Why have they called this show Orphan’s of Comedy? The name implies that comedy is dead and what you see before you is all that is left – two young men from Christchurch who hold our only hope of laughter.

Dan Bain and Jav Jarquin arrive in Wellington fresh from their stint at the Auckland leg of the Comedy Festival, touring a set that is not so much a two-hander as two separate half hours of stand up.

Daniel Bain is first on the floor – based on an audience participatory stand off of Paper/ Rock/ Scissors – and he jumps in with great gusto.

Bain has a genuinely intellectual style of comedy.  Billing himself as an "abstract anecdotist", his jokes are cerebral and often original, however they are not always completely successful. Each idea could afford to be considered, matured, and played out a little longer – raising the stakes so that the punch line actually punches. Too often that the audience has to hear the comedian’s own laugh before they realise the gagline had been delivered.  

A more grounded physicality might help delivery also, and allow his musings on morality and the seven deadly sins and their modern counterparts to be shown for the clever and inventive flights of fancy that they are.

Conversely Jav Jarquin, the second orphan to take to the stage, stays within safe boundaries.   His content is tried and true (text language, animals, men versus women and how they communicate) and his delivery is spot on. 

A confident and charismatic performer with a calm and natural stage presence Jarquin’s routine flows from observation to anecdote informed by a palpable understanding of where his audience sits in relation to his material.  He assumes voices and characters with ease, his jokes are distinct entities that segue smoothly into one another; all in all his set is tight, cohesive and extremely well executed.

Both Bain and Jarquin hail from Christchurch where they work as professional comedians and entertainers.  This is obvious from the ease with which they work the intimate and unwieldy venue that is Happy, engaging with the audience and incorporating them as live factors into their performance.  However I do not know if said audience would have adopted these orphans and taken them home.
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