T J McDonald – a Billy T Award nominee – has crafted a very well put together show. It’s coherent and clever, intelligent and friendly and whilst it deals with personal material it is not just an hour of self-therapy.

I have to admit to finding all things more amusing and/or more interesting when in a foreign accent (maybe excluding German, no offence, just an idiosyncrasy of mine) and so I sometimes find a Kiwi act painful and have to dress it up in a foreign tongue.

Not so with this one buddy, not so. Here I could enjoy the casual insouciance of McDonalds humour indeed just because it had that touch of international wit about it. Although he doesn’t roll his r’s there is a hint of ‘not afraid to admit intelligence’ about the show that so smacked of other cultures, you know, ones where it’s not ‘gay’ to possess a working knowledge of politics or have a vague grasp of history and geography.

That’s not to say that the show isn’t Kiwi. It deals almost exclusively with achingly important national topics such as cannibalism, colonialism and alcoholism and even the nature of ism’s themselves.

A very funny, astute and intelligent show: I highly recommend you go.

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TJ McDonald has this year been nominated for the prestigious Billy T James award. His show A Maori ate my Great Grandad got the sold out audience laughing and gawfing early on.

TJ’s self depreciating style strikes an immediate cord with the audience as he feeds into the Kiwi psyche with stories we can all relate to. Tales of mental illness as well as lazy and grumpy ancestors make you wonder how his genes ever made it through but I am glad they did.

Explanations of why we can’t use cellphones on planes, an understanding of how ‘concentration’ camps could come in handy and general tales about life in NZ keep the audience entertained throughout.

TJ’s candid commentary manages to deliver belly laughs while avoiding being either PC or offensive. 
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