Culture

Performers: Trubie-Dylan Smith, Abby Howells, Tegan McKegg, Malcolm Morrison, Jerome Cousins, Megan Grinlinton, Matthew Robinson. (4/5)

Anyone who has ever been to a comedy event with me will know I have the token loud laugh, which is something I’ve learnt to embrace over the years. Why not laugh your guts out when you’ve been served up such a great comedy evening - such as the one last Friday, brought to you by AntiSocial Tap!
 
It was a great deal, a $15 ticket to see Auckland-based comedian Stella Graham at XII Below, grab a couple of drinks and then skip on up to the Fortune for a bit of Late Night Impro. Graham’s ‘Karma Comedian’ was a great concept for a show; she would tell us stories from her life and we would have to decide whether she would go to heaven or hell, with a nominated God figure making the final call. It was a clever way of having the audience constantly interacting and always keeping them on their toes.
 
Graham was welcoming and often made conversation with audience members and smoothly weaved their stories in with hers. There were a nice variety of stories from her childhood in England to moving out to Auckland to escape a crazy ex-boyfriend. As a born and bred English kid, I did enjoy the jokes at the English’s expense, I must admit. For such a good deal it was surprising how small the crowd was, making it reasonably difficult for Graham at times, but she handled it well and pulled off a great show. This was a great event for AntiSocial Tap, to have their name on, with particular kudos for getting a comedian from Auckland down here. It’s good to know people don’t forget about us all the time!
 
After a short stroll through town and a quick look at the rugby, it was time to head up to the Fortune Theatre, new home to Improsaurus. The theme this week was ImproNoir, a great choice that went down well with a particularly full Studio audience. The story developed beautifully and was jam packed with great witty one-liners and a few characters all called ‘Jones.’ It’s always good to see the performers feeding off the crowd’s energy and having a good time. This edition was perhaps my joint favourite, along with the Time Travel edition, and I particularly enjoyed the attention to detail with every character having cigarettes, well, spacemen sticks, but that just made it cooler.
 
Overall, it was a fantastic evening out. With fresh talent and loud laughs, you can’t go wrong really. A big well done to AntiSocial Tap for organising it and I hope to see more comedy combos like this in the future!