NIC SAMPSON HAS FALLEN DOWN A WELL
BATS Theatre, The Propeller Stage, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
26/04/2016 - 30/04/2016
NZ International Comedy Festival 2016
Production Details
WOOF WOOF… What’s that boy? Comedian Nic Sampson has fallen down the old well?!
BARK BARK WOOF… What’s that? While he waits for rescue at the bottom of the well he’s doing a stand-up show?! This I gotta see!
WOOF RUFF… I might know Nic from Snort or TV3’s Jono and Ben and Funny Girls? I’m there!
BARK… Oh sorry boy, no dogs allowed! …AROO…
“A stellar combination of observation, story-telling and absurdity” – Gather & Hunt
“Sampson is at the peak of his game…a beautiful gem of comedic goodness” – TV3
Facebook – /nicsampsoncomedy
BATS Propeller Stage
Full Price $18.00
Concession $14.00
Group 6+ $13.00
Cheap Wednesday $13.00
*service fee may apply
Part of the 2016 NZ International Comedy Festival powered by Flick Electric Co. running from 22 April – 15 May. To get The Latest on all the comedy shows on offer, info about the Fest, access to competitions and special deals, head to www.comedyfestival.co.nz.
Limited tickets available at the Cheap Wednesday price of $13 for Wednesday 27th April only!
Theatre , Comedy ,
50 mins
Fall-down elevates stand-up
Review by John Smythe 27th Apr 2016
On seeing the circle of rocks and the wooden bucket resting at the end of a rope I’m confident this will not be a stand-up comedy show. Even when Nic Sampson uses the conventional opening device to announce himself from backstage I feel sure it’s a ruse – and the nature of his entrance seems to prove it.
What a shock, then, when he discovers a mic and launches into a standard stand-up routine. A good one, mind you, ticking off the décor of Wellington Airport and its environs, our small screen obsessions, his WMCM privilege, Christmas with the girlfriend’s family, a new flat and its neighbours, the essential value of dancing versus trigonometry, the pitfalls of attending an all-boys school …
These are not spoilers: it’s how Sampson treats these topics that makes his show worth being at. His foray into dimensions beyond the usual three moves it into a new, well, dimension. Likewise the questions of how we relate to working dogs and whether games of ‘Fuck, Marry, Kill’ really are just harmless fun.
It’s a surprisingly short set but hey, less can be more and [spoiler alert?] wait … There is more!
Suffice to say all that has been covered in the first half feeds into a wonderfully imaginative exploration of the premise implicit in the title: Nic Sampson has Fallen Down a Well.
Kudos to operator Joe Newman for manging an inventive lighting and sound plot.
In short, the fall-down comedy elevates the stand-up comedy to make for a richly conceived and executed fifty minutes.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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