Next Big Things features seven up and coming Wellington comedians presented by Ben Hurley, best known as a comedian on TV3’s 7 Days.

The crowd laps up his slurred, expletive-laden jokes between 10 minute sets from the supposed “next big things on the Kiwi comedy circuit.”

Joel Hansby, Savanna Calton, James Malcolm, Alice Brine, James Jobe, Patch Lambert and Daniel John Smith all show glimpses of genuine talent and promise, keeping the crowd thoroughly entertained throughout.

Their materiel covers issues that seem to be relevant to young adults today, such as working a shitty job, relationships, aging parents, and of course technology like Tindr, Grindr and emoticons. There are also plenty of fat, fart and gay jokes thrown in there for good measure.

There is some real audience engagement and some sassy delivery of punch lines, but I can’t help but feel the content is a little juvenile at times.

These are only tasters of what these young comedians have to offer however and it feels natural that they would follow in the tone set by Hurley, the guy that the majority of the crowd seems to be interested in.

The future for Wellington comedy looks bright but it’d hate to see any of the seven comedians (most of whom were in their late teens / early twenties) prematurely branded as “the next big thing” based on ‘potty humour’, as one audience member so eloquently puts it.

In saying that, it is generally well executed and witty potty humour and these are only taster sessions. Most of the comedians have other shows in the comedy festival which will be a much more accurate gauge of their individual merits.

That way you can make up your own mind on the future on comedy in Wellington while supporting local talent. Check out their shows below…

Joel Hansby – http://bats.co.nz/shows/comic-or-poet/

Savanna Calton, James Malcolm & Patch Lambert – http://bats.co.nz/shows/past-our-bedtime/

Alice Brine & Daniel John Smith – http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2015/how-to-fold-fitted-sheet/wellington

James Jobe – http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=HUGOMCKI15

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The annual Next Big Things at the Comedy Festival is by now a very popular draw card and has Q Theatre’s main auditorium absolutely packed and buzzing for the 2015 showcase.

Host Ben Hurley does a great job, warming up the audience with Anzac Day jokes, references to pony tails and other topical matters before moving on to relaxed observational banter with audience members. Then the main show begins, and Hurley carefully introduces each guest then follows up their performance with details about their upcoming show. 

Ten guest slots are filled by an array of “talented up and comers … comedians you’re gonna want to see again.” Each has a bare 6 minutes to impress and entice us to buy tickets to their show, and Hurley keeps them strictly to time, so there’s a cracking pace overall.

Louise Beuvink (Dark Side of the Afternoon) gets off to a shaky start with references to the Tinder dating app and self-service supermarket technology, and seems to need a counterfoil.  

Sam Smith (Laughing Gas) immediately has the audience roaring with laughter as he completes sentence stubs with twisted endings. He then brings out his guitar and plays a series of teaser riffs from popular songs, each accompanied by witty lyrics leading that song into unexpected territory. His 6 minutes is over way too soon. 

Paul Amos (piecesandbits), in cringe mode, is ferociously pre-occupied by deconstruction of Kung Fu Fighting and a Pam’s muesli bar, slowly seducing the audience to move from WTF puzzlement to totally embracing his outrageous inventiveness with warm applause.

The Fan Brigade aka Livi Mitchell & Amanda Kennedy (Probably Shouldn’t have Told You That) are confident, direct and sardonic, starting out with some key points about “that lovely romantic rape biopic Fifty Shades of Grey” before bringing out the ukulele and focusing their witty, tuneful singing on their primary target: things that happen on Facebook. They earn warm applause and some cheers with their astute observations. 

Last up before intermission is David Correos (A Really Rough Ride with David Correos), a chunky Filipino from Christchurch who indulges in quick banter before whipping off his t shirt and placing strips of black masking tape on his naked torso in some very clever, familiar but unexpected configurations.

During intermission, all of the guest artists are in the lobby handing out flyers for their shows and answering questions. 

After intermission, Kate Han (Unusual Suspects) makes an impressive start with extremely clever inversions of a series of all-too-common racist Kiwi comments against Asians, and goes on to score more than a few bullseyes with her acute observations.

Logan Kitney (Why I’m Not A TV Magician) engages an audience member in a magic trick which builds through several stages to the climax but which is a little uncomfortably corralled into 6 minutes, and it somehow lacks the impact it should have. 

Kura Forester (Tiki Tour) is very confident and, with tongue- firmly-in-cheek, introduces some extraordinarily richly-developed characters who we might meet on a traditional OE bus tour of Europe. Amongst them is Brittany, the airhead 20 year-old tour guide from the Gold Coast who would surely make any bus tour unbearable. 

West-Aucklander-transplanted-to-Grey Lynn Will Wood (Honesty Box) is giving up coffee because he has developed too rich a connoisseurship with it. In stand-up mode, he is also preoccupied with his Westie roots, Police Ten 7 and the Australian fruit fly.  

And finally, Paul Douglas (The Bullshit has Hit The Fan) takes on dating apps, cellphone dependency and how useless Generation X will be in any future war, and then moves on to some extraordinary connections between West Auckland beaches, Asian tourists and reality TV shows such as Piha Rescue, Border Patrol and Survivor.

Overall, a great introduction to some clever comedians, and a richly variegated array of teasers for imminent shows.

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