San Fran (beats and beers) is the place to be for Cori Gonzalez-Macuer’s latest show – Awesome? Nah, bro – and the place is abuzz with a full house come to see the 7 Days and What We Do in the Shadows star. That’s how the members at my table know him.

Set up like a refectory and with candlelight on the tables, San Fran sits right between allowing maximum occupancy and moody speakeasy. But Gonzalez-Macuer hails from Welly (well, not originally, but you know what I mean) and there will also be those who followed him before his national exposure.

After the ubiquitous intro from Ricky Gervais (nice coup, that) we have the ubiquitous intro from Gonazalez-Macuer himself before he calmly walks onstage.

Being crippled by his ACL injury, he has had to come up with 10 more minutes of material as the planned video of his running around Wellington has had to be canned. This is not the only thing that will cripple him tonight and, as he says. “If you can’t laugh at a cripple, especially when it’s yourself…?”

Awesome? Nah, bro is titled exactly right. Cori is a self-confessed cynic with a hatred for those airheads who achieve fame through the slightest of exposures and cling to remain in the spotlight.  

First up it’s a riff on his recent roaming through Aoteoroa, and how the various venues he performed in reflect NZ. For each location there’s a funny recollection of what happened followed by a killer observation about ourselves. Each is delivered with a touch of distaste which could be somewhat offensive were it not coupled with the fact that’s its true and the charm with which it’s delivered.

Christchurch Uber; Correction Conferences; The Batchelor … Cori is the boy who pops these balloons gleefully. These are the kinds of people he hopes his daughter (another mine of great material – but not in the way you might think) will never become, while totally owning that he’s one of them, or at least that’s who he used to be. While his cynicism might make you think he is making lemons out of lemonade he does it in such a cool manner, standing alone with his mike, his great eyebrows adding emphasis, that you know he’s speaking truths we all feel.

He’s very adept at being present with the audience. Our lack of response becomes a room full of tinder dates. When his show is in danger of being further crippled by his computer; when he realizes he is going to have to make good on his improv promise (best improv ever!); when he has to shift his balance because he didn’t want to bring his crutches onstage – all these very alive moments are handled brilliantly. They become some of his best material because there’s no pretence about what’s happening. Cori Gonazalez-Macuer takes them on board and mines them for all the on-the-spot millage they have. Indeed, he’s honest enough to share that they might be better than what he had planned and I’ll be intrigued to find out if he changes his show. 

Awesome? Nah, bro is comedy fest at its best. Get in before the tickets dry up.

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