I was lucky enough to attend the debut of this show last night and I think his decision to chose comedy as a career was not at all a poorly made one. TJ is not as fat or funny looking as he thinks. This is a bit of a backhanded compliment as he uses both of these as part of his act. I found him quite charming with a nice easy manner, he spoke with good diction and a lot of intentional cheese. Some of the jokes missed their mark but that depends heavily on the crowd.
The set up is very simple: 3 boards on a stage.
1. lessons I have learnt
2. things I will not apologise for
3. Dad Jokes (you know the ones)
He used the boards to punctuate his jokes throughout the show. I hadn't seen a comedian use props before unless they were specifically part of the act (like the boy with tape on his face) but it worked really well.
I'm not sure what to say without ruining all this jokes. The theme music was over the top and added to the humour. TJ warmed up the crowd well and was fairly gentle on them but then I don't think you can be too mean in such a small venue, the crowd was in return very receptive.
As to the venue itself, well, I've been there before. I knew to get their early so I could get a seat and wouldn't end up stuck on the couches at the back. I was not impressed with having to pay for water but perhaps I should've asked for a glass of tap water. The free condoms in the bathroom just made me feel old but well done for providing them. The ticket collecting at the door was a bit disorganised, this probably had more to do with TJ's generosity with tickets then anything else. They are squeezing in the shows with another comedian on half an hour after TJ's set finished.
All in all it was a great show with something to offend everyone and "if you don't like it you can go back to your own country...your marae...or your kitchen."
Venue: Fringe Bar
Time/date: 1-5 May, 7-8pm (15-19th in Auckland)
Get your tickets here
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