A FUNNY THING HAPPENED
On television at least, it appears we have reached peak local comedy. On Wednesday nights on TVNZ 2, there’s a double dose of export-quality sitcom – the fourth and final series of Wellington Paranormal and Rose Matafeo’s UK-made Starstruck. The following night, it’s the turn of hardy perennial panel show 7 Days on Three, in its new early-evening time slot with revamped teams, and on Prime, Pax Assadi’s new autobiographical sitcom, Raised by Refugees. On Friday, some of those familiar 7 Days faces are up the road on TVNZ 2’s own panel news quiz, Have You Been Paying Attention? This week, Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi’s LA-filmed pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death begins on HBO Max in the US – which has also been screening Paranormal and Starstruck – and on Sky TV’s Neon in this country. At home, Kiwi come-dians are trying to sell us houses, burgers, yogurt and phone plans. The pandemic may have put paid to two annual comedy festivals and affected the live stand-up scene and corporate circuit, but those who have got a foot in the door on local television would appear to be thriving. They’re putting the ’tainment in info-tainment shows such as Seven Sharp and The Project, or juggling their telly gigs with radio and podcast careers. Comedy in New Zealand, it seems, has become a serious business. It’s also undergoing both a generational and cultural shift.
Two hours to midnight on Queen Street, Auckland. It’s January, the moon is nearly full and the twentysomethings filling comedy club The Classic are forking over $15 each, which buys you two hours and 10 comedians.
The event is Summer Raw: L8 & Live Comedy, a show in which inexperienced “raw” comedians who have polished
