Until June, Lost and Found will arrive in convenient ‘snapshots’ every six weeks. With three short sections, pics and guest editor insights, it will create an entry point to the latest creative spaces and interesting events in Melbourne.

This snapshot’s guest editor is Lawrence Leung, stand-up comedian, TV writer, breakdancer and Rubik’s cube enthusiast. You might remember his show Lawrence Leung Learns to Breakdance (which won The Age critics’ award in last year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival). And if not, you’ll soon know him because his new show Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure starts on ABC TV this year. When he’s not being funny for a dime, Lawrence likes ghost hunting, lava-hot tea and beating Comedy Festival queues.

Lawrence Leung

I’m living in Sydney this year, but I’m used to travelling, I went ghost hunting in Scotland once, I wanted to test my own scepticism by putting myself in situations with a high likelihood of supernatural activity. I visited castles, slept in catacombs. Stuff went missing, but that was because I stayed in backpacker hostels.

When I’m in Melbourne I like going to gigs in Northcote – the Social Club, North Bazaar, Wesley Anne, 303 – High Street has got everything. I like seeing Pikelet, Ned Collette, Grand Salvo, and The Lucksmiths of course. I miss going to Polyester Records in Fitzroy. I used to feel intimidated at the counter, as though they would judge me on my musical taste. They’re lovely though. Every now and then I also get cravings for Shanghai Dumpling House. (We call it that, but I think it’s actually called Camy.) It’s really fast, it’s licensed, there are those dolls with massive glowing eyes, and the tea is hot like lava.

The Comedy Festival is my favourite time of year in Melbourne because everyone seems so happy and alive. I don’t have a show this year but I do have some tips. Nowadays, because of the internet, everything gets booked out. So study the program, listen to people in the queues. Remember, you don’t have to line up at the Town Hall for tickets, there are Ticketmaster outlets everywhere.

See one international, four locals and one person from the telly. And don’t just stay in the city – Trades Hall is taking over in terms of the nightlife. It has two bars, acts every night and it closes late. This year I’m going to see Josh Earl, Courtney Hocking and Bec Hill. Andrew McClelland’s show will be great as usual – it’s a guide to being a ‘modern gentleman’. I think he’s championing manners because these days everyone’s trying to be so cool and cynical.

Penthouse Mouse

Since Andy Warhol signed that lease at East 47th Street, the warehouse has played a significant role in the evolution of fashion. Sure, they made art there, but in terms of longevity it was really all about Edie’s outfits. Plus, what’s the big difference between art and fashion? Both groups are generally better dressed than other people. Shouldn’t everyone just hang out in one spot and drink martinis? This may not have been the inspiration behind Penthouse Mouse, but it will be one of the effects. Conceived by Melbourne’s MOTH Design studio, Penthouse Mouse is a pop-up warehouse space for independent fashion parades, shopping, exhibitions and parties, open throughout the 2008 L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF). It’s part of the festival’s cultural program, but in many ways it’s an underground alternative to the eye-popping razzle dazzle of the main event – this year to be held at Docklands. Expect collections for sale by young labels Limedrop, Montlaroc, Leonard St, Kuwaii and more. Plus installations by artists Kirsty Hulm, Mel Upton, David McDonald and Joseph Griffiths.

Penthouse Mouse, 22 February – 9 March, 46 Stanley Street, Collingwood
LMFF, 2–9 March, Central Pier, Docklands

Secrets of the Photocopier

Unlike the MX letters editor, or that bagpipes busker at Flinders Street, the Platform Artists Group didn’t sit down and ask themselves ‘now how can we amuse the largest possible number of commuters?’ They just wanted a low-cost exhibition space and they wanted people to actually see the art. Train travellers are nothing if not a captive market, so it worked out for everyone when Platform established their main exhibition space in the cabinets along the fruity pink Deco walls of the Degraves Street Subway, underneath Flinders Street. Similarly, those who make zines aren’t obsessed with market domination. Who has that many staples? They just want, like, five people to witness their genius each edition and to recoup postage costs. Thus brews the perfect storm: Secrets of the Photocopier is a collaboration between Platform and Melbourne’s famous subway zine shop, Sticky. It’s an exhibition of mind-blowing zines, as part of Sticky’s inaugural Festival of the Photocopier, saluting Chester Carlson (the great machine’s inventor) throughout February.

Platform, Degraves Street Subway, Melbourne, tel: 03 9654 8559
Sticky, Shop 10, Campbell Arcade, Degraves Street Subway, Melbourne, tel: 03 9654 8559

St Jerome’s Laneway Festival sideshows

If you have your ticket to the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival this year, you’re sitting pretty. Or sitting on a goldmine, depending which side of the eBay transaction you’re monitoring. The festival is much bigger this year, spreading so far beyond its hipster heart, St Jerome’s, that it could equally be called the St Jerome’s Lonsdale Street and Surrounds Festival. But the great thing about Melbourne is its plethora of live venues. Who needs a ticket when you can build your own festival from affordable sideshows? Highlights in the lead-up to February 24 include the future shock compositions of Baltimore local Dan Deacon at The Evelyn on the 23rd, and Australia’s new ‘Best Male Artist’, Gotye, playing that rough diamond of the southside, The Prince Bandroom on 20 and 21 February. Then, post Laneway, catch Brooklyn indie rockers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in Melbourne’s iconic basement, The HiFi Bar, on the 26th, and Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene at The Corner on February 27.

The St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Sunday 24 February, St Jerome’s and surrounds, Caledonian Lane, Melbourne
St Jerome’s, 7 Caledonian Lane, Melbourne
The Evelyn, 351 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, tel: 03 9419 5500
The HiFi Bar, Basement, 125 Swanston Street, Melbourne, tel: 03 9654 7617
The Prince Bandroom, 29 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, tel: 03 9536 1168
The Corner Hotel, 57 Swan Street, Richmond, tel: 03 9427 9198