Downstage Theatre
May 15 | Reviewed by Melody Nixon

THE ODDFELLOWS NZ International Comedy Festival opened with a bang last night. And a jet-pack. And a helicopter, a clopping horse, two ballerones from Taita and many, many references to sex. Hooray!

Hosted by Wellington’s own Ben Hurley, Oddfellows First Laughs (yes – the festival is sponsored by Allens, aka Nestle) served as the festival launcher, in more ways than one (think, jet-pack). Offering synopses of many of the wonderful, rich acts on offer this year, First Laughs was a great opportunity to preview the shows and monitor the laugh-o-meter.

MC Ben Hurley set the tone for the night with a hilarious discussion based loosely on themes of national identity and travel. He also opened up the floor for some rebellious political incorrectness, beginning with a series of racist jokes. The jokes were ok though, folks, they were against racists and Ben’s logic is that “it’s not racist to be racist about a race of racists.”

Barry Award nominee Charlie Pickering soon stormed the stage. High energy, high movement and quick talking, Pickering led us through impersonations as varied as a BBC correspondent in Belfast and rapper Snoop Dog giving a bible reading in church. His show ‘Auto’ playing at Downstage this week is likely to be one of the highlights of the festival.

Pickering is one of four and a half festival acts to have originated from across the ditch, and compensated for this with a ‘NZ Music’ t-shirt, much to Ben Hurley’s delight. Hurley expressed his appreciation (“suck up!!”) during the interlude between Pickering and New Zealander Jerome Chandrahasen.

Jerome Chandrahasen’s softer, drier tone contrasted well with the enthusiastic Pickering’s. The Billy T Award Nominee led the crowd gently along with his slow build-ups and studied punch lines. His show ‘Backpackers’ Guide’ will impress anyone who likes understated humour, especially of the home grown kind.

Dai Henwood made his entrance on a tricycle, adorned with goggles and earmuffs. He didn’t seem to think much of this, though. His blunt humour was very much influenced by kiwi culture and political incorrectness. Road workers were ridiculed and the words “bloody” and “like” featured often. His final lament on the state of public safety announcements in New Zealand had audience members snorting Chardonnay out of their nostrils. “Why do they tell us not to ‘Drink and Fry’? Is anyone ever killed by cooked eggs or hot bacon fat? If they’re really worried about our health, shouldn’t the message be ‘Don’t drink and eat raw meat’?!”

Continuing the theme of national identity, ‘The Mullet Brothers’ (Steve Wrigley and Greg Ellis) shuffled their way onto stage. One of them has a mullet. And they both have beer guts. Supposedly from Taita, these ‘blokes’ perform improvised comedy, complete with bantering narrative. ‘Laugh at’ rather than ‘laugh with’ comedy, their style is certainly unique. Once the number of awkward pauses lessened in their performance they became very enjoyable to watch.

Second time Billy T Award Nominee Cori Gonzalez-Macuer masterfully took over from ‘The Mullet Brothers’. His deliberate style and drawn out punch lines oozed confidence. His jokes about plane crashes were in terribly bad taste. But he received multiple, full laughs and his show ‘The Neverending Cori’ promises to be a very humorous and refreshingly cynical experience, if such a thing is possible.

Three men then came on the stage, and professed to be The 4 Noels. But this came as no surprise. Easily recognisable, this slapstick, improvisational and musical trio has performed the world over. And has played the world over. Just back from six months in Tibet teaching monks to ‘spree engrish’, The 4 Noels are treating Wellington to their mixed comedy special: ‘Primitive’. This show is part physical comedy, part inventive sketches and songs, part delicate sexual innuendo and part toilet humour. As overused as the word is, ‘riotous’ really is the best description for them.

Next up, another Billy T Nominee: James Nokise. Immediately emphasising his Pacific Island roots, Nokise threatened first to rob members of the front row, then asked where they were parked. “We don’t know” came the reply. “Well don’t worry, I do” Nokise retorted, amidst guffaws from members of the audience smart enough not to sit in the front rows. In keeping with the themes of the evening, Nokise wandered along threads of sex (complete with physical demo), politics and travel. His show at the NZ Film Archive this week, ‘White Club’, will be a mixture of television and film material highlighting New Zealand’s most embarrassing cultural blunders.

As soon as David O’Doherty came on stage and admitted that yes, he is Irish, but no, he doesn’t drink, we knew we were in the presence of someone unique. From the title of his proposed autobiography (“Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Book of Sodoku”) to his proposed version of the ‘Vagina Monologues’ (written from the perspective of several twelve year old boys) audience members were hysterical. Not nastily hysterical, mind, but the kind of hysterical that arises when you know your life depends on whether or not you can stop laughing.

Musical interludes followed, to lull First Laugh goers back into tranquillity. Jeremy Elwood took the current trends in pop music to an extreme, singing about ‘The Leukaemia of Love’. Bad taste duo Mrs Peacock (Jarrod Baker and Dave Smith) followed with more pop mock, combining sweet, peaceful melodies with lyrics such as “I’m so sorry you had to die, Tony, I’m sleeping with your wife, Tony.”

The evening’s first lady then graced our collective presence. Janey Godly describes herself as a “skanky Glaswegian”, and her one-liners about cheating on her husband and punching disabled people did not make us think otherwise. All in the name of humour, however. Although she’ll probably detest me for saying it, I’m sure she’s quite a nice woman, really.

And as a final sweet for this evening of tasty comedic morsels? None other than the Rowan Atkinsonesque sound effects guru, Rhys Darby. His zany physical comedy – robot impersonations, jet-packs and helicopters – combines excellently with wit and perfectly timed punch lines. “Looking back to childhood” he says “we used to play war. It was pretty stupid, really.” The audience nods in agreement. “A lot of kids died.”

The comedians in this year’s Comedy Festival are sure to delight, heckle, frustrate, and leave a healthy imprint on your general abdominal area. The 4 Noels, Charlie Pickering, Rhys Darby and David O’Doherty are guaranteed laughs. But be sure to investigate rest of the national talent rising from the shores of our islands - their pointed political incorrectness is of a kind not relished in New Zealand for ten years or more.

For full programme, venue and show details on this and other Comedy Festival events, visit comedyfestival.co.nz.