OCT: Attending a Concert on Company Time

Going to work is never fun. So wouldn’t you rather be doing something else? Making music, for example? The comedy music group OCT, or On Company Time, does exactly that. We at THE UNSEEN had the chance to see them live in the Flucc in Vienna on 5th of September, and here is our impression.

Playing without an opener, the boys came out around 19.30 and started immediately. While trying to sing "Don’t Touch My Clogs“, they get chastised by their boss, Mr. Flush, a voice from the off, for not working and instead doing this silly song. Afterwards, OCT finds a loophole; they're banned from singing this song, but not others. With the help of NOVA, an AI voice that "values art,“ they get on with producing hits for the masses.

Starting off with "Pop Pop", they then get over to "Meat N Cheese", a song about eating too much. This was then followed by "Frictionless Wipe", a song about having a frictionless toilet wipe that will surely lead to spending a long time in the can. What strikes one is how involved the crowd is. Everyone loves being there; they scream lyrics and seem to have so much fun. It made the experience even better.

"Can't Afford" is a breakup song that makes it very clear that the singer is the problem, as is pointed out throughout the song by his companions. "Bathhouse Homies", on the other hand, is a song about going to the bathhouse because the boys really do need a break, so they put on their bathrobes while singing. "Tall Glass of Warm Milk" is another song the crowd went wild for, as it is about the woes and sufferings of people dealing with lactose intolerance. That song is sung by Vinny. What's great about this concert is that every one of the three got enough room to shine.

After all this effort, the boys then know that the time is ripe for a vacation. A great segway into the next song, aptly called "Myrtle Beach", a song about divorced dads that hide their pain by going away to a "top 12 rated town" and drinking as much booze as possible. With that, we have reached halftime and go over to "(So Sick Of) Giving You Up", a song about vaping and the struggles of quitting. Followed by their biggest viral hit, which gets introduced as a fan fiction, as NOVA (the AI voice) identifies BookTok as a market they should pander to. "Half Horse, Half Man“ is exactly that, a song about half a horse, half a man trying to find love.

"TikTok Baby!" is a song about banning TikTok in the United States, as that is surely the biggest problem the country is facing right now. After this song the unimaginable happens: the boys get caught in their antics and are promptly fired by their boss, Mr. Flush. This, as it turns out, is all part of the plan of NOVA, who had one goal: stealing their clogs. Clogs in the OCT universe are special, coming from a galaxy far, far away, and they hold immense power. OCT now has to fend off NOVA, and what better way to do that than by singing a song called "Don't Touch My Clogs“. After this, a bit of audience participation is required, as there is a giveaway of clogs. By scanning a QR code at the beginning of the show, one can sign up to win.

We now enter the last three songs. One is their upcoming single "Hug Somebody", coming out on September 18th. The other is a rendition of the viral Chinese hit "Jin Sheng Huan", which they recently put out as a cover. Closing out the show is "Dim Sum Paradise", a song about going to eat Dim Sum.

This show is definitely worth a ticket; it's fun, engaging, and most importantly, wildly entertaining. THE UNSEEN recommends checking it out; tickets might still be available for some shows on their Europe and North America tour!