SELF-HELPED
BATS Theatre, The Heyday Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
15/05/2018 - 19/05/2018
NZ International Comedy Festival 2018
Production Details
Tom Sainsbury will motivate you to stand up to your full potential.
“Tom’s astute observations on politics, social media and life in New Zealand are hilarious.” Viva Magazine
Tom Sainsbury (the snapchat dude) takes you on a spiritual journey to reach your full potential. Tony Robbins, eat yer heart out! Oprah Winfrey, get the hell outta here!
Tom will inspire and motivate with tales of his life badly lived. There’ll be stand up, there’ll be skits, there’ll be walking on hot coals* (*permit pending).
Please note: Self-Helped contains occasional bad language.
This show is part of the 2018 NZ International Comedy Festival with Best Foods Mayo from 26 April – 20 May. Scroll down to discover other great Comedy Fest performances at BATS recommended for you.
BATS Theatre: The Heyday Dome
Tues 15 – Sat 19 May at 7pm
+ Sat 19 May at 5pm
Full Price $20 | Cheap Wednesday $16
Concession Price $15 | Group 6+ $14
BOOK TICKETS
Accessibility
*Access to The Heyday Dome is via stairs, so please contact the BATS Box Office at least 24 hours in advance if you have accessibility requirements so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Read more about accessibility at BATS.
Theatre , Solo , Comedy ,
1 hr
Help yourselves
Review by John Smythe 17th May 2018
The table of wigs on BATS’ Heyday Dome space is promising: that has to be the Paula Bennett one up front. A fair number of tonight’s full house are doubtless fans Tom Sainsbury’s Paula Bennett vlogging on SnapChat/YouTube
The publicity promise is that “Tom Sainsbury will motivate you to stand up to your full potential” superseding the likes of Tony Robbins and Ophrah. His entry in fitness gear suggests he’s ready for action until he wordlessly reveals his potential is way ahead of where he is. Except it’s an evocation of where was on New Year’s Day 2018.
Genre-wise plans have changed since the bumph was submitted for the Comedy Fest but the quest for self-improvement remains the central theme of his fast-talked anecdotes about his short-comings. There’s the odd learning point, too, like when you urgently need help, who in the world is most likely to come the instant they know where you are? And in the wake of his piercing take-off of Simon Bridges we learn why he only takes the piss out of the National.
Not for Sainsbury the standard set up/ play about/ pay-off structure. What lands more often than a laugh-inducing punchline is a more satisfying insight that makes us gape as much as smile.
There is much hilarity to be had, however, as he recalls his trip from Auckland to Sydney’s Comedy Central. I, for one, become quite invested in whether he’s right to believe he has stuffed up horribly or his idiosyncrasies will earn him the coveted contract. But Sainsbury is not one to bother with such mundanities as story resolution; it’s all about the journey.
New Year’s resolutions do recur as a theme, though. Like his quest to become more comfortable about sex. He also covers his ambivalence about women; his near-death experience and why he pulled himself back from the brink; his life-changing trip to India; his multi-character critique of toxic masculinity … It may sound like a manic ride on a stitchback but Sainsbury’s relaxed yet speedy persona carries us with him without generating anxiety.
His much-anticipated Paula Bennett sequence begins with his appearance as herself to present a prize at the Music Awards so includes his backstage encounter with Jacinda Ardern, the bit of APEC goss they shared, the media frenzy that ensued and the way The Guardian short-changed him.
Tom Sainsbury doing Paula Bennett doing Taylor Swift tops the highly entertaining hour – and I heartily recommend you help yourselves to the opportunity.
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