Hosted by comedy darling Guy Williams, The 5pm Project is aimed at a slightly younger comedy audience, and they are out in numbers for this one-off clean* comedy showcase. A super initiative to bring the under 18 year olds into the live comedy environment, a place they would not normally be able to be, given that so many venues are restricted to 18+.

The crowd is responsive as Williams shares tales about his telly work and reads from his MacBook an entire facebook chat between himself and fans over an invite to a 21st. 

James Nokise, New Zealand’s only Welsh/Samoan comedian, is up first and gets the crowd on side quickly talking about mixed parentage, and many of the dilemmas of growing up, trying to be tough and joining gangs which the younger audience is clearly relating to. 

2012 RAW Comedy Quest winner Jamaine Ross is up next. As with Nokise he continues with the autobographical angle, talking about his first gig and growing up Maori in Christchurch. He is such a natural on stage it is easy to think he has been treading the boards a lot longer than his eighteen months. I love his impressions of Gandalf and ‘ASB Guy’ Brian Blessed, his robot dancing is also pretty cool, and something I could stand to see more of.

Pocket rocket of energy and enthusiasm, Jared Fell bursts on to the stage all smiles and presents a well honed set packed to the brim with laughs and some epic stage work with volunteer Sam. It is classic Fell and shows how much he has progressed. 

I really feel for the next cab off the rank, James Roque. James is a relative newcomer to comedy and it shows tonight, but then any seasoned comic would struggle to follow an act as big as Jarred Fell’s. His material is tight, he has some good laughs from his Pack N’ Save war stories as a floorwalker, though I feel his nerves get the better of him and his set altogether seems a bit rushed.

Guy is back on stage and offers a particularly chatty audience member the chance to get on stage and experience the buzz first hand, which proves comical as he bungles her name, then offers the advice to “rip into Hamilton,” which does not go down well with the crowd. He asks, “So is there anyone out there from Hamilton?” and looks awkward when a few folk in the room pipe up (myself included). It all makes for giggles and is soon forgotten as headline act Steve Wrigley is introduced. 

Wrigley has become a household name; there is no shortage of buzz in the crowd. His charming whimsy is welcome, bantering with audience members, offering the suggestion that one girl has a pet Iguana (complete with a British accent) whom she enjoys dinner dates with, moving on to a pair of young guys in the front row, best friends who met in the carpark on the first day of high school. This leads Wrigley to an epic improvised rap about ‘one strapping’ (wearing one’s backpack over just one shoulder).

He is quick to inform us, “All I do is talk to the crowd so if you were expecting something else…” and shrugs his shoulders. No-one seems to mind, and he is very good at it, though it at times feels a bit like he is hosting the show and as such covering ground that Williams has already covered. He rounds off, however, with a true story about telling jokes at US Border Control. So it’s not all crowd banter after all… 

The crowd rowdily applauds as Williams closes the show. It would have been nice to see a female in the line-up but there is always next year, and given the response to tonight’s show I would definitely put money on seeing The 5pm Project back in 2014.

*Clean meaning no swearing, no graphic material, generally family friendly.

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