In a Wellington premier, Sketch/Comedy comes to the Fringe Bar stage. The capital’s top stand up comedians combine with one of New Zealand’s sharpest cartoonists for a spontaneous mix of stand up and visual comedy.
Sketch/Comedy is the creation of cartoonist/designer Hadley Donaldson. With no rehearsal Hadley illustrates jokes and stories on the fly, with just a laptop and a projector to help him. The comedians have no idea what will be drawn, and Hadley has no idea what they’re going to say, combining to make a unique never before seen show.
Hadley was the lead illustrator on Picture This! in the 2013 Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival and discovered he had a knack for the rapid off the cuff visual riffing involved. He worked with many comedians across more than 40 shows, including Pete Holmes (The Pete Holmes Show), Michael Che (The Daily Show, SNL), Paul Provenza (The Aristocrats, The Green Room w/ Paul Provenza, Set List), Ronnie Chieng, Claire Hooper and many more.
MC for the evening is the award winning Jonny Potts. A veteran of the NZ International Comedy Festival, in 2015 Jonny won best comedy and best writing in the NZ Fringe and has been invited to take part in the Sydney Fringe Festival in October. An actor playwright and podcaster, his new show River Man will be making it’s debut on the Bats Theatre stage later this year.
With comedians:
New York’s Neil Thornton
2014 Wellington Raw Quest winner Daniel John Smith
2013 Wellington Raw Quest winner Nik Bruce-Smith
Canada’s Rob Harris
Alice Brine – sold out run at the NZ International Comedy Festival
Writer/comedian/DJ – Eamonn Marra
Nice guy – Adam Wright
The comic cabaret is a blend of geeky and sexy with a side of awesome and unusual skills thrown in for good measure. With a roster of performers with a self-professed love for the nerdier side of things, Nerdlesque promises a fun and unique night out for those of you that like a side of debauchery with your Dungeons & Dragons.
Dressing up/cosplay is highly encouraged as we have spot prizes for the best dressed!
Last year we saw Voldemort put on his dancin’ shoes and Jareth the Goblin King also blessed us with a magic dance. Darth Vader fully embraced his dark side and a Doctor’s clothes exterminated amongst a multitude of other fan-tastic things. What will Nerdlesque cook up this year? Get your tickets now and find out!
From the Feral Audio podcast Weird Adults With Little Esther and television’s New Girl, Parks and Recreation, @midnight, Key & Peele, Jimmy Kimmel Live and more!
Esther Povitsky, aka Little Esther, is a fixture of the LA comedy scene; best known for her breakout podcast Weird Adults With Little Esther, where she finds out what makes her fellow comedian friends ‘weird adults’.
Esther’s irreplaceable quirk and charm has made her a stand-out among her comedy peers, and has seen her make regular television appearances on New Girl, Parks and Recreation, @Midnight, Key & Peele, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!
While other children watched cartoons and played video games, Esther was watching Saturday Night Live, and was starving to see Second City shows every other weekend. Esther considers herself a ‘Theatrical Comedian’ with comedic obsessions and references from the LA comedy scene.
In 2012, Esther co-created and starred in the MTV docu-comedy Little Esther, which chronicled her life as a young comic, and her relationships with her mostly-male contemporaries. The following year, Esther performed as part of the New Faces Showcase at the 2013 Just for Laughs Comedy Festival.
Esther’s vibrant web presence has resulted in a recent partnership with Refinery29.com, bringing her stage show ‘What’s in Your Bag’ to the masses, and a part in Netflix’s Judd Apatow produced series, LOVE. Esther also wears a mouth guard due to her grinding her teeth at night. She often speaks in a baby voice with the mouth guard in.
Fresh from recording her debut album, Esther will bring her revered stand-up to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in 2015.
Don’t miss this opportunity to witness a comedic star in the making perform her signature idiosyncratic millennial brand of humour live.
This month Rouge has another strong line up featuring two local comedians with very different styles: Alice Brine and James Nokise As well as two out of town burlesque performers: classic performer Ruby Ruin from Christchurch and comedic character performer Amourous Ava from Auckland. They will be performing along side a hoola hoopist, a fortunte teller, a poet, a drag artist and musicians.
Rouge works to create a Victorian carnival sideshow feel to the event, she is inspired by the turn of the century travelling sideshows.
“In a time where there were such ridged social rules for behaviour and attire the carnival was a place to escape and embrace the extremes of diversity, eccentricity and the extraordinary.”
