Old Mout Cider First Laughs kicks off the New Zealand International Comedy Festival by offering Wellington audiences the chance to see six minutes of material from fifteen comedians, split evenly between domestic and international performers. With a mix of well-known New Zealand comedians alongside unknown quantities from abroad (primarily the UK), there is always an air of anticipation at which unexpected comedian will steal the show. 

Ed Byrne from Ireland is our host and he opens the show with an extended set complete with observations about his life as a middle-aged family man living in the UK. He is well accustomed with New Zealand (he even got engaged here) and is very much at ease discussing a range of issues, varying from the stupidity of glamour camping to the trials and tribulations around asking for a vasectomy. He is warm and affable and a superb choice as the glue which holds the show together. 

Steve Wrigley returns to Wellington after moving to New York last year and makes some favourable political jokes alongside some particularly amusing material about the difficulties of getting his partner pregnant.  

Markus Birdman has the audience in the palm of his hand with his observations about life as the father of a teenage daughter. He may have come from the UK but much of his set is easily understandable to this local audience. 

Neil Thornton is the opposite to Steve Wrigley in that he is an American living in Newtown, but his anecdotes about gay marriage are warmly received and he makes a good impression in a limited amount of time. 

Paco Erhard instantly compliments his audience, thanking New Zealanders for being so nice to him as a German. He is slow to begin with but reaches a satisfactory high point when describing, through a visual aid, the German psyche in regard to merging on the motorway. 

One of the most intriguing acts of the night is Cori Gonzalez-Macuer. His advice on how to survive at a party where everyone is smoking weed is insightful and fun but is hardly something universally relatable and therefore receives a fairly lukewarm response. He ends with stories from his year in an office job, but again this falls fairly flat.  

Jamie Bowen also stands out as one of the most unique performers of the night. His existential crisis jokes are satisfactory but it is his fascinating perceptions of the three main world religions which offer the greater humour.

Dai Henwood is a familiar face to followers of New Zealand comedy, and he delivers exactly what we are used to, with a winning brand of insightful local material and playful stories of being a Kiwi abroad. 

Rounding out the first half of the show is Tom Binns as hospital radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury. He steals the show, eliciting a massive response from the audience with his ‘live broadcast’ and song dedications to the patients in his hospital ward back in the UK. I will be curious to see how this well-developed character stretches out into an hour long show when he returns in the final week of the festival. 

The second half begins with Ed Byrne dissecting the message on a teenage boy’s shirt with a hilarious list of all that is wrong with comparing a love of a woman’s vagina to a fat girl’s love of cake. It is one of the highlights of the night for this reviewer.

Craig Campbell raises eyebrows with his casual attire, but wins the audience over with his farcical story of looking for a bear with a Kiwi friend in Canada. 

Paul Ego delivers an assured six minutes which revolves around him being father to a teenage son, and the simple lessons he has taught him about how to fight.

Jarred Fell spices proceedings up by bringing his magic tricks to the fore in a comical routine involving two members of the audience and a pack of cards. Both Trish and Scott are good sports and allow Fell to hit all the right notes.

Eddy Brimson arrives as an unknown quantity from London but delivers a witty riposte to the street charity collectors and the possible extinction of the panda. 

James Nokise brings topical comedy to the fore in his politically charged set, delivering material which resonates strongly. His description of New Zealand as the Chewbacca in the ANZAC relationship is particularly memorable. 

Returning to New Zealand, Carl Donnelly once again tells whimsical stories of his life in London, explaining the difficulties he encounters when visiting a proper hair salon. He comes across as a very likeable personality.

Urzila Carlson is always a crowd-pleaser at this festival and she provides more observational comedy. Her experiences of going to order coffee provoke near-universal laughter.  It is interesting to note that amongst sixteen comedians she is the only female.

Closing out this long show is Des Bishop, an Irish-American comic who has spent two years living in China. His cultural experiences are educational, witty and packed full of humour.

Whilst the night basically feels like an advert for the sixteen comedians to attract an audience to their full length shows during the next three weeks, there is certainly nobody in this capacity audience complaining.  First Laughs serves its purpose well as a tantalising tasting platter of what’s to come.

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