Audrey Porne (Ngāi Tahu) lives and works in Ōtautahi / Christchurch. She was the South Island Breakthrough Comedian (NZ Comedy Guild Awards) in 2019, 2021 and 2022. Her comedy has been described as quick, dark, witty and truly original and her online bio says her tweets have been featured on: BuzzFeed, FunnyOrDie, M2Woman, Huffington Post and various Invercargill toilet stalls.

This is the second time I have seen her, and she is good. It’s refreshing to see a comedian who is in tune with the audience and not distracted by, or only bouncing off, the few in the room who think the performance is so hysterically funny they are hardly drawing breath. I love that people have a good laugh but the whole evening underscored by the live equivalent of 2-3 person laugh track is bloody annoying to be frank. 

So back to Ms Porne. Her material is very good indeed. Laugh-out-loud original jokes that the diverse audience lapped up. Her delivery is confident, albeit a little rushed at times, which may be why some of her jokes don’t quite land as they should. Varying her pace, pausing more, will definitely help that. Using her voice and the mic more effectively will also reduce the at-times ‘shouty’ delivery. These are technical things that don’t overly detract from her performance but will improve it.

Audrey’s connection and confidence with the audience is a great foundation, and her material sits very comfortably on that base. Make sure you catch her if you can.

Dan Bain is a well-known and hugely experienced performer, director, writer, improvisor and all round amazing creative human being. Which is why I am a tad disappointed by his show, Would you like me better if I was a bit less like me?!

There’s no doubt he has confidence and the acting chops, in fact it is those elements of his stand up that stand out. The show doesn’t really deliver what the title suggests with a rather odd examination of the reasons why we should put “billionaires to the blade” followed up with a performance joke about being bald (something others have suggested he do gags about but clearly he thinks that’s pants).

It feels like a workshop of new material, untimed and unstructured. His exploration of late age ADHD diagnoses is a shining example of Bain’s ability to really connect with his audience, both young and old, because let’s face it, we’re all somewhere on the spectrum, right?

“I’m 43. Am I suddenly going to become productive? I don’t need to improve myself.” It is done respectfully and honestly, and it is funny. As is his Tracey Chapman Fast Car gag. I agree, why would anyone recreate perfection?

He’s smart, maybe too smart. Is the title of his show, and me not getting what I expected, all part of the plan? I think we like you the way you are Dan, just a bit pacier, a little more focused (but that could be the ADHD) and leave the microphone stand alone for god’s sake man.

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer