THE HANGRY AMERICANS
Fringe Bar, 26-32 Allen St, Te Aro, Wellington
22/02/2017 - 24/02/2017
NZ Fringe Festival 2017 [reviewing supported by WCC]
Production Details
Loud, Opinionated, and Hangry
American expats Neil Thornton and Molly Sokhom take the stage to rant about life and food.
Hungry + Angry = Hangry. Two amazing ExPat-American New Zealand resident comedians, Neil Thornton and Molly Sokhom, bring you a night of no-fries-left-behind stand-up comedy.
Neil Thornton has made a big impact on the New Zealand comedy circuit since moving here from New York City. In the United States, Neil was a regular in New York City comedy clubs, and performed in Washington D.C., Provincetown, Fire Island, and the Poconos.
Since moving to Wellington, he has toured up and down the country, entertaining audiences with his battles of understanding Kiwi culture and finding his own identity. He’s a regular at VK’s Comedy Club and The Classic in Auckland, and appeared in the TV3 comedy special “After Hours.”
“Thornton is just a master of the craft of comedy” – Theatreview
“A bold performer with intelligent material. Constantly amusing and thought-provoking.” – ruminator.co.nz
Molly Sokhom started performing comedy in 2008 in California and has performed at the famous Punchline in San Francisco as well as other renowned comedy clubs. She has also produced comedy shows in theatres, clubs, and coffee houses. Molly moved to Wellington in 2014, and has made a name for herself as a trusted performer and MC. She commands the stage: affably and sassily navigating her way through life’s awkward moments. She is currently conquering and enacting more highjinx and tomfoolery on stages around New Zealand.
“Sokhom emanates this incredibly lovable quality that had the audience stuck to her words like gum on a moonboot. Sokhom is just so much fun to watch, she has a particular luminescent quality that bubbles out of her that you can’t help but be struck by.” – Art Murmurs
The Hangry Americans
Wednesday through Friday
Fringe Bar, 26 Allen St, Te Aro, Wellington
22-24 Feb 2017
7.00pm
BOOKINGS: fringe.co.nz
TICKETS: $10
Theatre , Stand-up comedy ,
Amusing
Review by Margaret Austin 23rd Feb 2017
The title of this Fringe Bar show, featuring Molly Sokhom and Neil Thornton, sets us up for hunger and anger as themes. What we get is an awful lot about food, but anger doesn’t really get a look in.
“We’ve been drinking since November 8,” says Neil, and “I go on Facebook every day, but no one’s shot the motherfucker yet.”
That said, the preoccupation with food and eating takes pride of place. On a hotel ironing board, using budget white bread and an apology for cheese (“one slice for everyone who’s rejected you this evening”), a toastie gets ironed into existence. Other New Zealand taste treats like chippies and cheese rolls rate a mention, and there’s a reference to the fate of Cadburys.
This reviewer hopes gay men are sufficiently armoured to take the constant targeting they’ve received during this festival. Hardly any stand-up comic I’ve seen has been able to resist the temptation to talk about them. And this show is no exception. Perhaps the comedians have felt justified – in several cases being gay themselves. And if self-deprecation is involved, it usually raises a laugh.
Towards the end of the show, Neil tells us about a gig they did in Winton, a place he assumes we haven’t heard of. “It was for four confused sheep farmers,” he says. This audience, neither confused or into sheep, is happily amused.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Comments
Neil Thornton February 23rd, 2017
Thanks for the review! I want to make one thing clear to your readers: I, Neil Thornton, am I loud, proud, openly gay man who loves my LGBTQI+ bretheren. As a result, I talk frankly in my act about my sexuality and confronting homophobia, and I also talk honestly about struggles I've had fitting in to the gay world, particularly struggles with my weight in a body-obsessed culture. I'm often speaking directly TO gay folks in the audience who feel they've been unfairly judged for their appearance. Therefore, I'm a little dismayed that the reviewer would imply that I'm somehow "targeting" gay men without clearly mentioning that I'm gay. Oh well. [Also, for future reference, it's frustrating to comics when reviewers quote punchlines out of context, as it potentially ruins the joke for future audiences.]