Tim Batt confidently strides from the back of the Cavern Club into the spotlight, turns and greets us all. An audience that has been chattering furiously away grows silent. I feel a lot of expectation and excitement in that chatter. There’s a very wide smile and Tim jumps straight into local politics – I sense he’s warming up, getting comfortable with us.  

I think it’s brave the way comedians expose themselves to making some body part or other the brunt of a good laugh. Tim is no exception to this and talks about his teeth. We are all laughing at this raw honesty. He has insights into the predicament of being a 30-something millennial living in Auckland, not owning a house and what is it with Real Estate Agents?  

There is a foray into US politics of last year – I think this subject is becoming outdated but it is still very funny. Capitalism? He’s over it! He dissects serious issues and presents them in a way that keeps us laughing. I look at the audience imagining we’re all ready to rip up our disappointing Bank Statements and join Tim in the new look communist revolution with soundtrack by Pink Floyd. Laughing is far more important to our well-being and we’re right into that! He spins harsh social dramas through the medium of drugs – the peaceful ones like weed – and we’re all feeling the collective high.

Tim leads us lightly to think somewhat differently about relevant topics like Covid, the vaccine, conspiracy theories, generational cynicism and I’m hearing him speak with intelligent humour to these big issues confronting his world. He takes Winston Peters to task and doesn’t forget to mention his own white male privilege.

I felt a human fragility, sometimes associated with deep truth, emerge from Tim as he leads us towards the end of the show with his last story. I feel it’s inspirational and deeply honest and he has our undivided attention. Tim shares much in this hour about his life in the human race, clever perceptive musings bound together with humour. I enjoy him presenting hidden subtleties that stare you in the face every day.

What’s in a name I think, but then it all makes sense as Tim deliveres his last lines. Oh yeah – it’s about Classy Warfare – exploring social issues armed with humour. 

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