2016 Comedyfest is upon us, we’ve noted our picks this year…
Beth Vyse – As funny as cancer is too good a byline to ignore.
The Big Show 2016 – A more intimate version of the 5 star comedy preview
Brendhan Lovegrove – Filthy Lovegrove is a dirty favourite.
Eli Matthewson – Too talented to ignore
The Fan Brigade – The most anticipated show of the entire festival – book tickets now because this will sell out.
Le Comique – French and beautiful.
Matt Stellingwed – His Bachelor of Arts show looks too good to resist.
Nazeem Hussain – Legally Brown on SBS is hilarious and am looking forward to seeing Hussain in the flesh.
Rose Matafeo – She’s just a comedy goddess, one of the best comedians in NZ right now, must see.
Snort – This has become Auckland’s amazing hothouse of comedy talent. Must see.
…and we will be adding Alice Fraser, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Pax Assadi and Alice, Donna & Brynley to that list as well.
The 5 Star Comedy Preview + Comedy Gala are the perfect shows to watch so that you get a feel for a comedian. If you can’t stand 5 minutes of them, then locked in for a 1 hour show will be a death wish. It’s not that any of the comedians these days are god awful, it’s just that there is so much very brilliant work out there that you don’t want to waste time on a show where you get 5 belly laughs when others are offering 50.
The 5 Star Comedy Preview
Always a must for any comedy gig punter. It’s been around as long as the comedy fest and it’s always in the sky threat. It’s the only time I ever go to sky city – other than for documentary film festivals – and this year instead of being able to walk around the gambling pit, you had to walk through it.
Nothing whets the appetite for comedy more than mingling with desperate gambling addicts whose hollow eyes and dead souls scream for death.
Rich Wilson is a well dressed chap and he’s hosting the show. I remember him from last year, he’s very funny and does a good job of hosting, what’s not to like about a bloke in a waistcoat. That should be the name of his comedy show.The stand out highlights were Lloyd Langford whose welsh drawl is hysterical. His sharp observations about NZ culture are side splitting. Nice Kumar’s satire makes him must see, James Acaster is his usual genius and Angela Barnes was also a must see.
George Egg’s cooking segment was a bit hit and miss. I suggest you go to his show very, very, very stoned.
Comedy Gala
This is usually the most dreaded show on the calendar. TV3 effectively lock the doors for two and a half hours to keep everyone in so they can grind out a one hour special for TV. This used to be held at the Civic, but thank Christ they’ve moved it to the Aotea centre so that you can escape before TV3 promotions girls can tackle you to the ground to keep you seated.
Rhys Darby really is brilliant. The guys is such a professional, his confidence and mannerisms are so incredibly well timed, you can see the polish glitter off his humour. The set was something out of a Lord of the Rings sex scene with chain armour mesh everywhere, Rhys effortlessly used it while all the other comedians shied away from it.
The usual 7 Days and Beno and Jono comedians were there. They’re like the export gold and V of comedy, something consumed by people with no discernible taste. Guys Williams was Guy Williams, tall while short on laughs. I want to hear and see less of him for some reason, maybe it’s the over exposure on networks desperate for talent that has burned him out. Joseph Moore’s stunning success on that terrible late night fail army TV show reminds us all how many people clearly don’t have comedy central and will understand his show is a pale, pale, pale, pale, pale, pale imitation of Tosh.O minus the humour. Arj Barker was very funny, Urzila Carlson has never made me laugh, Rose Matafeo gets funnier the longer she is broken up with Guy Williams, Lloyd Langford is a god, Brendan Lovegrove reminds everyone he really is one of the funniest comedians we have, Marcel Lucont was side splittingly funny, Nish Kumar has to be seen this year, Wilson Dixon is as dry as the desert and James Acaster is as funny as he always is.
There is so much to see this year – get out amongst it.
