REVIEW: Dumped (Comedy Festival)

May 18, 2012

I don’t know how to say this, but… [by James Wenley] If it hasn’t happened to you you’re either extremely fortunate, like to get in first, or lying. Dumped is the title of the comedy play, and the firm subject. The characters – four bar staff and a particularly boozy customer each have their own take on the condition and […]

REVIEW: Richard Meros Salutes the Southern Man (Comedy Festival)

May 18, 2012

Politically Aware and Intelligent Humour, now with Bonus FlyBuy Points! [by Rosabel Tan] These are tough times. There’s the global financial crisis. Climate change.  John Key. And Richard Meros, once a leading academic specialising in Helen Clark’s specific niche – can no longer earn a living. And so he turns to the world for a solution, and finds it in […]

REVIEW: Constantinople (Comedy Festival)

May 14, 2012

An Experience Not to be Missed (And If You Did, It’s Too Late, Shame on You) [by Rosabel Tan] Crowded at the bottom of the stairs to the Wintergarden are a chorus of ladies (and a few men) in togas. As we descend, one of them kisses us on the cheek, another offers us grapes, and yet another points us […]

REVIEW: Yeti is Dead / I am Tom (Comedy Festival)

April 30, 2012

Yeti Strikes Back [by James Wenley] When we last saw Yeti, she had been shot by a jealous Yvette Parsons after the Himalayan visitor had started an affair with Yvette’s husband, Thomas Sainsbury…. That would seem to have been the end of our beloved Yeti. That is, until the sequel. Turns out Yeti isn’t dead, but has been in a […]

REVIEW: The Umbilical Brothers Heaven by Storm (Comedy Festival)

May 12, 2011

Cosmically connected comedy [by Sharu Delilkan] It was a stormy evening in Auckland as we crossed the bridge to check out The Umbilical Brothers. It has been three years since we last saw them so we were really excited that they were back at the NZ International Comedy Festival. We were pleasantly surprised to see the Bruce Mason Centre almost […]

REVIEW: Kevin: The Musical (Comedy Festival)

May 11, 2011

The New Zealand Musical will never be the same again [by James Wenley] As Steve Wrigley observes, musicals aren’t considered very manly in New Zealand culture. It takes balls (suitably tightened to hit the high notes) then to trade in his tried and true stand-up comic routines for a camp, highly theatrical stage show called ‘Kevin:  The Musical’*. Kevin: The […]

REVIEW: Terry Alderton (Comedy Festival)

May 10, 2011

Be afraid, be very very afraid! [by Sharu Delilkan] I have to admit that when the usher led me to my seat, right in front of the stage, I immediately asked to swap for a seat further behind because I was not ready to be the butt of the jokes that night. I could just see the comedian for the […]

REVIEW: Faux Real (Comedy Festival)

May 4, 2011

Are you faux real? [by Sharu Delilkan] When I arrived at the Herald Theatre I was a little disappointed with the small number of people in the foyer. “I’m early I told myself”.  But unfortunately that didn’t change as we filed into the venue to take our seats. I actually counted 35 people in total, including me and my husband, […]

REVIEW: Mike & Virginia (Comedy Festival)

May 4, 2011

When Mike met Virginia [by Sharu Delilkan] Everyone knows When Harry Met Sally so when the show opens using the movie as an example of a romantic comedy (or a romcom) it sets the stage perfectly for what’s to come. Mike & Virginia is written by veteran screenwriters Kathryn Burnett & Nick Ward, who are making their debut into the […]

REVIEWS: ‘Space Race’, ‘I am a Yeti’ and the funny play (Comedy Festival)

May 3, 2011

There’s something happening in Auckland right now, and it’s hilarious. [by James Wenley]  And I’m not talking about the Comedy Festival proper. We Aucklanders have known this is hilarious for a number of years now. Auckland’s stand-up comic fraternity (anyone who has ever appeared on 7 Days, ever) have been on a renaissance roll for a while.  No, I’m talking […]

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