Category: Reviews
Comedy fest review: White Man Behind a Desk in WMBADx: Idea worth spreading
White Man Behind a Desk has scaled heights faster than most comedians get to. For the last wee while he’s been honing his Colbert/Stewart pastiche and delivering lefty sermons with humour from behind his desk and building quite the following.
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Comedy fest review: Eli Matthewson in An Inconvenient Poof
I feel almost a paternal instinct towards Eli’s comedy. I saw him in his Billy T nominated show ‘Faith’ in 2015, then again last year in ‘The Year of Magical Fucking’ and I usually will leave it at a couple of shows to review a comic before I move on to someone else.
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Comedy fest review: Wilson Dixon in What a Country!
I have been hanging out to see Wilson Dixson for years. There’s something super alluring about what he does. The cowboy shtick that he has down to a fine art, that soft picking at the guitar as he gently woos you with his drawl and his songs. This year was my first time seeing a full Wilson Dixon hour and I wasn’t disappointed.
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Comedy Fest Review: Marcel Lucont in Etc. A Chat Show
I knew it. I knew Marcel Lucont would be a phenomenal show. I saw his show a couple of years ago when he was last in New Zealand and it was one of the shows I was most looking forward to
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Comedy Fest Review: Donna Brookbanks in You do you babes
What a joyous eruption of chaos, energy and laughter. Donna’s show You do you babes is crammed full with so much energy, so much material that it’s almost exhausting.
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Comedy fest review: Alice Snedden in Self-titled: Volume II
Alice Snedden is a fucking good comedian. I try to get along to as many Billy T Nominee shows in Wellington as possible because I often don’t know much about the comics and so frequently unearth some gold, like Guy Montgomery from a few years back. Alice is like Guy in that I went in knowing little and left being super impressed.
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Comedy fest review: Lucy Roche & Ray O’Leary in Young, dumb and full of comedy
Lucy Roche and Ray O’Leary are a couple of NZ comics on the up and up. Lucy won the National Raw Comedy Quest in 2016 and Ray was a Billy T Award nominee last year. They both have a solid resume of shows and experience but there’s still a bit of work to be done.
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Comedy fest review: James Veitch in Dot Con
James Veitch is known for his hilarious emails, no not the guy who tried to pay his power bills with a spider-drawing, but for being the guy who emails back scammers. The Nigerian Prince types.
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Comedy fest review: Seven Deadly Stunts
Ah comedy fest. This year it’s started earlier than normal. In fact my first show was before the Comedy Fest has even started at all. I saw Seven Deadly Stunts last night at Circa 2 and had a ball.
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Review: At the Wake by Victor Rodger
At the Wake by Victor Rodger, starring Lisa Harrow Circa Theatre Opening night 6:30pm, 21 March 2018
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Review: Joan – A play by Tom Scott “about a wonderful mum by an ungrateful son”.
As a first time reviewer I was both excited, and slightly nervous when I left work on Tuesday evening heading for Circa to see Joan, by Tom Scott. I wanted very much to like what I was about to review (does anyone go to the theatre not hoping to enjoy themselves?).
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Comedy review: Louise Beuvink in Ladylike: a modern guide to etiquette
Whenever I write reviews of comedy shows I don’t feel it’s important to mention that someone is a female comedian (if they are); I guess that’s because I don’t feel it’s important to mention that the 75% of comedians I see are male
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Wellington on a Plate Preview: Gate to Plate
We are pairing up with Wellington food icons, Wellingnoms, so you can get all the best images from their Instagram account and all the best words from here. Exciting times.
Read MorePeak peak Rumination 19: It’s gonna happen again
Let’s begin with an index. Peak peak Ruminations, in order:
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Comedy fest review: Rose Matafeo in Sassy Best Friend
I said it in the tweet immediately following the show, and I’ll say it again, Rose Matafeo is a national treasure.
Read MorePeak peak Rumination 18: We live inside a dream
This week’s piece on the film, Fire Walk With me: The Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer, brings to an end our journey through Twin Peaks as it was, just before it is changed forever by the launch of a new series. The essay is by Amanda Lyons, who previously wrote about the aftermath of the reveal of BOB’s true identity. It’s great and thought-provoking essay!
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Comedy fest review: Tessa Waters in Over Promises
What an utter fucking delight. Such a joyous wonderful, feel-good, bizarre funny show. This is a show I’ve been struggling to think of how to review. Because to reveal too much would be to spoil it.
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Comedy fest review: Tony Woods
I was nervous about this show. I’d heard that Tony’s performance in the gala had gone to places that I’d probably not be a fan of and so I approached it with some trepidation. I left with a feeling of delight and joy.
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