Is it bad of me to say I usually go to Comedy Club nights for the emcees? They’re my favourite. Comedy Unplugged, the last of the Fringe Festival laughs, showcased a delectable pick ‘n’ mix of what one can expect to see at the Comedy Festival…
If you haven’t recently been to a comedy show, you really must. There’s something quite cool about a room full of strangers all ‘getting it’ together– after the show as you flounder repeating the night’s gags to absent friends, it is usually only those people in that cramped upper room who can relate to what you’re madly gesticulating about.
Comedy Unplugged, the last of the Fringe Festival laughs showcased a delectable pick ‘n’ mix of what one can expect to see at the up and coming New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Despite your absence I will attempt an exposition of the night.
Is it bad of me to say I usually go to Comedy Club nights for the emcees? They’re my favourite. Skillfully working the crowd like putty, Peter Helliar primed us into a most relaxed state; and as he seamlessly worked from spoilt-old-money-East-Sussex-country-club impression to Bear-Grylls-making-breakfast-for-his-whiney-kiwi-girlfriend gag, the mid-week pressures seemed to collectively melt away into a puddle of giggles and guffaws at our feet.
From this soothing opening, the first 3 performers had an ideal playing field as they tried out their new material to a reasonably forgiving audience.
There was Stella Graham– United Kingdom born Sri Lankan with her show Kharma Comedian. Amidst the expected immigration jokes and Kiwi-other-culture comparisons, some were actually quite good (‘I know what a locksmith is, but what the hell is a Dick Smith?’), and the description of a night out in Coventry seemed vaguely familiar to something like a tacky heels-up in Gore.
Then representing the high class of 1970’s New Zealand, John Carr stepped up to the mic, dusty bottle of Cold Duck wine in hand as he reminisced about good old days of free love and promiscuity fueled by that seductive and iconic watery plonk. By the time he got to comment on the mysteries of generation ‘Y’ our faces hurt, as he rapped about getting hit on when it’s ‘cougar night at the supermarket’. Tag-teaming into the second part of their act, ‘Tamagotchi’ Tom Furniss was maybe just a bit green. While jokes about ‘Pauline the mental girl’ fell somewhat flat, there was a certain Kiwi-ness in his pseudo-awkward pace and pausing, hearkening to Flight of the Concords (of course).
Next up, Sean Downie, Alan Mcelroy and Andy Whiteoak delivered a somewhat scatty performance with their game show Shabazz!!!, communicating more razzle-dazzle confusion than humour. While the presence of a raucous, bare-chested Irishman was kind of apt, at times the pace was lacking, and when the gold-medal-the-size-of-a-small-table was hung around the winner’s neck it really was about time for the final act.
Rounding off the night, the anticipated Jan Maree delivered a high-energy, but rushed/nervous commentary on single life in ‘the tron’, a small taste of what more will come in her show Fever Bitch. With ring-bedazzled hands and black lady-mullet flying, she described how much fun it was buying AA batteries, lubricant and junk food at Countdown on a Friday night while stoned, while (albeit bitterly) intermittently heckling a front-row sucker on her youth (‘I just look at your young firm skin and want to stab you in the face!’)
While more crass than humorous, she did pull through some good commentary on the state of the Auckland clubbing scene– ‘forget about the cougars, it’s the dingos you gotta worry about- they’re always running away with our babies…’ Endearingly she could just be the puppy-dog Waikato version of the Cheryl West we know and love.
Pondering back over the night I digress back to say that a good comedy show brings a room full of strangers to a common height, while a skilled comedian draws from any cultural nuance to constrict people together with the invisible ‘I get that!’ cord.
If Comedy Unplugged is anything to go by there are definitely a few comedic gems about town, so whether you’re looking for a bit of passive abdominal exercise or just a good night out, be sure to check out www.comedyfestival.co.nz and get yourself along to one of these shows.
By Emma Schoombie, 20 March 2011.
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