JAMES ROQUE in Roque to Self
Q Theatre, The Vault, Auckland
14/05/2014 - 17/05/2014
NZ International Comedy Festival 2014
Production Details
IF YOU COULD TALK TO YOUR 8-YEAR OLD SELF, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM?
New Zealand’s Filipino comedy son James Roque is set to debut his brand new hour of comedy from the 14 – 17 May as part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival.
To mark the 15th anniversary of his family moving to New Zealand, James is looking back at his time so far in the land of the long white cloud the best way he could think of: by writing a letter to his 8-year old self.
Loaded with advice, warnings and questions Roque will attempt to school his younger counterpart on what it’s like to be a grown-up – despite only being 22 years old himself.
Since starting in 2010, James has reached new heights on the New Zealand comedy ladder. In 2011, he was a standout performer on TV3’s AotearoHA: Next Big Things and in the 2012 New Zealand International Comedy Festival he was featured in Minority Report alongside Edith Poor and Eli Matthewson. Roque then went on to be nominated for Best Newcomer for his first solo stand-up hour titled James Roque is Chicken! at the 2013 New Zealand International Comedy Festival.
Outside of stand-up, James is also involved with theatre. In 2013 he performed alongside Jacob Rajan in Indian Ink’s new show Kiss the Fish and in 2014, his theatre company Pretty Asian Theatre produced Renee Liang’s Lantern at the Auckland Lantern Festival.
“…a refreshing take on stand-up, James produces the goods…” – KeepingUpWithNZ.org
As part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival in cahoots with Old Mout Cider, grab some mates and join us for a great night of laughs from 24 April – 18 May.
For the full Comedy Fest show line-up head to comedyfestival.co.nz
AUCKLAND
Dates: 14 – 17 May, 10pm
Venue: Vault at Q Theatre, 305 Queen St
Tickets: Adults $18 Conc. $16
Bookings: 09 309 9771 // qtheatre.co.nz Website: facebook.com/RoqueComedy
IF YOU COULD TALK TO YOUR 8-YEAR OLD SELF, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM?
New Zealand’s Filipino comedy son James Roque is set to debut his brand new hour of comedy from the 14 – 17 May as part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival.
To mark the 15th anniversary of his family moving to New Zealand, James is looking back at his time so far in the land of the long white cloud the best way he could think of: by writing a letter to his 8-year old self.
Loaded with advice, warnings and questions Roque will attempt to school his younger counterpart on what it’s like to be a grown-up – despite only being 22 years old himself.
Since starting in 2010, James has reached new heights on the New Zealand comedy ladder. In 2011, he was a standout performer on TV3’s AotearoHA: Next Big Things and in the 2012 New Zealand International Comedy Festival he was featured in Minority Report alongside Edith Poor and Eli Matthewson. Roque then went on to be nominated for Best Newcomer for his first solo stand-up hour titled James Roque is Chicken! at the 2013 New Zealand International Comedy Festival.
Outside of stand-up, James is also involved with theatre. In 2013 he performed alongside Jacob Rajan in Indian Ink’s new show Kiss the Fish and in 2014, his theatre company Pretty Asian Theatre produced Renee Liang’s Lantern at the Auckland Lantern Festival.
“…a refreshing take on stand-up, James produces the goods…” – KeepingUpWithNZ.org
As part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival in cahoots with Old Mout Cider, grab some mates and join us for a great night of laughs from 24 April – 18 May.
For the full Comedy Fest show line-up head to comedyfestival.co.nz
AUCKLAND
Dates: 14 – 17 May, 10pm
Venue: Vault at Q Theatre, 305 Queen St
Tickets: Adults $18 Conc. $16
Bookings: 09 309 9771 // qtheatre.co.nz Website: facebook.com/RoqueComedy
Self-deprecating humour with pop-culture pay-off
Review by Stephen Austin 16th May 2014
James Roque is a 22 year old Kiwi-Filipino who is starting to look back at his experiences since moving here as an eight-year-old.
He decides the best way to do that, and keep us entertained at the same time, is to finally write the letter to his childhood self that he has been formulating for the last fourteen years, outlining a bit of advice to that dorky kid.
His thoughts and ramblings run the gamut of the everyday (“treat people right”, etc), the highly useful (“girls are hard”, etc) and sometimes the downright weird (“parents are gangsta”, etc). I’m not sure telling yourself to be “like a rapper” is the most sound advice, even if you’re unable to actualise a time machine.
Roque’s style of delivery is zippy, relaxed, upbeat and fun. He’s always inclusive of his audience and seems eager to let us in on his personal story; whether to get something off his chest or offer a genuine insight that we can all relate to. Despite a restrained politeness, his delivery is peppered with mild throw-away f-bombs that don’t intrude on the show and this seems to keep his nerves in check.
Self-deprecation is certainly the key to this show and he illustrates the whole thing with many embarrassing and cringe-worthy photos of himself from childhood to now, choosing his moments for a reveal to pay off a laugh with well timed, vividly illustrated slides. The sound on the presentation is slightly too loud for the performer, so the quick-fire “tips” round is a bit lost and garbled, but we get the message loud and clear anyway from the visuals.
On opening night, a major technical glitch with the computer running the Powerpoint presentation that forms the basis of the show meant that he had to reboot and wing it for a fair chunk of material. That he kept us on side and the ideas central to the core of this show driving forward is a credit, while I’m sure he would have been inwardly sweating bullets over the technical snafu.
The super silly pop-cultural referencing climax to the show has this child of the 1980s rolling in the aisles. I won’t spoil it for audiences to come though, but I will say that it is worth the ticket price and adds an extra level to the performance that provides Roque with the ability to self-reflect the whole piece and cast an indirect empathetic echo over what we’ve just seen.
A satisfyingly engaging performer, with an interesting if awkward backstory, who knows how to manage the necessary story beats to make a decent stand-up routine work, but free of the baggage that goes with overthinking it in the moment. Good, solid fun.
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