NICK GIBB in FUNNY LIKE A CLOWN
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
28/04/2012 - 05/05/2012
Fringe Bar, Cnr Cuba & Vivian, Wellington
15/05/2012 - 19/05/2012
NZ International Comedy Festival 2012
Production Details
2011 Billy T Award winner returns with his latest smorgasbord of comedy delights.
“Funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I’m here to f**kin’ amuse you?” asked Joe Pesci in a scene from Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas that is famous enough to reference, but not famous enough that it doesn’t need explaining when you do. Nick Gibb is here to f**ckin’ amuse you, while he explores the fickle, mysterious and sometimes hostile nature of comedian/audience relations.
Fresh from delighting packed houses at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with his show “Crumpled Antipodean Dandy” and making literally dozens of pounds on the lucrative UK comedy circuit, Gibb returns to NZ with a new hour of comedy. “Funny Like A Clown” promises all the fun of the circus, if the circus was one slightly drunk guy at a microphone.
“Razor sharp wit… Gibb is a sparklingly talented new comic with some brilliantly original material… I would be very surprised if Nick Gibb wasn’t a name with serious clout in the comedy world in the near future.” **** Edinburgh Guide
“Disarming, likable, and clever…He’s intelligent and earnest; he’s not afraid of the intellectual approach.” – Theatreview.org.nz
Gibb spent six years honing his skills as a sketch comedian and improviser in the unforgiving comedy wilderness of Palmerston North before tentatively beginning to expose audiences to his stand-up in 2007. Since then he has established himself as one of the New Zealand’s best new comedians, with a reputation for intelligent comedy and verbal panache. Gibb’s comedy centres on searingly personal revelations in which awkwardness, insecurity and inebriation are disguised as rakish, worldly sophistication. Nick finds that the healing laughter and applause of strangers fills the void that childhood taunts left in his soul, but then, this is true of all comedians.
Alongside stand-up comedy, Nick is a writer, actor and filmmaker, and is the co-creator of the cult web comic Dead Philosophers in Heaven.
As part of the NZ International Comedy Festival 2012.
NICK GIBB in FUNNY LIKE A CLOWN
AUCKLAND
Dates: Sat 28 April, Tues 1 – Sat 5 May, 7.15pm
Venue: The Basement Studio, Level 1, Lower Greys Ave, CBD
WELLINGTON
Dates: Tues 15 – Sat 19 May, 8.30pm
Venue: Fringe Bar, Corner Vivian St and Cuba St
Tickets: Adults $18, Conc. $15, Groups 8+ $15
Bookings: 0800TICKETEK or www.ticketek.co.nz
Duration: 1 hour
For a full line up of performances, booking details & more information, visit www.comedyfestival.co.nz
1hr
Wit and intelligence
Review by Simon Howard 16th May 2012
Nick Gibb enters his new show with the bar well and truly raised. As the 2011 Billy T Award winner, audiences are beginning to appreciate this talented up-and-coming local comedian, and once he gets into his stride his witty and well-crafted stories warm this opening night Wellington crowd.
Making his entrance with a clown, one expected an early element of ventriloquism. However we quickly discover that other than acting as a quirky, creepy prop, this unusual character exists only to lead Gibb into his new show, ‘Funny Like A Clown’.
The audience is regaled with amusing and intelligent stories throughout, varying from the horrors of shopping at Pak N’ Save to desperately taking on a job acting as a Scottish stripper. Gibb finds humour from events in his early childhood all the way through to the present day, in particular with his story of travelling back on an Air New Zealand flight, taking off as the Rugby World Cup final reached its dramatic climax.
Here is a man who clearly loves New Zealand, and having played to audiences in Edinburgh and throughout the UK in the last twelve months, Gibb appears at ease much closer to his Palmerston North roots. Whilst his political material didn’t quite hit the mark, it’s hard not to agree with some of his less controversial remarks. Although his wit and intelligence are to be applauded, at times his stories feel overly drawn out or lacking a memorable punch line.
Audience interaction is sadly non-existent, and in a live setting it is disappointing that the one hour of material feels overly rigid and scripted. The show lacks the organic flow and nature which spontaneous responses and interaction naturally provide.
His warmth and affability are evident throughout, though at times I just wish he would attempt to link in his stories with an overarching theme. Nonetheless, on the whole his stories hit the mark more often than not.
Whilst it would be perhaps pushing it to suggest that Gibb has now made it into the upper echelons of the New Zealand comedy scene, it would appear to be only a matter of time before he moves onto bigger and better things. With some minor alterations, Gibb’s likeable persona would undoubtedly appeal to a wider audience.
A healthy crowd in the Fringe Bar fully appreciated the talent and efforts of a man who, as he approaches his fourth decade, maintains a level of wit and intelligence which sets him apart from many of his contemporaries.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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