REVIEW: Sara Pascoe vs The Truth (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 14, 2014

Great Content, Shame about the Delivery [by Sharu Delilkan] There’s been great buzz around the traps about Londoner Sara Pascoe and although I tried not to, I was expecting a lot from this hot, feminist, vegan, sexually frustrated comedian. As she admits from the start she’s “got it going on” and there’s certainly a shed-load of wonderful weirdness in her […]

REVIEW: John Gordillo Cheap Shots at the Defenceless (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 13, 2014

‘Ceriously’ Cerebral Comedy [by Sharu Delilkan] It was hard not to overhear some of the great crowd comments as we filed out of The Classic following John Gordillo’s show Cheap Shots at the Defenceless – “high brow”, “excellent”, “different” and “hilarious”, to name a few. It all started with a bang and the capacity crowd hushed before the man himself […]

REVIEW: Other Desert Cities (Auckland Theatre Company)

May 12, 2014

Other American Plays [by James Wenley] The desert looking back at us is not quite the one from the popular imagination: wind turbines populate the otherwise arid landscape. Is this a symbol of progressivism and human achievement, or a blot on the natural expanse? This dessert is Palm Springs, and the centrepiece of Rachael Walker’s eye-catching stage design is a massive […]

Matt Baker on Comedy Fest Hecklers: Shut up

May 12, 2014

If you’re a heckler, you’re a terrible human being [by Matt Baker] In the first two weeks of the 2014 International Comedy Festival, I’ve been lucky enough to see fifteen shows. As a reviewer of theatre, it’s been a great, if not difficult, opportunity to expand my critical analysis of the arts. From a sell-out crowd in The Civic, to some […]

REVIEW: Rhys Darby: Mr. Adventure (NZ International Comedy Festival 2014)

May 9, 2014

Adventure, After a Time… [by Matt Baker] A park ranger/head of security might not be what you expect as the opening act to Rhys Darby’s 2014 New Zealand Comedy Festival show, but alter ego Bill Napier’s attempt at what he refers to as the easy art of comedy is as amusing as his delivery is dry. From the ridiculous lengths he […]

REVIEW: The Bronaissance (NZ International Comedy Festival)

May 7, 2014

Klever Kiwi Komedy [by Sharu Delilkan] Samoan-Welsh comic James Nokise is the first Kiwi comedian I’ve seen at the festival and I’ve no qualms about saying that his show has been the most clever, confident and well put together comedy set I’ve seen so far this year. From the minute he got on stage Nokise charmed, endeared and entertained the […]

REVIEW: Conversations with my Penis (NZ International Comedy Festival 2014)

May 7, 2014

Wanks Highly [By James Wenley] If you can work up the courage to ask “Do you want to come to Conversations with my Penis?”, you might just be rewarded with a night of feel good action. Sorry. For a comedy play that bills itself as a “touching two-hander”, it’s hard not to also join in the innuendo fun. The laughs […]

REVIEW: The Big Show (NZ International Comedy Festival 2014)

May 6, 2014

Pays Off [by Matt Baker] Hosted by Northern Irish comedian Michael Legge, The Big Show 2014 offers four 20-25 minute snippets from a variety of UK-based comedy festival headliners. The cabaret-style seating and bar make the most of the renamed-for-the-festival comedy chamber, and gives the show a comfortable and relaxed vibe in keeping with its advertised ideal night out for […]

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