[Hold your nerve] My anxiety levels rapidly increased as it got closer to 7:15pm. Going to theatre is normally the most natural thing for me, an everyday routine. But this time I was genuinely apprehensive. Why? I knew Red Bastard was interactive. I knew that there probably would be some abuse thrown out at us, considering the title character is based […]
[Catch-up on your Dixon] Performing a selection of songs from his various pun-titled albums, Wilson Dixon’s Back Catalogue is an excellent opportunity for those unfamiliar with New Zealand’s favourite American country and western comedy singer to catch up on over a decade of anecdotes. The Cripple Creek comedian is the stereotypical modern day redneck, with an astute eye on small […]
[Merde Oui!!!] Le Comique definitely offers an eclectic mix of comedic performances during this 2 ½-hour-show. The charming and hilarious caricature of a Frenchman, Marcel Lucont is fabulous at the helm as he keeps us entertained between acts. He also has the uncanny knack of sucking in the audience, endearing himself more and more as the night progresses. Lucont was […]
[Shits and Giggles] It’s no small challenge basing your show around the premise of irritable bowel syndrome without devolving completely into the realm of toilet humour. But in Australian comedian Felicity Ward’s What If There Is No Toilet?, she avoids the cheap and obvious jokes of the topic on hand. And while she’s never afraid to be a little crass, […]
[Probably needs an Audience] The only thing worse than seeing a bad comic, is seeing a good comic struggle. The Herald Theatre holds over 100 seats, but on the third night of his show, She Was Probably Not A Robot, comedian Stuart Bowden played to less than 20 people. This is no fault on Bowden’s part, in fact, he gives […]
[Continue the conversation] I firmly believe that there is nothing you cannot joke about; it is simply a question of the victim of the joke. Beth Vyse is one of the 78% of women in the United Kingdom who have survived breast cancer, but she is not a victim. She is, however, a comedian, and she’s here for the 2016 […]
[More Thought, Less Food] It’s not easy, and also not entirely necessary, to provide a thematic narrative structure to a comedy show, and the food component in Natasha Hoyland’s title feels like a catalyst to certain jokes that haven’t been fully considered in the context of a 50-minute performance, as opposed to a motif upon which the material could naturally […]
[Get them on our Screens] Pax Assadi, James Roque, and Jamaine Ross want to create the greatest sketch show of all time. It’s a ludicrous premise, especially when pitting yourself against the likes of Saturday Night Live, Key & Peele, and, of course, Monty Python, but it’s this ridiculousness presented with loose, informal, direct to audience banter, that make it […]
[Return couldn’t come sooner] My only regret in seeing Nish Kumar’s debut performance at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival last year was that it was his final night, because I would have paid to have seen him again. Fortunately, this year, not only does Kumar have a longer run, he’s been elevated to The Classic mainstage as opposed to […]
[No Do-Over] Since his first show in New Zealand, James Acaster has had an acclaimed presence in our comedy scene. From the New Zealand Comedy Guild’s Best International Act Award in 2013 (Prompt) to the New Zealand International Comedy Festival’s Best International Show Award in 2014 (Bread), his risible observations, delivered in a dulcet and placid cadence, have been readily […]
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