The Most Haunted Comedian in New Zealand
Globe 2, Globe Theatre, 312 Main St, Palmerston North
02/02/2024 - 02/02/2024
Production Details
Written and performed by Callum Wagstaff
One hour standup comedy show taking at the Globe Theatre, Palmerston North on February 2nd at 6.45 pm as part of the Comedy Hub festival.
Winner Best Comic, 2023 Comedy Hub Awards
Winner Best Comic, 2022 Comedy Hub Awards
From the Tim Burton of Taranaki comes a show for the weird kids, the black sheep, and the grown-up gifted and talented failures.
Join comedy hub’s reigning “Best Comedian”, Callum Wagstaff, in a colourful nightmare land of everyday horrors and see the world through his glassy, lash-ridden eyeballs.
Covering everything from eating spiderwebs to talking to dead people to his time growing up in starship hospital, this is the hot ticket show this festival!
“a popular act on the local scene with House of Laughs, thanks to his manic stage presence” – Stuff
Runner Up, 2022 National Raw Comedy Quest
A show using “hauntings” as a frame to move through everyday life, to the absurd, to the dark, ending with a ghost story.
One hour standup comedy show taking at the
Globe Theatre, Palmerston North
February 2nd at 6.45 pm
as part of the Comedy Hub festival.
Tickets 15 dollars at https://nz.patronbase.com/_GlobeTheatre/Productions/MF3/Performances
with a group of 6 for 60 dollars, or 20 dollars at the door.
Comedy , Stand-up comedy , Solo , Theatre ,
50 minutes
Many stories, and weird and wonderful associations of things, people and places
Review by Tania Kopytko 03rd Feb 2024
Callum Wagstaff opens the Friday night lineup of four shows, for the seven-night Palmy Comedy Fest at the Globe Theatre. Enveloped in a grey-tone onesie, with even his face and head covered, he is quite an unconventional apparition.
The theme of his performance is haunting, which he explores in a very broad way from old age and death to his adventures in Starship Hospital renal unit as a young person. Brightly coloured walls to engage and comfort children can become quite hauntingly lurid when a patient is on heavy medication. A well-meaning morale boosting visit from an All Black is to be avoided just in case it might bring on a patient death.
And so, the many stories, and weird and wonderful associations of things, people and places leap about in Wagstaff’s tales of haunting. Callum is not afraid to joke about himself and his small stature – and he argues it is cheaper to be short! The change of costume to a pair of lizard pattern tights and Goosebumps Tee shirt is amusing and could be more fully and strongly integrated into the show and story, including the appeal for unzipping assistance from the audience.
There are some little gems in the show which could be developed and explored more deeply. Fewer but longer stories might add a more seamless continuity to the presentation. Technically it is important to consistently hold the microphone close to the mouth, which is a tricky technique to master for a performer who also likes to move their arms a lot.
It is great to see New Zealand’s comedians develop their ideas and work and present them through comedy fests. May it continue as people find and refine their weird and wonderful comedic voices!
The Palmy Comedy Fest continues at the Globe until Sunday February 4th.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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