IT'S TIME TO GROW UP
Cavern Club, 22 Allen St, Te Aro, Wellington
24/02/2022 - 26/02/2022
Production Details
Sean and Gavin think it’s time for them to grow up. But no progress beyond that thought has actually been made. With the state the world is in, this show could be about their quarter OR midlife crisis. Join these two top upcoming comics for one hour of stand-up comedy as they wrestle with their idiotic yet hilarious past and what that means for them and their future.
Gavin Hews
Gavin is a nationally touring stand up comic born in the US and based in Auckland. Having performed to sold-out crowds in fringe festivals across the country, as well as the 2020 Wellington Fringe Festival, he is excited to perform new material and stop talking in the third person.
Sean Collier
Originally hailing from Whangarei, Sean began his comedy career in 2016 in a dingy pub in Christchurch. The following year he was a finalist in the Wellington Raw Comedy Quest, and the year after that he won the entire Wellington competition, coming runner up in the national finals in Auckland. Since then he has performed in gigs all across NZ, including the Classic in Auckland, San Fran in Wellington, and the NZ Fringe Festival in 2019. Last year he even starred in the short film “foul hooked” which premiered at Roxy Cinema in September 2021.
Cavern Club, 22 Allen Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Thursday 24 – Saturday 26 February 2022
8:30pm
General Admission $20.00
Concession $15.00
Fringe Addict $16.00
Ticket + $5 $25.00
Ticket + $10 $30.00
BOOK
Content forecast: Drug References, Drug Use, Alcohol Use
Sean Collier and Gavin Hews
Theatre , Comedy ,
1 hr
Well pitched to their target audience
Review by Margaret Austin 25th Feb 2022
I’m at the Cavern Club to see a double act of stand-up comedy with Gavin Hews and Sean Collier. It’s called Time to Grow Up. Hmmm. Raucous gusts of laughter from the corners of this basement bar – even before the show begins – suggest that audience members are primed.
MC for the event is Alexander Sparrow – remember his Trump impersonations? He’s himself this evening and resplendent in a suit, including waistcoat, an outfit signalling a propriety I suspect I’m not going to get. His warm-up jokes confirm my suspicions, but I enjoy his ease and confidence.
Audience expectations play a huge part in the success of a stand-up comedian. Punchlines are de rigueur – oh, and expletives. There are plenty of those.
Gavin, first on, has plenty of attack, without attacking. We hear where he bought his plane ticket to Wellington, which New Zealand town is safest for bringing up children, and why the capital city is going downhill. There are a couple of references to the show’s title: the dig he makes at education in his native America is dismayingly pointed. On the other hand, we’re happy to laugh at his 21st birthday present from his mother.
Sean’s next up. Like Gavin, he explores the theme of same sex schools, and I find myself agreeing they can’t provide the most important education. Sean is into delinquency, orgies and shoplifting from the Warehouse. I’m anticipating a level of rough honesty – and I get it. I do get it – though sometimes I don’t especially want to. The rest of the audience clearly doesn’t share my reluctance.
“This show is about their quarter or midlife crisis,” the programme states. Gavin and Sean relate content that appeals to an audience similarly poised, and in the true style of stand-up. But they’ve got many more years ahead of them. I reckon their title Time to Grow Up is missing a question mark.
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