Paul Ego is a funny, intelligent man. This hour-long show at Q Theatre draws on stories, random anecdotes and tales of excess and failure in a charming and accessible way. 

Dressed as a giant squirrel that has ridiculously phallic overtones, Ego sets the tone for the show: eccentric, slightly boysie ‘dick’ humour combined with clever observations about midlife realities. He’s a married man and father to two “male boys – the best kind” – and this deeply informs his perspective. He’s the guy you’d want to sit next to at a dinner party.

Ego is adept at riffing on themes of absurdity, and this is the more risky material that I enjoy. A highlight is the ACC-meets-50 Shades of Grey setup. A roll call is a particularly clever device to capture audience involvement and to invoke a raft of topics to unpick. And, I tell ya, the man can sing! 

This isn’t side-splitting laughter, and having seen Ego on the fabulous, well-edited 7 Days, I expected more swiftness as he hits the comedy straps. But Ego is a genius in his own inimitable way and the show is testament to his talent as a performer as much as a comic talent; unfazed by a technical mishap and able to drive through. This is solid comedy. 

I’m still not sure what squirrels have to do with the show, but a $300 squirrel costume is a great leveller, if nothing else. That is Ego’s talent; connecting with the ‘everyman’ on a Thursday night at 7pm. Great fun.

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Paul Ego is a comedian with a profile and platform in New Zealand which brings with it the pressure to deliver an hour of stand-up which meets HIS audience’s expectations. This is a chance to see the man described by his publicity as “7 Days quickest wit” and New Zealand’s funniest “make-it-all-up-as-he-goes-along” comedian live in the flesh. Unfortunately this opening night in Wellington’s Hannah Playhouse can’t help but feel a little flat and underwhelming. 

Maybe it’s that the show is almost 15 minutes late in starting, a technical delay from the ticketing agency delaying entry. Ego jokes that waiting in a hot and heavy costume for so long has resulted in significant weight loss. Maybe it’s that this is the first performance of a new show, on what is traditionally a quiet night in this festival (i.e. you can get 20% discounts for Wednesday shows).

There are numerous reasons why Phenomenuts feels a little flat and underwhelming. Perhaps the main one is that the stories Ego recounts don’t tick the boxes required to make me laugh. Maybe it is because I am not the right age or demographic. Much of the hour consists of stories which have occurred in his day to day life as a 49-year old television personality with a wife and kids living in affluent Devonport. I am a 22-year old in Wellington with no such commitments.

The parts of the show which most strike a chord for me revolve around squirrels, sharks and wasps. When he is talking about birthday sex, calling home after a few drinks and discussing the nativity story I can empathise and go along with the story, but only to a point.  

His description of drinking red wine at a house party instantly takes me back to a very similar tale he told in last year’s Best of the Fest. His use of a roll call includes some witty insights, but it feels like Ego is battling against an audience who, with the occasional exception, provide a lukewarm response. I recall he used a PowerPoint presentation to better effect last year. 

As an observational and topical comedian, Ego picks understandable subjects to discuss. However, Fifty Shades of Grey no longer feels like a current issue, and the vast amount of political material to poke fun at is almost nowhere to be seen (the occasional reference to John Key and his ponytail scandal aside).Despite this, from listening to and observing those around me it is clear there are some people in the audience who are enjoying themselves thoroughly.  

If you are familiar with Paul Ego from 7 Days and enjoy his contributions as team captain on the show, you may well be satisfied with Phenomenuts.  If you enjoy observational comedy then you could do a lot worse. In my opinion though, this performance falls some way short of last year’s AmazingBalls show.

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