April 2012
29 posts
An intimate audience with: Dead Cat Bounce
They weren’t much of a lover. They weren’t much of a friend. They weren’t much of anything to me in the end.
They were however, hilarious.
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Tonight I got to see Dead Cat Bounce live.
The only rock band with the credentials to say they’ve opened for Jimeoin and The Darkness, rocking it out in the intimate venue that is the Loft at Q. Despite a...
Raw Comedy Semi-Final 1
It’s been a while since I came to the first RAW night of the year and decided this was something I wanted to watch metamorphosise. We’re two weeks from the final - at Q on the 13th (tickets still available, see http://qtheatre.co.nz). I’m really excited to see the acts perform tonight. I’ve seen most of them during the preceding weeks (a couple I was unable to see on the...
Hypothesis Correct - Frisby Experiment Successful
My third show of tonight was The Great Frisby Comedy Experiment. A one-hour show based on a simple experiment:
25 Festival acts writing a 7 minute set list. 3 weeks before the show this setlist is assigned to another act to learn and perform. The premise is to see if its material or the performer that is more important.
I think we have our answer.
Tonight we saw Jan Maree bearing balls,...
Four out of five plungers - Review of Kevin, The...
Second show of Day Two - Kevin The Musical, an all singing, all dancing cast of Steve Wrigley and his beautiful wife, Cyan Corwine. It’s hard to describe what I saw tonight - other than to say it was brilliant!
I wasn’t sure what to expect, I’ve seen Steve Wrigley sing before so my hopes weren’t too high, but I was genuinely overwhelmed. This brilliant combination of...
Fan Fiction Comedy at the Classic Studio......
First show of the evening was the Fan Fiction Comedy, fresh back from an exhaustive season in Melbourne, this show was promising to be awesome from the get-go. Not generally a fan of unauthorised renditions, myself, I was surprised at how easy this was to enjoy.
Five performances, two Harry Potter tributes, one Teenage mutant ninja turtle creation, one autobiography from the fantastic Greg...
Last night's gala!
Thanks to the generosity of a comedian who kindly donated me His tickets to last night’s Gala I was lucky enough to attend the official opener. What a night!
Officiated by the fantastic Greg Behrendt a fantastic night of laughs ensued. Some fantastic international acts, and the best that NZ comedy had to offer took to the stage with their individual 4 minute sets.
Normally here is where...
“I need a new job”
– If you are the first to find me tomorrow (28 April) in The Classic Front Bar between Kevin The Musical and the Terry Frisby Comedy Experiment and say the magic sentence, you will win a double pass to Aaron Beard in Joke Of All Trades on Wednesday the 16th of May. I only have one double pass to give...
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Tonight's Five Star Preview
Wow! What an awesome night! The packed out auditorium that is the Sky City Theatre was humming with many many dozen people (in fact, enough people to have the venue sold out) looking for laughs. And it was at this fountain of laughter that they gained their release.
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The night opened with the fantastic DAN WILLIS from the UK effortlessly warming the crowd up. A comedic fluffer of epic...
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My first night came early!
So I got a tip off that tonight’s Big Wednesday was going to be pretty awesome. Two days before the festival opens. The Preview’s tomorrow night and the Gala’s Friday night, and most of the international acts have flown in over the last 36 hours. So I went along, and boy, was my tipoff right![[MORE]]
Look at this running sheet:
The MC fresh out of the UK (Australia, Really)...
Free Tickets - Who Likes Ice Cream? @TomFurnissNZ
Not sure if you’ve seen, but Billy T nominee Tom Furniss is doing a deliciously named show called “The Free Ice Cream Show”. And after the success of the giveaway for his Wellington show, I’ve managed to get my hands on some free tickets to his Auckland show on Tue 15 May 2012 7:15pm, in The Basement Studio, Auckland.
Oh really, Yvan? How do I win?
I’m glad you asked! If you’d like to be in...
So last week I got to catch up with the wonderful Kylie Aitchison last week for a quick chat. And in exchange for a Guest Blog over on http://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/, Kylie granted me an interview, and the VIP pack that Jade won last week!
Find out about the joys of managing such a festival from the Managing Director of the Comedy Trust herself!
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Y: Kylie, How long have you been...
Have You Been Dumped? - @DumpedComedy
I’m feeling generous. So if you’ve been Dumped in the last month, flick me an email today to Contest@24daysofgiggles.com with the subject line “Dumped” and I’ll pick someone at random to win a Double Pass to the Tuesday 15 May performance of Dumped.
Greg Ellis (@Greg3711) is Vance Fontaine - and I...
When Greg Ellis takes to the stage as Vance Fontaine in this year’s NZ International Comedy Festival he will have no idea what to expect next. Completely at the mercy of the audience and a four piece band he will tell the story of one forgotten Kiwi Music legend and sing the songs he has left as his legacy. For the first time in New Zealand one performer, accompanied by a live band, will create a...
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Raw Comedy Quest - Monday April 16
This week’s raw was a healthy blend of astonishing, and fantastic. 11 near-virgin comics over lorded by the Carbon-Neutral TJ McDonald, and an audience full of proud supporters for “Kevin” and a front-bar full of other Raw comedians sussing out the competition. This was the second-to-last raw heat for this year, and the two-third full auditorium was filled with people who loved...
Over a beer, with @SimonMcKinney
A while ago I had a beer with Simon McKinney at my local - The Northern Steamship. Home to interviews such as Rhys Mathewson, Jan Maree, and virtually any interview I haven’t done at The Classic or by email.
I should have listened to him about the photo looking horrible, and I might replace it if I catch up with Simon between now and the festival, but for now, here’s our chat!
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Full Show List
Have had a few people ask me which shows I’m actually going to see during this festival.
Below is my timetable as it stands at the moment. This may change, depending on which tickets are still outstanding for me to acquire, which are still dependant on a few factors, but © marks the confirmed shows. But below you can see my plans.[[MORE]]
26 April: 5 Star Comedy Preview©
27 April: The Gala ©
28...
Free Tickets - Who Likes Ice Cream?
Not sure if you’ve seen, but Billy T nominee Tom Furniss is doing a deliciously named show called “The Free Ice Cream Show”. And I’ve managed to get my hands on some free tickets to his Wellington show on the 8th of May.
Oh really, Yvan? How do I win?
I’m glad you asked! If you’d like to be in to win a double pass to the Free Ice Cream Show at the Cavern Club...
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My chat with Jan Maree
My chat during my lunch break, over a few drinks, with the fanastic Jan-Maree while she was in Auckland for meetings. Find the details of our chat below!
Read below about her experiences with G Strings in Wellington Hotels, and some topless touring stories!
(Normally I’d put a poster or photo here, but I forgot to get a photo, and I don’t think the Poster is finished yet)
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A chat with Clayton
A while back I caught up with the fantastic Clayton Carrick-Leslie about his Comedy Experience, and shows. Have a read if you’re interested in him, and keep reading to the bottom. There may be some giveaways.
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Y: Clayton Carrick-Leslie, NZ’s Two-Timing lawyer, as I saw you called in an interview from a while ago in a Law Journal. C: Yeah, I think that’s about the...
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Nineteen Minutes with Scott Blanks
I had a good chat with NZ’s God-Father of Comedy about his experience with comedy in NZ, and his running of the RAW Comedy Quest up here in Auckland.
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Y: Scott Thanks for taking the time to chat. You’re known as the God-Father of NZ Comedy, You’ve done quite a lot in your time, you’ve run the comedy room above Kitty O’Brian’s. S: Yes, there was a group...
A Small Update:
So it seems I’ve hit full speed on the blog for now, we have four interview scheduled for the next week:
Scott Blanks - NZ’s God Father of comedy 11 April, 10am
Clayton Carrick-Leslie - NZ’s Two-Timing Lawyer 12 April, 6pm
Jan Maree 14 April 10am
Simon McKinney 16 April 10am.
Right now at the HQ (my studio apartment) it’s all panic stations. Working out which shows I...
Can I have people’s thoughts on if I were to do a Video Blog during the festival, instead of writing every day? I know writing for it’s going to be interesting, but it’s potentially going to be boring to read. What if I put a minute and a half on YouTube for every show, if for nothing more than to catalogue my ideas for the written blog?
I’m open to thoughts and Ideas -...
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A Few Short Emails with Gish
I exchanged a few emails with the fantastic Gish, about his comedy, songwriting and his show this year! [[MORE]]
Y: Gish, how did you first discover that you were adept at making people laugh? G: I was never chasing a career or hobby in comedy. I was actually doing music school and wanted to chase music. No one ever listens to a muso really after asking them to play a song & I found that...
Ep 65, Good Friday Everybody!!! Get it here or in... →
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Dead Cat Bounce
You can check out Dead Cat Bounce’s video for their wonderful song “Rugby” below, then find the details of their show on at the NZ International Comedy Festival:
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"She's really funny, but she's a dirty bitch" - My...
I caught up with Cal Wilson in the middle of her season in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival about the show that she’ll be bringing to NZ in a few weeks.
I’ll be there on opening night, and I hope to see you there too..
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Y: Cal Wilson, inaugural winner of the Billy T award winner, how long have you even in the comedy business, and what started you off? C: My...
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Raw Comedy Quest - Monday April 2
An interesting night of RAW this week, after I missed it last week, I was excited to hear that the fantastic Jesse Griffin was MCing, though more than a little disappointed his cowboy hat wearing, guitar playing friend wasn’t going to make an appearance. Jesse came out to a two-thirds empty room that was mostly full by the half-time break. He showed off his experience at TV filmings by using...
