas, Sandwich Chefs are giving away a trip to New York alongside lots of instant win prizes when you spend $9.90 or more in store.To find out more, visit the Sandwich Chefs website.

IKEA caused a bit of a stir in marketing circles a couple of years ago with its series of deliberately boring YouTube commercials. These included a teenager doing the dishes for five minutes, a couple on a couch kissing in front of a TV for eight, and some young people arm wrestling for six. The ads played in front of YouTube content and many people skipped them, but they also garnered a cult following of joyfully disbelieving fans. The ads were inspired by the Scandinavian trend of ‘Slow TV’ in which almost nothing happens – designed as an antidote to our over-stimulated lives (some cool examples of Slow TV screened on SBS last summer). Now, IKEA is using the phenomenon as a way of promoting their new 2020 catalogue. They have launched an Australian Slow TV channel live streaming the 14-day (336-hour) journey of its products in shipping containers on board a ship to Australia. The channel, which in perfect Nordic understatement IKEA says  “does not aim to excite”, is narrated by Kent and Sara Eriksson, narrators of the original IKEA Sleep Podcast. The Swedes are reading from the new IKEA catalogue with the sound of waves gently crashing against the ship’s stern in the background. Sounds a bit – well, dull, right? And that’s exactly the point. IKEA say they want to help Australians get a good night’s sleep, and watching this YouTube channel may indeed have that exact effect. And if you’re inspired to go buy a new IKEA bed to do it on, well that’s entirely up to you. The c