Last Saturday’s Late Night Knife Fight #52 – Asockalypse Now was the sixth and final local show as a part of the New Zealand Improv Festival 2023, which invites in a full slate of wider shows this week. It was sold out, with the audience bustling around BATS Theatre early, an excitable mix of general public and NZIF participants.

MC, Jen O’Sullivan, explains the show format: three teams of two will perform an improv moment/scene/performance of their choosing, and the audience votes for their favourite during intermission. The winner’s name will go onto the perpetual trophy which sits on stage.

The winner from the previous Late Night Knife Fight – #51, The Quarter Quell – performs after the intermission.

The first team, TBC, features Dianne Pulham and Tristram Domican, who are very playful and high energy, constantly moving and changing characters, including playing animals. The audience are completely engrossed and give rousing applause when the ‘trapped’ animals are finally released from captivity.

Thomas Ba and Sarah Ashill make up the second team, Radical Jam, who perform a piece based on an audience suggestion of an object important in our lives: a teddy bear. The scenes explore how the teddy bear became part of their lives including reminiscing while unpacking the attic in preparation to move house and a gift given early in their relationship as a keepsake for their time apart.

The third team, MIAMI (Max Porozny and Tara McEntee) starts with an advance apology from Max that he might fart at any time which gains applause and cheering from the audience! This is referred to often during their scenes and makes it difficult to focus on what is actually happening on stage!

After intermission, the previous LNKF winner, Asockalypse Now (Nina Hogg and Feya Durkin) enter the stage, dressed in costume as white socks with face holes and stripes to indicate military rank: white for Captain and blue for lower rank. They reminisce about their war with microwaves, lacing their scenes with corny jokes about power sockets, size not mattering and pairing up, which thrill and delight the audience.

The socks build their strength for battle by doing push-ups, a very funny activity to watch from the audience! They continue their journey until one stands on a landmine. A true test of determination to win over evil, the audience cheers and stamps wildly as we see the demise of this loyal relationship.

TBC (Pulham and Domican) are voted as audience favourites and will be returning next month for the next round of Knife Fight.

Overheard by this reviewer as the still excited audience departs, “Let’s go home and make some life-size socks to wear to the (NZIF) party!”  An excited “YES!” is the response!

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