Old Mout Cider Comedy Gala – The Civic Theatre

The 2014 Old Mout Cider Comedy Gala was hosted by Irish comedian Jason Byrne, who will no doubt hold the title for best show entrance of 2014! Byrne brought his own personal brand of chaos to the Gala making him an enjoyable, slightly anarchic host. This unpredictability spilled out to the audience as he interacted with them freely and even plucked some victims out the crowd to join him on stage resulting in what can only be described as as a human xylophone.

20 comedians performed during this comedy marathon. There were many familiar NZ faces. Last years Billy T winner Rose Matefeo dropped some quirky impressions including the sound of a vibrating phone. TV regulars Guy Williams , Paul Ego, Ben Hurley and Urzila Carlson also were crowd pleasers who will no doubt have very popular shows at the festival. Nick Rado managed to make a successful routine around a fart joke and Jamie Bowen’s ‘life is a series of boxes’ was a clever observation. One of my favourite homegrown performance (and outfit) came from James Nokise whose modern music mocking and ‘real RnB lyrics’ were genius.

Reginald D Hunter

 Reginald D Hunter delivered some hilarious and controversial stuff!

The Brits where in full force last night. kicking off the show was John Gordillo, whose impersonation of his shouty Spaniard father truly entertained. Sara Pascoe won the crowd over and left them wanting more with her explanation for arachnophobia and the frustrations of her sex life. 2013’s Best International Act winner Tom Binns brought back Psychic Ian D Montfort to do some readings on the crowd, which were both hilarious and impressive. The joy that is Marcel Lucont oozed some cool into the proceedings while brilliantly mocking Australia Day celebrations. Festival fav Stephen  K Amos is so at home on stage that he is a comedian you know will always deliver. He told two funny anecdotes during his short set. A great teaser for his festival show.

This year’s standout Gala newcomer was Carl Donnelly, whose breakfast mishaps with a crumpet was one of the most memorable routines of the night. James Acaster returned after a triumphant 2013 festival, and was equally well received as he steered the audience around the complex musings of a Mariachi fan.

Aussie Sam Simmons took the chaos crown away from Byrne for a few minutes for his crowd pleasing bread based routine. UK based Kiwi Jarred Christmas ended the first half with a well constructed condensed mini routine covering intros, visuals and issues. Boom!

Steve Hughes was as edgy as ever mentioning the Malaysia Airlines flight, and got some big laughs for his rant on  his lack of patience for people with allergies. His brutal honesty is refreshing and will lead many to want to buy tickets to hear more. The most controversial routine of the night came from US/UK comedian Reginald D Hunter, who is making his New Zealand Debut. His cool exterior allowed him to deliver material on the Oscar Pistorius trial that was jar dropping and brilliant.

Closing the show was Rhys Darby who showed off those legs again (see Short Poppies) for a great physical balletic routine on the battle against the pickpocket. A perfect Kiwi finale from one of the countries biggest stars.

You can see the highlights of the Old Mout Cider Gala on TV3 at 8.30pm.

Reviewed by Ingrid Grenar

4 stars small

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