Wellington Comedy Club

Another night, another Fringe show. Tonight, it was the Wellington Comedy Club at the San Francisco Bathhouse. The old Indigo bar is a really cool venue in Cuba Street. The Comedy Club is now cashing in on being the former stamping ground of the Flight of the Conchords, Wellington's "local boys done well", and rightly so.

Unfortunately, names escape me tonight. The MC was absolutely hilarious. An Iraqi-American, he apparently picked up his Arabian accent from living in Newtown for just two weeks. He could have kept us entertained for ages and it was great to laugh along to his anecdotes in between acts. A ho-hum musical comedy duo got things started, followed by a rather bland, self-deprecating guy who strung together a whole lot of one liners and random jokes. The third guy was good. (Geez, why can't I remember his name? Nathan someone??)

The evening's main act was Andre King, "a Maori from South Auckland". Definitely not a show to bring the kids to (the poor 12-year-old in the front table looked like she wanted to shrivel up and die, and her parents and older sister looked equally uncomfortable), there is nowhere Andre did not go and no subject that was taboo. The difference between him and emerging comedians is that he pulled it all together with style. A tall, imposing figure on such a small stage, he had us in fits of laughter in the most politically incorrect manner. Bloody marvellous! Stand up comedy is alive and well in Wellington.