Cabaret de Paris

If you've ever seen burlesque you'll be disappointed at how quickly you see a woman in a g-string and topless (no pasties), you'd almost feel cheated. The breasts should come at the end with fanfare. Anyway, there are a lot of Vegas girls which I'm guessing Vegas stole from Paris. It feels cheap either way.

The magician is predictable but still good. The best is the "amateur" magician or the showman who entertains when merely adjusting the microphone. He was the highlight of the show, we could have disposed of all the rest.

It looked like the male dancers would strip but instead ladies in can-can dresses danced to techno music, when they finally get to the can-can itself, it's underwhelming.

The second half was much better than the first; there's burlesque and singing and the showman has an excellent set. Finally a man strips, it isn't the one you want but it's followed by shirtless men. Sadly their shirts were back next time they appear. 

Unfortunately they got the message that breasts are the show stoppers and used them again in the final act, cheapening the whole thing.

My advice? Skip the first half and pay for the cheap seats.

Next show: Christchurch, 28 August

It Was Supposed To Be a Joke

I saw a lot more than I intended of Alexander Sparrow tonight. Suffice it to say my sister is getting married soon and I might give him a call for her hen's night. Apart from having a (possibly lucrative) side career, in addition to being a good comedian, he can act and the boy can move.

Thankfully he's another comedian who doesn't rely on swearing for laughs. He even gauged the audience's response to his offensiveness. Losing his place didn't seem to phase him, indeed he engaged more with the audience who seemed to find him charming. He is certainly more polished than he was when he started out a year ago.

He wore a very sharp suit matched with cufflinks and vintage style wingtips (those are shoes, he seriously wasn't wearing wings). His lovely hair style, keeping with his old fashioned attire, was a little disheveled by the end of the evening.

Like another review noted the shows are packed in for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival so there is no chance to linger as another comedian goes on in half an hour. That was a shame as I would have liked to compliment Alexander on his, ahem, dance moves.

Shows: 6-10 May, 7pm
Venue: Kitty O'Shea's Irish Bar
Tickets: $12-15 

Sara Pascoe Vs The Truth

Sara Pascoe is described as a 'rising star in the UK' and you can see why. She's comfortable on stage and slightly self deprecating (just to put the audience at ease). Her comedy runs from topic to topic with little segways which she throws in with an almost off-hand "I'll get back to that." It feels so natural, like listening to an overly excited and talkative friend.

In amongst the comedy Sara takes the audience through a brief outline of some pretty major philosophical theories, not that you'd know it. My handful of philosophy papers qualify me to recognise them. The major one you can see in the title - what is the truth? This is intelligent comedy that doesn't rely on swearing for laughs.

You'll want to discuss it after but there's no chance to linger as patrons for the next show will already be lined up outside. We were hurried out by festival staff to make way. But you can make your way down to Foxglove to sample their rather fancy bar menu.

Shows: 29 April - 3 May, 7pm (followed by a season in Auckland)
Venue: Foxglove Ballroom
Tickets: $26

Rob Schneider

I felt some trepidation prior to the show as Rob's acting, or at least the characters he portrays tend to irritate rather than amuse (with the exception of The Hot Chick which for some reason I find endearing) - I decided that he would either be awful or terribly funny. In the end he wasn't either. He did get laughs, he was funny but he wasn't hilarious.

For the price of the ticket ($70) I would have expected more. There was no warm up act and Rob himself was disappointing. He joked about the normal topics comedians use; age, the difference between the sexes etc. There were brief tries at trying to relate the material to the audience but no real local adaptations or friendly repartee. Frankly if we didn't have American television here most of his humour may have been lost. The show was over in an hour.

There wasn't any unique material or anything that lingered after the laugh was had. Sometimes the big name doesn't live up to the hype.

Rob Schneider was only in New Zealand for two shows; Wellington and Auckland. His tour continued on to Australia.

Alexander Sparrow: One Night Stand

I looked forward to Alexander Sparrow’s comedy gig. I always enjoy hearing material a new comedian has to offer, and I was intrigued how Kitty O'Shea’s intimate venue would work for the show.

The gig was upstairs in the small, quaint space creating a comfortable and intimate setting. I think more comedians should perform here, as long as it is a small audience or it could easily become crowded.

Alexander Sparrow was clearly nervous at times, but had the support of his friends and family, taking up the majority of the audience (as he pointed out throughout the evening). He had a strong and confident stage presence most of the time and certainly doesn't have a problem with being the centre of attention. The first 15 minutes of the show was a stumble of words guiding us to shout and cheer as Alex introduced himself to a wave of applause. This could have worked better had he approached it with more clarity and confidence. The material he used flowed well, it was a shame that he lost his place, got distracted by his friends in the crowd, and repeated himself as much as he did. The polish will come with practice and make this a better show.

The set had me giggling at the local flavour focusing on student life, blanket man and the stereotyped bracket of Upper Hutt, poking fun at their toothless grins and lack of hygiene. Although it was a little harsh, it had the crowd entertained and I must admit brought a smile to my face also. Most of the material was nothing I hadn't heard before. It was aimed at a young, student based demographic. I would have loved to have heard a few quips that would appeal to a wider target market rather than countless tales about the supermarket job he hates, the theatre degree he is studying and how this adds nothing to society. One or two jokes about these topics would have been funny, but the show seemed to repeat itself, going back to a) he was a theatre student and b) he worked in a supermarket.

It grew a little tiresome by the end of the hour. The ending was definitely the highlight as nerves seemed to evaporate and Alex did a fantastic impersonation of a clubbing scene in Wellington. If this had been the opening, or the focus of his show, I would have been falling off my chair. Focusing on impressions is where his strengths lie. I hope to see a full set of his silly gyrating antics at a later date. I would certainly head along to see that!

I believe that practice and life experience only improve comedians’ material. Often a good set is built on a range of sketches the comedian has developed and tweaked over a number of years. With this practice I believe Alex will be a comedian everyone will be talking about. For his first hour show, I think he did well in such an intimate setting, and hope that he pursues this form of creative expression.  Keep up the good work Alexander Sparrow!

Fringe: Alexander Sparrow - Narcissistic Diva

Everyone has to start somewhere and Alexander Sparrow has started in his home town. It is refreshing to watch a comedian who lacks the cynicism that pervades the stage today; this may be due to his youth and his lack of life experience. But, after 45 minutes of watching him parade, strut and gyrate, I came away thinking he might be someone to watch out for.

Sitting down and writing this I had to think hard about why I want to watch him again. Some of his jokes were a little lame, ‘I haven’t eaten since I last ate’ and his obvious nervousness was distracting, but he charmed me! I think he also charmed the rest of his audience. He didn’t have to swear to get a laugh and he picked on those we love to pick on – not the Aussies, but the toothless folks of Upper Hutt. What he said wasn’t unique but his style made it fun. He interacted with ‘Sam’ in the front row within the first two minutes and made us feel part of his show. This is always a great technique for a stand up comedian and got the rest of the front row squirming in case he turned on them next. Alexander did go on to include more audience members but it would have been great to see him ‘pick on’ more than those who could touch him from their seats. The Fringe Bar is a small place and he would have been able to hear those in the back row, let alone just three rows back.

The two highlights for me were his adlibbing and the finale. As mentioned earlier, his nervousness was obvious but I think with more exposure to the stage, he should relax into his style. It was entertaining to see him interact with the odd comments audience members called out. He had quick answers and really seemed to enjoy himself. I’m hoping this is something he will build on, as it is a difficult skill to fake but he seems to have it. As for the finale, you have to see it to believe it. He had already gyrated all over the microphone stand showing us how to really let a woman know what you want with body language only. I hope too many guys don’t take his advice! Then he went on to demonstrate to us what women wear, or don’t wear, to clubs. The audience saw a lot more of Alexander’s body than we thought we had paid for. But the best was yet to come. Once more the poor microphone stand was attacked as Alexander broke out his Beyonce moves and had us all in fits. A grand way for a self confessed diva to leave his audience.

Needless to say, Alexander is a brave young man. The audience on Friday night sat back and weren’t overly vocal in their appreciation of the diva’s antics. This was a pity and his inexperience made him dry mouthed and some audience support would have gone a long way. If you go to see him this season or in the future, join in with his antics, it makes the show so much more fun and brings Alexander to life.

I will be keeping an eye out for Alexander Sparrow. It looks as if he has written something else featured in this year’s fringe festival – perhaps that will be my next night out.